Kona SD and G5 issue

[Luke Maslen]

Hi David,

Can you please use the “Uninstall Blackmagic DeckLink” utility and then open one of the troublesome movies in to QuickTime Player. Choose to show the Movie Info so you can monitor the frame rate as it plays. Does it successfully maintain 25fps or does it slow down after some while. I found that it slowed down after 10 to 20 seconds of playback.

Regards,

Luke Maslen
Blackmagic Design

[Dejwy]

Hi Luke,
I tested playing 8-bit and 10-bit clips with and without Decklink drivers installed. In Quicktime it allways play on 25fps. (I tested 120 seconds clips lenght).

In FCP5 10-bits clips freezes after short time (about 5 seconds) playing, 8-bit clips are played sometimes without problem, sometimes they freezes after 20-30 seconds.

Only, when is Kona SD placed in top slot, 8-bit clips are played sometimes without problem. placing it in other slots come with more wrog results -> Freezes every clip.

David Krames
Czech television

[Jarrod]

Hi David, I think its a driver issue. I have tried 3 kona SD cards in 2 dual 2.0 G5’s with the exact same result. Perhaps BMD will fix this issue in future upgrades. Cards and driver will work perfectly in a G4. I use one just to output to tape until this issue is resolved. Rudy from AJA got the card and driver to work on a dual 2.7 G5 and i have heard of other reports of it working on a 2.7. This is why i feel that it’s a driver issue. do you have an older dual 2.0? I have 2 of the original Dual 2.0 and the kona SD does not work on either.

secondfloor.tv

[Luke Maslen]

Hi David,

Thanks for running the test and reporting your results.

[Dejwy] “In FCP5 10-bits clips freezes after short time (about 5 seconds) playing, 8-bit clips are played sometimes without problem, sometimes they freezes after 20-30 seconds.”

Was this test run while the Blackmagic drivers were still uninstalled? If so, this would help to narrow down the problem a lot and would be very helpful information.

Regards,

Luke Maslen
Blackmagic Design

[Dejwy]

No, driver was installed. (It is possible to get SDI output from FCP5 without Decklink drivers installed?)

First sentence (about QT) – drivers was uninstalled and installed.
Second and third sentence (about FCP and slots) – drivers was installed.

[Dejwy]

Hi Jarrod,
we have original (the oldest) Mac G5 from autumn 2003.

David
(czech-tv.cz)

[Luke Maslen]

Hi,

Thanks for your latest information. No, it isn’t possible to get SDI output through the Kona SD without the DeckLink drivers installed. However as FCP installs its own Uncompressed codecs, you should be able to play back the QuickTime movie in FCP and see it play within FCP but nothing will output on the broadcast monitor.

I’m going to make a review of all the information in this thread and see if we still regard this as purely a QuickTime problem or whether there are other factors that are compounding and confusing the issue. I’ll post back here when I know more.

Regards,

Luke Maslen
Blackmagic Design