In each test we only changed one parameter to make comparisons between them. ![]() >Ī span is also quoted, which is the variance within a play pass or how “drunk or sober” the video is “walking down a white line in the road of sync”.Įach pass is the harder variable timing random sync check test with at least 30 secs of repeated random sync flashes per pass.Īll tests are 25 fps PAL and results are quotes as frames difference (or part thereof) between audio and video (remember that 1 frame = 40 ms in PAL land). Tests were measured at the Twickenham satellite lab of Pro Tools Expert using Pharaoh Audio’s Syncheck 3 and Syncheck 2 (>thank you Mike Wabro) and the results given are an average of at least three readings as long as the readings were very close, and listed separately if they were not. Samsung Sycmaster 940 fed from Intel on board gfx (same as mac min) Slate Raven (1920x1080 from NVIDEA gfx card DVI) Pro-Tools-PC (3.5 Ghz quad i7, 32 GB 1600 MHz DDR3 ram, NVIDEA GeForce GT 610 1024 MB, OSX 10.8.5 It promises to be all things to all men and end the hassle I was having to go through, transcoding media to Avid MXF media in my Media Composer to get guaranteed stable playback in Pro Tools 10 with my Mojo. Pro Tools 11 has the new 64 bit Avid Video Engine from their flagship Media Composer editing software which can play Avid Video wrapped favours (MXF) like the DnXHD Avid codec (its allegedly preferred diet) out of non Avid peripherals (or even the desktop), as well as all flavours of QuickTime wrapped media such as Apple’s ProRes codec or even Avid’s own DnxHD codec. OK, so we get to the 64 million dollar question - What is Pro Tools 11 HD video playback like with the new Avid Video Engine (AVE)? Video Performance With Pro Tools 11 and the New Avid Video Engine Therefore I continue therefore to hold the AJA IO XT as my “gold standard” for testing. Thunderbolt is a future proof connection compared to the PCIe of the Blackmagic and gives a portability and laptop accessibility for the future. ![]() It just feels better - which is all important when you are cranking it for 12 hours a day!ĪJA support by phone is excellent and their email support is top drawer too. I find the responsiveness of the AJA hardware superior both in jog and in darting around the timeline. It also allows very easy downmixing of the HD to SD with a very easy to understand software interface, allowing me to choose what favour of down mix I would like. Compare that to the Blackmagic which just unhelpfully comments “reference present”. The AJA software tells me the frame and line rate of the reference input and it also tells me what sort of display the outputs are connected to. I still however maintain that I prefer the thunderbolt AJA IOXT over the PCie Blackmagic Decklink Studio for several reasons: Blackmagic have finally improved their game and released a more stable driver which narrows the field a bit. Blackmagic were having serious problems in Pro Tools 11.1.2 (and below) with their drivers, whereas AJA were not. ![]() Which is Better For Pro Tools - Blackmagic or AJA?įrom some of my previous articles on video hardware, you will have noted that I have found that AJA hardware performs the best with Pro Tools 11 over and above the Blackmagic solutions. The no brainer was that Pro Tools 10 HD with a referenced Avid Mojo and a Sync HD was rock solid, but the surprise was that it was so accurate even when not using Avid MXF media. We also discovered that using a peripheral like the Avid Mojo, even un-referenced with video syncs and a sync HD, actually gave quite good sync. See my video here showing Syncheck 2 and Syncheck 3 Unless you have been living under a rock you will be aware now from my previous articles that desktop video in Pro Tools 10 is like a drunk fish on a bike as it meanders in and out of sync on a single pass, so should be avoided like the plague.
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