Blackmagic clips come up as corrupt in Combustion 3

[Luke Maslen]

Hi Chris,

If you are using DeckLink Macintosh v5.0 drivers in Mac OS X 10.4, then you aren’t using the Blackmagic codec but rather the Apple Uncompressed codecs as we’ve standardized on Apple’s codecs in DeckLink v5.0 drivers.

I tried to test this after installing Combustion 3.0.4 but I ran in to some problem authorizing the software so I couldn’t test it. I don’t know if Combustion v3.0.4 is compatible with Tiger and couldn’t find anything on the AutoDesk web site to indicate either way.

I’m awaiting a copy of Combustion v4.0 which is due here next week so I’ll be interested to see if we find any compatibility issues with QuickTime files in Combustion v4.0.

Regards,

Luke Maslen
Blackmagic Design

[Nick]

Luke, I seem to be having the same prolem as Chris, I’m using a similar setup and all I get is a file corrupt icon on all of the media I try to import, when I do import it I get a black clip with a duration.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Nick Bennett

[Luke Maslen]

Hi Chris and Nick,

I eventually worked out how to get Combustion authorized (by setting the country to Singapore) and was then able to reproduce your problem.

The problem appears to occur with files previously captured to or rendered with the Blackmagic uncompressed codecs. The DeckLink v5.0 drivers no longer install our codecs and simply rely upon the Apple uncompressed codecs which are capable of reading Blackmagic 8 and 10 bit files. However Combustion appears to be looking for the Blackmagic codec and hence the problem. The problem appears to be confined to Combustion and does not affect other applications including After Effects.

While we were able to overcome your immediate problem by manually tweaking some information in the QuickTime movie header but this should not be necessary. Replacing the Apple codec with the Blackmagic codec also allowed the files to be opened. However we then found another problem where previews and renders of 10 bit movies (Apple or Blackmagic) would become corrupted when run on Tiger. We have now found other card manufacturers are experiencing the same problems.

Accordingly we have reported the problems to Autodesk and hope that they may be able to suggest a solution. In the meanwhile it appears to be necessary to use a Panther system with DeckLink v4.8 drivers in order to use Combustion 3.0.4 with 8 or 10-bit movies.

I will update this post when we know more.

Regards,

Luke Maslen
Blackmagic Design

[Chris Lambert]

i’m completely screwed. i really don’t understand why that scenario was never tested. i’ve been working on my film for two years and now i don’t see how i’m going to finish it. blackmagic just lost a lot of cool points and at least one return customer.
Chris Lambert

[Luke Maslen]

Hi Chris,

Yes it is a problem but is not caused by DeckLink cards or software. Take a Tiger system without any Blackmagic software on it. Install Final Cut Pro HD v5.0 so that you’ve got the Apple uncompressed 422 codecs installed. Now try opening any Apple uncompressed 10-bit file and you will find various problems with full or partially black frames as well as other video anomalies. This purely appears to be a compatibility issue between Combustion and Tiger and/or QuickTime 7. That’s why other card manufacturers are finding the same problem.

The Combustion v3.0.4 Readme states that it has been tested with systems up to Mac OS X 10.3.5 and I can find no claims of Tiger compatibility on the Autodesk website. ftp://ftp1.discreet.com/web/support/combustion/ReadMe_mac_c3_0_4.htm

Combustion 4 for Mac has been announced and I would guess that it would add Tiger compatibility but I haven’t seen that stated anywhere.

We’ve updated the technical note on our web site as a result of this thread.
https://www.blackmagic-design.com/support/detail.asp?techID=15

We will update it again when we receive a response to our bug report from Autodesk.

Regards,

Luke Maslen
Blackmagic Design

[Chris Lambert]

OK – your cool point shave been restored – thanks for the info
Chris

[B. Rordin]

The problem is not only with combustion. Opening Blackmagic clips in shake gives similar results.