User manual

Atomos Samurai. User Manual V1.01 12
Using the Samurai
The Samurai is controlled via an intuitive touchscreen interface. There are
large, obvious controls for Record, Play, Monitor, and Menu, as well as
the following information:
• Current input format and status
• Apple ProRes
®
or Avid DNxHD
®
variant currently in use
• Remaining battery power
• Which of the two batteries is currently active
• Headphone/Line Out volume
• Audio Input Level meters
• Remaining Recording time on Disk
• Timecode
• Record Trigger
• Unit name
Watch out for any items on the screen that are marked by a
small blue arrow. If you touch these items you will be taken
to other options depending on context. If you touch them
repeatedly, you will cycle through related options
A large blue arrow in the top right of the screen will
take you out of lower-level menus back to the main
control screen
The User Interface in detail
Even though the Samurai is an extremely sophisticated and technically
advanced device, we have taken a minimalist approach to the interface.
We’ve only included controls that you really need. This is important in
a device that has to be ready for use at all times and must therefore be
simple to operate while in use.
Samurai’s Touchscreen
Samurai features a very high quality 800x480 pixel video touch screen.
Most of us are now familiar with the idea of touchscreens, but there is an
important difference between Samurai’s screen and those you might find
on a smartphone.
Samurai’s screen is pressure and touch sensitive. It takes more than a
glancing brush of a finger to trigger the screen. For some applications,
(like dragging and dropping) this would be a disadvantage, but for
the Samurai it is an important feature, because if the screen was too
sensitive, it would be easy to accidentally trigger Samurai operations,
potentially interrupting a recording, for example.
With the Samurai screen, you have to firmly push the screen for an
instruction to register. This gives a very positive feel to the device and
confidence that commands won’t be given in error.
Be definite and deliberate in your pressing on icons on the screen and
the Samurai will be very responsive. Remember this is not a capacitive
touch device like many Smart Phones; holding contact with the icon for a
millisecond will ensure accurate and rapid response.
The Home Screen
This is the screen you see whenever you are not in a function or sub-menu,
and it is the first screen that the Samurai boots into when you turn it
on. All functions are one touch away: simply touch the screen on any
function to be taken to that function’s screen.
There are four brightly coloured icons labelled R
ec, Play, Mon
and Menu. In the lower centre of the screen is a timecode display with
Hours:Minutes:Seconds:Frames. Below this, on the lower
edge is the Unit Name: a customisable label that identifies media from
your when it is connected to a computer.
9. Using the Samurai
Video Input Format
and Pulldown Status
Recording Format
Apple ProRes/Avid DNxHD
Record
Trigger
Timecode
Audio Input Level Meters/
Headphone Line Out Volume
Time
Remaining
Unit Name
Continuous Power
Battery Indicator