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Slightly OT AJA customer support!
I probably should post this on the Kona forum, but I want to post it here for maximum exposure. We recently had a problem with one of our Kona cards. (That as it turns out, we may have caused) The people at AJA most notably Hector, have worked with us, and have gone WAYYYYY beyond the call of duty to get our problem resolved. If every company had AJA’s desire to take care of the customer, this world would be a much better place. Airlines take note!
Bravo AJA.
Don Walker
P.S. Can I buy stock in AJA? -
6 Replies
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point taken. we are considering moving from BMD to kona and this is just another nail in the coffin. we have noticed almost NO participation from the decklink support guys on the forums lately. it used to be “busy getting ready for the next driver/tech show” but now it’s just crickets…
hope they’re not going the way of aurora.
good guys, but without apple support not much chance of survival. -
Yeah have to second that AJA guys really do rock!
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I concur!! My experience with AJA tech support is that they’re tops. And they call you back in a reasonable amount of time!
Arnie
Now in post: Peristroika, a film by Slava Tsukerman
https://www.arniepix.com/blog -
AJA has by far the best technical support in the entire business. I have always has the nest experiences with them. Hector and Rudy are the best tech guys I have ever worked with. And overnight replacements… AWESOME!
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Wayne Carey
Schazam Productions
http://www.schazamproductions.com
https://blogs.creativecow.net/waynecarey -
I agree. Their tech support is the best I’ve ever worked with.
But let me play Devil’s advocate for a moment. The Decklink line is more stable and easier to work with FCP6 than the Kona 3. In the past, certain Decklink drivers have been awful. But at this exact moment in time, BMD has the edge. I have both products here and there’s no question about it. The Kona 3 still has some kinks to work out with FCS2.
One example is some sort of RS-232 polling fix I had to download and install. An indicator of how good their tech support is – but also an indicator of a less that stellar product as far as stability goes.
As far as being easier to work with. With a Decklink I don’t need a tri-level sync generator (although most their cards support one if I do). It has the option to output a black reference during capture in FCP. That means you plug the SDI out to the deck’s input, and the SDI in to the deck’s output – and that’s all you ever have to worry about. But with the Kona 3, I have to patch it in differently and change the sync reference (both on the deck and the Kona Control Panel) if I want to switch between caputre and layback. If you use house sync, then this isn’t as big of an issue – but you still have to patch it differently (the Kona 3 doesn’t like having the signal looped through). If you’re an independent editor, and you just have one deck that’s always plugged in, you can’t deny what an advantage it is to never have to patch anything between capture and layback.
Another advantage Decklinks have is Windows support. Not an issue for most, but with Boot Camp now available this can be a huge advantage for the few who need to use Windows apps on their Mac Pro. I know some people had to buy After Effects for the PC before the Mac version was Universal Binary.
Also, Blackmagic’s tech support isn’t exactly horrible. They have a guy in Nevada and he’s very helpful. I certainly wouldn’t say it’s as good as AJA’s, but Blackmagic tech support does exist.
The Kona 3’s major advantage is the upconversion and downconversion. It kicks ass at it, and I would never use a Decklink for this purpose. That’s why I bought a Kona 3. Hoever, if you use your deck’s conversion or you have a Teranex or something similar, you might not need this feature. Another Kona 3 advantage I just learned about is the ability to layback different kinds of pulldown (3:2:2:3 and 2:2:2:4). Not sure why anyone would want to create a tape that wasn’t regular 3:2:3:2 (the Decklinks can only do this) but the feature is there if you want it.
And of course price should always be considered. Blackmagic products cost much less than their AJA counterparts.
So when you look at the complete picture, it’s a bit more nuanced than “One is cheap and one is good”. They both have advantages and disadvantages, so it really depends on your situation when deciding what’s best for you.
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It ebbs and flows, I recall when OSX came out and support for the original kona card on OS9 was in jeopardy. Black Magic was getting all the allocades then.
That said, I’ve never owned any BM products but my 1st AJA product was the famous IO. Low and behold, I couldn’t get it to work properly and the cow crew sent me to AJA tech support. Although I had purchased it as a used product from an individual, I could not run, I could not hide from AJA tech support. They presistently emailed drivers and telephoned me relentlessly until my IO was working flawlessly! I was amazed and continue to be 100% satified with the 3 AJA products I now own. Sadly I have never needed tech support again. 🙁
AJA tech support…I miss you!
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