Blackmagic Forum

Wanted to get peoples opinions on software scopes. I'd like to transition to using them for mobility reasons but the one's, well the vectorscope at least, in Resolve seems close to unusable when you're used to hardware scopes...am I doing something wrong? It's just like a blob.

Seems to me the scopes available in external recorders like the Video Assist would be far more "portable" than dragging around a Laptop. No?

I'll look into it...I'm old school right now...My Tektronix 1725 has been my right hand man for many, many years...I was picturing an extra monitor with a WFM VECT and an RGB Parade on it...But I suppose there's some different setups that could be had. Not looking for "in the field" gigs, but rather when folks call and have a big gig and want to sit in I like to have some options for getting my gear in and out of a studio easier then now.

I love Scopebox, the best affordable software scopes imho. You'll need a Mac and a BMD Mini Recorder over Thunderbolt.
Much, much better than my cheapo Smartscope hardware scopes or Resolves internal software scopes.

You can do pretty much everything you'll ever want. It's incredible really.

https://www.divergentmedia.com/scopebox

Erik Wittbusch wrote:I love Scopebox, the best affordable software scopes imho. You'll need a Mac and a BMD Mini Recorder over Thunderbolt.
Much, much better than my cheapo Smartscope hardware scopes or Resolves internal software scopes.

You can do pretty much everything you'll ever want. It's incredible really.

https://www.divergentmedia.com/scopebox

+1 on the scopebox (unless you have serious $$$ to drop for a leader/tecktronix)

Scopebox is so good for us, we're about to buy a second one. It has some issues, but for the most part it's very good. To really get something better, you'd have to spend about 7 or 8 times as much money for a serious Leader, Tektronix, or Videotek rasterizer scope.

John Burton wrote:I'd like to transition to using them for mobility reasons but the one's, well the vectorscope at least, in Resolve seems close to unusable when you're used to hardware scopes

A software scope is always going to have to run on a hardware platform, and even Scopebox needs an external computer to ingest a media stream, so you're stuck carrying another item one way or another. Plus the cableing, interface... &c.

Agreed, the internal Resolve scopes leave a lot to be desired, but nearly all rasterized displays eventually go "blobby" -- I really, really miss the good old CRT-type scopes, whatever they were doing to my long-term health. Really though, the "Vectorscope" concept itself is kind of a bit of a throwback -- only useful when you understand what it is trying to tell you, and still a bit of a guessing game as to where your true grey-scale lies... given the concept that "Black" and "White" is the same location (origin) -- something like G/R, minus-G/B is more useful (the Tektronix "Diamond") for straightening up the christmas tree.

And you can synthesize that with Scopebox.

jPo, CSI

I appreciate the responses and think I may pull the trigger on a mac mini for scope box and, as I run a Windows based Resolve and have had instances where I need to pull source material from a Thunderbolt only drive. Not to go off topic but It appears the "newer" mac mini with the 1.4 cpu (2014 it appears) isn't that much more than a used 2012...Is there something special about the 2012's?

John Burton wrote:I appreciate the responses and think I may pull the trigger on a mac mini for scope box and, as I run a Windows based Resolve and have had instances where I need to pull source material from a Thunderbolt only drive. Not to go off topic but It appears the "newer" mac mini with the 1.4 cpu (2014 it appears) isn't that much more than a used 2012...Is there something special about the 2012's?

You can often find refurbished Mac Minis on the Apple Store for a good discount, and they come with the same 1-year warranty as a new machine. That's what I'm using right now. There's nothing special about the 2012s as far as I know, although at some point Apple started soldering in the RAM so the later models (including 2014, not sure about 2012) are totally non-upgradeable. You have to decide how much memory you want up front and buy a machine with those specs...not always available with refurbished, unfortunately.

Big fan of Scopebox too.


For a Windows solution, bit more advance/pricey, you can look into 4KScopes by Drastic.
Or Ultrascope by BMD (the pci card) which is dumb but very useful.

Hector Berrebi wrote:Big fan of Scopebox too.


For a Windows solution, bit more advance/pricey, you can look into 4KScopes by Drastic.
Or Ultrascope by BMD (the pci card) which is dumb but very useful.

There is also a low cost version of 4kScope called sdiScope.com that works with most BlackMagic hardware, including Ultrascope hardware, on windows, linux or macOS/OS-X.

infinitebuzz wrote:

Hector Berrebi wrote:Big fan of Scopebox too.


For a Windows solution, bit more advance/pricey, you can look into 4KScopes by Drastic.
Or Ultrascope by BMD (the pci card) which is dumb but very useful.

There is also a low cost version of 4kScope called sdiScope.com that works with most BlackMagic hardware, including Ultrascope hardware, on windows, linux or macOS/OS-X.

Hi Guys
FYI, there is a new version of sdiScope for BlackMagic capture hardware, including the Ultrascope PCI and USB-3 adaptors and cameras. Version 7 can be downloaded from www.sdiscope.com!
Cheers