Computer for video capture with Intensity Shuttle Thunderbolt

#1

So I need to setup a system that can capture a range of uncompressed formats and the best option looks like the Blackmagic Design Intensity Shuttle.

The downside is that it appears to only work with a specific set of motherboards.

I’m currently going with the Supermicro Motherboard X10SAT-O. Most of my hardware picks are based on what I can order with Amazon prime.

At the moment I’ve only picked a minimal display card as I’m not too concerned with doing 3d graphics on this system… will probably be using it more for After Effects and editing.

Any thoughts?

Intel Xeon E3-1230V3 Haswell, 3.3GHz, 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1150, 80W Quad-Core Server Processor BX80646E31230V3
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00D697PEG/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Crucial MX100 512GB SATA 2.5" 7mm (with 9.5mm adapter) Internal Solid State Drive CT512MX100SSD1
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KFAGCUM/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Crucial 16GB Kit DDR3 1600 MT/s PC3-12800 CL11 Unbuffered UDIMM 240-Pin Desktop Memory CT2KIT102464BA160B
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AZGZFF4/ref=ox_sc_act_title_4?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Supermicro Motherboard ATX DDR3 1600 LGA 1150 Motherboards X10SAT-O
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FJ6FY74/ref=ox_sc_act_title_5?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

EVGA GeForce GTX 650 1024MB GDDR5 DVI mHDMI Graphics Card 01G-P4-2650-KR
http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-GeForce-1024MB-Graphics-01G-P4-2650-KR/dp/B00966IU4M/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1415901638&sr=8-6&keywords=NVIDIA+GeForce+GTX

Blackmagic Design Intensity Shuttle Thunderbolt
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007ZDHDRS/ref=ox_sc_act_title_6?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A2LXBKOLL3J3K6

#2

Slight tweak to the setup…

I may get the the PCI card instead

Blackmagic Design Intensity Pro - HDMI and Analog Editing Card
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001CN9GEA/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A2LXBKOLL3J3K6

#3

Are you building a machine just for capturing or do you plan to use the machine as your workstation too?

Does it strictly have to be uncompressed or can you live with high quality compression? raw uncompressed video footage isnt that common to work with, the files will be kinda huge.

#4

Well like I said I’ll probably be using the system for Editing and After Effects as well as capturing. I don’t really care about how much space the files take up as drives are cheap… I’ll probably use the 6 SATA ports to build a level 5 raid out of 3 or more 2TB drives.

I find mpeg/h.264 artifacts when doing imaging processing and/or blue/green screen work completely unacceptable. If I was just editing vast quantities of footage then using compression might be acceptable but I just really don’t want to introduce artifacts until the end of the process. Plus past experience has shown me that compression when you are trying to pull a key is terrible. Besides that certain material I’ve needed to digitize using systems that use MPEG had very obvious artifacts. I’m checking out the AVerMedia C283S HD EzRecorder Plus for use in scenarios when I need something portable or standalone but I don’t expect it to cover all my needs.

I’m more looking for feedback on will these parts work together as a computer system. I haven’t built a system from the ground up in awhile. After looking at a ton of options for capturing the Black Magic products seem to be the best fit for what I need since I want to beable to capture from analog and digital sources and different formats including 480i. I was really tempted to get the HyperDeck Studio Pro but I really need a new workstation.

#5

I wouldnt suggest you use raid 5 with the onboard software raid controller, it will be too slow to work with if you have uncompressed video. Look for a raid 10 with 4 drives if you need speed and redundancy.

Regarding compression, I still think you might be overestimating whats needed. Lets put it this way; when they do a green screen shoot for a high budget Hollywood movie, the video they capture is still compressed. I would be incredibly surprised if you needed even higher quality than that.

On the workstation, rather than basing the entire build around a specific motherboard and being forced to buy a single socket xeon just to get the thunderbolt port, why not just build the machine you want and add in a pcie thunderbolt port? Or look into one of the usb 3 capture systems.

#6

I was going to say, just get the PCI Express card. Who cares about Thunderbolt. Looks like you came to that conclusion on your own though. I agree with Matthew, I wouldn’t use the onboard RAID controller. If you need RAID then get a good hardware RAID controller for the job. Alternatively just use a SSD for local work and then put the data elsewhere for archiving and not bother with RAID at all on the workstation.

A bit about the chroma key work, the compression isn’t necessarily a problem though it can be with some video codecs (XDCAM EX is pretty bad…). The chroma sampling is a big deal though. Most consumer and prosumer cameras that record H.264 have 4:2:0 chroma sampling which means for every four pixels there are four value samples (brightness) but only one chroma sample (hue). For chroma key work this essentially means you’re working with half resolution footage and it can introduce all kinds of unwanted aliasing and garbage. So simply capturing “uncompressed” doesn’t mean your results will get any better. For the best results the chroma sampling has to be 4:4:4 all the way through the pipeline including the camera.

