Blackmagic Intensity Shuttle doesn't report dropped frames

[metaleonid]

I have been doing captures from my LD player using 3 different devices (2 of them simultaneously).

One workflow:
LD-S2 Composite out -> DMR ES-25 Component out -> Blackmagic Intensity Shuttle for Thunderbolt

2nd workflow:

LD-S2 S-Video out -> Diamond VC500

3rd workflow:

LD-S2 Composite out -> ATI HD 750 PCIe.

The 1st 2 were usually done simultaneously. Then I would do the 3rd one.

Captures from VC500 and ATI HD 750 PCIe perfectly matched. But it turned out that in one hour of video capture BM dropped frames without informing the user and without inserting the previous frames. 2 captures I did were fine (one was an hour and another one was 25 minutes). 2 other captures had 2 lost frames each. 2 captures resulted in 4 dropped frames and one capture resulted in 8 dropped frames.

And the thing is that without notification there's no way to find out about these dropped frames unless the user does parallel capture like I do. Seriously if you capture the video, how would you know if you are short of a few frames? One thing is that the sound is kept synchronized though. I noticed is that if I lose 4 frames, the the overall sound is shorter by about 128 milliseconds.

I just informed the support about this problem. But if you are considering this device, you should be aware of the problem.

[juhok]

What software? With VirtualDub and Blackmagic Decklink Studio card it depends of the timing settings etc.

[metaleonid]

For VC500 and ATI HD 750 PCIe, I used VirtualDub on Windows XP. For Blackmagic Intensity Shuttle I used Media Express on my MAcBookPro.

I will have to do further research on it, but it looks like it wasn't Blackmagic Intensity Shuttle fault. I am now almost certain that it was Panasonic DMR-ES25 fault. I recently placed Panasonic DMR-ES25 between my VCR and LifeView FlyVideo 3000FM capture card to serve as TBC. I noticed skipped frames. I will dig further and will let you know my findings.

[lordsmurf]

What was your conclusion on these Panasonic DMR-ES25 tests?

I've always said that the Panasonic DVD recorder units used for passthrough were NOT transparent and had side effects. Therefore these were NOT suggested for being a general TBC. They were the best solution for certain errors, but it certainly was not a ideal deck beyond that.

Panasonic was NOT known to make good recorders, and the passthrough side effects -- that I found all those years ago, and told everyone everywhere -- was simply a fluke.

[metaleonid]

Lordsmurf, sorry! I missed your post back in the day.

One word. It sometimes has posterization artifacts. Other than that it's ok. I did capture with this from both VHS (S-Video to S-Video) and LaserDisc (composite to component). I can send you snippets of this compared to alternative versions of the same footages not using DMR-ES25.

Quote:

Originally Posted by lordsmurf

What was your conclusion on these Panasonic DMR-ES25 tests?

I've always said that the Panasonic DVD recorder units used for passthrough were NOT transparent and had side effects. Therefore these were NOT suggested for being a general TBC. They were the best solution for certain errors, but it certainly was not a ideal deck beyond that.

Panasonic was NOT known to make good recorders, and the passthrough side effects -- that I found all those years ago, and told everyone everywhere -- was simply a fluke.

[lordsmurf]

I've been saying that for 10 years now. The Panasonic DVD recorder have posterization (and luma errors, sometimes IRE errors). Glad to see somebody else that notices. I'm often told that a chart does show it, "I don't see it", blah blah blah. But I know what I see. I'm very discerning. When you "go pro" with work, you tend to notice those things.

I would love to see your samples, and probably use them on a guide about the ES machines.

[metaleonid]

You want screenshots or you want some AVI parts?

The thing is that I have no choice capturing from LaserDiscs. You either go with ATI TV Wonder HD 750 PCIe and hope this doesn't trigger AGC or you go with Panasonic DMR-ES25 component out. Or you go with S-Video out to AIW and hope that someone writes motion adaptive 3d comb filter as post processing.

[lordsmurf]

Both.