DECKLINK EXTREME & RESOLVE ARE IN THE HOUSE

Jan 3

I have a new podcast sponsor…Blackmagic Design. So that means that very soon, like this week, THE EDIT BAY podcast will be starting up again. Bi-Monthly. And due to this sponsorship, I have some new equipment to play with: A Decklink Extreme 3D capture card and RESOLVE. And to ensure that RESOLVE works, I also added an NVidia GTX 280 graphics card. Things are quite tight…double wide GFX card, and a two slot capture card (HDMI uses up a slot).

Anyway, I started out my capture card ownership with a Decklink SD card…but then move on to an AJA Kona LH card, then used the Kona 3…then the Matrox MXO 2 and MXO2 Mini. So for at a few years I have used the AJA Kona cards, and for a couple of years I used the MXO 2…and I feel that I know both systems very well. It is time that I kicked the tires on Decklink and see how things go with them. Plus, I want to see how RESOLVE might fit into my workflow, especially since I use Avid quite a lot recently.

I like being well rounded…and able to give honest working opinions on hardware and software. So let’s see how this year goes.

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Comments

Andy

January 3rd, 2011 at 4:24 AM

I thought you started out with an Aurora Pipe Pro … didn’t you win it at a Supermeet or something? My copy of Resolve is still in the shrinkwrap, outrageous eh? But no tower here to install it on sadly, only the trusty MBP. Will you be getting the GPU expansion chassis and testing the multi-GPU support that just came in with the recent update? That would be v. cool. Either way, very much looking forward to reading your thoughts on the new BMD card and Resolve combo over the coming months mate.

Cheers
Andy
shaneross

January 3rd, 2011 at 11:18 AM

SHOOT! You’re right! I did get the Pipe Pro. I won it from the Creative Cow. Unfortunately I didn’t get to use it much at all. Everything professional I worked on was HD at the time, and it was only SD. I did capture some SD for personal reasons, and to test it out. And it was the cleanest codec out there. But, only in SD. They never came out with an HD card. Too bad, I would have stuck with them.

I will not be getting the expansion chassis. I am an editor who color corrects, not a professional colorist. I won’t even be getting the interface panels.
Tom Daigon

January 3rd, 2011 at 6:37 PM

So how does Blackmagics sponsorship influence your honest impartial review of equipment that we have come to expect from you, especially theirs? Should we just assume that rather than losing a sponsor you will be biased in their direction?
shaneross

January 3rd, 2011 at 8:50 PM

Having Blackmagic as a sponsor enables me to get access to the gear so that I can test it and use it in real life situations. In all the places I have been hired to work, they have had AJA cards. One place had Decklink hardware, but I was only there for a day, so I didn’t really get to play with it. I own the MXO 2, so I know what it can do. I plan on using the Decklink hardware for a while so that I can run it through the paces and see what it offers in real world situations. And I fully intend to give truthful accounts of my experiences.

FYI, I have been hired to work the booth at NAB by both AJA and Matrox. Them paying me didn’t in any way influence my thoughts on their products. I fully express my likes and issues with their products.

– I like the MXO2, but really don’t like the form factor. Connections on both sides of the unit is really awkward. But, I like how it performs.

– I like the AJA Kona 3, but it lacks Analog input, that I really need. The Kona LHi has this, and the upconvert capabilities that I need, but the embedded audio in SDI is only 8 channels…I need 16. So neither product does exactly what I need. Thus my like of the MXO2…even with the form factor issues I have.

– Decklink Extreme 3D…I really dislike that there is no RCA outputs like the Kona and Matrox cards have…XLR only, so I must run this through my mixer in order to hear it, AND to route it through to analog decks. And if I use the HDMI connections, I lose a PCIe slot…and I really don’t want to. This means I lose either eSATA, or my SAS connection to my large raid…and I don’t like that at all. So either lose a RAID connection, or lose HDMI out. And i use HDMI for client monitoring. Pain in the patoot. BUT, the HDMI out matches the SDI out so well, it is amazing. Better than the MXO2 does.

Little Frog in High Def

DECKLINK EXTREME & RESOLVE ARE IN THE HOUSE

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