PPro CS3 + Mac + Decklink = Disaster at DVinfo.net

Bart Walczak · June 5th, 2008, 05:15 AM

Adding Decklink SP slows down Premiere Pro CS3 on Mac (sluggish as it was already) tremendously to the point where any serious editing is impossible. Projects open 40 minutes, sequence switching take 5-15, opening a video in source window takes about 5 min.

I wrote to BlackMagic, Adobe, my Mac distributor and got no answer on this problem.

Anyone here experiencing similar issues?

Media cache cleaning does not help, running mainteanance tasks also, this issue is 100% related to access to video files on disc. Internal RAID, external RAID, firewire drive, no firewire drive - no change in performance. Something happens that after accessing each video file the computer takes 100% of a single core time and stays at it for some time.

The problem is much less pronounced if the project is standard Premiere project, it only happens on Blackmagic projects.

I don't know what to do.

Bart Walczak · June 5th, 2008, 05:30 AM

This is the disk activity for opening projects. First picture shows standard Premiere project, second and third show opening of Blackmagic project. You can clearly see the spikes when the files are accessed and then the long breaks between them.

Jiri Fiala · June 5th, 2008, 07:47 AM

That seems to be a problem in DPC latency of Decklink drivers. Try earlier or newer drivers. They have new 6.7.1 Universal Binary drivers from 28.5. on their website.

If yu have Intel Mac, check if you haven`t PPC drivers. I have an old tablet with PPC drivers on my Intel iMac and it gives me similar spikes, but in CPU usage.

Bart Walczak · June 5th, 2008, 08:26 AM

I've tried different drivers, including the latest ones, to no avail. Thanks for the idea though. I am on Intel Mac.

Jiri Fiala · June 5th, 2008, 10:07 AM

Have you tried recapturing your footage with newer/older driver? It`s possible that different drivers produce different files. I have Matrox RTX2 and with each release it`s a different story.

Bart Walczak · June 6th, 2008, 02:53 AM

These are all DV AVIs, captured on a different computer without Decklink. But I used movs, captured here and on the second comp as well. No difference.

A pity :(

Jiri Fiala · October 1st, 2008, 09:01 AM

Bart, have you solved your issue? I am looking into buying Decklink to share it between Premiere and FCP on my Mac, but this would be a dealbreaker.

Bart Walczak · October 10th, 2008, 07:09 AM

Partly - if you don't select from Blackmagic presets, just take the standard one and simply select in Playback options Blackmagic device, it will work more smoothly.

It's however still far from the normal PC robustness...

June 5th, 2008, 05:15 AM	#1
Bart Walczak Major Player Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Warsaw/Poland Posts: 716	PPro CS3 + Mac + Decklink = Disaster Adding Decklink SP slows down Premiere Pro CS3 on Mac (sluggish as it was already) tremendously to the point where any serious editing is impossible. Projects open 40 minutes, sequence switching take 5-15, opening a video in source window takes about 5 min. I wrote to BlackMagic, Adobe, my Mac distributor and got no answer on this problem. Anyone here experiencing similar issues? Media cache cleaning does not help, running mainteanance tasks also, this issue is 100% related to access to video files on disc. Internal RAID, external RAID, firewire drive, no firewire drive - no change in performance. Something happens that after accessing each video file the computer takes 100% of a single core time and stays at it for some time. The problem is much less pronounced if the project is standard Premiere project, it only happens on Blackmagic projects. I don't know what to do.

June 5th, 2008, 05:30 AM	#2
Bart Walczak Major Player Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Warsaw/Poland Posts: 716	This is the disk activity for opening projects. First picture shows standard Premiere project, second and third show opening of Blackmagic project. You can clearly see the spikes when the files are accessed and then the long breaks between them. Attached Images

June 5th, 2008, 07:47 AM	#3
Jiri Fiala Major Player Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Brno Czech Republic Posts: 453	That seems to be a problem in DPC latency of Decklink drivers. Try earlier or newer drivers. They have new 6.7.1 Universal Binary drivers from 28.5. on their website. If yu have Intel Mac, check if you haven`t PPC drivers. I have an old tablet with PPC drivers on my Intel iMac and it gives me similar spikes, but in CPU usage.

June 5th, 2008, 08:26 AM	#4
Bart Walczak Major Player Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Warsaw/Poland Posts: 716	I've tried different drivers, including the latest ones, to no avail. Thanks for the idea though. I am on Intel Mac.

June 5th, 2008, 10:07 AM	#5
Jiri Fiala Major Player Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Brno Czech Republic Posts: 453	Have you tried recapturing your footage with newer/older driver? It`s possible that different drivers produce different files. I have Matrox RTX2 and with each release it`s a different story.

June 6th, 2008, 02:53 AM	#6
Bart Walczak Major Player Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Warsaw/Poland Posts: 716	These are all DV AVIs, captured on a different computer without Decklink. But I used movs, captured here and on the second comp as well. No difference. A pity :(

October 1st, 2008, 09:01 AM	#7
Jiri Fiala Major Player Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Brno Czech Republic Posts: 453	Bart, have you solved your issue? I am looking into buying Decklink to share it between Premiere and FCP on my Mac, but this would be a dealbreaker.

October 10th, 2008, 07:09 AM	#8
Bart Walczak Major Player Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Warsaw/Poland Posts: 716	Partly - if you don't select from Blackmagic presets, just take the standard one and simply select in Playback options Blackmagic device, it will work more smoothly. It's however still far from the normal PC robustness...