Blackmagic Design IBC 2006 Update

[Tony Partamian]

Can’t find the 5.7 windows update on the site…Any link?
I’m very dissapointed not hearing on any support for XDCAM HD…i gues HDMI editing is more important.

[Luke Maslen]

Hi,

The DeckLink 5.7 Windows software is being shown at IBC and I expect it will be released very soon after the engineers return from the show when they’ve had a chance to update the documentation that goes with it. I’ll let you know if I can find out a more definite date.

In regards to XDCAM HD, you can capture and play back to XDCAM HD decks via HD-SDI just as with any other SDI-equipped decks. That means you can use any DeckLink HD-SDI card or Multibridge Extreme & Pro with it right now. If you want to acquire XDCAM HD media via Firewire and then output through DeckLink HD-SDI, then your NLE software will need to provide full XDCAM HD support. We have been in discussion with the manufacturers of video software and expect to see improved support for XDCAM HD in the near future. This will make it easier to play out via uncompressed HD-SDI.

HDMI editing is important as uses uncompressed video but at a much lower cost than traditional SDI-based systems and this means that more people can enjoy the benefits of an uncompressed workflow leading to higher quality video. However compressed formats are also very important and convenient and we are always testing the new formats as they appear including XDCAM HD.

Regards,

Luke Maslen
Blackmagic Design

[Kristian Lam]

[TPartam] “I’m very dissapointed not hearing on any support for XDCAM HD…i guess HDMI editing is more important.”

Hi,

To add on to what Luke has mentioned about NLE support for native XDCAM HD.

There are currently no XDCAM HD compatible codecs in FCP. Even if you install the Sony XDCAM HD Transfer software and use the easy setups provided by Sony, the setups actually use HDV as the compression codec which means that transcoding is still necessary.

Should FCP start supporting XDCAM HD natively (with the necessary codecs installed), we should be able to support it for real time playout as well.

regards

Kristian Lam
Blackmagic Design

[Igor Babic]

Great news BMD!
Is there any more info about Online Jpeg?
Is this SD and HD codec?
Can I capture directly to this codec from HDV/DV firewire source in PPro2?
What are compression ratios for SD and HD?
Thanks, can’t wait to try 5.7…

[Peter Corbett]

Luke,

I’m confused about the blurb for the Intensity.

“Totally eliminate HDV & DV compression quality problems, and render much cleaner graphics while retaining deeper color and image detail.”

Are you saying I can go into the field with my Sony HC1, shoot HDV then capture into my PC with Intensity at full uncompressed HD rez? I thought that once the HDV video was shot, the long-GOP compression damage was done. How can Intensity make the HDV-captured video any better?

If you mean it captures only live video out of the HDMI-equipped camera, does that mean I have to lug a workstation/server to location to plug in a domestic camera and capture uncompressed? Such a scenario would be limited to indoor event videos or rostrum camera work where you can be close to a Intensity-equipped PC. Not very realistic.

Can the Intensity operate alongside a standard Decklink in the same PC to allow monitoring to a HDMI monitor or can only one BM card operate in a PC at a time? Now that would be useful.

Peter Corbett
Powerhouse Productions
Australia
http://www.php.com.au

[Luke Maslen]

Hi,

Yes, the online JPEG codec works for SD and HD. Unlike DV and HDV codecs which have a fixed data rate, the data rate for JPEG codecs varies depending upon the content of the video. If a frame contains just a few colors, then the frame compresses more than a different frame containing many more colors. So a DV or HDV codec will “throw away” color information as it has a set data rate whereas a JPEG codec will vary its data rate to ensure that the a certain quality of color information is always retained. Both kinds of codecs have their merits but the JPEG codec will certainly provide higher quality results if you need to work in a compressed format. I will try to find out some indicative data rate results for you but one way of putting it is that you only need to capture to a single disk using the Online JPEG codec. This is very convenient if you don’t have a disk array available for uncompressed captures.

[Necemon] “Can I capture directly to this codec from HDV/DV firewire source in PPro2?”
No, you can’t capture from Firewire directly to the online JPEG codec. You need to capture from an uncompressed output, such as the SDI, analog or HDMI outputs of a camera or deck. You then choose to capture with the Online JPEG codec and that happens transparently and in real time as you capture.

Regards,

Luke Maslen
Blackmagic Design

[Luke Maslen]

Hi Peter,

Good questions!

There are two things meant by this statement. Firstly, if you are in a studio situation with a computer connected to the output of a camera with HDMI, then it is easy to capture uncompressed HD from the HDMI output of the camera.

However that’s not always possible and you will often have recorded your video to tape. If you then want to add graphics and titles to that video, there are two ways to do that:
1. Capture the HDV via Firewire and then add your text and graphics.
2. Capture from the HDMI output of the camera to an uncompressed timeline and then add your text and graphics.

The second method ensures that your text and graphics will remain crisp and precise which is great if you’re going to produce a DVD. If you capture using the first method, then graphics and text will noticably degrade in quality and you will see a clear difference on any resulting DVD.

So if you have recorded to HDV tape, then you are correct in saying that any lossy compression and artefacts have already occurred. However by capturing via HDMI to an uncompressed timeline, no further degradation will occur as you add transitions and effects or text and graphics. That’s the benefit of Intensity 🙂

I’m not yet sure about the answer to your last question but will hope to find out soon.

Regards,

Luke Maslen
Blackmagic Design

[Scott Davis]

Luke, does HDMI carry TC?

[Steve Connor]

XDCam HD will be fully supported by FCP (apart from Proxy files) in the next 30 days according to reports from IBC

[Bj Ahlen]

…specifically in FCP 5.1.2, and all bitrates will be supported (18, 25, 35 Mbps).