Premium Members Stefan von Bjorn Posted July 24, 2010 Premium Members Report Share Posted July 24, 2010 Hello All, just did a day call on a new show and knew enough to show up with my AJA down converter. When I arrived I asked the AC's if they had one that prepped with the new Alexa's that I'd never seen yet, nor prepped, No! . I have a TB6 on a XCS Ultimate II. The image came up on my monitor for about 10 seconds then went blank, then came back after 5 seconds. This continued in a very regular pattern. I started my check of power, BNC's, you name it. I had just wrapped a feature with this same down converter using the Red MX, no issues. It must be the dip switches and the settings needed for this new Arri Alexa. Does anyone have a down converter that is not an Aja that I can rent/borrow this weekend for Monday, as they asked me back after I stripped off the TB 6 and rigged up an onboard assistants monitor on my rig. I ended up with no digital level and really no level reference. I hear there is a very small red colored down converter that works very well. I'm just looking to show up with more options than what I left there tonight with. It may be time to spring for an HD monitor, but I love my TB6 and would like to give it another chance. I would need a power source that works with an Arri 3 pin RS or Pro 4 pin power from sled. Respectfully, Stefan von Bjorn soc. (323) 363-7711 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members RonBaldwin Posted July 24, 2010 Premium Members Report Share Posted July 24, 2010 Hello All, just did a day call on a new show and knew enough to show up with my AJA down converter. When I arrived I asked the AC's if they had one that prepped with the new Alexa's that I'd never seen yet, nor prepped, No! . I have a TB6 on a XCS Ultimate II. The image came up on my monitor for about 10 seconds then went blank, then came back after 5 seconds. This continued in a very regular pattern. I started my check of power, BNC's, you name it. I had just wrapped a feature with this same down converter using the Red MX, no issues. It must be the dip switches and the settings needed for this new Arri Alexa. Does anyone have a down converter that is not an Aja that I can rent/borrow this weekend for Monday, as they asked me back after I stripped off the TB 6 and rigged up an onboard assistants monitor on my rig. I ended up with no digital level and really no level reference. I hear there is a very small red colored down converter that works very well. I'm just looking to show up with more options than what I left there tonight with. It may be time to spring for an HD monitor, but I love my TB6 and would like to give it another chance. I would need a power source that works with an Arri 3 pin RS or Pro 4 pin power from sled. Respectfully, Stefan von Bjorn soc. (323) 363-7711 keep the tb-6, just get a decimator (it's the little red downconverter you have heard about). I do not have one, but hopefully someone will chime in here and hook you up -- I need to get one too, they are under $500. Charles Papert sells them, but he is out of country at the moment I think. Good luck ron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Pedro Guimaraes SOC Posted July 24, 2010 Premium Members Report Share Posted July 24, 2010 (edited) Decimator 2 (new version) I just bought mine today at Abel cine tech in Burbank. Not sure if they are open tomorrow. I belive they have them in stock. Call first. I'm shooting with mine this weekend..... Also I was pretty sure the new alexa had a "monitor out" like on the F35 that is a sd out. So no need for downconverter..... It's a new camera so maybe the port is not enable yet in the firmware. But check with the DIT. I'm pretty sure it had a SD out. Edited July 24, 2010 by Pedro_Guimaraes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Jens Piotrowski SOC Posted July 24, 2010 Premium Members Report Share Posted July 24, 2010 Decimator 2 (new version) I just bought mine today at Abel cine tech in Burbank. Not sure if they are open tomorrow. I belive they have them in stock. Call first. I'm shooting with mine this weekend..... Also I was pretty sure the new alexa had a "monitor out" like on the F35 that is a sd out. So no need for downconverter..... It's a new camera so maybe the port is not enable yet in the firmware. But check with the DIT. I'm pretty sure it had a SD out. absolutely positively no SD down-converter in the Alexa! you will need the external one... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Ken Nguyen Posted July 24, 2010 Premium Members Report Share Posted July 24, 2010 Hi Stefan, The Elexa has HD-SDI out only; NO SD. I just prepped one last week. Alan Gordon sells the Decimator. It's closed on sat & sunday. But try the emergency cell phone (818) 599-0079 to ask for it. Man, please keep the TB6! Good luck! Ken Nguyen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Alec Jarnagin SOC Posted July 24, 2010 Moderators Report Share Posted July 24, 2010 I'm wondering why the AJA did not work? The Decimator is essentially the same thing with a few less options (none of which we need for Steadicam). Has anyone here used the Decimator with the Alexa without issues? