-
Decklink HD Extreme w/ Canon HDV 24F… Feasible…?
Howdy, all:
I need a straight forward answer about this (if there is a such thing). I’ve been browsing forums and researching for many moons (and a few suns too) before I make a purchase decision. I also posted this question before in multiple forums and no answer from any of them. Please offer your help if you know or have experience with this.
I shoot most often with a Canon XH-A1 and often shoot using HDV @ 24F. I am currently using Premiere Pro 2 to capture and edit. I want to upgrade to a new capture/monitor solution. What I am currently led to believe is the best option for me price-wise and capability-wise is BMD’s Decklink HD Extreme. Lots of great reviews, very attractive product. I don’t see myself moving over to Final Cut any time soon, so Decklink HD seems to be the best option for PPro2 anyway. But with Canon’s 24F mode being a hassle, and HDV .m2t format being a pain in itself, I want to know how Decklink HD handles these in capture and in playback?
Can it capture 24F as 23.976? Or should I just keep capturing via firewire? And since PPro usually captures HDV footage as .m2t’s, can Decklink play that back to my monitor? I’ve read on boards that Decklink will not handle .m2t’s period and also that it won’t output 23.976 at 1080 – are either of these statements true? I expect the same goes for outputting back to a deck? What about downconversion with these factors?
Bottom line, is Decklink HD Extreme a feasible option with Canon XH-A1? If not, anyone have experience with the Matrox cards?
Thanks in advance for gleaning your divine knowledge upon this thread.
-
3 Replies
-
Decklink will work fine for montitoring out to an HDTV but why are you ungrading the capture process? Capturing via the firewire will give you exactly what is on the tape. I have been using FCP and shooting on the Canon XH-A1 for well over a year abd t has worked flawlessly and renders quite fast.
You can capture 23.976 via decklink if you want though. You would have to use the component dongle out of the cam to the card (the G1 has the SDI out).
You might be better off with the cheaper HDMI card as a monitoring card and continue to digitize via firewire.
All that said, I don’t use Premiere anymore but the HD Extreme card would prove beneficial for monitoring.
-
Yes, monitoring is the primary use.
As for capture, I figured it would be worth it for the future if, for instance, I had to use a different tape format (DVCPro / DigiBeta) and needed to rent a deck. Clients in the past wanted me to use their cameras to shoot with, but of course I edited on their Avid systems, so having the capability to work with those formats wasn’t an issue. But I would like the possible expandability for my own system, even if it is Premiere. Can’t afford a Symphony system, so I’m pioneering these less expensive solutions.
Now as far as monitoring, I’ve heard that the Intensity won’t output 23.976 timelines. I’m not quite clear on whether it’s that it just adds pulldown or whether it just won’t play period. Maybe it’s because of the HDMI? Hopefully you can shed some light on this.
Thanks
-
Hi Mike,
Intensity will play a 23.98 timeline (HD) but it will apply pulldown to output it at 1080i60.
regards
Kristian Lam
Blackmagic Design
Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up