Performance and audio issues

[Luke Maslen]

Hi,

In regards to the 12 channels of audio, please refer to the support note 2 channel stereo capture in Final Cut Pro HD 5.0. This will solve that problem.

Then see if the Log & Capture windows takes a long time to open. If so, quit out of FCP and launch Blackmagic Deck Control. Can it capture without problems?

Please update to Final Cut Pro HD 5.0.3, QuickTime 7.0.3 and DeckLink 5.1.2 drivers and see if the problem goes away. Use Mac OS X 10.4.2 or newer. Does this help?

If not, please test with some other formats. For example, if you have chosen a Blackmagic NTSC 10-bit timeline, try a Blackmagic NTSC DV timeline and let me know if the delay still occurs in Log & Capture.

What model of G4 or G5 are you using and how much RAM is installed?

Regards,

Luke Maslen
Blackmagic Design

[Joaquin Elizondo]

Thanks for responsing, Luke!

I solved the audio issue, but it didn’t make opening the Log and Capture window any faster. I quit FCP and then captured material using Deck Control without any problems.

I have upgraded all of my software to the latest versions. I did want to check, though, if having Deck Control 5.1 means that I have installed the latest Blackmagic drivers. I did so much upgrading yesterday…got confused.

I tested other Easy Setups in FCP and it did not change the Log and Capture issue.

Equipment specs are: PowerMac G5, Dual 2.5 GHz, 2.5 GB DDR SDRAM

Here is what happens when I open Log and Capture: It takes approxiamtely 11 seconds to open (as opposed to instantly with a FireWire capture). Once the window opens, I get a quick ‘green’ flash, followed by a Blackmagic ‘No Video Input’ flash, and then it goes to black. Once I hit play the video shows up. On another note, the Audio/Video Settings (in the upper FCP menu) window takes a bit to open…approximately 4 seconds. I’ve also been getting some Dropped Frames warnings. Has not happened a lot though…once yesterday, and once today.

I would appreciate your help, Luke. Thanks again!

[Luke Maslen]

Hi,

Thanks for your answers and you have found out everything I wanted to know. Based upon what you have told me, it appears the problem is confined to Final Cut Pro for some unknown reason. Here are some tests which should help to overcome the problem.

1. Maybe your FCP project has a problem. Close the current project and create a new project. Now open Log & Capture and see if the delay disappears. If not, proceed to step 2.

2. Maybe there is a preference that is causing a problem. The Final Cut Pro preferences cache some information and it is possible this preference file is the cause of some problems. Accordingly, create a new Admin account on your Mac. Then log in to that test account, select a Blackmagic easy setup, create a new project and then open Log & Capture and see if the delay disappears. If not, proceed to step 3.

3. There aren’t many obvious possibilities left now but it is possible that Final Cut Pro HD itself is misbehaving and should be reinstalled. You will need to delete the FCP application and then install FCP 5.0 and apply the latest FCP 5.0.3 upater. When finished, reinstall the latest DeckLink drivers.

Hopefully one of these steps will pinpoint your problem. Don’t worry if the version number for Deck Control is still v5.1. It is only the drivers that have been updated to v5.1.2 but not the utilities are still at v5.1.

Please let me know how you go.

Regards,

Luke Maslen
Blackmagic Design

[Joaquin Elizondo]

Luke:

So I tried everything you mentioned and nothing worked. The Log and Capture window only opens instantly if I choose an Easy Setup that does not involve the Blackmagic card. I don’t know what is going on. Do you have any other ideas?

[Luke Maslen]

Hi,

Thanks for running these tests. In reviewing your answers, I found that there was one answer which I still need and which I could not find in this thread.

Please quit out of FCP and launch Blackmagic Deck Control. Can it capture without problems? Does it show any delay when you set it to capture?

Regards,

Luke Maslen
Blackmagic Design

[Joaquin Elizondo]

Luke:

I captured both audio and video using Deck Control and here is what happens: When I open the app, the playback screen shows a green flash, followed by a Blackmagic ‘No Video Input’ flash. Once I hit play I can see and hear my audio and video. I set my in and out points on the capture controls, hit ‘Get Clip’ and it starts to capture. But I cannot see my clip while it’s being captured. I can only see it AFTER it has been captured…and it plays back with no audio. There aren’t any delays that I am aware of.

I worked on a project using FCP and material I captured through the Blackmagic and throughout my session I felt that the system was somewhat slow. Everything I did, from moving clips around to clicking on menus…the app just seemed slow and my computer felt like it was struggling (things were going nuts inside my machine). I’m not sure if this is normal, but like I said…this doesn’t seem to happen when I work with stuff that I captured without the Blackmagic.

One more thing I wanted you to know…we are connected to a Grass Valley server here were we sometimes get material to work on. The recent project I completed DID NOT use any material from the server, though. Just wanted to let you know.

Thanks again, Luke!