Atomos unveils new Shogun series of monitor-recorders

The latest generation of Shogun camera-mounted monitor-recorders, Shogun and Shogun Ultra, were unveiled on the IBC2023 show floor yesterday. And there’s also an interesting Adobe Premiere Pro Extension for the browser-based Atomos Edit NLE.

Following hot on the heels of the new Ninja models announced last month, Atomos (IBC stand: 11.D25) has unveiled two new Shoguns, the Shogun and the Shogun Ultra.

The new units include more codecs as standard: 6K Apple ProRes RAW (8K with Shogun Ultra), Apple ProRes, DNxHD as well as H.265, which was previously available only as a paid option.

The key differences between the new Shogun and Ninja lines are the former’s brighter, 2000 nit 7-inch screen, plus its fully integrated connectivity. Because Shogun has both 12G-SDI and HDMI inputs and outputs, it can be used for cross-conversion, unlike a Ninja fitted with Atomos Connect. Shogun has more power options too, with NP battery slot and an integrated 2.1mm locking jack DC input socket. 

Atomos reckons that the Shogun Ultra is ideal for use with cinematic cameras and can record full-quality files to Apple ProRes RAW up to 4K 60p while at the same time recording HD 60p to H.265, and supporting automatic matching filenames, timecode and record trigger from many popular models of ARRI, Canon, RED and Sony cameras. 

Both Shogun and Shogun Ultra models have the new 4K camera to cloud mode that lets users record and upload much higher quality bitrate H.265 video with higher framerates and customized parameters. The files are lightweight enough for camera-to-cloud workflows, but also billed as more than good enough quality for immediate use on social media, sports reporting or news gathering. 

Both Shogun units can also take advantage of Atomos RemoteView - a new technology allowing users to share live views from their Atomos screen with other Atomos monitors, as well as with iPads, Macs and Apple TVs wirelessly. And both can take advantage of the new AtomOS 11 operating system, which delivers a host of new features, including EL Zone exposure referenced colorized image, ARRI False Color, and new scheduled playback and recording tools.

AtomOS 11 will also be made available for free to existing Shogun Connect users via a firmware update, though going forward Shogun Connect will be superseded by Shogun Ultra.  Both Shogun and Shogun Ultra will be shipping from early October 2023, priced at $999 and $1199 respectively.

Premiere Pro extension for Atomos Edit 

Also well worth talking about is the new extension for Atomos Edit, which allows the browser-based NLE to appear as a panel directly inside Premiere Pro. 

It’s another neat way to enable cloud-based editing inside the Adobe NLE, allowing productions to get content directly from a camera to an editing timeline. Users can simultaneously capture from multiple Atomos-connected products, funnelling content into the simple-to-use Atomos Edit to create sequences and rough edits. Then Adobe Premiere editors can take these sequences and drag them from a panel right into a Premiere Pro project to finish the content using all the facilities available to them from within Adobe Creative Cloud applications. 

“With the new Atomos Edit extension panel for Premiere Pro, editors can enjoy the convenience of seamless integration for rough cut workflows directly into Premiere Pro,” said Sriram Iyer, Head of Video Products and Partnerships at Adobe. “The panel bridges the gap for customers needing quick edits with transition effects to sophisticated and creative editing capabilities available within Premiere Pro.” 

It’s a neat idea and a beta version of it is being shown in Amsterdam.