We were on site for the event, provided sound setup, and recorded video of the festivities inside and outside the facility. Some of the video will appear in later, more informational-style, videos, but much of it was deliberately shot for the initial splash promotional video.

Sonnet sent me their Qio, a device which does so much that calling it a media reader is actually a disservice. The Qio extends the PCI Express bus outside of you notebook or desktop computer of choice and enables you to use nearly all ExpressCard and PC Card interfaces you need. You can also read media: SDHC, CompactFlash, SxS, P2, etc. and, on top of all this, it has four “port multiplied” eSATA ports that enable you to connect as many as 20 external hard drives– at eSATA speeds –to your desktop, or even better… to your ExpressCard-equipped laptop computer.

I threw everything I had at it, formatted external drives in multiple ways and tested the results. The Qio delivered.

See my captions below each image for details.

F2 as a Mirrored RAID speed test results

F2 in Striped RAID speed test results

8GB P2 throughput is solid throughout the file sizes.

Then I worked with Tim Harry, the Edit Bay Supervisor for the Dallas International Film Festival to really give the Qio a trial by fire. He had to ingest hundreds of MB of video & still files every day, to organize, edit and upload into a recap of each day’s activities by midnight. Flawless performance & speed were crucial features— and the Qio delivered.

The Qio in use at the Dallas International Film Festval

Qio handling two P2, SDHC and CF all at the same time.

Really, the best features of the Sonnet Qio are inerrant in its core design— to extend the PCI Express buss and put it in this small box outside the computer. This enables so much more possibility and capability than a single card reader stuck in the side of your laptop. The entire system is so well thought out that when I went to connect the Sonnet Fusion F2 drive to the Qio, Sonnet had included short “jumper” cables for both SATA and for power so that the cable clutter was kept to an absolute minimum.

Simplified eSATA & Power cable management

In the end, I find that the $999 list price is definitely justified by all the capability the Qio offers. On my facebook page, I called it the best production accessory you could possibly get for your laptop. Add a $199 desktop PCI card, and you can easily move the Qio between computers, maximizing the value of your investment.

It was an exciting ride to see font design, logos that fulfilled design objectives, and artwork that I created that was used for over a decade. Hard to say that for much of anything made today.

So if you have a wireless mic- or any other 1 RU device that needs both front and back access, as well as pouches front and back to hole related items, then this case is the protection solution for you.

It’s very heavy duty, and the case foam has been cut to house directional antennas, a HH mic and a Lav, but you can recut it to whatever you like. A nice feature is that whatever you store in the front part of the case is held behind a velcro cover co it won’t beat up the face of your gear while traveling.

It’s missing one foot on the center piece, but as the weight is in the front, I never had an issue with it. If it bothers you, take a foot off either the front or back piece because, when you stack it up, those aren’t going to be attached anyway. So there’s four spare feet. :)

Handles on both sides of the main piece, and on the front of the front piece for easy vertical stacking.

Here’s the photos. (click for larger versions) Call or e-mail me if you have any  questions. Priced for local pickup. Shipping is extra, will be actual, and no, I won’t put this shipping case in a box. That’s silly. I put a label on this case and ship it to you.

The case standing on the "Back" end. No handle there so it's "solid."

View from above. Comes pre-labeled for your convenience.

Side handles on the center part. It stands, but handles make it wobble.

The guts. TOP: the 1 RU center piece, MID: the back storage area. Cut to hold directional Sony antennas. BOT: the front storage area and the hard cover plate that velcros on, with finger holes so you can easily open it up.

It also looks like I’ll not be acquiring similar gear so this case, in excellent condition, with high quality foam (not crappy pick & pull foam) is available for you to buy and configure to your needs.

Consider it to be an oversized briefcase. $100 each. This is the cheapest insurance for whatever you can put inside, and I’m sure whatever you put inside will cost far more than $100. That’s why rental gear always comes in these cases. Because the cases really do protect what’s inside.

Considering a Pelican case? Think again. Which do you think would win in a knock-down drag-out fight in the back of the grip truck with falling gear… these are the cases that put the holes in the Pelican plastic. And the replacement foam for a Pelican costs $70. Just for the foam. Get one of these instead.

The taller case is the only one left. It is 22″ x 7.25″ x 19″

In excellent shape, no busted wood. Corners all reinforced.

Let the photos ensure. Click on them for much larger versions.

Both Cases. Milk crate added for size conparison.

Bigger case

Insides & Comparison

The 3+ hour “broadcast” went perfectly and the 400+ attendees were thrilled at the quality of the production throughout the night. From the pre-planning meetings where it was revealed that there were literally FOUR different stages that would have to be covered throughout the night, to live musical performances that would need some creative coverage, to the surprise of auctioneer assistants mingling throughout the audience that would need to be seen on screen, this event provided far more challenge than your typical corporate IMAG talking head.

The view from the control room. A rough multi-image stitch.

Anthony utilized his video mixing package & hard drive recorder to handle all the sources (4 cameras, computer, slide show & a DVD player). Anthony also supplied an 18x remotely controlled camera head that was set up high in the back of the auditorium to provide a sense of scale & scope to people who could not attend the actual event and would be watching the video later. Anthony took a feed from the audio board to ensure he could hear all the performers on the various stages, and took room audio to hear the auctions, applause and any other audio not carried by the stage microphones.

A smile admist the all the action? Definitely! - I love this stuff.

Anthony placed the cameras in the room, wired the camera & recording system, directed all the cameras, and interfaced directly with the audio and lighting technicians, both before and during the event, to ensure that the recorded program was as high quality as possible. During the show Anthony sat side by side with Executive Producer John Holmes of the Frisco Chamber of Commerce who oversaw both the live event and the recording.

With only one short break for the main course of dinner, the entire night flew by in a 3+ hour whirlwind of activity and when the show closed, Anthony and his crew could finally breathe a sign of relief.

Here’s a short sample of the video Anthony produced:

When the team that produces his show & DVD’s came to Dallas, they hired only one local operator to come in and help set up the extensive camera, com & audio setup. They called Anthony Burokas.

Taking up the entire main ballroom of the Westin Galleria, as well as breakout rooms throughout the hotel, the challenge of this production was to quickly adapt to using both the full ballroom, and a smaller portion when a temporary wall was brought in to cut the room in half. Gear had to be readjusted to this wall which came in and out several times throughout the multi-day production.

Anthony at the Anycast Station

This shoot was for both IMAG and live-switched for DVD mastering. ISO tapes were run in all the cameras to correct any mis-punches during the live show. The hub for everything was the Sony Anycast. This briefcase-sized box is a 6-input video mixer, playback deck, graphics, audio mixer, and more. It also was set up to record ISO feeds from each of the source cameras, and program master, as a DVCAM feed to external hard drives. This multi-day shoot went from load-in to load-out without a single problem.

To make sure your production goes as problem-free as possible, call Anthony Today.

This two-day shoot pulled out all the stops and featured full-on RED shooting, and some beautiful locations, as well as some expensive props, including a Lamborghini.

Pull out the stops. RED, Chapman, & Lamborghini.

Anthony’s extensive skills behind the camera were tapped to manage the media shot with the RED and ensure that every clip worked, and was backed up from the flash media onto two hard drives (individually verified) so that even a hard drive failure wouldn’t kill the production.

The Makeshift Media Center.

When he wasn’t checking clips, and wrangling media, he was out on the set helping out wherever possible. Decades of production experience means there’s little he can’t do, even if it is just holding a green screen up for a shot.

Yes, when extra hands are needed...