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Cool hack, but the part about the cost of off-the-shelf solutions is wildly wrong - Blackmagic's HDMI capture solutions can be purchased for less than 145usd fo

Cool hack, but the part about the cost of off-the-shelf solutions is wildly wrong - Blackmagic's HDMI capture solutions can be purchased for less than 145usd for pci-e and 200usd for usb3 and they have free drivers&sdk for linux.

benjojo12 10y ago
Could you link to examples of this? I am still looking for sane HDMI capture devices for the project that spawned this, I just could not find any decent proof that these drivers existed.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- Hytosys 10y ago
  I coded the Blackmagic support for OBS Studio. It was only slightly nightmarish. https://github.com/jp9000/obs-studio/tree/master/plugins/decklink https://github.com/jp9000/obs-studio/tree/master/plugins/dec...
  - nacs 10y ago
    Thanks for creating that. I use OBS so this sounds perfect. Could you recommend a Blackmagic product supported by your plugin that can capture from HDMI (cheaper the better, I plan to use it for hobbist-level capture of desktop/games)?
    - jermy 10y ago
      I'm not who you responded to, but the DeckLink Mini Recorder (towards the bottom of https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/decklink/models https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/decklink/models) is a very capable PCI-e HDMI and SDI capture card for around £100/$140. Apart from possibly needing an update to the kernel package, all of the DeckLink devices are supported by the same SDK, with only some small variations (like giving the user the choice of selecting which input connector to use or similar).
    - Hytosys 10y ago
      Awesome! I used the Intensity Shuttle for USB 3.0 on a Macbook (OS X) to develop the plugin. It costs $190 and works pretty well, but can't capture 1080p @ 60fps (only 720p/1080i). I only got it because I couldn't install a PCI-e card on my laptop ;) If you need 1080p @ 60fps, the Intensity Pro 4K is also $190 and is a PCI-e card. Otherwise, the Mini Recorder should work just fine.
drothlis 10y ago
Blackmagic's Linux drivers are gratis, but not libre. And of course they aren't upstream. This means that they are only guaranteed to work if you use exactly the same kernel that Blackmagic supports -- we've had all sorts of problems with them: the cards lock up (requiring a reboot before they will work again); the whole system locks up; the drivers were randomly overwriting other processes' memory (!); etc. However our reliability requirements may be different than yours & the OP's, as we (at http://stb-tester.com http://stb-tester.com ) use video capture for automated UI testing so we need rock-solid reliability. I concur with the other commenter that devices with an upstream driver --such as the UVC driver-- are the way to go.
kevingadd 10y ago
The reason why Blackmagic hardware is cheaper is that it's rubbish. Bad hardware, bad firmware, bad drivers. Everyone I know that's ever owned Blackmagic (myself included) has had a bad time. It's not worth buying from them just to save a hundred dollars.
- KaiserPro 10y ago
  Yup. but not as bad a RED hardware. I've personally seen 4 red rockets die. considering the price at the time, for what was basically a glorified jpeg2000 decoder, it was bollocks.
- jamesfmilne 10y ago
  Indeed, Blackmagic stuff is junk (although I am biased)

benjojo12 10y ago

Could you link to examples of this? I am still looking for sane HDMI capture devices for the project that spawned this, I just could not find any decent proof that these drivers existed.

deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
Hytosys 10y ago
I coded the Blackmagic support for OBS Studio. It was only slightly nightmarish. https://github.com/jp9000/obs-studio/tree/master/plugins/decklink https://github.com/jp9000/obs-studio/tree/master/plugins/dec...
- nacs 10y ago
  Thanks for creating that. I use OBS so this sounds perfect. Could you recommend a Blackmagic product supported by your plugin that can capture from HDMI (cheaper the better, I plan to use it for hobbist-level capture of desktop/games)?
  - jermy 10y ago
    I'm not who you responded to, but the DeckLink Mini Recorder (towards the bottom of https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/decklink/models https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/decklink/models) is a very capable PCI-e HDMI and SDI capture card for around £100/$140. Apart from possibly needing an update to the kernel package, all of the DeckLink devices are supported by the same SDK, with only some small variations (like giving the user the choice of selecting which input connector to use or similar).
  - Hytosys 10y ago
    Awesome! I used the Intensity Shuttle for USB 3.0 on a Macbook (OS X) to develop the plugin. It costs $190 and works pretty well, but can't capture 1080p @ 60fps (only 720p/1080i). I only got it because I couldn't install a PCI-e card on my laptop ;) If you need 1080p @ 60fps, the Intensity Pro 4K is also $190 and is a PCI-e card. Otherwise, the Mini Recorder should work just fine.

drothlis 10y ago

Blackmagic's Linux drivers are gratis, but not libre. And of course they aren't upstream. This means that they are only guaranteed to work if you use exactly the same kernel that Blackmagic supports -- we've had all sorts of problems with them: the cards lock up (requiring a reboot before they will work again); the whole system locks up; the drivers were randomly overwriting other processes' memory (!); etc. However our reliability requirements may be different than yours & the OP's, as we (at http://stb-tester.com http://stb-tester.com ) use video capture for automated UI testing so we need rock-solid reliability. I concur with the other commenter that devices with an upstream driver --such as the UVC driver-- are the way to go.

kevingadd 10y ago

The reason why Blackmagic hardware is cheaper is that it's rubbish. Bad hardware, bad firmware, bad drivers. Everyone I know that's ever owned Blackmagic (myself included) has had a bad time. It's not worth buying from them just to save a hundred dollars.

KaiserPro 10y ago
Yup. but not as bad a RED hardware. I've personally seen 4 red rockets die. considering the price at the time, for what was basically a glorified jpeg2000 decoder, it was bollocks.
jamesfmilne 10y ago
Indeed, Blackmagic stuff is junk (although I am biased)