Is there white paper on (SSDs for) the HyperDeck Recorders?

Hello,
I am interested in the BMD SSD Recorders. I own many of the BMD products (ATEM, H.264 Pro Recorder, almost every Mini Converter) and I love them ...
A thing I love less, is the lack of technical papers and FAQs compared to other companies. (I own Convergent Design nanoFlashs and they told me in advance about the bit rates, the containers the device supports, the compact flash cards they support, the recording capacities etc.)

The point is: I have to record sessions of approx 90 mins. and use 720p50 in a compressed way.

What I found so far is: The HyperDeck Studio supports 720p50 and DNxHD and ProRes. DNxHD@720p50 might be 175 mbitpersec. So I could end up with 128GB SSDs.

The question is:
Which bit rates are supported, which SSDs should I buy? Any on the market, the cheap ones too? What's the functionality of the product beyond the buttons visible and the general description on the web site? What can be achieved by configuration? (You might want to look at the papers available for the nanoflash which I use so far ...)

What are your experiences with the device please? How about quality (compared to CVD nanoFlash)? There a postings on this forum that sound a little bit strange to me. A recorder must be rock solid.

So: Should I buy a HyperDeck Studio?

Thank you in advance for your replies!

Dieter

P.s. By the way: Where are the replies of the BMD staff to many postings (reporting serious problems not only concerning USB-3) on their own forum please?

Hi Dieter,

There are actually FAQs for the HyperDecks includes a list of SSDs and there's also a manual that states all the bit rates. Those can be found here: http://www.blackmagicdesign.com/support/detail?sid=3960&pid=3969&leg=false&os=win

So you don't have to look for the bit rates, for DNxHD, it's 220 Mbps (page 8).

For SSDs, we use Sandisk Extreme 480 GB and we're happy with them.

We haven't really got to use our HyperDeck Studio much because we're still waiting for the Pros to come out so that we can complete our build, but so far it seems to be ok. However, not all the buttons work (Disp and Set), you can't play only one clip at a time (it continues onto the next clip unless you manually stop it), you can't switch between SSDs without pulling the one you don't want out, you can't delete clips off the drives from the unit, and the ethernet port doesn't work. There's also no way to tell what clip you're on. There are ways around these with varying degrees of inconvenience.

Hopefully BMD will finally complete the feature set soon. When that happens, they'll be an awesome product instead of just so-so like they are now.

Others who have used them more than me might have better things to say.

James.

EDIT: I should say, we record in 1080i50 with ProRes. So far, the quality is really good. There, something good to say

Hyperdesk Studio

I made a summary when I did go trough all the forum items:

Not possible:

* ...play one clip and stop
* ...be able to access all drives
* ...have a way of recording via other bmd software
* ...timecode functionality – every clip starts at 0:00:00:00!!
it does: RP188 timecode over Sdi (not yet tested by me)
3.5 firmware also doesn't reset TC in every clip anymore (also not yet tested by me)
* ...a few of the panel buttons had no specified function
* ...the ethernet port had no actual purpose
* ...cann't erase the drives while in the HyperDeck
(viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1438)
(viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1074)
(viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1005)

A quote from someone who has a point:
“Who needs 4k tech when 90% of us use 1080 or below as our way of making money. Here is an idea support the customers that buy the gear and have alot of it, not the few that might!”

Request...

* ...adding illumination to the buttons
* ...a toggle (display button?) to change from ch 1&2 to 3&4
* ...key lock function
* ...if the loop playback mode would loop a clip really gapless (hit 2times play)
* ...control HDS via Ethernet
* ...Ability to delete clips
* ...See the file name on the screen
* ...We haven't announced any other codecs at this time, but the hardware is capable. (only HQ)

(viewtopic.php?f=4&t=967)
(viewtopic.php?f=4&t=865)

Hyperdesk Pro

Not possible:

* ...It cannot capture or playback 4 streams at the same time.

(viewtopic.php?f=4&t=958)
(viewtopic.php?f=4&t=832)

By the way, we like the basics of the HyperDeck!
But we where a little down because of the product is not complete...
And you need all the time a (Apple) computer.

Also we found a problem in the HyperDeck:
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1397&p=7940#p7940
Which is not really helping to trust the HyperDeck in a live environment.

Hi Dieter,

I have two Hyperdeck studio's, one for recording and one for playback.