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Jens Piotrowski SOC Posted July 24, 2010 Premium Members Report Share Posted July 24, 2010 I'm wondering why the AJA did not work? The Decimator is essentially the same thing with a few less options (none of which we need for Steadicam). Has anyone here used the Decimator with the Alexa without issues? Spoke to ARRI, the Monitor out is a 422 HD-SDI, you can choose between P or PSF scan, maybe that's the issue with AJA, what's the model number? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressive_segmented_frame Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Russell McElhatton Posted July 24, 2010 Premium Members Report Share Posted July 24, 2010 I am using the Alexa on NCIS LA and have had to solve this same issue. I have TB-6, Master and Gen 1 PRO monitors. Fortunatly we had a generous prep and came up with most solutions in advance. As Jens pointed out you must use the monitor out at P setting in the menu and the Assistant must return to PSP for on board monitor in studio mode. We also experimented with frame rates on the output and with the TB-6 AJA combo arrived at 29.97. Other frame rates lead to flickering of the image ranging from an occasional pulse to unusable, likely what you experienced. The Master monitor is better in daylight with the downconverted image and deep stops that we use, however I am still using the TB-6 for the frameline generator. The image is still very good but I am changing brightness/contrast settings way more than ever before. Similar experience with the Genesis but more extreme here. On that note the framelines are not as bright as when used on an analog setup. Perhaps Gregg can weigh in on this. I bought a Decimator for this show, but shorted it out with a reversed polarity cable. Building cables on the set = bad idea. Watch out for this as the fuse is soldered to the main board and it does not reset but must be technician replaced unless you have the skill (not me). The currently available Decimator 2 is larger and has more features than the first one, features we don't need. If I find a model one on the market I would pick that up. Nice unit though. We experimented with the dip switches on this as well but found the Alexa menu settings a better way to solve these issues. Kudos to Kieth Banks 1st AC and John Mills DIT. The other idiosyncrasy with the Alexa is that it much prefers to run off of 24V rather than two parallel Dionics at 12V (I don't have HCs) Stefan at ARRI has been most helpful with many issues and is very responsive to constructive criticism. The lack of a built in downconverter as well as many other features we might see in the future seem to be price point decisions. It appears that the retail price of an Alexa body is about $58,000. Start saving.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Lawrence Karman Posted July 25, 2010 Premium Members Report Share Posted July 25, 2010 Hello All, just did a day call on a new show and knew enough to show up with my AJA down converter. When I arrived I asked the AC's if they had one that prepped with the new Alexa's that I'd never seen yet, nor prepped, No! . I have a TB6 on a XCS Ultimate II. The image came up on my monitor for about 10 seconds then went blank, then came back after 5 seconds. This continued in a very regular pattern. I started my check of power, BNC's, you name it. I had just wrapped a feature with this same down converter using the Red MX, no issues. It must be the dip switches and the settings needed for this new Arri Alexa. Does anyone have a down converter that is not an Aja that I can rent/borrow this weekend for Monday, as they asked me back after I stripped off the TB 6 and rigged up an onboard assistants monitor on my rig. I ended up with no digital level and really no level reference. I hear there is a very small red colored down converter that works very well. I'm just looking to show up with more options than what I left there tonight with. It may be time to spring for an HD monitor, but I love my TB6 and would like to give it another chance. I would need a power source that works with an Arri 3 pin RS or Pro 4 pin power from sled. Respectfully, Stefan von Bjorn soc. (323) 363-7711 Stephan, I have a Decimator I would be happy to loan to you. Only problem is it's on set at Paramount. I've got a 6am call monday. You are welcome to come get it or send a driver. I've got a 4 pin xlr power cable for it or a P-tap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Richard W. Davis Posted July 25, 2010 Premium Members Report Share Posted July 25, 2010 Does anyone have a down converter that is not an Aja that I can rent/borrow this weekend for Monday, as they asked me back after I stripped off the TB 6 and rigged up an onboard assistants monitor on my rig. I ended up with no digital level and really no level reference. I hear there is a very small red colored down converter that works very well. I'm just looking to show up with more options than what I left there tonight with. Respectfully, Stefan von Bjorn soc. (323) 363-7711 Stefan, I have a redbyte decimator you may borrow . It has pro power cable and p tap... It is available for pickup anytime today ( Sunday) as it is home with me now. Problem... I live in Santa Clarita... not really that far but for some it is too long a drive. Call me if you want it. 818 681-8742 cell Rich Davis chardrwd@aol.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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