Exciting news from ATOMOS with their launch of the Cloud Studio. Let’s take a look at some of these details and specs now.

Usually, public companies aim for big trade shows for their major product announcements. They’re pandering to the stock markets they’re listed on to raise their share price on that good news.

Unfortunately, ATOMOS’ planned NAB 2022 news was undermined by events in the boardroom as new CEO Estelle McGechie left under a cloud that was ironically part of the new product portfolio. The ATOMOS share price had reportedly fallen 19% on receiving the news.

ATOMOS’ news rollout started pre-show when Frame.io broke the news of their integration with third-party vendors. Frame.io, another public company under the Adobe name, were tuning in to the content creator market with this new agreement.

With the tie-up, they claimed that direct to the cloud transfer was now possible with a “wide range of mirrorless and DSLR cameras including Canon, Sony, Nikon, and Panasonic.” So, the heartland of ATOMOS’ creator market.

All you need for full integration into Frame.io is an ATOMOS Connect Wi-Fi 6 module for the Ninja V/V+ recorders or a 7” Shogun Connect recorder, both new products from ATOMOS.

You can capture ProRes or DNx files while generating and auto-uploading 1080P, H.265 (HEVC) proxy files to Frame.io.

Cloud Studio

Hot on the heels of the Frame.io news came ATOMOS’ own (apart from the CEO hiccup). This started with their Capture to Cloud part of the Cloud Studio with information of their camera files being available from their network-connected devices to cloud-based platforms, like Frame.io and others.

Another new service, ATOMOS Stream, uses any ATOMOS network-enabled device to live-stream to popular platforms like Facebook Live, Twitch, YouTube, and more.

All this new online production is getting the files out of the devices and using proxy files as Blackmagic Design‘s new Cloud services and Frame.io does. Capture to Cloud, however, uses a dual record mode for original and proxy files.

Like Blackmagic’s new automatic proxy generation, ATOMOS’ proxies are automatically uploaded to the cloud but begin uploading the file even as it’s still being captured. I’d love to see how this works in practice and if Blackmagic and Frame.io do the same.

Live Production

ATOMOS Live Production is also part of the Studio. It’s a cloud-based control room for live video and remote collaboration, including a video switcher and sound mixer, video effects and graphics, and talkback.

ATOMOS says that Live Production can work with any camera, from DSLRs and mirrorless to the Apple iPhone.

The system can provide timecode sync to all sources in the cloud and on every connected device.

– ATOMOS

ATOMOS is being quite aggressive in its description of Live Production.

Live Production represents a fundamental shift in the technologies required for outside broadcasts and live events.

– ATOMOS

That’s quite a claim as there’s no mention of incorporating bonded cellular signals, which are usually for live inputs. Again, you use the new ATOMOS CONNECT or SHOGUN CONNECT devices.

But without seeing a demo, we can’t conclude anything but the promise of a new market for live production for owners of ATOMOS recorders and recording monitors. But, maybe that claim was another to impress the money markets.

MAVIS Pro Camera

Strangely, ATOMOS has included in their Cloud Studio announcement a tie-up with MAVIS. MAVIS is an iOS app developed by a couple of UK ex-university of Sussex PhDs, Patrick Holroyd and Phil Watten, back in 2016. ATOMOS has helped with further development, and now the app supports 10-bit, 4K, HDR video capture.

The Pro Camera app also supports ATOMOS AirGlu technology, which provides direct communication between devices and enables a wireless timecode lock. The app will also add support for ProRes on the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max with this release.

If you’re interested in an app like this, it’s entirely free for the duration of the NAB Show.

Connect Hardware for NINJA and SHOGUN

The hardware to make all this connectivity work includes the ATOMOS CONNECT and SHOGUN CONNECT. ATOMOS CONNECT (see picture above) fits the back on the NINJA V/V+ and has a 12G SDI interface, ATOMOS AirGlu wireless timecode for camera synch, power options, plus Wi-Fi 6, network Gigabit Ethernet, and Bluetooth LE capabilities. The price is $399 and is available in June this year.

SHOGUN CONNECT is a new recording monitor device with HDR monitoring, RAW recording, and cloud workflows. ATOMOS AirGlu wireless timecode for camera synch, power options, plus Wi-Fi 6, Gigabit Ethernet, Bluetooth LE, and USB C. Price is $1299 and available in June this year.

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Cover image via Atomos.