Hypderdeck Shuttle 2 Supports DNxHD

Paul Kapp · February 8th, 2012, 05:17 PM

Yes, I agree it's steep for what it is and I balk at paying for extras I don't need too.
The calibrated documentation says the Shuttle firmware is beta, but the new Shuttle firmware is non beta.
Looking forward to new options with the shuttle.

Greg Booth · February 8th, 2012, 05:38 PM

Hi Jay/Paul,

Thanks for the interest in our software!

Hopefully I can answer your questions below:

Per BETA support for BMD DNxHD MXF files – the reason this is considered a BETA feature is that we developed support using BMD DNxHD MXF files supplied by a couple of users as well as files we captured using our own HyperDeck Shuttle we purchased. Since development of this feature was very fast , and all of the DNxHD MXF files used during development were captured using BETA HyperDeck Firmware and independent of any help from BMD is why we consider the feature BETA. BMD did just come out with release firmware for the HyperDeck but it was not tested in time for this release, and at this time we do not have an ETA on when this feature would not be BETA in our software.

Per opening the 3 different MXF files in PPro – PPro is opening the Audio MXF Files natively without our software but then PPro asks Calibrated{Q} MXF Import to open the DNxHD MXF file because it is not a MXF file that PPro understands. Since we don’t know how well defined the BMD file capture structure is for their DNxHD MXF files (with two Audio-only MXF files), or how well defined the file/folder naming structure of the BMD DNxHD MXF files is one of a few reasons why we choose not to have our software also attach the two Audio-only MXF files when the DNxHD Video Only MXF file is opened.

Per selling Calibrated{Q} MXF Import for Windows as standalone – if we did sell it as stand-alone it would be the same price of $199.95 as we look at it from a different perspective in that we’re giving a free license of Calibrated{Q} DVCProHD Decode with a purchase of Calibrated{Q} MXF Import for Windows (and hence selling as a bundle).

I hope that answers some of the questions.

If you have any more questions you can always email us at

info [at] calibratedsoftware [dot] com

Cheers
Greg

Calibrated Software

Jay Bloomfield · February 8th, 2012, 05:42 PM

Thanks Greg.

Greg Booth · February 8th, 2012, 05:44 PM

You're welcome Jay - happy to help.

Cheers,
Greg

Calibrated Software

Paul Kapp · February 8th, 2012, 07:05 PM

Thanks Greg.
I appreciate that you independently provided a solution for the import of Shuttle DNxHD into non Avid NLE's.

Jay Bloomfield · February 9th, 2012, 08:28 PM

@ Paul Kapp - I've noticed that the audio files from the Calibrated [Q} MXF Importer tend to be longer in duration than the video file, when I opened them in PPro 5.5. Did you get the same result? My system is a Win 7 x64 dual Xeon and only a year old, so I don't think that is the problem.

Anyway, I figured a temporary way around this problem, at least for me. I also have a BMD Intensity Pro, so I just played the MXF file on the Shuttle and captured it. That worked like a charm, except with Cineform's HDLink (most recent version from Go Pro Studio Professional), which ended up having the audio almost inaudible. PPro (BMD 8 bit MJPEG codec) and VirtualDub x64 (uncompressed) both worked fine, though.

@Greg Booth - I can't post a link here, but someone posted some short test files from the Shuttle 2 on a Google User Group message board.

Greg Booth · February 9th, 2012, 09:27 PM

Hi Jay,

Calibrated{Q} MXF Import is not importing the Audio MXF files into PPro - from all our tests, PPro is importing the Audio MXF files natively- Calibrated{Q} MXF Import is only importing the video MXF files.

One of the problems could be the lack of a timecode track in the Audio MXF files if it was captured from a HDMI source (we list this in the User Guide). Without a TimeCode Track in the Audio MXF Files, it may be sampled at the wrong framerate when imported into an application (depends greatly on the application).

