BlackMagic Ultrastudio 4K for live camera input & video output?

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ra byn (robin) taylor

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Nov 10, 2015, 10:29:10 PM11/10/15
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 Greetings,

Is it possible to use a BlackMagic UltraStudio 4K for a live camera input as well as an output to a projector at the same time with Qlab 3?

Thank you in advance, ra byn (robin)

ra byn (robin) taylor

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Nov 11, 2015, 9:45:56 AM11/11/15
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An update. It works after you get the various resolutions to play nice.

ra byn (robin) taylor

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Nov 11, 2015, 11:19:36 PM11/11/15
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Just got this back from BlackMagic tech support:

Hi RaByn,

Thank you for contacting us. The UltraStudio 4K supports full duplex architecture so it's possible to use it for capture and playback of different signals at the same time, however, this will only work with certain applications.

Best regards,

Veronica Salas
Technical Support Representative
Blackmagic Design Inc.
www.blackmagicdesign.com

Ryan Cornelius

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Nov 13, 2015, 12:38:38 AM11/13/15
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Hey RaByn

I've been eyeing the ultra studio 4K for our Qlab rig. Just curious. How stable is it and have you tried multiple outputs at the same time?

Ry

ra byn (robin) taylor

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Nov 23, 2015, 2:07:19 PM11/23/15
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After initial instability trying to use the UltraStudio 4K for both a Qlab 3 input and output, we gave up and added this:

https://www.aja.com/en/products/mini-converters/ha5

No more issues...

Andy Lang

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Nov 23, 2015, 5:21:44 PM11/23/15
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On Mon, Nov 23, 2015 at 2:07 PM ra byn (robin) taylor rabyn...@gmail.com wrote:

After initial instability trying to use the UltraStudio 4K for both a Qlab 3 input and output, we gave up and added this:

https://www.aja.com/en/products/mini-converters/ha5

This actually touches on something important that I want to point out about Blackmagic output. The short version is that it’s provided as a convenience option, but it is never going to be a better choice, performance-wise, than coming out of the computer’s native graphics port and converting to SDI outside of the computer.

The reason for this is that, in all cases, the output is rendered in the GPU. In the case of a native graphics port on the computer, the output then goes straight from the GPU to the outside world.

However, in the case of Blackmagic output, it needs to make another trip back through RAM and the CPU to get pushed out of the Blackmagic device. So it’s always going to be less efficient than direct native output from the computer. It may not always be enough of a difference to cause noticeable performance issues, but it can, even on a quite powerful system.

(Recently, we had a Broadway show using a very capable Mac Pro, and part of what was pushing it to its limits and causing problems was using Blackmagic output. Switching to the HDMI output of the Mac Pro and converting to SDI externally made for an immediate, marked performance improvement.)

-Andy


Andy Lang
@SoundGuyAndy
sup...@figure53.com

Charles Coes List Serve Account

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Nov 23, 2015, 5:26:27 PM11/23/15
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BUT! you lose control over the color space right? and if you're working with something particularly picky (broadcast?) you may have to reshape it... in a Teranex or something like that - definitely and edge case, but worth mentioning.
Charles Coes
"Forms and rhythms in music are never changed without producing changes in the most important political forms and ways" - Plato

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