Blackmagic Forum

Do we think it is possible to have BMD add the h.264 or h.265 codec to the HDmini?

Now that we ditched the ProRecorder in favor of the HDmini I miss the smaller file sizes for archives, and ProRes Proxy looks so bad to me...

Would be nice Greg.. Maybe it would be able to adopt the technologie from the Duplicator 4K. But honestly i don't see that happen very soon.
As they would not sell the Duplicator as much anymore.. As the pricepoint of the Duplicator is about 3/4x as much as the Hyperdeck mini.

But hey i would give a big +10 for this option. Would even pay for a upgrade software..

MambaFiber.com wrote:Do we think it is possible to have BMD add the h.264 or h.265 codec to the HDmini?

Now that we ditched the ProRecorder in favor of the HDmini I miss the smaller file sizes for archives, and ProRes Proxy looks so bad to me...

+1

I've been hoping for a hi-bit rate h264/265 recording from the mini since it's launch but even before that had a wishful hope that the hyperdeck non-pro model would be given that feature. Even before that also thought the h/d shuttle would also make a useful h264 recorder. There's simply some cases where a full prores recording is not wanted or needed. So far all my searches for a hi-bit rate hd h264 recording has mostly ended disapointingly with video game recorders. I did consider the SD card h264 duplicator but settled for a couple datavideo hdr-1 on a single rack shelf for when we need h264, but it records to usb sticks which precariously sticks out quite a ways in the front of the unit itself so I'm always concerned about it being knocked / ripped out of the usb port... Anyways yes, having h264/265 on the h/d mini would be a nice feature for us also. Definitely a +1

A device that this would be a dream for our workflow. We were hopeful that the FTP ability of the Hyperdeck Studio Mini's would allow us to edit clips on a laptop and upload for playback. Unfortunately the FTP i/o speed on the Hyperdeck Studio Mini's is very slow (Even though it's a gigabit connection)

With an MP4 recorder/player we could easily upload clips for playback quickly and hand off useable MP4 files to clients. Currently we do dual records using ProRes and a BMD h.264 recorder for client files. (Even thought the Media Express software can be problematic)

Well my guess (seeing the typical BMD thought/engineering process) is that the hardware in the mini is not capable of doing the 264 compression. Would be nice if Gary or someone at BMD could give us an indication of this possibility lest I rant on about it. Nice to see I'm not the only one wishing for this valuable feature...

Daniel, you me and a few others should be involved with their broadcast developement- what do you think?

MambaFiber.com wrote:Daniel, you me and a few others should be involved with their broadcast developement- what do you think?

I think that could be valueable.. If only it was some advise board under NDA to give input on ideas and talk to head of development teams about what would or would not be possible / needed in the real world broadcast.

As Grant Petty said in there video about the new fiber converters.. We listend closely to what broadcasters needed and made a product to suit there needs.. I would like to join that team of people were they ask advice.. I'm well known with NDA's.. Was involved in Lego Mindstorms development, Have running NDA's with some big broadcast companies because of the control protocols and we develope hardware that is used worldwide in a brand for livestreaming video trough LTE/4G/5G

Even a whole new "Hyperdeck h.264" model would be awesome. Quality recording in a more compressed format at a decent price is a large hole that needs filling. No one is filling it. Blackmagic should. This is something I would have bought several of over the years.

MambaFiber.com wrote:Do we think it is possible to have BMD add the h.264 or h.265 codec to the HDmini?

Now that we ditched the ProRecorder in favor of the HDmini I miss the smaller file sizes for archives, and ProRes Proxy looks so bad to me...

I would love to see something like this as well. H.265 might be difficult, since it is much more processor intensive to encode, but H.264 seems like it might be possible at least for some resolutions.

The Video Devices PIX-E recorders started out as 4K30 ProRes recorders, but they were later able to add a 1080p H.264 recording option via a firmware update. It can actually record a 4K ProRes file and low bitrate H.264 simultaneously (to different media). The problem is that the H.264 bitrate is very low (~ 5 Mbps) with no adjustable quality options.

It's could be that one issue with adding an H.264 recording option to the HyperDeck models has to do with playback. Since they would need to add support for both encoding and decoding H.264 to enable playback. And since H.264 usually uses interframe rather than intraframe compression (as used by ProRes), a lot of the features like jog/shuttle, RS-422 control, etc. would be more difficult to make work properly with this type of compression.

It's possible they could just disable playback of H.264 files on the deck, but I'm not sure if people would be happy with that approach. People using the HyperDeck Mini as a video playout source would then be asking why they can't just load H.264 files onto the unit.

Notably the Duplicator 4K has no playback support, although it has a different intended usage than the HyperDeck models.

Anyway, given that a lot of Blackmagic's live production customers are probably targeting web-based delivery of some kind, it's kind of surprising they don't have more products with support for H.264 or other delivery codecs. ProRes is really intended as an intermediate codec for editing.