Churches everywhere are taking a long, hard look at their video production. With congregations attending from home, video production is in higher demand than ever. As a result, it’s essential to make sure that churches are getting the most video bang for their buck. One of the best ways to do that is to find products that can be used in various ways rather than getting products that only do one thing. Enter the Ki Pro Go.
I/O
The Ki Pro Go is equipped with four HDMI and four SDI inputs. It also has four SDI outputs, one for each recording channel, and an extra SDI and HDMI for monitor out. The monitor out can be used to view a matrix of the inputs or any channel directly. For audio, the Ki Pro Go can accept two channels of embedded audio per video input, and two balanced XLR analog audio inputs, mic/line/48v switchable. On the audio output side, the Ki Pro Go features two RCA connections for monitor out and a headphone jack located on the front of the unit. On the back of the unit, there is also a 12v-18v redundant power supply and an ethernet connection and reference loop.
Multitasker
At its most basic, the Ki Pro Go is a simple multi-channel recorder that uses USB media to record H.264 video MP4 files. However, the uses don’t end there. With the ability to monitor all the inputs in a matrix view via the SDI or HDMI output, the Ki Pro Go can also function as a four-channel multi-viewer. But that’s not all it can do.
In my home church, the Ki Pro Go would be an excellent option for redundant multisite backup recording. The primary delivery option is streamed live, but for redundancy, drives are hand-delivered to the multisites. Currently, they record on a single drive and after service duplicate to multiple drives. With the Ki Pro Go, those drives would be ready as soon as the service is over. Right now, they only need to make three copies, but if they needed to make more, add another Ki Pro Go. With the new 2.0 firmware update, gang recording multiple units simultaneously is possible via the intuitive web UI. Also, because those drives are cheap, they could go to multisites or people who want to record service.
Another option is for the training of camera operators. The Ki Pro Go could record isolated camera feeds with com chatter audio. Each operator could see what they are doing while the director was calling the shots. Again, because the recording media is so cost-efficient, the volunteers could keep and reuse as needed.
Next, the Go could function as a small 8x4 matrix. This is powerful because of the combination of HDMI and SDI inputs. It is a simple matter to change input sources to recording destinations on the Ki Pro Go, which also gets sent to the SDI outputs. It would be reasonable to input multiple video sources, select destinations as needed, record those destinations, and convert them from HDMI to SDI outputs. If that isn’t enough, the Ki Pro Go can be used to genlock those sources as well, making it incredibly useful for churches that are looking to upgrade but can’t afford to lose the use of their consumer cameras. The Ki Pro Go would allow teams to purchase a broadcast-style video switcher because it could convert the consumer HDMI connections to professional SDI connections with genlock.
Update
During the writing of this article, AJA released a firmware update that makes this Ki Pro Go a game changer. Now if a user is connected over standard Gigabit ethernet, they can record directly to a Network Attached Storage (NAS), while recording locally, as well. If that isn’t enough, if teams have two Ki Pro Go’s, they can record eight cameras simultaneously to the NAS. This is amazingly efficient for churches with large production rigs, or even for film teams that record a lot of multicamera shoots locally. Having edit-ready files for immediate use or archive is an absolute win.
In addition, this update makes a multicam live-to-tape for a post-production workflow a dream. Simply record seven cameras and a program track and then the NLE just cover the bad shots from program with one of the seven other cameras. This ensures that the final product is absolutely the best it can be. With so many churches using this type of workflow because of the pandemic, AJA nailed it with this update.
In use
The Ki Pro Go is built on a solid pedigree established by the rest of the Ki Pro line of recorders. Like its predecessors, it features easily navigable menu options with numbered menus. Making changes in the menus is also very simple. The interface is just a dial, so it’s a simple tap to select, rotate to change, tap to confirm. The screen, which occupies the majority of the front panel, is easy to read despite its small size, and it could be augmented with the monitor outputs.
One of the few downsides of this unit is that the fans are loud during the boot-up sequence. The only other fault I can find with the Ki Pro Go would be some scaling on each of the inputs to accept multiple resolutions. I suspect that would significantly increase the very reasonable price of $3,995. Honestly, there are not many devices in the video market that can do so much in the sub $4k price range.
There are more features and use cases than I could cover in the article, so this review focused on use cases most practical in the church world. At first blush, I suspect many churches would pass on a product like this because recording multiple video channels to USB isn’t something they need. However, the Ki Pro Go is so much more than just a simple recorder. When you are looking to stretch your budget dollars as far as you can, purchasing products that are flexible and can perform more than one task, like the Ki Pro Go, is always a win.
