-
Adding a HD Pro card to my pci-X G5…
Hi, I currently have a G5 dual 2 ghz machine with PCI-X slots and a BlackMagic Decklink Extreme Card. I have read on this forum that I cannot run a second BM HD card at the same time, but I am wondering how much of a mess it would cause to switch cards back and forth depending on the project at hand… could it possibly be as simple as switching them out, or does this present all kinds of software problems with my settings in FCP, etc.
Trying to make it work… any tips, warnings appreciatedThanks in advance
-
3 Replies
-
You know, the HD cards do SD as well. There’s no need for 2 cards. and it would probably be a bad idea to swap cards in and out with any regularity – they’re not exactly miltary grade connectors on that PCI interface.
-
Yeah, you are quite right about the fragility of the connectors – I was a tad nervous popping it in the first time. As for the HD card doing SD, I believe that is SDI in/out only (digibeta), no component (beta sp) – I still get this format, as well as useful for bringing in archival screeners into an HD project: the stock houses aren’t quite up to even DVcam yet, so good old component / S video / composite inputs with balanced XLR audio is very much part of my workflow these days.
Thanks for your advice –peter
-
Hi Peter,
Yes you can switch the two cards in and out of your system without any impact on software settings. However you will need to be careful not to bend a pin in the PCI-X slot. We swap cards in and out a lot in our testing and eventually it can wear out the PCI, PCI-X or PCIe slot. If you bend a pin in the slot, it may do nasty things to your Mac including stopping the Mac from starting up. I would expect that one could also wear out the connectors on the DeckLink card although I haven’t seen that happen.
An alternate solution would be to connect an external convertor, such as the Multibridge Pro, to the SDI connections of your DeckLink HD Pro. The Multibridge Pro can act as a standalone convertor and convert between analog-SDI and SDI-analog. At such a stage as you might upgrade to a PCI Express G5 or Mac Pro, you can plug the Multibridge Pro straight in to the PCI Express slot and use it as a capture/playback card, just like your DeckLink card. They all use the same software drivers as each other.
Regards,
Luke Maslen
Blackmagic Design
Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up