I didn't find the link on the BMD message board but if you email me the link at

info [at] calibratedsoftware [dot] com

I'll take a look at the files tomorrow to see if this is the case. Or if you have Video/Audio MXF files that have this problem then we can take a look at them too.

Cheers
Greg

Calibrated Software

Jay Bloomfield · February 9th, 2012, 10:42 PM

I misspoke as to the location of the files, but I did send you the correct link.

Paul Kapp · February 10th, 2012, 04:47 AM

HI Jay.
Yes I noticed the audio were much longer than the video files but remember that Calibrated Q demo truncates the video, and as Greg says, PPro imports the audio natively.
Could this be the reason for the audio file difference?

Jay Bloomfield · February 10th, 2012, 04:18 PM

Yeah, after I posted that, Greg emailed me and pointed that out as the reason. I didn't realize that his importer didn't handle the audio, but in hindsight that makes sense, because PPro can already import a PCM MXF file. Also, Greg pointed out that the Importer works with Vegas Pro, but you have to open the QT reference file, not the MXF. I probably should have RTFM more closely, as it is documented in there.

Did you see that Baptiste Coudurier posted that he would be willing to quickly put the rewrap feature in ffmbc, if enough people supported it?

J

Paul Kapp · February 10th, 2012, 06:38 PM

That's great.
I posted a request in the ffmbc forum.
I will probably buy the Calibrated Q importer though as I have a job this weekend that I need to work on and it enables importing into Premiere which is convenient as well.

Jay Bloomfield · February 17th, 2012, 01:51 PM

All is well:

What's new in HyperDeck Utility 2.5 BETA 1

• Support for Avid DNxHD 220x recording to a Quicktime MOV file
• Timecode input support via RP-188
• Automatic record trigger via SDI record start/stop flag and incrementing timecode detection

Now, maybe we'll also get Cineform. Who knows?

Paul Kapp · February 17th, 2012, 08:16 PM

Wow. That's awesome.
I recorded an hour of footage last weekend but haven't had time to edit it.
I will be doing that in Avid MC.
A completely non apple workflow appeals to me but in reality it is hard to work around it at present.
Natrive MXF support would be good but .MOV support will do for now.
Great news about timecode and SDI triggering.
The Shuttle is now best in class I believe.

Paul Kapp · February 18th, 2012, 06:53 AM

Just updated firmware on the Shuttle 2 and tried it out.
On my GY-HM750, I had to set the timecode to REGEN and the Shuttle to "When SDI Timecode runs".
The DNxHD QT clips import into Premiere easily with 16 tracks of audio.
Only 2 tracks actually with audio as that is all my camera recorded.
Timecode appears in Premiere.
Fantastic.

Jay Bloomfield · February 18th, 2012, 11:03 PM

A played around today with a few different cameras and the Shuttle 2 set to using DNxHD MOV files. The results are beautiful, but that's to be expected, considering at 220 Mb/s, the files are only lightly compressed (~6:1). The MOV files preview in RT on my workstation in both Premiere Pro cs5.5 and Vegas Pro 11. That was a bit surprising, considering that both NLEs employ a helper app that has to act as an interface between the 64 bit NLEs and 32 bit QT.

February 8th, 2012, 05:17 PM	#31
Paul Kapp Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Sydney Australia Posts: 111	Re: Hypderdeck Shuttle 2 Supports DNxHD Yes, I agree it's steep for what it is and I balk at paying for extras I don't need too. The calibrated documentation says the Shuttle firmware is beta, but the new Shuttle firmware is non beta. Looking forward to new options with the shuttle.

