Let me start by addressing a few misconceptions I have heard about this company and its Ki Pro products. First, the company name is three letters. Say them; A-J-A, don't try to sound them out. Second, the product family is Ki, pronounced “key.” Now that that is cleared that up once and for all, let's take a look AJA's Ki Pro Rack, one of the latest releases in the Ki Pro family of tapeless recording products, which includes the Ki Pro, Ki Pro Mini, and Ki Pro Quad.
AJA has developed an excellent reputation for itself with this family, and the Ki Pro Rack continues that tradition. At its most basic level, the Ki Pro Rack is a 1RU VTR (video tape recorder), except that it's a tapeless capture device, so getting video off it is easier than any VTR. There are really three things that are important for this or any piece of technology being used in churches: ease-of-use, quality, and flexibility. The Ki Pro Rack succeeds at all of these factors.
EASE OF USE
One of best things about this unit is its simplicity; anything that requires a master's degree to use is really going to be a tough sell in a market that is saturated with volunteer end-users. AJA really does a great job by starting with a simple front panel interface that is familiar and easy to navigate, and then follows through with simple menu navigation.
Since the Ki Pro Rack is very menu-driven, there are lots of options to drill down into, and it would be very easy to get lost, so the menus are numbered. While this is a minor detail, the feature really enhances an already easy user interface. It also makes conversations with the company's tech support very easy, because they can provide the menu number of the setting to change, making the trouble-shooting process much faster.
Another impressive feature is the capture format; seriously, how much easier can it get than capturing in an edit-ready codec right to a hard drive that has a Firewire 800 port on it? Well, rather than ejecting the drive you could always access the files via a LAN connection on the rack itself, and then move them to your computer. If that wasn't enough, one of the other great LAN features is the fact that the Ki Pro can be configured and controlled via one of the better web GUIs [graphical user interfaces] on the market. The feature-rich GUI includes a virtual control panel, gang record controls, and access to files for playlist organization and playback, allowing you to turn any computer into a control/configure device. The gang
record function allows multiple units to be networked together and controlled from a single virtual interface, which
is a great feature for churches with multi-sites, or for churches that need camera isolation.
BROADCAST QUALITY
The Ki Pro Rack is built to broadcast-quality standards. This becomes apparent when viewing the back of the unit because, despite the wide variety of ins and outs, there are also redundant power supplies, RS-422 and LTC [Lockit Time Code] in/out that one would expect from broadcast gear. This high quality is reflected in the 10-bit, full-raster captured files, which look amazingly clear with no compression or banding and great color saturation. In short, capture looks just like it comes right off the camera processor.
When it comes to the physical unit itself, the housing is sturdy and the buttons have great tactile feedback and illumination. There are two drive bays located right in the front of the unit, giving you easy access to the hard drives. The drives themselves come in solid enclosures, and you have the option of either standard spinning drives or solid state drives. The enclosures are small and easily removed, as well, and the capture files are retrievable via a Firewire connection on the back.
LOTS OF OPTIONS
The last area where the Ki Pro Rack performed really well is in flexibility. There are a ton of video connectors on the back of the unit, mainly because every video input has a loop out and you have almost every video input as an option, including HD-SDI, HDMI, component and composite. The audio options include stereo analog, HDMI and SDI embedded, as well as eight channels of AES. If that wasn't enough, the audio has independent left/right volume controls as well as very clear audio meters on the front panel.
In addition, the unit offers great options for video conversion. The Ki Pro Rack can up/down or cross-convert during record or playback, allowing the unit to fit into almost any workflow. This conversion allows you to upgrade your capture now, or as your workflow upgrades, giving it some longevity in your system. The outputs also offer the option to embed a time code superimposed on the playback. This is a great feature for directors/technical directors that need to see the time-code. The unit can pass one output clean for a director and one output with a superscript for the TD. Lastly, and most importantly, the outputs are all simultaneously active.
Last on the options list is the robust set of choices for your capture codec. The Ki Pro Rack offers Pro Res 4:2:2 and Avid DNxHD, and while two options don't seem like very much, when you consider that it offers every flavor of Pro Res, including Pro Res, LT, HQ, and Proxy—as well as DNxHD 220, 145, and 36—it really is a lot of options.
Another bonus—the Avid codec was just added to some other members of the Ki Pro family not long ago via a firmware upgrade. This begs the question, “What other options can be added via firmware?” This is just speculation, but what if it could possibly add two stream simultaneous recording, simultaneous recording/playback, loss-less drive swapping, or drive duplication? While the representative from AJA wouldn't confirm any of these speculations, he assured me they were exploring the limits of what was possible. This product has the potential to move from “great” to “must-have” with some possible firmware upgrades that everyone should keep an eye out for.
WRAP UP
In conclusion, the Ki Pro Rack offers a great option for high quality capture workflow. With the VTR functionality, it offers an option for multi-site distribution by just sneaker netting hard drives, more so if the two stream record becomes a reality. At the price point of $3,995, being able to do double duty as a multi-site platform as well as a capture device makes it a pretty solid investment. Add to that the up/down/cross conversion and SSD drives for a level of upgrade-ability, the Ki Pro Rack is a good long-term choice.
With all this, as well as the volunteer friendly interface and very high quality video, AJA has made a fantastic replacement for the standard VTR—and brought it into this millennium by making it a file-based workflow.
