ARRI has officially announced the ALEXA 35 Live Xtreme, a new camera body capable of 120 fps (2x slow-motion) in UHD and 480 fps (8x) in HD over SDI. The camera provides simultaneous live output with variable flame blending and is compatible with existing ALEXA 35 Live accessories. The new Xtreme bodies are designed for high-speed live capture in demanding production scenarios. Read on for more.
The ALEXA 35 Live Xtreme can use SMPTE 311 cable to connect to the brand’s LPS-1 fiber camera adapter and send phase frames to a slow-motion server like SimplyLive while a real time live out is sent straight to a video switcher. The camera can also combine multiple phases to reduce exposure time and finely tune motion blur. This flexible phase combination control is unique to the camera and adjustable remotely via the LPS-1 web interface.
In the professional broadcast world, slow motion is still typically categorized by a speed factor (2x, 3x, etc.) instead of frames per second, as the resulting live output and playback will always remain at the same fps (typically 50 or 59.94). The term “phase” is used to specify how many temporal frames are in the final live frame. If you’re broadcasting in 59.94 NTSC regions, a 2x slow-motion shot has two phases and pulls from 120 fps capture, while an 8x shot has eight phases and pulls from 480 fps capture.
The ALEXA 35 Live Xtreme can shoot in ARRIRAW and ARRICORE at up to 3.8K at 60p, as well as in Apple ProRes at up to 4K 60p. ARRIRAW captures the uncompressed Bayer color data, while ARRICORE is compressed RGB and ProRes is compressed YCbCr. For those needing a high-speed camera in live production set-ups, the Xtreme is also ideal because it color matches other ARRI cameras and can boost dynamic range via a Sensor Overdrive mode that reduces sensor readout time.
Accompanying the camera are two ARRI software updates. SUP 6.1 adds picture-in-picture (PiP) tracking zoom, SDI tally overlay, extended genlock support, and GPS metadata. PiP tracking zoom displays zoomed-in detail in a PiP overlay to let you fine tune focus while maintaining framing. LPS-1 1.4.1 brings simultaneous live output with variable frame blending, tally control through TSL 3.1 and 5.0 protocols, test pattern output, and enhanced genlock stability.
The ALEXA 35 Live Xtreme will follow the same licensing model as the existing ALEXA 35 Live, with High Frame Rate, Look, and Multicam Licenses available to buy or rent. Existing ALEXA 35 models can also be upgraded to an Xtreme at select ARRI service centers. For more information about the new ARRI ALEXA 35 Live Xtreme, including features, specs, and highlights, be sure to check out the detailed product page.
