Hardware:I have put together 4 SATA drives in a RAID 0 configuration that maintains a minimum of 180Mbyte/s. It's running on a 3GHz Xeon processor and 16GB of RAM. I'm using a video scaler that can basically translate the component input into (almost) any kind of HDMI signal which feeds into the Intensity's HDMI input.
Software:
This product has some good points and some issues. In an effort to be thorough I downloaded the manual several months before I bought the product. There was no mention that a software program named "Blackmagic Media Express" was included. While this program is a simple capture/replay screen, it has limitations in the configuration and setup. There are actually TWO configuration programs: 1) a control panel addition named (appropriately) "Blackmagic Control Panel" and 2) Edit->Preferences inside Media Express. The Blackmagic Control Panel selects the types on inputs and ouputs and pre and post processing. The Media Express Preferences sets captures at a) "Uncompressed 8-bit YUV" or b) "Compressed Motion JPEG".
Issue 1:
Initially I couldn't get any audio thru whatsoever. I had HDMI audio or analog audio and nothing would work. Tech Support said that this has happened to a lot of people and asked if I had on-board audio. I do. They suggested adding an audio card and turning off the on-board audio. This partially worked, but I can't use HDMI audio, only analog. And I had to buy a new audio card!
Issue 2:
I consistently had a problem with video/audio synchronization after 31 minutes of recording. You could watch the output and Media Express screens get more and more frames apart until, after 31 minutes, a message comes up and says "Frames have been dropped". Tech support has not offered any solutions, and said that they do not buffer video/audio. I can't believe that my RAID can't keep up w/ the recording of an SD signal.
Issue 3:
While I don't think that Blackmagic actually SAID that 1080p is supported, I somehow thought it was. But, after further investigation, here's what they do support:
HD 1080 PsF 23.976
HD 1080 PsF 24
HD 1080 PsF 25 (and other formats)
So any recording of 1080p 50 or 60Hz is out of the question.
Tech Support:
I've emailed them several times and they seem to wait a week to get back to me! The person explained that while the hard drive performance test shows different sample rates, it's just for show. They can only sample at 8 bits. (Aren't high bandwidth ADCs common?). After I told them that I finally got some audio thru on the audio card (see Issue 1) but that it was analog, and that HDMI audio didn't work (even though the HDTV played it perfectly), tech support provided no other diagnosis or suggestions. Also, w/ Issue 2 above tech support blamed it on my computer and had no diagnosis or suggestions.
Overall:
I can record in 1080i60 just fine. Tech support helps somewhat, but mostly you're on your own. I'm a little disappointed in the fact that they don't get involved in customers' problems more. Overall I'm still glad that I got the card, but when something better comes along I'll probably list this one on ebay.
What this review will try to do is explain my experience so far with the card with the hope that it may help someone decide whether or not to buy this card.
I am no video production/recording professional (if I were, I wouldn't be buying this card), and don't know much about video capturing/compression/encoding, but here are my impressions of the card so far:
Very easy to setup,
Very easy to use.
Other thoughts:
Blackmagic Media Express (Blackmagic Design's capture/playback software) is pretty much garbage.
As I have not tried capturing anything other than HDMI source 720p 59.94fps material, I cannot discuss any limitations for other input modes. However, for 720p 59.94fps video, the YUV capture format is HDYC (YUV 4:2:2).
The reason why I mention that the YUV format is HDYC is because this kind of limits the capture compression codecs that can be used. If you use Blackmagic Media Express in Windows, you are limited to what they call "AVI 8-bit YUV", "AVI Motion JPEG", and "DPX 10-bit RGB".
I think AVI 8-bit YUV is uncompressed HDYC capture (haven't tried it, because I use VirtualDub for capturing anyway),
I think that the "AVI Motion JPEG" capture format is pretty bad---seems to be Blackmagic's own MJPEG compression implementation, and there's no way to change any settings (e.g. quality, etc.). I tried using it once. Never again.
Have not tried DPX 10-bit.
Blackmagic Media Express does not let you use any other installed capture codecs. Thus, I recommend using VirtualDub for capturing.
Now, there does not appear to be too many compressors out there that can deal with HDYC. There's a HuffyUV modification floating around that's been edited to work with HDYC, but it apparently has a problem with proper color conversions, or something. There's some pretty ghetto workaround so that the colors aren't represented improperly, but, yeah. As a side note, I think a Japanese guy is working on a pretty nice-looking lossless compressor called Ut Video Codec that is supposed to work for HDYC capture formats at a later point, but doesn't seem to work with HDYC so far.
Also, the PicVideo M-JPEG codec does not support HDYC formats for some reason according to someone's email correspondence with AccuSoft Pegasus (just straight up no support for HDYC at the moment).
So what are you left with for HDYC capture formats? A ghetto HuffyUV mutation, uncompressed HDYC, and Blackmagic's included codecs.
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Basically, what I'm trying to say is:
Use VirtualDub for capturing.
