AJA Ki Pro GO2 Digital Recorder-SaddleBack-1200x628 - 2
Church Production has a long-standing friendship with Saddleback Church based in Lake Forest, CA, and as part of our User Experience/Road Tested program, we got to send them AJA’s new Ki Pro GO2, a multi-channel HD/SD recorder that will just about do it all. After several weeks of thorough testing, we sat down with Jeremy Elder, the interim production pastor at Saddleback Church to talk about his experience with the GO2.
The AJA Ki Pro Go2 Digital Recorder featuring HEVC has received the Church Production Road Tested certification.
The biggest thing for Jeremy? The Ki Pro GO2 just works.
Remarkable Flexibility
Jeremy was immediately impressed with everything the Ki Pro GO2 can handle in such a small package. “I think it's very flexible,” he says. “You could use it as part of a bigger system where you've got a switcher and you're doing a live cut, or you could go, I'm going to [edit] all this later. I just need to capture four cameras. They all need to be the same format, the same frame rate, and I just want to get the mic going to all of those channels.”
The Ki Pro GO2 features four channels of industry-standard 3G-SDI (up to 1080p30) in and out paired with four HDMI inputs (up to 1080p60) to allow for whatever capture situation a church might find themselves in, “Especially a church that doesn't have a permanent facility that's loading in and loading out every week,” Jeremy continues. “Something like this would be very helpful for them because it's super small form factor, very durable and robust, and it's going to allow them to get that multi-channel record.”
Yes, multi-channel record. The Ki Pro GO2 captures four inputs simultaneously, which can be routed to four USB drives that conveniently plug into the front of the unit, or to an SSD via the fifth USB slot in the rear, or directly to SAN storage over the network connection. You can even record to two of those destinations simultaneously.
“Having four inputs I think is very helpful because if you have to do any kind of post-production on something, you've got it covered,” – Jeremy Elder, interim production pastor at Saddleback Church, Lake Forest, CA
“There's a lot of recorders out there that do a single channel, but if you're doing a live event, you're then stuck with choosing, do I want the program feed? Do I want a clean feed? Do I want to ISO just one camera? Do I need to get multiple recorders just to cover myself? Having four inputs I think is very helpful because if you have to do any kind of post-production on something, you've got it covered,” Jeremy notes. Additionally, he thought using the H.264 and H.265 codecs for capture could really work. “I could see that being very valuable if you're doing long-form recordings that you're going to hand off immediately [from a] live event, then I think the H.265 would be a very good option because you're going to have more drive space. You're going to have a higher quality looking image for less size.”
AJA's ProRes-based Ki Pros use AJA’s proprietary drives, but the Ki Pro GO2 changes that too. Jeremy was pleased, “I do think because the GO2 takes standard and very affordable media, whether it's SSD drives or USB drives, it could be something that's a lot more accessible than the Ki Pro Ultra where you're having a dedicated SSD that you have to buy from AJA.”
Oh, and there’s one more kicker for Jeremy —“I think what I wasn't expecting is probably the fact that it was able to record over gigabit ethernet to an SMB. That was surprising to me. I didn't expect that. I think the older Ki Pros do have gigabit ethernet, but I didn't expect to see that in this model.”
All of that and Jeremy really liked using the Web UI to configure the unit, stating “It's got a very easy web interface and you can literally access every single feature on the front [of the unit from your computer]. In fact, I think it's easier to do that than doing it on the actual unit. You just have the entire menu system right in front of you. It's a lot easier to read.”
Robust Quality and AJA customer service
Jeremy notes AJA’s reliability, saying “We've used their products for a long time. I think their products are exceptional. They do cost more than some of their competitors, but in my estimation, it's worth it because you're definitely getting a better-quality product that needs less maintenance, that lasts longer. You're getting better support from the company as well.
“It's got a very easy web interface and you can literally access every single feature on the front [of the unit from your computer]. – Jeremy Elder, interim production pastor at Saddleback Church, Lake Forest, CA
“I think because AJA products just work and they're just so robust, no one really was surprised when it just worked,” Jeremy says. “It just did what it was supposed to without any fiddling, and that's not the case with every manufacturer. I think because we've used enough AJA stuff, it was just expected and it delivered.”
Lots of connectivity options on the back of the AJA Ki Pro Go2.
Overall Impression
Jeremy offered his feelings on the best context for the AJA Ki Pro GO2. “I think this would work well with [churches] that do a lot of events and need multichannel recording. I think churches that are investing in IMAG—maybe they've only ever had a program feed that they're recording somehow and a couple of cameras—they're deciding to do multiple channels of recording because they want to do some post-production, or they have different uses for different angles, but they don't want to break the bank with a more expensive product. I think this could work for that.”
The biggest thing for Jeremy? The Ki Pro GO2 just works.
“I can say specifically that the [other brand’s recorder] we use, although it records ProRes and we're sending it down fiber and it has all the bells and whistles --- it takes a lot of babysitting. There's always issues with things being disconnected and things that we have to troubleshoot. It takes a lot of minding, whereas [the Ki Pro GO2], because it's an actual piece of hardware with the software built into it, you're not trying to build your own system. It's kind of a set-it-and-forget-it. I think once you've got it set up and you've configured it how you want it, you can just be confident that it's going to work every week just how you want it to.”
