[Joao Velho]

This is not what Blackmagic says in their download page. It is there:

Multibridge 5.2.3 for Mac OS X
16 December 2005
This software supports Multibridge Extreme on Mac OS X, and includes all drivers and a complete instruction manual. Because Multibridge Extreme is both a converter and capture playback device, this installer also includes support for all models of Multibridge, and all models of DeckLink cards, including the new DeckLink SP PCIe card.

I understand that all models of Multibridge includes the Multibridge HD.

[ ]s

[Joao Velho]

For sure, I mean that the video input signal is not constant. Flashing from time to time, both the deck Deck Control and the Log and Capture window show the Blackmagic’s “No Video Input” message. I hope BM can identify the problem!

Thanks!

[Joao Velho]

Wow, I got this error with some Beta-SP tapes. I thought it was a problem with the recording of those tapes, something related to dropframe or the timecode track. I decided to use the capture now option, and got clips with a distinct timecode progression if compared with same segments in the tape. It hapens just with some tapes every time I try to capture from them. Sometimes I miss my old and good Media 100. It never happened when capturing from DV tapes through FireWire and DV-NTSC Easy Setup.

[Joao Velho]

It didn’t convince me. I don’t have the noise anymore.

My setup:
G5 dual 2GHz
Decklink HD
Multibridge
Sonnet SATA Tempo-X
External Array with 4 drives SATA

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[Joao Velho]

I guess I had the same issue here with a Decklink HD. I don’t remember exactly what I did, but I gess I just disabled de Video Desktop (the monitoring of the computer desktop by the Decklink) and the noise stopped. Hope it helps.
[ ]s

[Joao Velho]

Hi Luke,

As it seems that it is so important to make it work well, it would be interesting to know the best connection setup for Multibridge suggested by BM guys in a detailed description, including the reference sync signals.

Thanks,
Joao

[Joao Velho]

I guess I got a happy end for my Multibridge saga. It seems that all the problems were related to wrong connections. How it is working:
– the component output has to go to the PMV-14M4U and then to the deck (I couldn’t connect the deck because of the lack of three BNC cables – I hope it works!).
– the sync reference has to go to the deck and then to the monitor. No need of reference input to the Multibridge
– I connected the composite output and the RCA audio output of Multibridge to a SVHS deck. I am using it for monitoring the audio during edit sessions.

Doing that, the Multibridge is working perfectly well! No more “no video input”. Great product from Blackmagic. It deserves a better documentation for the connection setup. I know there is a workflow diagram showing that. The problem is that is unclear if we must have to use the component input of the monitor directly connected to the component output of Multibride, or if this is just an option. Consider a guy that don’t have a PVM model with component connections, what would he do? Well, I am happy because I guess I got my setup working, that’s what is important now. I hope there are no more problems and my experience can help others.

Thanks for your attention,
Joao

[Joao Velho]

I decided to reinstall the Tiger and everything else again. This time I installed FCP 4.5 and and then Decklink 4.8 and Multibridge 1.4. Doing that, I got the inputs. But not so easy and I spent more than 12 hours with some tricky behaviors of MB. for instance, I had problems to get a stable reference. Actually I couldn’t understand which is the best way to put everything in sync. I tried many sync configurations, including using an Horita box CSG-50, without much success. Doing that, connecting and disconnecting cables for reference signal, I lost the video input many times. The configuration that worked better was to connect the composite output of MB to the reference input of the UVW-1800. Each time I lost the video input, I had to unplug and plug the Multibridge to get the video input back. Even after all those experiences, doing the best configuration that I could get, I still had problems with the video input. From time to time, I simply lost it just running, quitting and reopening the Deck Control app. My conclusion is that, if there is no hardware problem with my MB unit, there are still a lot of work to make it really reliable and useful. I hope Blackmagic can respond quickly to this situation with new drivers! Is there someone else with problems like those that I reported?

Thanks,
Joao

[Joao Velho]

After changing the monitor resolution and playing a clip with BM Decklink coded that I had captured, I got the video output. But no audio I/O and no video input yet. Any other people having the same problem?
Thanks,
Joao

[Joao Velho]

Yep, the symptom was the same here all the times I didn’t got the in/out from the MB: “the flashing “No video input” screen like once every 3 sec on both monitors of Log and Capture window and Deck Control.
Joao