This IS the Avid L2: Re: [Avid-L2] Is there a new BlackMagic Desktop Video Driver that eliminates the 1 Frame offset on Digital Cut?

Saturday, August 2, 2014

Re: [Avid-L2] Is there a new BlackMagic Desktop Video Driver that eliminates the 1 Frame offset on Digital Cut?

I had similar chats with AJA high ups or highest ups. The 3:2 pulldown preset was a complete disaster and they admidted the same issues you mentioned. I did some pretty extensive FCP 7 Frame Accuracy testing several years back and I found that in my simple basic tests 23.98 and 29.97/59.94 were frame accurate both with and without sync. Of course I always use sync when available. My tests were of simple burn in time code captures and I forget what the codec I was using but I did SD and HD tests. I realized later that even though my simple tests were acting repeatable and reliable on the small scale they probably weren't representative of how an actual timeline would respond in real use. At least I got it to behave accurately using the Sony B preset. The Sony A preset acted much like this BlackMagic Card is doing. The difference was that unlike Avid holding the black frame FCP 7 with a Kona 3 would hold the first frame of video which would give you a doubled frame at the insert edit. That was more insidious because it was easily unnoticed at the time whereas the Avid black frame at least stands out as an issue. Reminds me of what I was told years ago that in Japan they didn't black and code tapes they would stripe them with color bars so that any missed edits would show a flash of bars. Clever but I think I'd rather risk a black frame getting by then a Bars frame but I do see the logic in it.

I know others have posted the the Blackmagic cards work correctly with other software so there is something different happening with Avid. Now the solution is so simple to me, just bump the timeline roll a frame early and the problem is gone, which is what the Sony B preset does with a Kona 3. That can't be hard to do just tell some part of the food chain to offset a frame. Avid has a digital cut offset for DV capture and output. I tried that here just to see but no dice. I assume that confirms that Digital Cut offset in the deck preferences only effect 1394 capture and output. So how do you sell a video card as working with Avid when it can't do a digital cut. Granted I have my Nitris DX but if AJA can do it why doesn't blackmagic get with the program? Oh wait AJA acts like a real professional company and answers the phone and promptly resolves equipment problems like the GVG folks do because in broadcast that is required by the clients. While blackmagic has done some amazing things with breaking barriers the service side is not one of them. Saying they are better than Apple service isn't a glowing endorsement of them.

---In Avid-L2@yahoogroups.com, <cutandcover@...> wrote :

What you're talking about is frustrating. And, FYI, there is NO solution to frame accurate editing with FCP. After years of battling that, I finally got AJA to admit that every attempt they put out there to fix it was like using buckets on a sinking ship. Hopeless. So thankful I haven't experienced it with Avid, with both Nitris DX/Keyspan and AJA KONA and IO Express. I don't have any Avid/Blackmagic systems in house, so I can't test those.

Blackmagic Media Express comes with every Blackmagic card. I wonder if you can narrow down the problem by testing to see if laying off to tape from that application is frame accurate. If so, then it's some Open I/O + Blackmagic bug going on.

On Sun, Aug 3, 2014 at 1:33 AM, bigfish@... [Avid-L2] <Avid-L2@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

I tried control through the blackmagic card and I get the same black frame. So everything is acting just like has previously been reported. Now as already mentioned there may be many other issues between Avid and Blackmagic but this right here is unworkable for anyone using tape. It ain't dead yet in my world. I have been using two blackmagic cards, an sdi and a 4K card at work for HD capture and they seemed to be capturing frame accurately. Time to contact my friend who uses Blackmagic's SDK and gets into the coding of stuff in BM's Desktop something or other coding/configuring app. If AJA can have two presets that get around this in the old FCP 7 world it seems like a pretty simple fix. It would be like how Sony has the time code sense on the decks doing cross and frame rate conversions offsetting the RS-422 time code the necessary amount to achieve an in sync capture of the tape media.

---In Avid-L2@yahoogroups.com, <bigfish@...> wrote :

I just found the extra cable I need to try what you suggest. I'll report what I find soon. Man it's Saturday night and my daughter is at a sleepover. I've got an SRW-5500 to test frame accuracy with. I sure know how to live it up on the weekend!!!