February 8th, 2012, 05:38 PM	#32
Greg Booth Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Austin, Texas Posts: 36	Re: Hypderdeck Shuttle 2 Supports DNxHD Hi Jay/Paul, Thanks for the interest in our software! Hopefully I can answer your questions below: Per BETA support for BMD DNxHD MXF files – the reason this is considered a BETA feature is that we developed support using BMD DNxHD MXF files supplied by a couple of users as well as files we captured using our own HyperDeck Shuttle we purchased. Since development of this feature was very fast , and all of the DNxHD MXF files used during development were captured using BETA HyperDeck Firmware and independent of any help from BMD is why we consider the feature BETA. BMD did just come out with release firmware for the HyperDeck but it was not tested in time for this release, and at this time we do not have an ETA on when this feature would not be BETA in our software. Per opening the 3 different MXF files in PPro – PPro is opening the Audio MXF Files natively without our software but then PPro asks Calibrated{Q} MXF Import to open the DNxHD MXF file because it is not a MXF file that PPro understands. Since we don’t know how well defined the BMD file capture structure is for their DNxHD MXF files (with two Audio-only MXF files), or how well defined the file/folder naming structure of the BMD DNxHD MXF files is one of a few reasons why we choose not to have our software also attach the two Audio-only MXF files when the DNxHD Video Only MXF file is opened. Per selling Calibrated{Q} MXF Import for Windows as standalone – if we did sell it as stand-alone it would be the same price of $199.95 as we look at it from a different perspective in that we’re giving a free license of Calibrated{Q} DVCProHD Decode with a purchase of Calibrated{Q} MXF Import for Windows (and hence selling as a bundle). I hope that answers some of the questions. If you have any more questions you can always email us at info [at] calibratedsoftware [dot] com Cheers Greg Calibrated Software

February 8th, 2012, 05:42 PM	#33
Jay Bloomfield Major Player Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Voorheesville, NY Posts: 433	Re: Hypderdeck Shuttle 2 Supports DNxHD Thanks Greg.

February 8th, 2012, 05:44 PM	#34
Greg Booth Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Austin, Texas Posts: 36	Re: Hypderdeck Shuttle 2 Supports DNxHD You're welcome Jay - happy to help. Cheers, Greg Calibrated Software

February 8th, 2012, 07:05 PM	#35
Paul Kapp Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Sydney Australia Posts: 111	Re: Hypderdeck Shuttle 2 Supports DNxHD Thanks Greg. I appreciate that you independently provided a solution for the import of Shuttle DNxHD into non Avid NLE's.

February 9th, 2012, 08:28 PM	#36
Jay Bloomfield Major Player Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Voorheesville, NY Posts: 433	Re: Hypderdeck Shuttle 2 Supports DNxHD @ Paul Kapp - I've noticed that the audio files from the Calibrated [Q} MXF Importer tend to be longer in duration than the video file, when I opened them in PPro 5.5. Did you get the same result? My system is a Win 7 x64 dual Xeon and only a year old, so I don't think that is the problem. Anyway, I figured a temporary way around this problem, at least for me. I also have a BMD Intensity Pro, so I just played the MXF file on the Shuttle and captured it. That worked like a charm, except with Cineform's HDLink (most recent version from Go Pro Studio Professional), which ended up having the audio almost inaudible. PPro (BMD 8 bit MJPEG codec) and VirtualDub x64 (uncompressed) both worked fine, though. @Greg Booth - I can't post a link here, but someone posted some short test files from the Shuttle 2 on a Google User Group message board. Last edited by Jay Bloomfield; February 9th, 2012 at 10:43 PM.

February 9th, 2012, 09:27 PM	#37
Greg Booth Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Austin, Texas Posts: 36	Re: Hypderdeck Shuttle 2 Supports DNxHD Hi Jay, Calibrated{Q} MXF Import is not importing the Audio MXF files into PPro - from all our tests, PPro is importing the Audio MXF files natively- Calibrated{Q} MXF Import is only importing the video MXF files. One of the problems could be the lack of a timecode track in the Audio MXF files if it was captured from a HDMI source (we list this in the User Guide). Without a TimeCode Track in the Audio MXF Files, it may be sampled at the wrong framerate when imported into an application (depends greatly on the application). I didn't find the link on the BMD message board but if you email me the link at info [at] calibratedsoftware [dot] com I'll take a look at the files tomorrow to see if this is the case. Or if you have Video/Audio MXF files that have this problem then we can take a look at them too. Cheers Greg Calibrated Software

February 9th, 2012, 10:42 PM	#38
Jay Bloomfield Major Player Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Voorheesville, NY Posts: 433	Re: Hypderdeck Shuttle 2 Supports DNxHD I misspoke as to the location of the files, but I did send you the correct link.