For what it’s worth the Intensity Pro model doesn’t do 4:4:4 chroma sampling, it does 4:2:2 which is better than 4:2:0 but not ideal. I don’t think any of the Intensity line products support 4:4:4 chroma sampling. The DeckLink SDI 4K does support 4:4:4 chroma sampling and is probably what I’d use assuming there’s a camera that also captures 4:4:4 chroma sampling (I use a DeckLink 4K Extreme here). If you do have a camera that does 4:4:4 sampling double check the recording specifications because it might be able to do it internally instead of capturing with a workstation.

#7

The Raid controller on this board can do 10 and I’ve read that the INTEL chipset is pretty good. At any rate I could always get a controller card if I need one.

I work at a “Hollywood studio” … for compositing sequences are typical converted to exr’s… sure depending on the camera or tape format there may have been compression used but you don’t recompress footage you’re going to run through the pipeline.

As noted I don’t need the thunderbolt port but the motherboard is still one that has been tested with the PCIe card. Using the USB 3 version of their capture interface requires a specific usb driver and is even more limiting.

#8

Any suggestions for 8port sata RAID controllers?

I would just use all SSD drives but they are considerably more expensive. Also as I mentioned I’ll be using this system for a variety of formats including SD so the throughput is not going to be as severe as if I was only working with HD.

Also I need a large volume with redundancy.

Noted… I’m mainly going with this particular card because I need the analog inputs for SD which are becoming rare unless you want crappy looking MPEG or H.264 files.

#9

I work at a “Hollywood studio” … for compositing sequences are typical converted to exr’s… sure depending on the camera or tape format there may have been compression used but you don’t recompress footage you’re going to run through the pipeline.

Well then im even more confused, what is your video source? You say you dont want to recompress some already compressed footage, which is fine, but then where are you pulling your footage from? I was assuming you were pulling the data in through the HDMI connection, but what source is it coming from that it is already compressed? The realtime capture system implies that it is a live feed from a camera, which wouldnt be compressed, or source footage from bluray or a games console or similar. But if it is bluray then youre better off just ripping it and if its a games console then again, the footage wont be compressed.

As noted I don’t need the thunderbolt port but the motherboard is still one that has been tested with the PCIe card. Using the USB 3 version of their capture interface requires a specific usb driver and is even more limiting.

Still a bizarre way to pick a motherboard. A pcie card is a pcie card, it should work in absolutely any motherboard under the sun.

#10

Analog SD is one source (BetaSP and other analog SD equipment) and trust me you cannot find a convertor that will output HDMI at 480i even though HDMI in theory supports it … everything I’ve found is an upscaler.

I’m trying to bridge the gap between older equipment I still need and moving forward to HD and digital signals.

I don’t think picking a board that you know the manufacturer has tested with is bizarre. To me just picking a motherboard and then just assuming that the primary card you need to run in it will work is asking for trouble. For example a lot of people assumed that the thunderbolt and USB 3 versions of this device would run in any old computer that had those ports and they were wrong. I’ve read on the BM forums about people having issues with certain motherboards and the PCIe card so I feel I have good reason to be cautious … also good reason to use Amazon prime in case I need to return any part of this setup.

#11

Considering this board now since it can use more ram up to 64gb instead of 32gb and has more PCIe x16 slots

ASUS P9X79 WS LGA 2011 Intel X79 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 SSI CEB Intel Motherboard
http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-P9X79-WS-Intel-Motherboard/dp/B00686I638/ref=sr_1_5?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1416012886&sr=1-5&keywords=ASUS+P9X79

Happened across it in this editing system build but it’s also on the BM tested motherboard list

http://www.learningdslrvideo.com/new-editing-computer-build/

#12

DeckLink 4K Extreme is fine, Kona 4 too.
I’d be surprised if you find a SD video source(ie tape) that is recorded in 4:4:4 though, to my knowledge DigiBeta is just 4:2:2.
As for Raid or not - I captured SD from a DigiBeta deck to an external FW800 drive a few weeks ago. 4:2:2 10bit uncompressed - no hickups, no problems, no nothing.

HD, 2K and UHD/4K are different beasts tough.

#13

Right… I’m fine with 4:2:2 I just don’t want to capture using mpeg or h.264 as so far I haven’t found a system where the blocks weren’t obvious and causing problems down the line.

#14

The consensus on the black magic forums seem to be to move to the X99 boards … mo money :cry:

#15

The MSI x99S is significantly cheaper than most of the others, your biggest problem would be memory, DDR 4 modules still have a bit of a premium.

#16

The ASUS x99 - A is $260
The MSI X99S is $219

But yeah the ram is a bit of a gut punch but I did find this 32gb kit for $500 and looks like the DIMMs can do 8way if I get a second kit

http://www.amazon.com/Crucial-Ballistix-PC4-19200-Unbuffered-BLS4K8G4D240FSA/dp/B00MTSWMV6/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1416077957&sr=8-4&keywords=ddr4

#17

the parts are flowing in! :applause: