Why is Blackmagic Intensity Shuttle compatible with only cer

Hi

Why is Blackmagic Intensity Shuttle USB 3 (shuttle) compatible with only certain computers? What makes it so fussy that certain computers can work with it?

Both my desktop i5 and laptop i3 see the device, but I simply can't record a stable video in both Media Express and ffmpeg.

In Media Express the shuttle records best in jpeg format, regardless of the input type. There are many dropped frames, yet records somehow fine, except for the audio and video run out of sync by 10 seconds in 1 hour, worse the longer the recording.

In ffmpeg it drops frames after a few seconds recording, and keep dropping frames, regardless of the recording video settings. One big mess.

Open Broadcasting Software (OBS) see the shuttle, but can't view the input, remains blank. Others like Nero Vision does the same.

Desktop, Intel i5 2nd gen, 8 GB DDR 1333 RAM, SSD

Laptop, Lenovo flex 2 14, i3 4th gen, 12 GB DDR 1600 RAM, SSD

What makes the architecture of my computers incompatible with the shuttle? Are there settings I am missing?

Thank you

If the source you are trying to record from is an analogue source then you usually need to run it through a timebase corrector to clean up the signal as most BM devices require a broadcast quality analogue source to capture it in correctly and most consumer analogue sources are from old VHS tapes which are of poor quality and therefore need cleaning up before coming in through Shuttle.

If it's down to hardware compatibility then there's a few reasons for this. Essentially motherboard and USB 3 controller manufacturers don't always make things to official design specs, so even though it states 'USB 3' on the motherboard or laptop they may not be giving the full power given in the USB 3 specifications or the full bandwidth. I have often seen USB 3 controllers, especially on laptops that only run at 2.5Gb/s and not the full 5Gb/s, also as I said they don't always give out enough power. (This can sometimes be remedy by buying a good powered USB 3 hub, but again you have to be careful which one to get as I have seen USB 3 hubs that converted everything down to USB 2 speeds.)

Another thing to watch out for on laptops is that a lot of devices are also routed through USB, such as webcam wireless etc and all of these can cause the Shuttle to drop out if they keep polling the USB controller. Sometimes just disabling them in device manager can help.

So what it boils down to is that if the motherboard and laptop manufacturers made their devices to full USB 3 specification and didn't steal some of the bandwidth and power for other devices then the Shuttle would work on pretty much anything, but because of the way they implement the USB 3 controllers onto motherboards and laptops it causes issues.

I'd like to chime in because I just got one and I just sent it back. One major issue is power supply, or at least it seems to be. I've had it plugged directly into my USB3 port and it wouldn't work but it would work though a powered HUB. That seemed very fragile to me. It worked most of the time but sometimes it would just start capturing black frames or stop responding. Frankly, if all my other USB3 devices work properly and I have to cross my fingers whenever I initialise anything using the Shuttle then maybe there's something wrong with the Shuttle. Just saying.

The Shuttle works right on the edge of the specs for USB 3, so if your system doesn't output the full power requirements or give the full bandwidth it doesn't work properly.
Just because other devices work doesn't mean that the Shuttle will. Some USB 3 controllers only run at 2.5Gb/s or less than the official spec, same goes for power ratings which won't be a problem for hard drive enclosures as they will just run slower, or they use less power, but for the Shuttle that causes an issue as it won't have the bandwidth or power needed.