Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Cannot connect HPX to computer through BlackMagic Decklink HD Extreme

T

TJridings

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 18, 2010
14
0
I'm trying to log and capture using Final Cut Pro and I cannot get the computer to pick up a signal from the camera. Settings all match. Cable works with other equipment. Any ideas?
 
More information could be helpful.

What Mac,
Mac OS X version,
Final Cut Pro version,
BlackMagic version,
what cable,
Panasonic - HPX 170?

Did it work before?

Why don't you use Log & Transfer?
 
More Info.

What Mac: Mac Pro purchased July 2009
Mac OS X Version: 10.5.8
Final Cut Pro Version: 7.0.1
BlackMagic Version: Decklink HD Extreme 3 7.2
Cable: Coaxial SDI
Camera: Panasonic AG-HPX 170P

Did it work before? Yes. Unfortunately I was not the one who got it to work.

Why don't you use log & transfer? I am trying to capture live straight from the camera.

Let me know if you need any further information. Thank you!
 
What settings exactly are you using w/FCP (is it setup to capture from an uncontrollable device)? Have you tried using Blackmagic's capture program? Is the camera setup to send out SD or HD via SDI?


Lethal
 
Final Cut Pro settings

Sequence Preset: BlackMagic HDTV 720p 60-10 bit
Capture Preset: BlackMagic HDTV 720p 60-10 bit
Device Control Preset: BlackMagic HDTV 720p 60
Video Playback: BlackMagic HDTV 720p 60Hz-RGB (1280x720)
Audio Playback: BlackMagic Audio

Camera settings

REC Format: 720p/60p
SDI Out: ON


I have not tried BlackMagic's capture program. Final Cut Pro is the preferred program for capturing.
 
Holy ****. I think that worked. Thank you very much! Wont be able to test it until tomorrow, but hopefully it works.
 
It did work! Unfortunately it will only capture for about 10 seconds. It reports dropped frames and aborts the capture. I was able to capture about 5 seconds worth but when I try to play it back it drops frames too. A warning pops up and says:

RT Extreme has determined these dropped frames were caused by slow disks. Please try:
- Increasing the speed of your disks.
- Decreasing the number of RT layers.
- Limiting your RT bandwith in user preferences.

I could not figure out how to do any of these suggestions. I could not find where to "limit my RT bandwith" in User Preferences.

Any insight would be appreciated. Thanks to all who helped to get me this far!
 
Glad that worked. Broadcast video frame rates in NTSC countries are never whole numbers. 30 is really 29.97, 60 is really 59.94, and 24 is really 23.976.

As for your dropped frames, unless you have a really fast RAID you aren't going to be able to capture uncompressed HD. What kind of storage are you using? Try using ProRes (regular, not HQ) and if that doesn't work you should have no problems using DVCPro HD.


Lethal
 
I changed the settings from 10-bit to 8-bit and I am able to capture with no problems. Play back is still dropping frames.
 
I can't seem to get any sound. Is there a way to pick up sound through the BlackMagic card?
 
Forget that last audio question for now. For some reason I am having trouble capturing again. It will capture for about 5 seconds and then it drops frames and aborts the capture. I changed nothing. When it was doing this before I changed the settings from 10 bit to 8 bit and I was able to capture with no drop frames. It is still set to 8 bit but is having the same problem again.
 
TJridings said:
I can't seem to get any sound. Is there a way to pick up sound through the BlackMagic card?
Click to expand...
Are you trying to listen to a clip you've already captured or are you trying to listen to the sound while you are capturing?


TJridings said:
Forget that last audio question for now. For some reason I am having trouble capturing again. It will capture for about 5 seconds and then it drops frames and aborts the capture. I changed nothing. When it was doing this before I changed the settings from 10 bit to 8 bit and I was able to capture with no drop frames. It is still set to 8 bit but is having the same problem again.
Click to expand...
What kind of storage are you using and how full are the drives?


Lethal
 
This may sound like a stupid question, but how do I figure out what kind of storage I'm using and how full the drives are?
 
TJridings said:
This may sound like a stupid question, but how do I figure out what kind of storage I'm using and how full the drives are?
Click to expand...
Are you using internal or external HDDs? If you are using internal drives they will be SATA drives and you should be putting the media on a drive, or drives, dedicated to media storage. You should not be putting media on the same drive that has the OS and your applications on it.

If you are using external HDDs what make and model are they and how are they connected to your machine (USB, FW400, FW800 or eSATA)?


Lethal
 
I am using internal drives. My scratch is quite full also. Working on makeing some more space.
 
I changed my settings in final cut from:

Blackmagic HDTV 720p 59.94 - 8 bit

to

Blackmagic HDTV 720p 59.94 - JPEG

It captures without dropping frames using this setting. What is the difference between 8 bit and JPEG? It looks fine to me.
 
TJridings said:
Blackmagic HDTV 720p 59.94 - 8 bit
Click to expand...
Uncompressed

Blackmagic HDTV 720p 59.94 - JPEG
Click to expand...
Compressed

Photo-JPEG at 75% though (which is what the setting defaults to AFAIK) is supposed to look as good, or nearly as good, as uncompressed from what I've read.

I don't think Photo-JPEG is a 'blessed' codec though which means it's not support by Apple's RT Extreme engine which means everything you do, besides cuts, will have to be rendered.


Lethal
 
Very good to know. thanks! Something is still off because that seems to be the only setting that works. But that is fine for now.
 
I have tried both and cannot get them to work. Which leads me to believe there is something off with the Blackmagic card.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back