February 10th, 2012, 04:47 AM	#39
Paul Kapp Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Sydney Australia Posts: 111	Re: Hypderdeck Shuttle 2 Supports DNxHD HI Jay. Yes I noticed the audio were much longer than the video files but remember that Calibrated Q demo truncates the video, and as Greg says, PPro imports the audio natively. Could this be the reason for the audio file difference?

February 10th, 2012, 04:18 PM	#40
Jay Bloomfield Major Player Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Voorheesville, NY Posts: 433	Re: Hypderdeck Shuttle 2 Supports DNxHD Yeah, after I posted that, Greg emailed me and pointed that out as the reason. I didn't realize that his importer didn't handle the audio, but in hindsight that makes sense, because PPro can already import a PCM MXF file. Also, Greg pointed out that the Importer works with Vegas Pro, but you have to open the QT reference file, not the MXF. I probably should have RTFM more closely, as it is documented in there. Did you see that Baptiste Coudurier posted that he would be willing to quickly put the rewrap feature in ffmbc, if enough people supported it? J

February 10th, 2012, 06:38 PM	#41
Paul Kapp Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Sydney Australia Posts: 111	Re: Hypderdeck Shuttle 2 Supports DNxHD That's great. I posted a request in the ffmbc forum. I will probably buy the Calibrated Q importer though as I have a job this weekend that I need to work on and it enables importing into Premiere which is convenient as well.

February 17th, 2012, 01:51 PM	#42
Jay Bloomfield Major Player Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Voorheesville, NY Posts: 433	Re: Hypderdeck Shuttle 2 Supports DNxHD All is well: What's new in HyperDeck Utility 2.5 BETA 1 • Support for Avid DNxHD 220x recording to a Quicktime MOV file • Timecode input support via RP-188 • Automatic record trigger via SDI record start/stop flag and incrementing timecode detection Now, maybe we'll also get Cineform. Who knows?

February 17th, 2012, 08:16 PM	#43
Paul Kapp Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Sydney Australia Posts: 111	Re: Hypderdeck Shuttle 2 Supports DNxHD Wow. That's awesome. I recorded an hour of footage last weekend but haven't had time to edit it. I will be doing that in Avid MC. A completely non apple workflow appeals to me but in reality it is hard to work around it at present. Natrive MXF support would be good but .MOV support will do for now. Great news about timecode and SDI triggering. The Shuttle is now best in class I believe.

February 18th, 2012, 06:53 AM	#44
Paul Kapp Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Sydney Australia Posts: 111	Re: Hypderdeck Shuttle 2 Supports DNxHD Just updated firmware on the Shuttle 2 and tried it out. On my GY-HM750, I had to set the timecode to REGEN and the Shuttle to "When SDI Timecode runs". The DNxHD QT clips import into Premiere easily with 16 tracks of audio. Only 2 tracks actually with audio as that is all my camera recorded. Timecode appears in Premiere. Fantastic.

February 18th, 2012, 11:03 PM	#45
Jay Bloomfield Major Player Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Voorheesville, NY Posts: 433	Re: Hypderdeck Shuttle 2 Supports DNxHD A played around today with a few different cameras and the Shuttle 2 set to using DNxHD MOV files. The results are beautiful, but that's to be expected, considering at 220 Mb/s, the files are only lightly compressed (~6:1). The MOV files preview in RT on my workstation in both Premiere Pro cs5.5 and Vegas Pro 11. That was a bit surprising, considering that both NLEs employ a helper app that has to act as an interface between the 64 bit NLEs and 32 bit QT.