OBS 29.1 Decklink output alpha error

[san_drino]

Hi everyone. My OBS 29.1 has big problems on Decklink output that wasn't there before. In particular when changing scenes and a fade or move transition is used or if I change the opacity of a source. I tried with all kinds of color format but nothing changes, when I change the scene the colors go crazy. It seems to be a problem with alpha, which for example, is not there with the virtual camera and does not show itself in the viewer. I checked with other software (madmapper, mitti, and even cubase) and the problem does not occur in any case. OBS latest version, macOS Monterey, MacPro 2013 (trashcan) and BMD ultrastudio express. Does anyone have problems like this? Thank you

 

[san_drino]

Today I did the same test on a MBP M1 with Ultrastudio Monitor 3G and macOS Ventura, and the result is identical. You cannot use any video fade transition with decklink output. In some cases (doing several tests with different color formats) the video transition simply doesn't work (note that the audio transition works fine), but, with OBS Version 28.1.2 everything is working as expected. Just for info, the installed version of desktop video is the latest release (12.4.2). Thank you again.

 

[san_drino]

A small update: with the latest version 29.1.1 the problem persists. Everything good with 28.1.2. I do not understand the problem with the decklink output :(

 

[san_drino]

I did some more testing with the latest 29.1.2. Again, from 29 onward, the decklink output cannot be used if you want to use scene transitions or source opacity changes with fading in or out.

 

[san_drino]

Same problem with 29.1.3. Stuck with 28.1.2. Really, no-one has a problem like this? :(

 

[KalleGrabowski]

Have you found a workaround or do you know if anybody is working on this?

 

[san_drino]

Have you found a workaround or do you know if anybody is working on this?

Unfortunately, no. I also tried the latest beta 30 version but no luck, I'm stuck with 28.1.2 which currently seems to be the last version working properly on macOS (in relation to decklink output). At this point I have no idea if they are working on it or not, sorry.

 

[KalleGrabowski]

Unfortunately, no. I also tried the latest beta 30 version but no luck, I'm stuck with 28.1.2 which currently seems to be the last version working properly on macOS (in relation to decklink output). At this point I have no idea if they are working on it or not, sorry.

I just ordered a Ultra Studio 4K Mini. As soon as that arrives I will give it a try.
Are you using any „specialties“ or odd plugins?
I think it is really odd that the Decklink HDR handling is a new feature that has recently been worked on, when the basic Decklink connection seems to be broken. Unfortunately the Mac OS Decklink user base does not seem to be very large for confirmation.

 

[san_drino]

I just ordered a Ultra Studio 4K Mini. As soon as that arrives I will give it a try.
Are you using any „specialties“ or odd plugins?
I think it is really odd that the Decklink HDR handling is a new feature that has recently been worked on, when the basic Decklink connection seems to be broken. Unfortunately the Mac OS Decklink user base does not seem to be very large for confirmation.

I understand. I use only three plugins with OBS: NDI, move transition and ADV scene switcher (not compatible with the latest version for now). I think given the fact that it's been years since OBS implemented Decklink output, as of today it should be stable like for example for MimoLive, MadMapper, Wirecast, Mitti (of course, they are all paid software)... It seems that no one cares to have a hardware output of the program which doesn't seem realistic to me. Let's see what happens with the latest release. Personally I only use Blackmagic systems, so if it doesn't get fixed I'll move on to something else.

 

[KalleGrabowski]

What alternatives have you considered?
I started out with an Atem Mini Pro, moved to a HD60X and OBS for streaming in 1440p and will now try the Ultra Studio 4k mini and the Webpresenter 4k. All I need my software to do is add an overlay that is fed from an URL. Do you happen to know any free alternatives that support my Blackmagic gear?

 

[san_drino]

What alternatives have you considered?
I started out with an Atem Mini Pro, moved to a HD60X and OBS for streaming in 1440p and will now try the Ultra Studio 4k mini and the Webpresenter 4k. All I need my software to do is add an overlay that is fed from an URL. Do you happen to know any free alternatives that support my Blackmagic gear?

As far as I know the only complete free alternative is OBS (when it works well). It depends on the complexity of your setups/projects. Take a look at H2R Graphics if you might find it useful https://docs.h2r.graphics/master. You can also connect a computer to an ATEM input as a source for your overlay and use DVE for positioning and sizing. Here https://youtu.be/XQKvAdzr1Yc?si=-rgmhV3NG_MfMXEj is well explained how it works. After that you can go out directly with the ATEM program wherever you want (web presenter etc).

