Digital Video - November 2007 - (Page 18) IN REVIEW UPPING THE ANTE DV EXCELLENCE HD, and uncompressed with HD formats both 720p and 1080i. The software does not support 24p—any such material to tape would need to be captured and then remove pulldown after capture. The HDMI protocol does not include deck control. Deck control in HDV is achieved through FireWire—this is already set in the presets for FCP and Premiere. HDV capture is identical to capturing HDV via FireWire, complete with all of the limitations already known to those who work in the format. AWARD OF investment and functionality of legacy equipment. Even more amazing than the price point of this card is the fact that it does what Blackmagic says it is going to do. It does it very well, in fact. Now, you might say, “My camera does not have HDMI, so I have no need for the product.” Not necessarily true. One of the major questions in the move to HD is, how are you going to monitor that HD? Computer monitors do not provide accurate representation. Options include a capture card with output to an SDI or HD component monitor; a capture card with an SDI-to-DVI converter to monitor through a DVI monitor; the Matrox MXO, with its outputs to a DVI, SDI, composite or component monitor; and the Intensity. The Intensity represents the least costly option of all of these and provides the advantage of display on a large-screen TV. All of these monitoring items represent cost/benefit decisions. A dedicated HD monitor with calibration capabilities will provide the most accurate picture. The MXO is a versatile device which is output-only to a wide range of devices and includes calibration software for DVI monitors. Intensity Pro output relies upon television sets with some limited calibration options: putting up color bars, adjusting set controls or simulating a blue-only mode (with a blue gel placed over the screen). The accuracy of output to an actual set, however, is far greater than relying upon computer monitor previews. And at $349, you get both digital and analog capture capabilities. CAPTURE There is great news for Mac Pro users: I was able to capture in Apple ProRes 422 in real time. Note that there is no deck control in ProRes capture. While it was a bit of a nuisance to start/stop camera and use Capture Now in Final Cut Pro, the extra work was well worthwhile. File sizes and data rate requirements are greater in ProRes. The HDV material reports a data rate of 3.4 Gb/s while the ProRes 422 was in the range of 25 Gb/s. This is still within the capabilities of fast drives, or, to be on the safe side, even a two-disk array. The real advantage is in processing time. ProRes 422 converts the footage to all I-frame. As an example, a one-second dissolve in the HDV timeline required four minutes of HDV Conforming time, while that same dissolve in the ProRes timeline fully rendered (despite its “green” real-time bar) in under three seconds. The real difference will be seen in titles and graphics. Working in the more complete 4:2:2 color space will not produce the artifacts and jaggies which would be seen titling in HDV’s 4:2:0 color space. SETUP Setting up the Intensity Pro is straightforward. In my test system (consisting of a Mac Pro dual 3.0 GHz, 8GB RAM, an internal 1.5 TB RAID and two external 2TB SATA RAIDs), the card went into OUTPUT slot 4, with my CalDigit SATA card in slot 3, per CalDigit’s recomIntensity Pro can output through any application that has extermendation. I shot footage to tape in HDV on a Sony V1U, cournal video hooks. I was able to preview files in Photoshop CS3, tesy of Videotex Systems in Dallas. After Effects CS3, Soundtrack Pro 2, Motion 3 and even Color. Blackmagic’s most recent software revision is version 1.6, This last point is most important. Color holds tremendous potenwhich installs a control panel app accessible through System tial for editors to ratchet up the quality of their work through true Preferences as well as several nifty utilities. The Blackmagic Disk professional color-correction tools. Once again, though, you canSpeed Test is one of the recognized benchmarking apps for drive not accurately preview through the computer monitor. Quality, of speed and data rates. Blackmagic Media Express is a capture utilcourse, remains directly related to the quality of the HDMI set ity for anything connected to the card, analog or digital. For which you are using. Premiere Mac users, this compensates for the current inability to capture within Premiere CS3. Owing to the HDCP features of the CONCLUSION HDMI standard, Intensity Pro will not capture DRM encoded HDMI is here to stay alongside its more robust digital distantmaterial. cousin, SDI. Editors need the ability to preview HD sources, perThe Control Panel reveals some haps even more so than SD sources. Yet we hidden features of the board. It is SCORE still will be working in analog SD realms for possible to select active inputs/out- BLACKMAGIC INTENSITY PRO the foreseeable future. All of these needs puts, NTSC analog set up, and realare addressed by Intensity Pro in an inexPROS: Offers analog and digital, SD and HD time up-rez or down-rez upon both pensive and straightforward solution. I/O for Mac- and PC-based editors at an amazinput and output. ing price point. CONS: Employs RCA-type The installation program places Ned Soltz is a filmmaker, consultant, trainconnectors over BNC or XLR. BOTTOM Easy Set Up files in Final Cut Pro; on er and writer based in Arlington, Texas. LINE: Intensity Pro is a true breakthrough the PC side, it sets up in Premiere for He’s also a contributing editor to DV sister product. MSRP: $349 CONTACT: NTSC and PAL, SD, HDV, DVCPRO magazine, Videography. www.blackmagic-design.com 18 dv november 2007 www.dv.com http://www.blackmagic-design.com http://www.dv.com
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