If you're planning on getting this card for capturing HDYC format video, make sure you've got a fast as balls hard drive (i.e. RAID 0 that writes ~120MB/s) so you can capture uncompressed. Or else you're stuck with bad/ghetto compressors like Blackmagic's bad MJPEG compressor implementation or like one lossless compressor that has color issues.
(When I capture uncompressed 720p 59.94fps material, VirtualDub tells me that I'm writing at approximately 105MB/s, so aiming for a bit higher than that is probably a good idea. I don't know how fast a setup you'd need for 1080i material as I haven't tried. The Intensity Pro's manual has some estimated data rates for different input modes.)
The End.
Buy Blackmagic Design Intensity Pro - HDMI and Analog Editing Card Now
Nowhere on the official website OR on amazon.com did it mention this card would not work with the Intel i7 processor, so I went ahead and bought it. I received it in the mail and installed it in my system, but could not get it to see video or hear audio. I tried several different things, including installing it in different ports and re-installing the drivers and programs needed for this card, but to no avail. I finally resulted to calling Customer Service and as soon as I told them that I had the Intel i7 920 Nahelm CPU, they proceeded to tell me that their card does not work with the i7 line of products and that there was no way around it.So I've basically got a (probably) wonderful card sitting here waiting to be returned.
Read Best Reviews of Blackmagic Design Intensity Pro - HDMI and Analog Editing Card Here
Pros:This card does what is says it can do and then went beyond the expectations of what I had initially expected. As someone who does Live game streaming on justin tv with my xbox 360 I wanted the best in quality and the Intensity Pro was the best choice. I stream in true 720p HD (1280x720) at 59.94 frames per second. I have a Hauppauge HD PVR as well but with the Intensity pro being built as a pci card for a pc you get a lot of options. Whether you use the card for live game captures and streaming like me or plan to use another device to capture it works well. The software that comes with the Intensity Pro is pretty easy to understand granted you read the instructions and know that the card when installed has a user CP that shows up in your computers control panel. The best thing to do when you get the card is make sure you get the latest drivers from the official Black magic Pro site, which can fix a lot of issues. I had no issues getting the audio or video to appear. You just have to make sure you have the correct settings for whatever the device you are using is compatible with. For example, the xbox 360 does not run on 60fps but rather 59.94 so the moment I switched that that option I got audio and video. While I do live game streaming this doesn't mean I simply use the card to stream. I use the software's capturing as well to test it out and when I played back the video the quality was great. I also went into my Adobe After Effects with the video file as well to confirm it is compatible as a video format for composting and video editing. Overall this card has been great so far and I couldn't be happier seeing my live stream on jtv in HD with no loss of quality, the Intensity Pro does its job well.
Cons:
Since this is an internal card it is not going to work well if you buy it for an older pc. The card can use a lot of cpu power if you don't have a computer that is up to par. Luckily I have a new custom built pc (Intel i7) so this is not an issue for me but if you do plan to get this make sure you have the system requirements to run it. One other issue with the intensity pro is not so much the card itself but the software. Even in the instructions they don't clearly let the user know that the Intensity Pro has a user cp where you can change a lot of options for the card settings. In a way, half of the settings for capturing are in the control panel and the other settings are in the Media Express program that you actually use to capture your video. It's not a huge con but it can be annoying having to use both panels to make sure settings are right depending on what you are capturing.
Other Thoughts:
Before I bought this card I saw a lot of reviews that flat out said the Intensity Pro does not work with any i7 computers. This is simply not true. I have an i7 960 and a LGA 1366 x58 i7 motherboard and this card had no compatibility issues whatsoever. You just have to make sure you set everything up correctly and also have the latest drivers. It's not that hard: install the card, update drivers, make sure your device settings are correct, and bam! you are capturing sweet HD.
Want Blackmagic Design Intensity Pro - HDMI and Analog Editing Card Discount?
I bought two of these for a new rig (both cards in the same rig) I was building that is being used for an HD TV studio. I have two Sony Tripod mounted HD cameras feeding into these Blackmagic cards. The video coming from the cameras is carried through (2) 50' hdmi cables (see my other reviews). The picture quality at my computer is exactly as I see it on the HD cameras. There are no dropped frames, stuttering or lag time.I have read some reviews that bad mouth these capture cards. I can only come to one conclusion. The people writing the bad reviews don't have a clue what they are doing. If you are going to buy cards like this you need to build a computer around those cards. The reason you get dropped frames, stuttering and lag time is because you don't have a powerful enough computer it's the computer set up that is causing you the problems, not the Backmagic cards.
First, you need to get a decent mother board. Second, you need to get the right processor that the mother board is designed for. You need to put decent memory in the computer. And you need to spend a little money and buy a decent power supply unit. 90% of the time, dropped frames and stuttering are caused by an ineffecient power supply. The other 10% are an inadequate mobo, not enough RAM (or an inefficient brand outside the mobo recommended list), or poor configuration of your system.
These Blackmagic cards rock. And they will have you rockin' if you put them in a system that can handle them. Remember, "Minimum System Requirements" simply means the minimum specs you need to meet to make an item work at the lowest standards.
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