"The Atomos Ninja Cast is an intriguing product; combining the features of the Ninja V/V+ with a small 4 HDMI input switcher has a lot of appeal for on-the-go productions," shares Church Production's expert tech reviewer, Mark Hanna.
The small form factor switcher market has been interesting in the past few years. Some manufacturers have come up with great and affordable concepts. Recent product releases affirm that now is an excellent time to have a product in the four HDMI input switcher niche. The Ninja Cast pretty much begs direct comparison to another small-format switcher, which shall remain nameless, so to appease those who won’t read the entire article, The Ninja Cast has more outputs, a built-in monitor, headphone jack, and an on/off switch. It does not, however, record isolated inputs. That feature is just voodoo.
The Ninja Cast is a four-input HDMI switcher that operates in Full HD and can mix and match input frame rates within that resolution, so DSLR, mirrorless, camcorders, and computers are welcome.
For the rest of you, the Ninja Cast is a four-input HDMI switcher. It operates in Full HD and can mix and match input frame rates within that resolution, so DSLR, mirrorless, camcorders, and computers are welcome. The Ninja Cast has some limited picture-in-picture options and can also handle graphic overlays with transparency. On the output side of things, the Ninja Cast has a USB program out, which gives you a stream-ready program output once connected to a computer. The Cast HDMI can output program, preview, or multi-view, and the output of the Ninja V/V+ can also be program, preview, or multi-view. This is fantastic for setups that require a multi-view larger than a 5.2”-inch monitor.
"When reviewing a product, one of the techniques I use to measure user-friendliness is to try and set the product up without reading the manual. If I can get the product set up and running without reading anything, it’s pretty user-friendly. The Ninja Cast rates high on this scale, mainly because of the touchscreen menu." — Mark Hanna
Distinctive qualities
Most of the unique selling points arise from the fact that the heart of the product is a Ninja V/V+. This allows the Ninja Cast to have a built-in monitor, a benefit not found in many of the competitive products on the market. Another benefit is the recording codex; while there are other products that offer recording capabilities, most of them are compressed to H.264 or something similar. Atomos has a strong lineage of high-quality recordings codexes, such as Apple ProRez and Avid DNxHD, which means better quality video recordings. However, this is a double-edged sword because it does have the downside of requiring larger hard drives to support the enormous file formats.
The next benefit is the suite of onboard tools available through the Ninja V/V+. One of the prominent features of the Ninja brand is the suite of onboard tools for focus and exposure. The Ninja Cast has access to the same tools, making it easy to look at any input full-screen, view focus, waveform, or zebras to check the shot before taking it live.
The last benefit is that once you remove it from the AtomX Cast, you still have a Ninja V/V+ HDMI monitor/recorder, a piece of gear that could easily be used seven days a week in a church environment. It’s easy to imagine the film team using the Ninja V/V+ for high-quality recording, and all the onboard monitoring tools Monday through Saturday for testimonials and promotion videos, while the live production team uses it as a Ninja Cast on Sunday.
In use
When reviewing a product, one of the techniques I use to measure user-friendliness is to try and set the product up without reading the manual. If I can get the product set up and running without reading anything, it’s pretty user-friendly. The Ninja Cast rates high on this scale, mainly because of the touchscreen menu. It’s large enough to be easy to read, and it’s straightforward enough to navigate and adjust menu options; tap what you want. The physical buttons work interestingly; four function buttons flank the four main selection buttons. Depending on which function button you select, the buttons either make selections for that function or recall presets. This would be problematic if not for the fact you can still utilize the touchscreen for the primary switching. For example, if the F2 (audio) function is selected, the main select button determines where the audio source is coming from. However, if the F3 (overlay) function is selected, the main select buttons function as presets for overlay layouts. While making these changes, you could simultaneously still be switching the show but making input selections on the touch screen.
The trial version arrived in a tiny semi-rigid case that fits everything except the input cables. This case was small enough to work in a backpack or day pack, making the Ninja Cast very portable and an excellent option for churches in a setup/tear-down situation. All you need are inputs, and it’s ready to go. The recording times were impressive considering the large file size; a 1TB SSD would record between almost five hours in ProRes HQ and 23 hours in DNxHD 36 compression.
There were not a lot of downsides I could find in the product. It does get hot, not hot enough to burn you; however, if you touch it accidentally and aren’t prepared for it, it will get your attention, speaking from experience. The overlays and picture-in-picture options are a little limited; you don’t get complete control but rather preconfigured options that you can choose from. Now those options cover the majority of the use cases, but I find the lack of flexibility a little annoying. My last downside is not a downside so much as a “I wish it did this:” The Ninja Cast only records program output, not insolated inputs. It’s one of the few places some other small format switchers have a competitive advantage.
It’s hard to believe that we have come so far that a product like this is not just a dream, but a realistically priced reality.
In conclusion
The Atomos Ninja Cast is an intriguing product; combining the features of the Ninja V/V+ with a small 4 HDMI input switcher has a lot of appeal for on-the-go productions. The Ninja Cast is an incredible value based on its versatility. It retails for around $750, while the Ninja V+ retails for about $800, and the Atom X Cast module retails for about $250, bringing the total price to around $1,000 before hard drives.
It’s hard to believe that we have come so far that a product like this is not just a dream, but a realistically priced reality.
