Hi,
The Blackmagic DeckLink Macintosh v4.7 drivers have been released. Following is an email Grant Petty sent from the InterBee trade show in Japan describing the new features.
Regards,
Luke Maslen
Blackmagic Design.
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Hi,
I am currently in Japan for InterBee, and we have a new software release to announce today, and it has some big feature improvements in DeckLink HD Pro, as well as all other DeckLink cards.
This new software update is for Mac OS X, and we also have a new release due for Windows early next week. I will have more info on that next week when it's released.
New Features in DeckLink v4.7 for Mac OS X
VariCam Support Enhancements.
All DeckLink HD series cards support full capture of VariCam material. Additional 720p Easy Setups have been provided, in Final Cut Pro HD and Blackmagic Deck Control, for speeds of 24, 25 and 30 Hz. The 720p/25Hz Easy Setup supports the use of VariCam at a PAL frame rate.
Support for additional frame rates can be achieved in both Final Cut Pro HD and Blackmagic Deck Control. Choose a Blackmagic 720p/60 Easy Setup and then go in to the Advanced Preferences and type in the desired frame rate.
Varicam Over-Cranking.
Over-cranking can now be performed with all DeckLink HD series cards for the smooth display of slow motion video. VariCam footage recorded at 59.94 or 60fps can be captured and played back by DeckLink HD series cards at a slower frame rate, such as 24fps, presenting a slow motion playback effect on screen.
To use this feature, you need to edit at a slow frame rate such as 24, 25 or 30 fps, and then shoot and capture higher speed clips. Clips must be captured using "Capture Now" or alternatively, if using batch capture, just set the out point much later than normal to capture the entire clip.
Composite Video Out on DeckLink HD Pro
Composite NTSC/PAL output available on DeckLink HD Pro dual link models. This output can be switched between RGB/YUV or composite NTSC/PAL when running in standard definition mode.
If you switch to HD, the output will reduce to black and white Y output only, as there is no HD composite standard. This composite output is high quality 14 bit digitally synthesized and 5x over-sampled for high quality and low chroma crawl.
Simultaneous HD & SD Output
Simultaneous HD & SD output is supported on DeckLink HD Pro in 25 and 29.97 fps. Newer models of the DeckLink HD Pro Dual link outputs can now perform hardware down conversion enabling simultaneous output of both SD and HD video. Hardware down conversion outputs HD video through the HD-SDI output to deck (second top BNC port).
SD video outputs from both the HD-SDI Monitoring Output (top BNC port) and the analog video outputs in YUV or composite NTSC/PAL through the breakout cable. Hardware down conversion can be used with any HDTV 1080 material in any of the 8-bit, 10-bit, PhotoJPEG or DVCPRO HD formats. This mode is great for down-converting and making a quick VHS dub via the new composite analog output setting.
Down conversion also works in desktop mode, as long as the desktop frame rate is set to 25 (PAL) or 29.97 (NTSC) fps. That's really nice if you are working in Photoshop in 16:9, as you can use the down conversion to convert graphics from HDTV 16:9 to anamorphic output on SD.
Anamorphic Down Conversion
All DeckLink cards can now perform HDTV to Anamorphic SDTV (16:9) down conversion in addition to Letterbox SDTV down conversion in both the hardware and software down converters.
New Down Conversion Preferences
The DeckLink system preferences now include options for both software and hardware down conversion. The hardware down conversion options will be grayed out if the DeckLink card does not support hardware down conversion, or if 4:4:4 dual link mode is enabled as both HD-SDI ports will already be in use.
Similarly, the 4:4:4 dual link check box will be grayed out if hardware down conversion has been enabled as both HD-SDI ports will already be in use.
Enhancements
- Instant down conversion On/Off switch. Down conversion can now be enabled and disabled instantly without the need to relaunch Final Cut Pro HD or Blackmagic Deck Control.
- Audio MIDI Setup preferences were inaccessible when DeckLink software was installed due an Apple bug on menu name length. This has been resolved by using a shorted name in the audio menu.
Download Location
This software is available for download from the Support page of our web site:
http://www.blackmagic-design.com
I am really happy with this release, as current users get powerful new features at no cost and new potential customers now have even more reasons to get a DeckLink card into their facility. I am also excited that we have introduced new features that make DeckLink HD Pro the most powerful card in the industry.
Regards,
Grant
Blackmagic Design
