[Eric Lanouette]

David,

Thanks for sharing the links but that’s exactly what I try yesterday by changing the file extension.

The links you post don’t works now. I get an HTTP Error 404 – File Not Found…

Eric

[Eric Lanouette]

If someone have the URL for the mac version, please post them. I already try to change .zip by .dmg in the url but it doesn’t works.

Eric

[Eric Lanouette]

Andrew,

Decoding H.264 with GPU hardware acceleration off can require a lot of CPU if the file use some high profile options. H.264 Pro Recorder use high profile @ 4.0 level.

Scaling it down during playback won’t change anything to CPU use because it have to decode the whole full size picture then preform a scaling procedure. So even if you display it at the size of a stamp, it will use about the same ressources.

If you are on a Mac you can test it by recording a 1080 HD clip using the H.264 Pro Recorder then open it in the old QuickTime 7 as it didn’t use GPU hardware acceleration. Scale it down then check the CPU usage.

Eric

[Eric Lanouette]

Thank you Kristian for the reply on the situation, it’s greatly appreciated to have good news.

Now, I need to get my hands on that custom build… 🙂

Eric

[Eric Lanouette]

Guys,

Maybe all the H.264 Pro Recorder do not show theses problems but being 3 in the same situation is probably not a coincidence. I am somewhat reassured not to be alone in it. BlackMagic have to do something quick and I’m sure they will.

An other thing that scare me is that the box become really hot about 5 minutes after I plug the power cord. To avoid stressing the parts in it and shorten it life, I always unplug it after capturing content. Can you comment on that please?

@David : On my side the black levels and color balance are perfect from HDMI or component input. To my eye, they are precisely were they should be.

For now there is no nothing to do except waiting that BM fix it.

[Eric Lanouette]

Mark,

I got my H.264 Pro Recorder one week ago and I have the same glitches problem. I’m also thinking the problem is firmware related.

Like you, I note the high CPU usage that MediaExpress require to playback the content during capture. An option to disable it during the capture would be welcome in a future release of the software.

Here is a copy of the email I send to the BlackMagic tech support on August 1st and i’m still waiting for a reply :

Hello,

I just receive my H.264 Pro recorder and I already have 2 mains problems with it. I use the last Desktop Video 8.2 on Mac OS X and I updated the H.264 Pro recorder to the last firmware.

01. There is no option in Media Express to capture interlaced source, only progressive and it auto select the project format to 1080p29.97. As most of my content is broadcast 1080i59.97 fields based, a progressive capture blend the fields together causing gosting.

02. I’m unable to capture 1080p29.97 HD footage using component or HDMI without H.264 encoding artifacts as seen in screenshot01. They appears randomly and if I capture the same clip multiples time they showed at difference places. They last for about 6-14 frames and it show around 4-8 times during a 2 min capture.

Here is what I try :

– I disconnect all others devices to get the maximum bandwidth from the USB bus. No change, I still get encoding artifacts.

– I lower the bitrate from 18, 12 and 6Mbps to see if the 7200RPM hard drive in my computer could not be fast enough to handle the bandwidth from the USB bus. No change, I still get encoding artifacts.

– As my computer run Mac OS X 10.7 Lion, I booted it back to Mac OS X 10.6.8 Snow Leopard but I still get encoding artifacts.

– I use another computer with an SSD drive, I try the same things I write above but I still get encoding artifacts.

As I’m able to capture 720p59.97 content without theses artifacts I may guess the box is working correctly but it’s hardware doesn’t seems to be able to handle 1080 HD content as advertised.

I hope you will have some good news for me and that a fix is coming soon because this box is useless now as I buy it for 1080i59.97 HD encoding.

Thank you,

Eric

Update to the e-mail : 720p59.97 content also show glitches when capturing clip longer than 2 minutes.

I would say to anyone looking to buy this 500$ box to wait they fix the problem. The quality is awesome but glitches makes it useless.

Eric