Intensity Shuttle

Do you have questions about Desktop Video, Converters, Routers and Monitoring?
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Scratzch

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Intensity Shuttle

PostFri Aug 24, 2012 3:04 am

I purchased an Intensity Shuttle in order to transfer dozens and dozens of VHS tapes I have to DVD. I have the required USB 3.0 input on my computer to connect the Shuttle. But instead of having Adobe Premiere Pro software, I have Adobe Premiere Elements 10. I tried every combination I could think of to get Premiere Elements to recognize the Intensity Shuttle, but was unsuccessful. Is it possible to get this software to work or would I need to upgrade to Premier Pro? Thanks...
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Kaspar Ko

Blackmagic Design

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Re: Intensity Shuttle

PostFri Aug 24, 2012 4:15 am

Unfortunately you will need Premiere Pro as Premiere Elements will not work. Alternatively you can use our bundled Media Express software to ingest the files.

With VHS tapes, you may look into renting or acquiring a TBC to compensate for the imperfections in the older medium. Else if the signal may drop if it falls out of spec and you'll experience black frames within your recordings. TBC's are relatively inexpensive to rent and come in a variety of options depending on what your needs are.
Kaspar Ko
Support Representative
Blackmagic Design USA
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Scratzch

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Re: Intensity Shuttle

PostSat Aug 25, 2012 2:18 am

I'm guessing that a "TBC" is a Time Based Corrector. Is that required for home videos, too? I'm not trying to copy any commercial VHS tapes to DVD, just home-made ones. Do I still need it for stabilization and not the Macromedia removal? Also, I did try to use the Media Express software and all I got on playback was a black square with no picture or sound (after about 5 minutes of recording). Is there a certain setting I should use with the Media Express software to copy a VHS tape using the RCA connections on the Intensity Shuttle to make it work? And while I'm here, do you know exactly why Premiere Elements won't work but Premier Pro will? What feature is it that Pro has that Elements doesn't? Thanks so much for your help! :^)
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Kaspar Ko

Blackmagic Design

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Re: Intensity Shuttle

PostSat Aug 25, 2012 5:06 am

The TBC is more for correcting the old analog tapes which can stretch over time or with misaligned heads of the VHS player. Televisions are much more accepting of signals that aren't quite still in spec whereas our cards are designed to adhere to a spec. You can't say we kinda follow the spec... :oops: You have to follow the spec or you don't.

So what a time based corrector does is bring these signals back into spec. The more expensive you go, the more options and lines you have to pull data from. Meaning the more out of spec your tapes are, the more expensive of a time based corrector you'll probably need. I don't believe they affect anything with macro vision but that shouldn't be required.

So few things that would cause a black screen in Media Express which you can easily check.

1. The VHS tapes are old and are out of spec and our device is not seeing it properly. Probably not as this normally manifests itself with blinking black frames and not continuous black screen. A TBC will greatly help with this if you are seeing the blinking.

2. The preferences are set incorrectly. In Media Express, Preferences make sure that it is set to NTSC which is the format resolution for VHS. In your Windows Control Panel, find the Blackmagic Preferences and ensure SET INPUT is configured for composite. I believe it defaults to HDMI Video/Audio if you've never adjusted these settings. Processing should be defaulted to OFF.

3. Media Express uses the graphics card to draw the preview overlay. That is why we require a discreet graphics card as part of the minimum system requirements. If you are using onboard graphics or a budget graphics card that does not have the necessary hardware acceleration, your preview window will be black. However, your captured file should still be there.

Those would be the first things to check. Also since it is a USB3.0 device and the system requirements are very strict, I would double check the Device Manager to make sure that the drivers are loaded properly and there are no errors. If you are still having problems, you can give us in tech support a call and we'll be happy to go over any of these settings with you.

