Still use the Blackmagic Intensity Pro with Vegas Pro 9 - and with 9c it works great with the 32 bit Vegas version (not with the 64 bit Vegas). The major advantage is, that you have a superior preview quality in 1920x1080 - compared to graphic cards, what is really great.

How does it provide superior preview quality?

I'm curious as one of the things on my to buy list is a better 1920x1080 monitor. Top of my list is the Eizo with internal LUTs and that's fed via DVI. I could feed it via HDMI but if the whole chain is calibrated I cannot fathom how HDMI improves the outcome.

Clouding my decision is the new Dell 24" which is dramatically cheaper than the Eizo and looking at the reviews is none too shabby. No internal LUTs but it does have a 12bit engine and the LUTs should be just as effective running in a good video card.

Bob.

Considering that DVI and HDMI seem mostly interchangeable (you can use adapters to go from one to another) I'd say there's no difference inherent in the cabling.

The thing about a graphics card/computer display combination, I guess, is that things are likely to be tweaked to make games look good. That's probably a bad recipe for video, especially if you want to try to do any grading.

I'd like to assume that if you used an AJA or BMD card for your preview output (via SDI or HDMI/DVI) then you'd be getting output that wasn't skewed for games. At that point you'd need to just work on getting the display calibrated properly. Hopefully.

The advantage of SDI input is that it's a universal input for a lot of professional gear, so if someone came to you with DVCPro tapes and a deck you could capture the video to a codec of your choice even though Vegas doesn't natively support DVCPro. I find a lot of FCP users doing this even when they didn't have to, mainly because it's the way they've always done it.

Another advantage of SDI is that it supports really long cable runs. DVI and HDMI don't.

The audio guys here could probably list a few audio advantages to the pro level AJA and BMD cards. I'm not sure if you'd call the BMD Intensity line "Pro" or "Prosumer".

Rob Mack

The advantages of using SDI to feed a monitor are a given, so is the impact on ones bank account.
Not all graphics cards are aimed at gamers. The nVidia pro cardsare built specifically for graphics and video work and priced accordingly. HD-SDI output is available via an optional duaghter board on the top shelf card and forms the basis of at least one mid level grading system.
The advantage of using SDI for capturing is getting all the original audio tracks off the tape although I'm not too certain how that works out with Vegas and these cards.
One advantage to using the Intensity could be refresh rates. Most PC LCDs run a refresh rate of 60 or 75Hz so motion rendition is not accurate. I would think feeding 24/25/30p over HDMI to a HDTV would resolve this problem.

Bob.

One can preview and edit but not capture within 9c 64 bit using the Intensity Pro card. Even though I can capture using the 9 a/b/c 32 bit version I prefer capturing via Media Express software that comes with the Intensity Pro card. I use a Sony deck for capturing and not my cameras.

I use Sony V1E cameras and capture (decompress) to full HD. The results I have received thus far with wild life footage and burning it to Blu-ray are excellent. I've compared it to XDCAM footage available from Sony's web site as well as footage from colleagues, my results are as good if not better. If only I can find a hard drive with HDMI input that I can capture to directly from the V1E. I can capture directly to my PC via the HDMI interface and there is also a card available to capture to a laptop, however this is not ideal out in the wild.

Hi Leopardman.

I didn't realise that the intensity cards actually worked in Vegas 64bit, I've been struggleing with mine. Would you do me a massive favour. Would you be able to email me these files from your system.

C:\Program Files (x86)\Sony\Vegas Pro 9.0\BMD*.dll

C:\Program Files (x86)\Sony\Vegas Pro 9.0\Video Hardware Drivers\Decklink*.dll

C:\Program Files\Sony\Vegas Pro 9.0\BMD*.dll

C:\Program Files\Sony\Vegas Pro 9.0\Video Hardware Drivers\Decklink*.dll

I would really appreciate it. to matt.wright*freehand.co.uk (replacing the star with the @).

Many Thanks

Matt

Have a look at the Convergent Design NanoFlash. It only has HD-SDI input however they also do a HDMI to HD-SDI converter box.

I agree, the V1 was a much under rated camera. It had some initial problems that were fixed but the bad rap seemed to stick. For what you're shooting the longer lens would be quite a bonus compared to the EX cameras unless you went for an EX3 with a Nikon adaptor. I've seen some simply stunning wildlife footage from that combo but once you get a lens that's equivalent to over 1,000mm you need a LOT of tripod.

Bob.

"How does it provide superior preview quality?"

The error is to believe that we are talking here about an interface - but HDMI or DVI are not the points that define the quality really. Quality seems to be defined in things like real resolution that you achieve in a preview picture and picture processing - I am no specialist here. All waht I have seen is that graficcards deliver also 1920x1080, but if you compare the picture quality with an Intensity Pro you see a significant difference (especially if you use testcharts). At least with my hardware.