High Processor Usage on Blackmagic Timelines

[Chad Kopec]

Hello, Guys-

This may very well be a Blackmagic issue, but I thought it best to post here as well. I'm having trouble with CineForm playback through my Blackmagic hardware (a Multibridge Pro). Specifically, whenever I add a CineForm clip to a BM timeline in Premiere Pro CS5, proc usage goes through the roof and playback will chug to a halt. Usually, a few seconds will play with the processor running at about 12-24%, and then it jumps to 80-90%. When playing CF clips in Media Player or Premiere (on a non-BM timeline) proc ussage stays between 6-20%. I'm working at 1080, and have tried both progressive and interlaced clips transcoded from HDV. Playback is fine on the desktop, or when using a CF or Adobe timeline. I've also turned off any active metadata settings.

My hardware falls within spec, a quad-core i7 running at 3.6GHz, 12GB RAM, 400MB/sec read/write speed from my RAID array and an Adobe-approved nVidia card.

Any clues?

-Chad

[Jeff Kosmicki]

I have the same problem. The way to fix it is to add a GPU accelerated effect (I use RGB curves) to the CineForm clips. This will fix the timeline issue, but it's still a problem when using a CineForm AVI in the Source Player Window, since you can't add an effect to a clip in the Source Player. I just disable the Blackmagic player and use the Adobe player, but then no monitor output when using the Source Player.
To me it looks like the Decklink card is treating the CineForm AVI like it is a native Blackmagic AVI and not a 3rd party codec, I notice when the CineFrom AVI is on the timeline there is no yellow line above it. I've contacted both CineFrom and Blackmagic tech support about this, but have never had any resolution. Maybe you can contact them as well so they know this is a reoccurring issue.

[Chad Kopec]

Thanks for the reply, Jeff- It's good to know I'm not crazy.

I'll continue pestering Blackmagic and hope for the best...

-Chad