Premiere Elements just doesn't offer the plugin structure for us to drop our plugins to work. That's why Premiere Pro is required.
Kaspar Ko
Support Representative
Blackmagic Design USA
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Scratzch

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Re: Intensity Shuttle

PostSat Aug 25, 2012 3:21 pm

Thanks so much for your quick reply. I'll try all the suggestions you made and let you know how it worked out. Cheers...
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Scratzch

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Re: Intensity Shuttle

PostSat Aug 25, 2012 11:11 pm

Okay, I can see the video now when I capture using Media Express after changing the setting from HDMI to Composite. I can see that I'm recording sound, too, but on playback (through Media Express), I get no sound. But if I play back the same file using the Window Media Player, the sound is there. Is there another setting I am missing to get sound during playback using Media Express?

I will be ordering a TBC today and should have it in a day or so. Once it arrives, I'll do some recording (using Media Express again) and see how that works out and report my results. Cheers...
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Scratzch

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Re: Intensity Shuttle

PostSat Aug 25, 2012 11:23 pm

Kaspar,
Buying a TBC doesn't seem quite as easy as I thought. I'm hoping you might give me your opinion on the two listed below;
Datavideo TBC-1000
AVT-8710 TBC
Are you familiar with either of these two units? Are there any others you might suggest I take a look at?
I really appreciate your assistance.
Scott
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Kaspar Ko

Blackmagic Design

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Re: Intensity Shuttle

PostMon Aug 27, 2012 5:50 pm

Hello,

To be honest, I've not had much experience in either one of those TBC's or in depth hands on usage of many TBC's. Perhaps someone here in the forums can chime in and give you their experiences on using one of these two.

An alternative is to see if any rental houses in your area may have some for rental. It's a good try before you buy type of scenario and see if it does what you need.
Kaspar Ko
Support Representative
Blackmagic Design USA
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Jerry Hatfield

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Re: Intensity Shuttle

PostTue Aug 28, 2012 7:12 pm

Scratzch wrote:Kaspar,
Buying a TBC doesn't seem quite as easy as I thought. I'm hoping you might give me your opinion on the two listed below;
Datavideo TBC-1000
AVT-8710 TBC
Are you familiar with either of these two units? Are there any others you might suggest I take a look at?
I really appreciate your assistance.
Scott


I have the Datavideo TBC-1000 and it works just fine. I have had it for 2-3 years. I have not had a major request for vhs conversions lately. Where this device comes in handy is with unstable analog video. The TBC basically rips the existing sync pulse from the video and replaces it with a new stable one. Some videos just can't be saved, but even those will look better. I think I paid under $200 for the 1000.
For importing analog into your computer, a TBC is a necessity.

Now, I have not tried it with my Shuttle, but I have used it with my Intensity Pro and Grass Valley hardware.
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Scratzch

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Re: Intensity Shuttle

PostTue Sep 04, 2012 1:29 am

Kaspar,

I received the TBC I ordered and have it hooked up between my VHS VCR and the Intensity Shuttle. When using Blackmagic Media Express, it sees the device and I can capture video. I also have downloaded the 30-day evaluation copy of Adobe Premiere Pro CS6, as that is the program I want to use to capture, edit, and make DVDs from my videos. Unfortunately, when I try to capture in Premiere Pro, it says the capture device is "offline". You told me earlier that the Intensity Shuttle is compatible with Premiere Pro, but I can't seem to get it to work. Is there something special I have to do to get Premiere Pro to recognize the shuttle? thanks...
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Mike Squires

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Re: Intensity Shuttle

PostTue Sep 04, 2012 7:36 pm

Uninstall, reboot, and re-install the Blackmagic Desktop software. When you installed it the first time, Premiere wasn't installed, so it didn't install the plug-ins that Premiere needed. I'm using PPro 5.5 and 6.0, and it works perfectly.

It will always say the device is offline, even when capturing, but you'll be able to see the video in the preview window.
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Scratzch

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Re: Intensity Shuttle

PostTue Sep 04, 2012 10:43 pm

Mike,

That's for the reply! Sounds very logical - I should have thought of that! Off to go try it...

Scott
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joanroundtree

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Re: Intensity Shuttle

PostWed Nov 21, 2012 11:03 am

The original meaning of the word shuttle is the device used in weaving to carry the weft. By reference to the continual to-and-fro motion associated with that, the term was then applied in transportation and then in other spheres.
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