Ultrastudio simultaneous input and output

I'm running Wirecast Pro 5 on two machines, a macbook air with mavericks, and a macbook pro with mavericks. For input I have a blackmagic ultrastudio 3D thunderbolt and a blackmagic ultrastudio express thunderbolt. I'm sending a lone signal through HD-SDI from a FOR.A switchboard to the BM express into wirecast on the macbook air. From there I want to add a scoreboard and then send the signal to my BM ultrastudio 3D (not using 3d but a single input) which is hooked up to my macbook pro for streaming and capture. As it turns out, my signal is just a passthru through the blackmagic express instead of an output from wirecast.

I've tried starting the output option in wirecast but this is the error message I get...

"An unknown error occurred when starting the export process. The error code generated was -1.

The output is blackmagic: Ultrastudio Express."

I've come to understand that blackmagic, by design, will not let me send an output signal from wirecast with my scoreboard through the output on my ultrastudio at the same time I'm using the input signal from my board. Does anyone know a workaround for this? Is all hope lost for what I'm trying to achieve?

Ultrastudio Express and 3d can only be in "input" mode OR "output" mode, it cannot do both at the same time. When in input mode the output is just a mirror of the input port for plugging into a TV for confidence monitoring.

However, all hope is not lost. It might be possible, if your Macbook pro has 2 thunderbolt ports, to use both Ultrastudio's on your MBP, one SDI for the video feed, and the other to receive HDMI from your Macbook air. If you configure your Air to output your scoreboard signal over the HDMI you should be able to use Wirecast on your macbook pro to capture and "key" it over your video signal.

Yea thats what I was afraid of. I have a mid 2011 macbook pro with only 1 thunderbolt port. I've looked around for a thunderbolt hub but I haven't found anything with more than 2 ports (which is ridiculous). I'm just disappointed that what I have doesn't work. It would make sense that having an input would ingest into the computer and having an output would send that signal on. Blackmagic's stuff always looks so promising but then there are little stupid details like this that drive me up a wall.

Thanks for your help. Sorry for the rant.

I am not sure but it sounds like you could incorporate ( Pixel Conduit ) into the mix and accomplish what you are trying to do much easier.
It is a free application and very capable.
We use it to super impose over a live feed from the Ultra studio.
Hope that helps.
Keith

These devices are not duplex, ie they use the same processor for input and output and hence cannot be used simultaneously. As for thunderbolt, it can be chained but not in parallel, hence the lack of hubs, there will never be one so dont hold your breath. You can however have a device that uses thunderbolt and then has a pass through. The super cheap blackmagic devices don't have a pass through, this keeps them cheap.

I am pretty sure the ultrastudio 4k is a full duplex device in some resolutions, there was a press release some time ago about the duplex capability, but it requires the more expensive hardware (it has 2 processors as it can do dual stream 3D). The Ultrastudio 3D is a legacy device and missed this driver update. Check with BM about this. Having a different physical input and output is very useful even if they cannot work at the same time, otherwise you would be constantly re-patching to switch between in and out.

The single thunderbolt model macbook is getting pretty old now and you will be very impressed with how far computer tech has come if you get a current machine- ie retina with 2 thunderbolt ports.

Pixel conduit is software but will not give you any more hardware outputs, which is what you need.
If I were you I would keep the blackmagic gear and upgrade your computer to a retina macbook pro, you have 2 thunderbolt ports and an HDMI out, and the missing ethernet can be added with a USB3 to Ethernet gigabit adaptor as well as many other peripherals, you wont look back.