Luke Maslen
Forum Replies Created
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Hi Jason,
Unfortunately the unit in that photo from NAB was a prototype chassis and hence the confusion. However we have only advertised and demonstrated using a single Thunderbolt port at NAB and on the website. I believe the other chassis units at NAB only had one port although I wasn’t at the show and can’t confirm that. I wouldn’t want to attempt to confirm all specifications before a product started shipping as things sometimes change. We’ll just have to wait and see what the engineers release.
Regards,
Luke Maslen
Blackmagic Design -
Hi Don,
We understand the desire for a monitor at the end of the chain and we haven’t just overlooked it. Obviously 5 external hard drives and a single monitor would use a lot less bandwidth than, say, 6 monitors all chained together as big monitors use a lot of bandwidth. The latter configuration just wouldn’t be possible without more Thunderbolt ports or even more bandwidth on each link. There were several UltraStudio 3D units at NAB and they were all shown using a single Thunderbolt port. Unfortunately the unit in that photo was a prototype chassis and hence the confusion. However we have only advertised and demonstrated using a single Thunderbolt port at NAB and on the website.
Regards,
Luke Maslen
Blackmagic Design -
Hi Michele,
Resolve for Linux is being actively developed and Resolve 8.0 is due out by June. It contains a lot of new features and enhancements. The Mac version has had more media coverage mainly because it is newer. The Mac and Linux versions have the same interface and are almost identical except for platform differences.
If you already have da Vinci-branded, Ethernet-based panels, then you may wish to stay with Linux as the older panels are still supported on Linux but not on Mac. The current DaVinci Resolve panels connect via USB 2.0.
The Resolve 7.0 software and newer do require new computer hardware and GPUs. If ongoing support of old da Vinci panels is not a consideration, then you could choose either platform as they both need new computer hardware anyway.
Resolve for Linux can provide the most power as multiple computers can be connected via Infiniband whereas Mac computers do not have Infiniband.
Resolve for Mac can run on a single Mac Pro and 3 GPUs can be installed in an external PCI Express expander. That is currently the maximum amount you can expand the hardware in a Mac but even a 2 GPU Mac system would provide more power than your older 2 GPU Linux system (with both GPUs working). The extra power is simply due to the Mac computer hardware and GPUs being newer and faster that what existed in the past.
A Resolve for Mac system will cost less than the equivalent Resolve for Linux system but the Linux system has Infiniband so it can be scaled up to 16 GPUs whereas the Mac is currently limited to 3 GPUs. If you are going to work with 4K, then a Linux system would be preferable.
The decision comes down to how much power you need now, and for the next few years, and whether you have old panels that you wish to use with the new software and computers.
I hope this helps.
Regards,
Luke Maslen
Blackmagic Design -
Hi Paul, Jason and Don,
I think that chaining a disk array to an UltraStudio 3D and then to a monitor could exceed the capacity of a single Thunderbolt link in and make it unreliable. I’m guessing that’s the same reason why we haven’t seen any monitors with two Thunderbolt ports for attaching two displays via a single Thunderbolt connection. As with any computer hardware technology, we can expect to be able to do more with it in the future as computer hardware is always becoming faster and more efficient.
It would be nice to add an external monitor but it’s already amazing that a MacBook Pro can capture and play back uncompressed 3 Gb/s SDI and even 3D through an UltraStudio 3D and a disk array. That couldn’t be done yesterday. Tomorrow you might be able to add a 4K monitor to your laptop 🙂
Regards,
Luke Maslen
Blackmagic Design -
Hi Andreas,
The 22 December 2010 edition of the DaVinci Resolve for Mac Configuration Guide is very much up to date with all the hardware we officially support and that we know works reliably. If you are performing mission-critical work, we would recommend you stick with the officially supported hardware so we can help if anything goes wrong.
There will be another update to the guide when Resolve 8.0 is released as it supports new hardware including GPUs from ATI.
Regards,
Luke Maslen
Blackmagic Design -
Hi Chris,
As Shane has mentioned, the BNC output of the camera is for composite, analog video which is standard definition. This camera does not have SDI connections so unfortunately the DeckLink SDI will not be usable with this camera.
If you want to capture high definition video, you could use the Canon DTC-1000 Component Video Cable to output HD1080i component analog video. You should already have the STV-290N Stereo Video Cable which you will still need to output left and right analog audio channels.
You could then use an Intensity Pro card to capture from the three component video and two analog audio connections. The Intensity Pro is US$199 and can be used with Mac OS X, Windows and Linux computers. As with the DeckLink SDI, it only requires a x1 lane PCI Express slot. The Intensity Pro is designed to directly connect to the consumer-type connections provided by the two Canon cables without needing any adapters or audio level adjustments. Intensity Pro also connects to HDMI video hardware so you can monitor the Canon video via a large HDMI display or even capture from cameras with HDMI output.
Regards,
Luke Maslen
Blackmagic Design -
Hi Bob,
Grant mentioned DaVinci Resolve Lite should be released about 2-3 weeks after Resolve 8 is released “before June“. So that probably means mid to late June for Resolve Lite.
Regards,
Luke Maslen
Blackmagic Design -
Hi Rémi,
I fully agree with you but it is a mammoth task. In the short term, it has been quicker to add support for specific panels than to develop the SDK, even though we would prefer an SDK. Hopefully the SDK will happen in the future but for the moment we’re adding specific device support so that it works very reliably.
Regards,
Luke Maslen
Blackmagic Design -
Hi Scott,
H.264 is full resolution codec and will store a full 1920 x 1080 pixel image. By comparison, HDV deliberately loses some of the picture and saves it at 1440 x 1080 to keep the data rate low.
HDV uses 4:2:0 chroma subsampling whereas H.264 Pro Recorder uses 4:2:2 so the color is better with H.264.
This does not mean that you should rush out and convert all your HDV material to H.264 but if you have a choice of acquiring new material in one format or the other, I would suggest choosing H.264.
Regards,
Luke Maslen
Blackmagic Design -
Hi Margus,
The link you provided for Avid Artist Color states formerly Euphonix MC Color so I think it is the same panel with a new badge. The illustrations of the panel at that link look identical to the Euphonix units at NAB. Maybe someone more authoritative can comment but that’s how it appears to me.
Regards,
Luke Maslen
Blackmagic Design