[Luke Maslen]

Hi Burt,

Firstly, you mentioned difficulties with FCP5 and I notice you are running Mac OS X 10.3.9. We recommend that DeckLink customers do not use this version of Mac OS X and instead should upgrade to Tiger for use with FCP5 and DeckLink 5.0 drivers.
https://www.blackmagic-design.com/support/detail.asp?techID=60
https://www.blackmagic-design.com/support/detail.asp?techID=89
https://www.blackmagic-design.com/support/detail.asp?techID=68

In regards to the 8-bit codecs, we have replaced our Blackmagic 8 and 10-bit uncompressed codecs with Apple’s codecs. We have done this on the request of Apple as this should avoid some technical problems with QuickTime in the future. There is a technical note about this at https://www.blackmagic-design.com/support/detail.asp?techID=78. It’s a long note so you might want to skip to the sections regarding FCP 4.5 and FCP 5.0.

I’m not sure why you might see a message that the Blackmagic 8-bit codec cannot be found. The Blackmagic 2vuy and Apple 2vuy codecs are written to the same 2vuy standard and either codec should be able to read both Blackmagic and Apple 8-bit 2vuy files. We still install the older Blackmagic 8 bit 2Vuy codec for older files and this is documented in the long technical note. Please take a look at it as it explains a lot. Hopefully it is reasonably clear but please let me know if anything requires clarification.

Regards,

Luke Maslen
Blackmagic Design

[Luke Maslen]

Hi,

The great thing about all DeckLink cards is that they capture uncompressed video from your Digibeta. That means you can capture and edit in uncompressed 8 or 10-bit video without introducing compression artefacts which happens with any compressed format including DV.

All DeckLink cards include RS-422 deck control so just connect this to your Digibeta so you can control it. We have our own RS-422 plug-in to Premiere Pro 1.5.1 so you can control the deck from within Premiere which is great for things like batch capture.

Uncompressed video needs more disk space than the DV so you will need some kind of disk array. At a minimum, you would need two SATA disks in a RAID 0 format for 10-bit uncompressed standard definition video.

However you can also use the DeckLink card to capture from the Digibeta and store the files in the DV format if you are using Premiere Pro. This is great for saving space when working offline. When you have finished editing and applying effects, you can export an EDL and then recapture the online version in an uncompressed format. This is great for maximum quality video when disk space is limited.

You can move DeckLink-captured movies back and forward between Premiere Pro and After Effects. You can preview out of Premiere Pro and we also support RAM preview out of After Effects directly to the broadcast monitor.

You only need SDI connections for your Digibeta and could go with the entry level DeckLink card which is only US$295. This has an SDI monitoring output which you could connect to an SDI broadcast monitor or else to a digital-to-analog convertor and then to a inexpensive analog monitor.

If you have an analog monitor but do not have a digital-to-analog convertor, then you should consider the US$595 DeckLink Pro. It is the same as the entry level DeckLink card but also has analog video monitoring so you can use it with a component or composite analog TV. It also includes Genlock if you need that too.

If you need to use older analog decks, such as Betacam SP, then the DeckLink Extreme is a good choice as it has both analog and SDI connections.

It’s a good idea to check out our Windows minimum system requirements at https://www.blackmagic-design.com/support/detail.asp?techID=47. In particular, check out the inexpensive dual core systems which can be used with DeckLink standard definition cards and only require a 32 bit PCI slot. They are very attractively priced. https://www.blackmagic-design.com/support/detail.asp?techID=47#DualCore

Please let me know if you have any further questions.

Regards,

Luke Maslen
Blackmagic Design

[Luke Maslen]

Hi Ian,

I’m not sure if your problem is related to the DeckLink 4.8 drivers or not. Can you please try the following pre-release drivers and let me know if they help?

https://www.blackmagic-design.com/downloads/software/seed/DeckLink_Macintosh_v4.8.1b4.zip

Regards,

Luke Maslen
Blackmagic Design

[Luke Maslen]

Hi Jason,

For SDI Audio Sampling, DeckLink cards use the television standard sample rate of 48 kHz and 24 bit. We recently added that to the specifications information at https://www.blackmagic-design.com/products/sd/specs/.

Regards,

Luke Maslen
Blackmagic Design

[Luke Maslen]

Hi Rory,

I’m not sure what’s causing your problem and here is what I tried.

I erased a disk and installed Tiger and then used Software Update to install all of the updates including Mac OS X 10.4.2. I then installed Shake 3.5 and then Shake 4.0. I then installed Final Cut Studio and then used Software Update to install all of the latest updates. This took several hours but at every stage I tested and found that the FileIn node showed the thumbnail preview of the movie. Finally I installed the DeckLink 5.0 drivers and it continued to work. Therefore I don’t think the drivers are the cause of your problem.

However, before I started all this, I had two hard disks in the G5, each running Mac OS X 10.3.8, QuickTime 6.5 Pro, Shake 3.5, Final Cut Pro HD 4.5 and DeckLink 4.8 drivers. When I started up from one disk, the FileIn node successfully showed the thumbnail preview of the movie and I was able to play the movie without problems. When I started up from the other disk, the FileIn node failed to show a thumbnail preview of the movie and nothing I tried overcome the problem.

I’m going to contact Apple and ask what might cause the thumbnail preview to be replaced with a gray icon. I can only guess that it is some kind of preference somewhere but I don’t really know. I will let you know what I find out.

Meanwhile if you are desperate and need a solution right now, you might consider starting off with a fresh install of everything as I did. This will eliminate any remnant components from previous systems which might be causing a problem.

Regards,

Luke Maslen
Blackmagic Design

[Luke Maslen]

Hi Liam,

If you have any DeckLink HD series card, and you configure it to receive one format (eg 1080/23.98) but the deck is outputting a different format (eg 1080/29.97) then you will see the No Video Input message. This is a little confusing because there really is video input but it is not in the expected format and so the card reports no video.

Please check that the format of the tape, and the settings on the deck, match the easy setup you have chosen in FCP. If you still cannot see video in L&C, quit from FCP and launch Deck Control. Select the appropriate easy setup from its preferences and then see if video appears in its capture window, ie the right-hand window.

Regards,

Luke Maslen
Blackmagic Design

[Luke Maslen]

Hi Chris,

Are you experiencing a problem. If so, please post it so we can check it out.

Regards,

Luke Maslen
Blackmagic Design

[Luke Maslen]

Hi Richard,

Yes, you are absolutely correct 🙂

Regards,

Luke Maslen
Blackmagic Design

[Luke Maslen]

Hi Ray,

Thanks for posting your information.

There is a brief paragraph regarding No batch capture of a 5.1-channel clip in the technical note named Premiere Pro 1.5.1 caveats with DeckLink v5.1 at https://www.blackmagic-design.com/support/detail.asp?techID=108.

Another related technical note is 5.1 Surround Sound Support which is located at https://www.blackmagic-design.com/support/detail.asp?techID=31.

Regards,

Luke Maslen
Blackmagic Design

[Luke Maslen]

Hi Rory,

Which version of Shake are you using? Does the problem affect compressed clips (eg DV, PhotoJPEG, DVCPRO HD) as well as uncompressed clips? I’ll test this out for you when I know which version you are running.

Regards,

Luke Maslen
Blackmagic Design