A Kahuna for every production environment... and budget

For those for whom the Kahuna 360 mixer was an unattainable solution due to power, performance... and budget, you are in luck since Snell now has two new mixers in its portfolio that fit like a glove to any need and economy. In addition to the Kahuna 360, production companies and broadcasters have two new versions at their disposal for production at the highest level with Kahuna Compact and Kahuna Flare.

For those for whom the Kahuna 360 mixer was a solution with the highest power and features unattainable for budget reasons, you are in luck because Snell now has two new mixers in its portfolio that fit like a glove to any need and economy.

Snell ha presentado este martes en Barcelona, de manos de Unitecnic, la ampliación de la popular gama Kahuna. Además del Kahuna 360, productoras y broadcasters tienen a su disposición dos nuevas versiones para producción al más alto nivel con Kahuna Compact y Kahuna Flare.

En la presentación llevada a cabo en el Edificio Imagina en Barcelona hemos podido ver en acción la versión compacta del panel con un Kahuna Compact con 3 M/E trabajando a pleno rendimiento con material tanto 1080i como 1080p. Un servidor ICE y el panel de control de auxiliares completaban esa instalación de demo. Es de destacar que todos los paneles son compatibles con las nuevas electrónicas por lo que en cualquier momento se puede actualizar a un chasis mayor o compatible con 1080p, con el mismo panel con el que ya se contaba. De esta forma se protege la inversión desde primer momento ante posibles futuras ampliaciones.

While the bigger brother in the range offers up to 64 outputs in 11 RU, the new Compact has up to 60 inputs and 32 outputs, all of them compatible with SD/HD or 1080p. In the case of Flare it is a smaller version that occupies just 6 RU.

Kahuna 360 works fluidly with both HD and 1080p sources, being able to mix between them at any time regardless of their format or origin.

Resource sharing

With more buses, keyers and outputs than its counterparts and with single link Level A and B connectivity, Kahuna offers more production power for multiple outputs. The sharing of resources and the possibility of connecting several panels to the same electronics gives it unprecedented versatility since several studios can be connected (even if they are located hundreds of kilometers away) to the same electronics. On the other hand, we must also highlight its possibilities for 3D production (on the same cable without paired dual-link outputs as has been done until now).

Another notable aspect about the entire Snell Kahuna range is the use of the FormatFusion3 conversion algorithm that allows all outputs and inputs to be automatically configured in any format by detecting the shape signal and applying the necessary conversion to the input and output. This option thus allows you to mix multi-format sources in production, including 1080p (Level A and B), with multiple multi-format outputs.

In this way, and thanks to FormatFusion3, we can start from a 1M/E card and output with different layers of graphics according to the necessary keyers or give different output formats from the production itself, in a completely transparent way (1080p, 4:3,...).

Each 1 Kahuna M/E supports up to 4 Full Keyers or up to 11 layers from a single card.

On the other hand, it is also worth highlighting the use of Make M/E technology, exclusive to Snell mixers. It allows us, depending on the implementation, to divide resources to have independent outputs although assigned to the same card, distributing resources. In this way, we could support simultaneous productions that would normally require several mixers, even if they are different formats.

Thus, obtaining great flexibility to share resources on the same mainframe, also breaking the tradition with fixed M/E. Each bank could have up to four possible partitions, assigning output keys or transition buses, as appropriate without duplicating resources.

Likewise, from a single card we could use four 1 M/E mixers. For example, with a single electronic in a 6 RU chassis we could serve two studios with 4 keyers each. If one day more resources were needed, that card would be assigned to a single panel with more embedding layers.

Compact y Flare

Kahuna 360 Compact is, as its name suggests, the compact version of the popular Kahuna 360. It supports up to 3 full M/Es (with capacity for 11 layers of graphics each, 8 resizes per M/E). In total it offers up to 60 inputs and 32 outputs that are fully assignable and programmable and has Make M/E technology. Like its 'big brother', it also has multi-panel connectivity and a powerful M/E architecture.

As for the new Flare, and although it shares the same electronics as the 360, it would only support one panel. This cost effective solution offers 2-3 standard M/Es with 4 keyers per M/E. In addition, it has the same 3D DVE as the Kahuna 360. As far as outputs are concerned, in the case of the Flare it has numerous fixed outputs with specific functions.

In a mobile unit production environment, for example, Flare would support 4 to 12 cameras, with 2, 3 or 4 MEs with 4 keyers for each

Both Compact and Flare support a wide range of external control equipment such as matrices, servers, VTRs, tally systems, input and output mnemonics, automation systems and support standards such as GVGG100 and Sony DVS. Both electronics can share the same 3D DVE effects capability.

Furthermore, in both cases the hard drive is configured as a mirror (to host clips, transitions...) and can be hot-replaced. The cards can also be hot replaced and, even if the power was cut (it has a redundant supply) to some of the cards, the rest would continue working. In this way, by sharing resources, we always have the security of being able to reassign them to continue working in the event of a failure.

As for calling transitions or graphics clips, these load very quickly in any version of Kahuna even when working at 1080p. Note that if you have a large library of clips, you could use an external hard drive, being able to call and save the clips on this drive from the mixer itself.

On the other hand, note that Snell has now added the ability to manage users with access privileges. In addition, the new FormatFusion technology allows for fully configurable outputs even within the same bank, unlike before which required each output of each bank to be of the same format.
Finally, it should be noted that for the entire range of Kahuna mixers, Snell has up to eleven panel variants, thus adapting to any production environment or space availability.

Kahuna Compact

Multiple panel support

Make M/E Technology

Hasta 7 Keyers por M/E (4 Super Keyers, 3eKeys)

Clip storage up to 32 GB

All outputs assignable and programmable

RGB input and color corrected output

Kahuna Flare

Supports a single panel

Standard M/E with 4 keyers (2 Super Keyers, 2 lin/luma Keyers)

Clip storage up to 8 GB

Fixed M/E outputs

Fixed auxiliary outputs

YUV input bus with color correction