Blackmagic Design release version 5.0 for MAC and Windows updates

[Aaron Neitz]

So does this mean the Decklink HD cards can now downconvert DVCPROHD 720p to NTSC/PAL?

[Yves De muyter]

I have been trying this release. I don’t have the impression it works like it should be:
1. Created a new project, with the BMD DV PAL preset 4:3
2. I captured some footage that aired yesterday from a BetaCam SX, SDI
3. I moved the captured media to the timeline in premiere. When I run the timeline, it seems like the fields have inverted (lower-field/upper field mixed).
4. I exported that media back to tape. The fields were inverted !!!! So it’s not that the “preview” has this fields problem, which would be understandable for a CPU-load perspective, but it is also like this when you dump to tape.

When I try to invert the fields, to make things right again, it doesn’t work until I force the media to re-render. As soon As I try some effect on it, the effect itself clearly shows inverted fields.

I tried different approaches to invert the fields:
1. right-click and in the field options, reverse field order. Doesn’t do a thing, until I apply a null-effect (an effect that does nothing) that forces the rendering of the clip
2. move the clip 1 pixel up. This makes the clip RED but it plays. In this case, it doesn’t play right, fields are still wrong. When I render this clip, fields become right.
NOT GOOD

Now, I thought it would be some “even-odd”-fields problem, So i tried to modify the BMD DV-preset to set it to Upper-fields:
– Captured media has the fields inverted again. That means a “forced” rerender of media again. So far for realtime FX…
– FX seem to work OK in this case

Lastly, I tried one of the uncompressed presets. DV footage can be added to the timeline without rendering. So good so far, but that DV-footage has fields inverted again, for both media from the 2 fore-mentioned cases. (that means the upper-fields setting captures DV in lower-fields mode!!!!!!!) To make fields correct again, the media has to be rerendered, so we’re back at the feature-set of 4.8.1 …….

-Yves

[Wolf]

Hi,

i have the same problem: DV seems field inverted in preview monitor and timeline monitor.
(There seems a really problem with DV Encoder, first with field inverted and 2. when i use effects like
changing speed or sapphire effects…DV footage don

[Yves De muyter]

> And i have a third problem: when i capture from tape the output from
> decklink (composite or component, both) does flikkering! When i
> close the capturing window the preview output is okay.

While capturing, the SDI output is a real mess, the first field is down by 1/3, the second field is down by 2/3, giving a very funny interlaced picture. It’s not recorded like this on disk so it’s not a real problem.

Decklink extreme, HP wx8000, 2×130 GB SCSI, 2 GB of RAM, PPro 1.5

-Yves

[Matt Dowling]

Hi Charlie,

Unfortunately there is currently not a DVCPRO HD codec for XP.
We will be doing some more downconversion in the release after next.

Cheers,

Regards,

Matt
Blackmagic Design

[Matt Dowling]

Hi Yves,

[Yves De Muyter] “have been trying this release. I don’t have the impression it works like it should be:
1. Created a new project, with the BMD DV PAL preset 4:3
2. I captured some footage that aired yesterday from a BetaCam SX, SDI
3. I moved the captured media to the timeline in premiere. When I run the timeline, it seems like the fields have inverted (lower-field/upper field mixed).
4. I exported that media back to tape. The fields were inverted !!!! So it’s not that the “preview” has this fields problem, which would be understandable for a CPU-load perspective, but it is also like this when you dump to tape.

We have not seen this in house (i am not disbelieving you are seeing it)

When I try to invert the fields, to make things right again, it doesn’t work until I force the media to re-render. As soon As I try some effect on it, the effect itself clearly shows inverted fields.

Ok that maybe a bug – will get the guys to check further into that.

I tried different approaches to invert the fields:
1. right-click and in the field options, reverse field order. Doesn’t do a thing, until I apply a null-effect (an effect that does nothing) that forces the rendering of the clip
2. move the clip 1 pixel up. This makes the clip RED but it plays. In this case, it doesn’t play right, fields are still wrong. When I render this clip, fields become right.
NOT GOOD

Now, I thought it would be some “even-odd”-fields problem, So i tried to modify the BMD DV-preset to set it to Upper-fields:
– Captured media has the fields inverted again. That means a “forced” rerender of media again. So far for realtime FX…

The preset for PAL needs to be lower field, NTSC is always lower regardless of DV or uncompressed.

– FX seem to work OK in this case

Lastly, I tried one of the uncompressed presets. DV footage can be added to the timeline without rendering. So good so far, but that DV-footage has fields inverted again, for both media from the 2 fore-mentioned cases. (that means the upper-fields setting captures DV in lower-fields mode!!!!!!!)

DV PAL has to be lower field – unfortunately it is just how the spec for DV PAL was made.

To make fields correct again, the media has to be rerendered, so we’re back at the feature-set of 4.8.1 …….”

In any case i will get the guys to check into this further and get back to you.

Cheers,

Regards,

Matt
Blackmagic Design

[Yves De muyter]

> DV PAL has to be lower field – unfortunately it is just how the spec for DV PAL was made.

I know there is this spec. I also know that for example AVID can capture DV in upper fields no matter what the spec says, just to create less headaches in mixed avid-environments for people who know what they are doing.
I can understand you don’t supply a DV PAL preset with upperfields so people don’t go the wrong way. I don’t understand that, if I tell it to do upperfields, it doesn’t do that.

-Yves

[Accountneedsrealnameupdate]

I know I asked about this before but we are not happy that we need to use the apple codec from now on, it’s a real pain as we have a lot of windows boxes for compression, 3d and compositing and I’m not looking forward to the need to transcode everything we capture so they can use it. Also we’ve had a lot of trouble in the past with luma shifts when introducing non yuv media into an apple timeline, we managed to fix it with the Blackmagic codec but not using the apple one.
Anyone else in the same boat?
Glenn Stewart
1K studios

[Rahni]

There is following solution:
Just mark “change fieldorder” under the fieldoptions on the clip in the timeline and
under “render options” mark the second one. I dont know the syntax of the english version,
in german it says:
“Halbbilddominanz umkehren”
and
“Aufeinanderfolgende Frames auf Halbbilder verteilen”.
The DV-clip plays smoothly without rendering/red bar with this method.

good luck

rahni

[Yves De muyter]

[rahni] “There is following solution:
Just mark “change fieldorder” under the fieldoptions on the clip in the timeline and
under “render options” mark the second one. I dont know the syntax of the english version,
in german it says:
“Halbbilddominanz umkehren”
and
“Aufeinanderfolgende Frames auf Halbbilder verteilen”.
The DV-clip plays smoothly without rendering/red bar with this method.

good luck

rahni”

Rahni,

I tried this. It does not work until I force a rerender.
Also, whenever i try to add an effect, it is clear that the effect does not play correctly. Probably there is nothing wrong with the effect, it is supposed to be lower-field (PAL DV is lower-field), and the decklink is upperfield. There is something wrong with the field-order-swap the decklink is supposed to do on playout.

-Yves