BlackMagic UltraStudio Mini Recorder and VLC

[chris_bs]

Hello,
I'm trying to get VLC to work with my UltraStudio Mini Recorder on my MBPro Retina - MAC OS X 10.8.2.
But every time I try to open a new Recording source in VLC (2.0.5 - 32bit) and select "Blackmagic" with the correct resolution of the video source, VLC switches back to the Build in Webcam.
The Mini Recorder Source works fine with BM Media Express...
Any solution?
Regards,
Chris

[Jean-Baptiste Kempf]

Try VLC 2.1.0 nightly builds.

[chris_bs]

I tried, but it doesn't work either... There is no 32bit version so that the different resolutions from blackmagic are not visible. When I select video: blackmagic and leave audio on the internal mic, the facetimecamera pops up. If I select video: blackmagic and audio: Blackmagic, a black videowindow pops up...
Regards,
Chris

[jeg]

Hi Chris,

I succeeded in getting HDMI input to my iMac using an Ultrastudio Mini Recorder, with the latest released version of VLC (2.0.5, 64bits).
At first I had nothing but a black screen. To get video input, I had to manually set the output resolution of the external device (in my case to 1080i 60Hz).
Then I set the same resolution in BM Media Express' preference menu and the video dimensions to 1920x1080 in VLC, and the video stream is perfectly displayed.

I couldn't get VLC to play the audio though. I know that the audio actually goes from my device to my iMac, since I can record it with another app.
I tried a nightly build of VLC 2.1.0, which brought an additional menu for selecting audio input. But selecting "Blackmagic Audio" makes the app crash.

I also got the issue where the webcam stream is displayed instead of Blackmagic stream with VLC 2.1.0. To solve that, I open the stream again, and then I get the correct Blackmagic input.

Now I'm looking for the proper command line for launching VLC configured to display the Blackmagic stream, as selecting the input and setting the resolution manually is cumbersome.

Regards,
Jérôme

[fkuehne]

@jeg: could you provide a log for the crash please? I'm confident to be able to fix, but I don't have access to a black magic device, so I need your log...

[jeg]

Well I just tried to reproduce the crash but couldn't. :-/
Maybe I changed something that now prevents the crash... I will send you the logs if I reproduce the issue.

Meanwhile, I still have no audio. The problem seems to come from the fact that Blackmagic supports 16 audio channels, while only 2 are actually used.

Here is the log I get when launching VLC 2.1.0 and selecting only audio capture from "Blackmagic Audio"

