Bexel, an NEP Broadcast Services Company, has added 20 brand-new AJA Ki Pro Ultra Plus multichannel recorders and 80 AJA Pak Media PAK1000 1 terabyte solid-state drives (SSDs) to its rental inventory, giving customers robust and redundant recording and storage capabilities for virtually any size production and any 2K/4K/HD/UHD workflow.
   

The Ki Pro Ultra Plus is a multichannel recorder and player featuring a built-in HD LCD monitor, enabling simultaneous recording of up to four HD channels or single-channel recording of 4K or UHD content. The device supports all Apple ProRes® or Avid DNxHD® MXF formats and large raster, high-frame-rate workflows such as 4K 60p, with connectivity options including 3G-SDI, fiber, and HDMI 2.0. The Ki Pro Ultra Plus includes a built-in carry handle for portability or can be rack-mounted in 2 RU.

As the ideal storage companion to the Ki Pro Ultra Plus, the AJA Pak Media PAK1000 is a high-capacity SSD storage device encased in protective housing, with a rugged USB 3.0 connection engineered to handle the rigors of repeated field use. Ki Pro Ultra Plus users can capture up to 1 terabyte of content directly to the PAK1000 for recording in up to 4K at 60p in Apple ProRes HQ.

With the new AJA investment, Bexel is able to equip its customers for recording up to four PAK1000 SSDs with every Ki Pro Ultra Plus, an ideal configuration for productions with large and fail-safe on-site recording requirements. For instance, a typical eight-camera production that previously might have required eight separate recording decks with no redundancy can now rent four Ki Pro Ultra Plus recorders, each recording four HD channels simultaneously to four PAK1000 SSDs. This configuration offers complete redundancy and is so desirable that it is already booked for several large-scale productions.

“AJA is a very important partner of ours, and its Ki Pro line has an outstanding industry reputation and a proven track record on many high-profile productions. We’ve had Ki Pro recorders in our inventory for years, so it was an easy decision to standardize on the Ki Pro Ultra Plus going forward,” said Tom Dickinson, vice president, technology, Bexel. “Many of our customers are looking to add 4K productions to their existing HD-based workflows, and the Ki Pro Ultra Plus lets them do that cost-effectively by supporting both types of productions with a single recorder. Also, the ability to record four HD channels at the same time with a single box not only lowers the cost per channel, but provides the redundancy needed for live programs such as awards shows.”

Nick Rashby, president of AJA Video Systems, added, “Bexel is a powerhouse resource for filmmakers and television producers, and this investment is further validation of the value and reliability of our Ki Pro family of recorders. With its ability to do multichannel recording, a single Ki Pro Ultra Plus can do the work of what previously required many different devices, saving time and money on set, in a studio, or in a mobile truck environment.”