Festival co-founder and director Laurent Rejto explains: "We've been dreaming of switching to digital for years. Tape is just so inflexible and it was always nerve-wracking for us - HDCAM machines are much too expensive to rent for long periods so we'd always have to wait until the last minute to check all the tapes. We had heard great things about AJA from both friends and festival sponsors, and at this point it made a lot of sense for us to try the Ki Pro."

The festival now has two AJA Ki Pros, which Laurent will use for the festival's shorts program.

"Since we have 80 shorts, that program requires the biggest workload by far," said Laurent. "The Ki Pros have already changed our workflow - now as the shorts come in, we can put the digital files onto our server and back everything up immediately, rather than just sticking everything on the shelf until the week before the festival. This is making our timeline much more manageable."

Laurent will also use the Ki Pros to shoot all festival panels digitally, allowing them to have the material immediately.

"For the past 13 years we've filmed every panel on tape, and it takes months and sometimes years to get the media back in digitized form," Laurent explained. "Now we'll just walk right over to the office with the hard drive - it's amazing!" The Ki Pro is a highly portable tape-replacement recorder, offering 10-bit, Apple ProRes 422 recording to flexible QuickTime files with easy compatibility with most NLE systems and external controllers. For more information please visit: Ki Pro Digital Recorder Family.

About AJA Video Systems, Inc.
Since 1993, AJA Video has been a leading manufacturer of high-quality and cost-effective digital video interface, conversion, acquisition and desktop solutions supporting the professional broadcast and post- production markets. With headquarters in Grass Valley, California, AJA maintains an extensive sales channel of dealers and systems integrators around the world. For further information visit www.aja.com.