Code: Select all

main debug: adding item `com_blackmagic_design_iokit_AudioInputEngine:0' ( qtsound://com_blackmagic_design_iokit_AudioInputEngine:0 ) main debug: Creating an input for 'com_blackmagic_design_iokit_AudioInputEngine:0' main debug: processing request item: com_blackmagic_design_iokit_AudioInputEngine:0, node: Liste de lecture, skip: 0 main debug: rebuilding array of current - root Liste de lecture main debug: rebuild done - 2 items, index 1 main debug: starting playback of the new playlist item main debug: resyncing on com_blackmagic_design_iokit_AudioInputEngine:0 main debug: com_blackmagic_design_iokit_AudioInputEngine:0 is at 1 main debug: creating new input thread main debug: Creating an input for 'com_blackmagic_design_iokit_AudioInputEngine:0' main debug: no fetch required for (null) (art currently (null)) main debug: using timeshift granularity of 50 MiB, in path '/tmp' main debug: `qtsound://com_blackmagic_design_iokit_AudioInputEngine:0' gives access `qtsound' demux `' path `com_blackmagic_design_iokit_AudioInputEngine:0' main debug: creating demux: access='qtsound' demux='' location='com_blackmagic_design_iokit_AudioInputEngine:0' file='(null)' main debug: looking for access_demux module matching "qtsound": 13 candidates qtsound.lo debug: qtsound uid = com_blackmagic_design_iokit_AudioInputEngine:0 qtsound.lo debug: qtsound : uid = com_blackmagic_design_iokit_AudioInputEngine:0 qtsound.lo debug: qtsound audio 0/4 localizedDisplayName: Entrée intégrée uniqueID: AppleHDAEngineInput:1B,0,1,1:2 qtsound.lo debug: qtsound audio 1/4 localizedDisplayName: SB X-Fi Go! uniqueID: AppleUSBAudioEngine:Creative Technology:SB X-Fi Go!:38389C46809350E50711E01100000000:2,1 qtsound.lo debug: qtsound audio 2/4 localizedDisplayName: Blackmagic Audio uniqueID: com_blackmagic_design_iokit_AudioInputEngine:0 qtsound.lo debug: Device found qtsound.lo debug: created valid audio capture input facility qtsound.lo debug: initialized audio output qtsound.lo debug: Audio localized format summary: PCM linéaire, 24 bit gros boutien entier signé, 16 canaux, 48000 Hz qtsound.lo debug: Audio format description attributes: { audioStreamBasicDescription = "<00000000 0070e740 6d63706c 16000000 40000000 01000000 40000000 10000000 18000000 00000000>"; } macosx debug: releasing sleep blocker (1116) macosx debug: releasing sleep blocker (1116) qtsound.lo debug: New audio es 2 channels 44100Hz main debug: selecting program id=0 qtsound.lo debug: QTSound: We have an audio device ready! main debug: using access_demux module "qtsound.lo" main debug: looking for decoder module matching "any": 37 candidates araw debug: samplerate:44100Hz channels:2 bits/sample:32 main debug: using decoder module "araw" main debug: looking for meta reader module matching "any": 2 candidates lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in /Volumes/Macintosh HD 2/Utilisateurs/Jeg/Library/Application Support/org.videolan.vlc/lua/meta/reader lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in /Volumes/Macintosh HD 2/Utilisateurs/Jeg/Downloads/vlc-2.1.0-git_x64/VLC.app/Contents/MacOS/share/lua/meta/reader lua debug: Trying Lua playlist script /Volumes/Macintosh HD 2/Utilisateurs/Jeg/Downloads/vlc-2.1.0-git_x64/VLC.app/Contents/MacOS/share/lua/meta/reader/filename.luac lua debug: Trying Lua scripts in /Volumes/Macintosh HD 2/Utilisateurs/Jeg/Downloads/vlc-2.1.0-git_x64/VLC.app/Contents/MacOS/share/share/lua/meta/reader main debug: no meta reader modules matched main debug: `qtsound://com_blackmagic_design_iokit_AudioInputEngine:0' successfully opened qtsound.lo error: Too many or only one channel found.

[jeg]

With VLC 2.1.0, when capturing only audio from "Blackmagic Audio", I managed to reproduce the crash.
I've got the following logs in the terminal:

Code: Select all

VLC media player 2.1.0-git Rincewind (revision 1.3.0-git-5925-g3794d92) [0x100307570] main libvlc: Lancement de vlc avec l'interface par défaut. Utilisez « cvlc » pour démarrer VLC sans interface. VLC(1834,0x10bfb3000) malloc: *** error for object 0x1008c9000: pointer being freed was not allocated

Is there a way I can produce more logs?

[Jean-Baptiste Kempf]

This is probably a bug when the audio card hasn't a stereo mode.

[bwilliams18]

Hi Chris,

I succeeded in getting HDMI input to my iMac using an Ultrastudio Mini Recorder, with the latest released version of VLC (2.0.5, 64bits).
At first I had nothing but a black screen. To get video input, I had to manually set the output resolution of the external device (in my case to 1080i 60Hz).
Then I set the same resolution in BM Media Express' preference menu and the video dimensions to 1920x1080 in VLC, and the video stream is perfectly displayed.

I couldn't get VLC to play the audio though. I know that the audio actually goes from my device to my iMac, since I can record it with another app.
I tried a nightly build of VLC 2.1.0, which brought an additional menu for selecting audio input. But selecting "Blackmagic Audio" makes the app crash.

I also got the issue where the webcam stream is displayed instead of Blackmagic stream with VLC 2.1.0. To solve that, I open the stream again, and then I get the correct Blackmagic input.

Now I'm looking for the proper command line for launching VLC configured to display the Blackmagic stream, as selecting the input and setting the resolution manually is cumbersome.

Regards,
Jérôme

Jerome can you explain exactly what you did again, I tried to follow your steps exactly(but with my own settings) and was unable to get the video to display in VLC. Just got a big black screen.

