for hd video and med res ref video…what moves well with ff and rewinding and shuttling? and that is not to big in file size…cause avi’s work great but are huge
Fredo
would a decklink card improve the performance in the software and will it providea HDMI output for the video?
Hi,
A Decklink card can both improve and make it worse.
If you have a good graphics card from before, and only use one screen for Nuendo and the other output for the vuilt-in video engine, this often is better.
You don’t load an extra PCIe bus or thunderbolt.
A proper video output is on the other hand the only way to view a proper video signal on a flat panel or a projector.
The Decklink mini monitor is the simplest PCIe card out there. It gives you both SDI and hdmi. No acelleration.
But it works good.
The Decklink 4K extreme is a very good card, and also offloads the video a bit. It supports way more scaling modes etc.
On the thunderbolt side the Ultrastudio Mini Monitor is the simplest you get. Very reliable and simple. The Ultrastudio 4K is the most feature rich.
If you mainly work with videos that are h.264 you will not gain any performance from a Decklink or an Ultrastudio Mini Monitor. h.264 is decoded in native CPU anyway.
But if you use Prores LT or Prores 422 HQ as you standard video codec, you will see incredible pictures from a Decklink card.
All that being said, I use the built in video in my cinema (mix room).
I send the HDMI output of my Mac Pro (late 2013) (wine cooler) to the projector.
I like it. I can set the output to 24/25 fps or 60fps like I want.
I can place other stuff on the video screen as well etc.
Best,
Pål
First, avi’s are CONTAINERS, not codecs. Depending on the codec in the avi, the avi can be massively huge or microscopically small. Same goes for a mov, which is also a container, and incidentally the one I would recommend over avi, or wmv, or mp4 or anything else out there.
Regarding codecs, and the file sizes they generate:
If file size reaaaaly is an issue for you, I’d go for the following codecs (in order of size from large to small):
- Sony XDcamHD422 (50 Mb/s, which is slightly less than half of DNXHD120, codec available on the Sony professional website)
- HDV (25 Mb/s)
I really do not recommend anything below these, but if you must: - H264, high profile, constant frame rate, smallest GOP you can get, data rate NOT below 9 Mb/s, CBR.
If however you decide an extra 20-100 GB in your project folder is not such an issue at all, good for you! Then you can use the AVID DNXHD 120 codec and avoid a lot of pain…
Regarding the Decklink: I use the Mini Monitor and love it. It frees up my system’s monitors for stuff that’s definitely more useful than video playback and the picture is pristine and the performance rock solid.
But notwithstanding, I seldom use anything other than a mov with DNXHD 120.
So for the deck link. What codec again? And it does HD and plays smooth on the timeline? Shuttling and winding? And the overlay time code in nuendo is on there full screen?
Hi,
Prores LT or 422 is the best. DNxHD 120 also. Though I prefer Prores.
h.264 works just fine if it is encoded properly. But even if h.264 works just fine, it is nothing compared to a Prores LT for instance.
I urge you all to read this:
You never, ever want to use the Blackmagic codec. It works great but fills up very large disks 
Does prores codec produce large HD file sizes? And how would I put them in adobe premiere or Sony Vegas?
Prores LT 1080p 24fps with 2 audio channels is 40GB pr. hour.
Adobe Premiere and or Sony Vegas is quite happy for prores.
Pål
I’m not seeing it in Vegas or premiere. How do I get it there? I downloaded a trail combversion program and at 720 the file size was not big at all and looked great. 14MB for 5 min not bad .thanks in advance
Sorry, did not understand you fully there!
You downloaded a trial version of which software?
And it made a 720 file that was only 14MB for 5 min?
A Prores LT file in 1280x720 25fps with 2 ch. 48khz audio fills 2,1GB for 5 minutes.
But yes, it does look fabulous.
I spoke with the decklink people and they said there is no proformance improvement using the card as opposed as using a HDmi monitor out… …is this correct?
Yes.
Fredo
Yes, that is correct. But if you are a fan of many GUI monitors, for instance three running from one graphics card.
And you usually place the video on the third graphics monitor, in such cases it is easier for the computer to send the video to a blackmagic card. That is of course if you drop the third graphics monitor.
Pål
No, you don’t get improved performance from a BM card, never from the MiniMonitor, and not from the Xtreme in Nuendo either. (With Premiere Pro and other video editing systems, that’s another matter…)
But you get an SDI output. If that’s not important for you, you’ll probably be OK without one.
But if you DO need an SDI out, and JUST an SDI out, the MiniMonitor’s all you need.
What you do get with a proper video card is that you get pixel for pixel mapping in the picture, so you do get a slightly higher quality picture in perfect situations.
OTOH, when using a BM video card all files need to be “legal” to look right. They need to have a correct aspect ratio and the right size, and the size has to match the output settings of the video card.
I’d say the only reason to use a video card is if you need to distribute the signal in some easy way, output SDI signals or if you spend a lot of time with client attended mixing and when you get the correct delivery you will have the best picture viewing possible.
We have video cards in all the rooms where we mix, but not where we edit.
Second that!
i plan on getting a nuage system and just split on of the mini disp outs to hdmi and feed a 24 monitor and a tv or projector…cause after reading the article on codec settings the h264 hd codec looks great and does run great on n65…smooth winding and shuttling and full screen looks great ,file size is not to big,what i do is make 2 ref videos a lo res and a full res.and run 2 video tracks and mute the one not using…it works great no reason to tie up a pcie slot for a decklink card…i tried to find prores for windows .no luck…also the photo jpeg codec runs the best but file sizes are huge…h264 will be fine
is there a demo for this?