 

[KalleGrabowski]

I came from H2R Graphics (also nice), but I liked the optics an possibilities to modify everything via a rest API better using Singular Live.
Basically all I need is a way to add these overlays onto my 4k60 stream without buying a 4000 Euros Atem.
I also own an Atem Mini Pro but that is limited to 1080p60 unfortunately.
I think I will try a testlicence from vMix to find out if it is possible with my hardware at all.

Edit: I just learned, that vMix is Windows only :-(

 

[KalleGrabowski]

I came from H2R Graphics (also nice), but I liked the optics an possibilities to modify everything via a rest API better using Singular Live.
Basically all I need is a way to add these overlays onto my 4k60 stream without buying a 4000 Euros Atem.
I also own an Atem Mini Pro but that is limited to 1080p60 unfortunately.
I think I will try a testlicence from vMix to find out if it is possible with my hardware at all.

Edit: I just learned, that vMix is Windows only :-(

Another thought:
Since my preview window in OBS looks just fine, shouldn't it be possible to fullscreen output this via the Macs HDMI output to a 12g HDMI to SDI converter? That SDI output I would the feed into the webpresenter 4k that does the stream encoding for YouTube.
Am I missing something here?

 

[san_drino]

Another thought:
Since my preview window in OBS looks just fine, shouldn't it be possible to fullscreen output this via the Macs HDMI output to a 12g HDMI to SDI converter? That SDI output I would the feed into the webpresenter 4k that does the stream encoding for YouTube.
Am I missing something here?

You can try it. I had tried something similar a while back but when I enabled fullscreen preview the mac would 'hide' the OBS interface (black screen), unless the "Displays have separate Spaces" option was enabled, so I didn't waste my time with it. The way I use the system that option has to stay off for me. How would you then handle the audio output? Anyway, to try, once you have connected the HDMI to the converter which will be recognized by macos, open OBS and right click (or ctrl click), on the preview and select the option 'fullscreen projector' or 'windowed projector' (By the way it also tells you the size of the preview in relation to the 'monitor' settings which you can manage from the system preferences). Yes Vmix is only for Windows, but you can test Wirecast or Mimolive which are fine on Mac, obviously as long as the problems we have are not solved in this latest version still in beta.

 

[KalleGrabowski]

Thanks for your ideas and suggestions. I will definitely give them a try as soon as the adapter arrives.
As for the audio, Iwas hoping that that also gets output via the preview HDMI signal.
It really bothers me, that there has not been any acknowledgement of the problem from the developers yet. It makes me think that I might be missing out on a minor detail, that prevents that stuff from working.

 

[san_drino]

Thanks for your ideas and suggestions. I will definitely give them a try as soon as the adapter arrives.
As for the audio, Iwas hoping that that also gets output via the preview HDMI signal.
It really bothers me, that there has not been any acknowledgement of the problem from the developers yet. It makes me think that I might be missing out on a minor detail, that prevents that stuff from working.

A couple of apps you can try to get full audio stream management are Hijack and Loopback which in my opinion work great. https://www.rogueamoeba.com/ . There are also free apps you can try https://github.com/ExistentialAudio/BlackHole and https://vb-audio.com/Cable/ .

 

[KalleGrabowski]

A couple of apps you can try to get full audio stream management are Hijack and Loopback which in my opinion work great. https://www.rogueamoeba.com/ . There are also free apps you can try https://github.com/ExistentialAudio/BlackHole and https://vb-audio.com/Cable/ .

Looks like a have a couple of possibilities to go forward now, thank you!
First thing will be to try the HDMI to SDI converter for the preview output.
Second will be MimoLive. On their website they offer a 14 day trial version and if that solves my problems the licence will be 22€ a month. In comparison to the money I have spent so far, that seems like a bargain solution if it’s working .

 

[KalleGrabowski]

Looks like a have a couple of possibilities to go forward now, thank you!
First thing will be to try the HDMI to SDI converter for the preview output.
Second will be MimoLive. On their website they offer a 14 day trial version and if that solves my problems the licence will be 22€ a month. In comparison to the money I have spent so far, that seems like a bargain solution if it’s working .

Solution #1:
Benchtest is working!
The converter arrived yesterday and using the BMD Converter as a fullscreen video preview output I am able to supply my Webpresenter 4K with video in 2160p60 incl. audio.
Although I would favour to have the Decklink output working properly I now can at least stream in 4K60p including overlays now.