[jeg]

Jerome can you explain exactly what you did again, I tried to follow your steps exactly(but with my own settings) and was unable to get the video to display in VLC. Just got a big black screen.

Do you also get a black screen in Blackmagic Media Express when you select "Log and Capture", or is your problem only with VLC?

I will try to be comprehensive in the description of what succeeded for me.

1/ In OS X System Preferences, I selected Blacmagic Design and set the following configuration in the Settings tab:

• Set input: HDMI Video & HDMI Audio
  Use 1080p not 1080PsF: checked (probably not relevant in my case)

2/ On my video device (set-top box), I configured the video output resolution to 1920x1080, 60Hz, interlaced

3/ In Blackmagic Media Express, in the Preferences pane, I configured:

• Project Video Format: HD 1080i 60
  Capture File Format: QuickTime Uncompressed 8-bit YUV (default)

(It seems that this step 3/ is required for not getting a black screen in VLC. If this is indeed the case, those settings should have been in the system preference pane of step 1/)
From that moment on, I got a correct display in Blackmagic Media Express' "Log and Capture" window.

4/ In VLC 2.0.5, in the File menu, I selected "Open Capture Device...", selected Blackmagic device, and set:

• Image width: 1920
  Image height: 1080

I clicked Open, and got a nice display of my set-top box output.

[chris_bs]

@jeg: Thanks but Sorry, I followed your instructions with both 2.0.5 and the current nightly 2.1.0 but could get video/audio in VLC. BM Media Express works fine...
In 2.0.5 the FaceTime camera always gets activated and in 2.1.0 I only get a black screen. During that time, Media Express stops showing video. After shutting down VLC, Media Express continues its video.
Happy Ester!
Chris

[fierpup]

I also have the same issue as most users here.

I'm using a mac (10.8.3) brand new out of the box and in Media Express I do get video our of my Canon EOS in the log and capture section. When I tried to use VLC (2.1.0) I get a black screen and setting the resolution to 1920x1080.

Any updates on this??

[jeg]

@jeg: Thanks but Sorry, I followed your instructions with both 2.0.5 and the current nightly 2.1.0 but could get video/audio in VLC. BM Media Express works fine...
In 2.0.5 the FaceTime camera always gets activated and in 2.1.0 I only get a black screen. During that time, Media Express stops showing video. After shutting down VLC, Media Express continues its video.
Happy Ester!
Chris

Hi Chris,

You might want to try the following command line that I'm using to automate the launch of VLC (tested with 2.0.7 and 2.0.8 ):
(replace <blackmagic_unique_ID> by your device ID found in Mac OS's system report)

Code: Select all

open -a /Applications/VLC.app/Contents/MacOS/VLC --args -vvvv qtcapture://<blackmagic_unique_ID> --qtcapture-width 1920 --qtcapture-height 1080 -f --no-macosx-appleremote --live-caching=100

[jeg]

@fierpup

I just tried with my 5D and could reproduce your problem.
I don't have a solution yet. The only difference that I found with my other device is the FPS (59.94 vs. 60).

[rkleemann]

I am using VLC 2.2.1 on a MacBook Pro Yosemite 10.10.3. I also have the Ultrastudio Mini Recorder.

However on capture device, I only see the Blackmagic Audio option. For video, I do not see Blackmagic at all, only the built-in webcam.

But video works fine on the Blackmagic Media Express application and also Flash Media Live Encoder.

Do I need to build VLC myself? How can I get it to recognize the black magic device?

[Jean-Baptiste Kempf]

Yes, you need a special SDK for this.

[rkleemann]

I have the Blackmagic Design SDK, are there instructions on how to build VLC with this SDK so that it will recognize the device on OSX 10.10.3?

thanks

[winsmith]

i am interested in learning how to do this as well

[thedreadpirate]

I have downloaded the SDK. Where can I go to learn how to do this?
(in my case OS X 10.11.3, w/ VLC 2.2.2)

Thanks

[loddie]

I too would appreciate support for BlackMagic capture cards. I have a BM Intensity Pro 4K and the audio is recognized but there are not options to selecting video in "Open Capture Device..."

[InTheWings]

You need to build vlc with SDK.
But I'm not even sure that would work, since we never tested BM input with something else than SDI