For what I need these are great. The features that I was looking for at the time of purchase were rackmountable, ability to record and play HD & SD, reliable, preview on the unit & easy workflow to transfer files for editing.

The Hyperdeck Studio ticks all these boxes pretty well and as far as I can see there is nothing out there with these features at anywhere near its cost.
Having to use HFS+ came as a bit of a surprise and disappointment, but this has now been resolved with exFAT. Having to upgrade to CS6 for Prores multichannel audio compatibility was unexpected.

Some of the features in the previous posts would be great and it has seemed that development on the Hyperdeck has slowed a bit recently.
I would love to have the clips named - we currently get around this by adding a title to the first frame of a clip.
Lower bitrate codecs would also be nice and play one clip and stop would help.

My suggestion is that if it does what you want it to do now then it is a great bit of kit with the updates being a bonus. If it doesn't meet your current requirements then look elsewhere rather than expect updates to happen soon.

Tim

It is all about expectations, the way the product is positioned, it creates a level of expectation for features that are not there yet.
Sharyn

I just want to correct a couple of things that podiumbroadcast listed. Now with exFAT support that came out today (or yesterday?), it's possible to use with Windows only without MacDrive (I tested it today and it works well). Also, timecode does not start at 00:00:00:00 for every clip anymore with 3.5. Now, it's only on the first clip. It seems to use record-run.

I just want to correct a couple of things that podiumbroadcast listed. Now with exFAT support that came out today (or yesterday?), it's possible to use with Windows only without MacDrive (I tested it today and it works well).

We are only using Mac OS X and Linux, so exFAT support is very nice, but for us not necessary.
And still you can't operate a HyperDeck without a (Apple or Windows) computer...
(Settings, delete clips, erase SSD, etc...)

Also, timecode does not start at 00:00:00:00 for every clip anymore with 3.5. Now, it's only on the first clip. It seems to use record-run.

That's indeed very very nice!
Why does BMD keeps this thing secret in there Firmware update release note !??

once again the BMD lack of change log is extremely annoying!

We are all resigned to the fact that BMD products come out without full functionality, we all like the regular updates and the fact that we sometimes get new / improved functionality for no additional charge. But why oh why oh why can we not have a simple readme.txt with the changes from previous versions listed? Such a document must (we assume!?!) exist within BMD development, and including it in the download would take less than 5 minuets (copy, paste, save, zip).

In the meantime I will fill the gap and make a hyperdeck compatibility chart over at atemuser.com, this will work like the ATEM compatibility functionality that we already have, allowing users to list SSDs they have tested with the hyperdecks. I've had a couple of nasty surprises with incompatible drives, and given how quickly drives come and go from the marketplace it seems unlikely that the official supported drive list will ever keep pace.

Liam Kennedy:

When we initially start recording to the first drive the file naming increments as you expect from 0000 on up and that increment contunues across to the second drive. Upon power down it seems the Hyperdeck forgets the last file number increment it was using on the drive and continues the next recording reset at 0000.

VERY VERY confusing.

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1520

(It nice to have one thread with some comments about the HyperDeck)

Hi Guys,

I'm probably repeating myself here- but we have 4 Hyperdeck studios- 1 just as a playback device, 1 in one of our sat trucks as a 'ready' recorder or playback and 2 that we used for replays for sports gigs- I too have my moans and groans- it does indeed accept RP188 timecode over Sdi- we've been using it to do replays with Ashvale slo-mo controllers since June- so to say it had no TC support is incorrect- it WILL accept RP188 BUT that has to embedded in the SDi stream somewhere else- and my big complaint is that the ATEM doesnt embed it yet (I'm still waiting BMD) so we had to pass the video and TC into a PDW HD 1500 to embed it......don't get me wrong- works beautifully. They 'go to cue point' ability is amazing- instant!!

4 channel audio monitor and the ability to delete or over-record would be great..........BUT this is a full HD uncompressed recorder for around £700.......when will Sony or Panasonic ever do that?????
It is a HD vtr replacement at a fraction of the cost- I'm sure BMD will give us the best value HD recorder on the market- maybe we expect it to be the same as an HDCAM SR deck? well, check out the difference in price.....

I know that I'm greatful as a broadcast provider to give HD to my clients and not be bankrupt trying to fund it....

We've used them live- basically as a VTR replacement- not an evs or server replacement- never had a problem yet.........

Using 1080i 50 in prores.......no complaints on that front.....

Cheers
Dave