The first thing you should know is that without a SSD dock to a mac or PC, this is a boat anchor. It does nothing. You can't record because it won't format the disks. You can't read the disks from a mac or PC without the additional dock. So, out of the box, it just stares at you.We bought a blackmagic switcher (1M/e) and now a Hyperdeck Studio. Software glitches caused us to lose EVERY broadcast we tried to capture through the USB 3.0 link to the 1m/e. So, with some frustration, we bought Hyperdeck to try and keep a backup. Plugged in the drives and they need to be formatted. BUT, the machine won't format them. You need to have another part for a Mac which we don't have. Ordered it. But we have to record now, not in 3 days when the part comes. Would it have been too hard to make the hyperdeck format a drive? or for that matter, read the drive and feed to a computer? It's once again like a great machine that just doesn't quite meet the usefulness test. 5 yards short and the kick is wide.
Tried another capture using Premier instead of the included Media Express. Failed. Another firmware glitch on the 1m/e. To be fair, we're running older firmware on the switch because the new firmware has a different bug that won't let our computer inputs work. That drives our graphics.
Of course, we could buy a $30,000 graphics system and be a "real" broadcaster, instead of using FCP7 and a Mac, but why would we own a $3000 switch in that case? This system is really getting on my nerves. 3 months into it and we're still not able to use the system. We're waiting for new firmware that doesn't break the computer input. And we're waiting for a mac USB 3.0 driver so that we can capture in FCP7-more reliable and a better workflow than Premier. Maybe, if Blackmagic gets their product developed, it will be great. Let's wait and see.
Hey, both machines have an elegant design and are well-thought through. And, they have a phone number for support. So they get two stars. I'll revise this if we ever get the system working.
One thing that I love about the device is its simplicity. There aren't a bunch of menus to navigate or figure out. You plug in an HDMI or SDI source and select between them. Hit play, or record there's even a tiny monitor so you can tell what is playing. The Hyperdeck Studio handles the heavy lifting for you on formats it auto senses what you are putting into it and records exactly that. It's pretty easy.
When you've recorded your source, grab the drive and plug it into your computer (easy to do on my Mac with a Newer Technology Voyager Q NewerTech Voyager Q Quad Interface Dock for 2.5" and 3.5" Serial ATA Drives). You will definitely need something to plug the drives into your computer this device isn't going to connect in a meaningful way to your storage or storage network. Still need to sneaker-net the drives to get the files off of them hence the firewire "drive station" recommendation.
Now that you've hit record, your video and audio are now a movie file that can be dragged and dropped onto your edit drives and away you go. The new Hyperdeck Utility software recently released now also gives you ProRes as a record choice. That along with uncompressed and the Avid flavors gives you a lot of choices to work with. Then you look at the price and you are even more amazed. And since this is file based there's no worry about someone recording over your file when they go to playback. If they hit record it will simply start another clip leaving your recording untouched. that was a relief when I figured that out. I'm going to be using two of these to transport my weekly TV show this season...repacing the HDV tape that I've been running with for the past few years. I can't wait to get rid of that format in my productions.
Now there are some things these "decks" won't do...no closed caption (as of this writing) for instance, but if you are looking to take a feed or record the output of your Tricaster or simply digitize the wall of tapes that you have into editable Quicktime files then the Hyperdeck can do that.
This version isn't necessarily portable (probably not going to attach it to your camera rig) so it's not a real competitor to a Ninja or Samurai or an AJA KiPro Mini (there is a more portable version for that market Blackmagic Design HyperDeck Shuttle 2 SSD Video Recorder, 2.5" SATA SSD Drives, HD-SDI Input & Output) but each of them do similar work in different form factors.
The SSD drives you will need are a separate purchase. They can add up price wise, but are easy to clear off and reuse. I do recommend the cases Blackmagic sells for all the extra SSD drives you'll now have as well Blackmagic Design Hyperdeck SSD Solid State Drive Cover (1). One final note it's not a problem for me (I'm working in an all-Mac environment), but the SSD drives must be formatted in the Mac format just a heads up for Windows users you'll need some extra software to even get the SSD drives ready to record.
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Purchased one of these units and it does what it says it will do and pretty well. Basic functionality of Record, Play, Fast Forward/Rewind, Jog, and deck control. It has the potential to do so much more (all via programming).Pros:
Easy to setup
Works Well
SDI Input/Output
Records 16 Channels of SDI Audio
HD/SD Auto Detects Input
Uncompressed or Pro-Res
Screen to see what is being recorded/played back with Timecode and Channels 1-2 of audio.
Cons:
Cannot format drive(s) in unit
No Way to select which drive will be recorded to/played back from (need to remove drive)
Cannot Set Timecode
Does not read file timecode; creates its own timecode starting with the first file and working down the list which then changes with addition/removal of files.
Cannot Delete files from unit
Audio has to be embedded (used a Blackmagic Audio to SDI converter). Adds a few $$ (the Studio Pro resolves this (but only 2 channels))
Playback needs to be a certain format, and I haven't figure out how to do more than 2 channels of audio
Items I wish they would add:
Additional recording formats
Ability to select which drive you want to use
Add Network Capabilities (has a network jack)
Change items from menu (has buttons for a menu, just don't do anything)
Ability to delete files from unit
WOULD LOVE to be able to record on one drive and play back from another at the same time.
WOULD LOVE dual recording or playback (unit has multiple outputs of the same thing)
WOULD LOVE monitor output to have timecode overlay and possibly with audio levels
WOULD LOVE to see more than 2 channels of audio instead of just 1-2
Overall, recommended. Hoping they add a lot more functionality in the future (should be easy, the hardware is there, just need a software update).There are a few mixed reviews on the HyperDeck Studio. They range from great to not so great. I think the unit does just fine at it's intended purpose, recording a high quality master video stream straight to disk. I use mine with the recommended Crucial M4 256G SSD disks. They work great with it. 2 hours of recording time per 256gig drive. I use a Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex FireWire 800 adapter STAE102 or Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Cable USB 3.0 STAE104 to read the SSD drives. You could also use a generic 2.5" SATA dock to read the disks. You'll want to delete or format the drives after each use so that the recorder has a fresh, blank disk to record onto. There isn't any utility on the recorder to erase or format the drives.
Blackmagic recently (Q1/2013) updated the firmware of the HyperDeck adding exFAT filesystem support. This means that windows users can format and read disks natively used in the recorder. Previously the system only recognized Mac formatted disks.
Pros:
**NEW** exFAT file format support for cross platform Windows users.
Apple ProRes 422 HQ video straight to disk, other formats are available.
Built in video confidence monitor showing video format and 1+2 audio levels.
Silent, cool operation.
Auto detection and display of incoming format.
Auto spillover from one disk to another when disk 1 fills up.
HDMI and SDI outputs are both active always so you can use as a confidence output.
Very responsive record, play, FF, REW and jog controls. You could use this as an instant replay unit as the jog controller is first rate.
Cons:
No way to delete clips or format drives on recorder.
My unit recording at 720p creates new, consecutive files every 3:12 (is that a bug or a feature?) I prefer this, actually as they edit together seamlessly.
Always records 16 channels of audio regardless of if audio is present or not.
Firmware seems half baked with missing features (format and clip erase needed badly).
Ethernet port has absolutely no function (please add remote control over ethernet, Blackmagic!!!).
Some front panel buttons don't have any function.
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