Question / Help OBS Blackscreen with Blackmagic Decklink & Intensity. Works in BM Media Express

[NotStungEntertainment]

Hey everybody.

First, I want to thank @c3r1c3 and @Dilaz from the IRC chat, who tried to help me with this problem.

However, I think there's no recourse but to have either the developers or others take a peek and help. :(

Thank you for all your help--maybe this will help another person down the line? :)​

Description:

I have two Blackmagic cards installed in PCI-express 1x slots on my ASUS M4N72-E.
I have a NVidia GEForce 9800 GTK+ in a 16x slot. This card is in the 9 series (Not the 900 series.)

Though the cards work in BlackMagic Media Express, they do not display video in OBS nor VLC!

I've tried updating my graphics drivers to ones provided by NVidia and not ASUS, but the drivers erased my second Blackmagic card! :( See which drivers I am currently on, below.

I can't explain why I am getting this black screen. My OBS settings for Blackmagic seem to reset, and I can't guarantee that they are always set to my camcorder's resolution, which is 1080i 59.94, I believe.​

Drivers

This computer just came from a fresh install, so here's a list of driver installations, in order:

• Windows 7, Professional
• Windows Update to Current
• OBS
• BlackMagic Video Drivers
• ASUS M4N72-E Chipset Drivers

When I tried the latest NVidia drivers, they erased my BlackMagic intensity from recognition. Not trying THAT again! :(

I am on DirectX 11.


Previous Attempts

I've tried..

• Using either Decklink and WDM Capture
• Swapping which HDMI ports I'm using
• Using Decklink with ANY input video settings,
• Using Decklink with the HDMI input settings ((They are on SDI by default.))
• Using all four capture devices, simultaneously
• Using only "Decklink" Capture devices simultaneously
• Using "Preserve source video" and not
• Trying to view the device in VLC Player! [[The timestamp seems correct, but VLC perpetually tries to 'catch up']]

Window Capture works fine. :(


Log File Data

Here's from one, fresh, while trying to write this post:

http://pastebin.com/atGQ6KLQ

Next, here are links to..

• A previous log: http://pastebin.com/wZnVEa7G
• My Pins and Caps: http://pastebin.com/LNfjap51
• An attempt at getting all the settings to be "The same": https://imgur.com/YhC1wuG

If a developer needs access to this machine, I can set that up through Remote Assistance or whatever. :)

 

[NotStungEntertainment]

Thanks to @Jim , this cleared itself up pretty quickly. Here's why:

I'm using a camera, and I'm using Blackmagic Decklink & Intensity. Here's facts:

• My source are Canon VIXIA HF R500s--these connect to the most possible by the Blackmagic, which's 1080i 59.96fps at most.
• The cards do NOT reprocess the input data. If the input data is 1080i, 59.9402, that's how it comes out.
• But that's not entirely true, because OBS has settings that it expects from the hardware and how to display
• These cameras work with my Blackmagics when at 1920x1080; 1080p & at 29.97 fps

I hate finding out Blackmagic cards are interlaced, though.. These cameras *Can* go up to 1080p 60, but are limited by the tech I purchased.. B);;

Since it's a lot of capture resources to capture these cameras ONLY at 1920x1080--I'm going to see if I can change settings to force downsizing them to an alternate resolution, like 720p.

 

[David Webster]

I have a very similar setup and the same issue. I have a PC rig with 2 decklink cards and a thunderbolt Intensity Extreme.
The camera I'm attempting to use at the moment is a Panasonic v750 that can output 1080i 59.9 or 1080p 60
It works fine in blackmagic media. And it works fine in wirecast
But when I try to add it as a source to OBS, I seem to get audio, but no video.
I've similarly explored all the various places I can tell the system what res to expect out of the camera, but none of them seem to solve the issue. How did you ultimately solve it? I can't quite tell from what you wrote above.
If I read you right, you are saying that even though the card sees the video and detects its res properly (as confirmed by Blackmagic Media and Wirecast), OBS is expecting the res coming off the card to be different than it is? If that's the case, how can we specify to OBS what res is coming from cam and through card?

Thanks for any advice.

 

[NotStungEntertainment]

Thanks for asking, David!

It seems that the BlackMagic Media Express program also helps configure your cards across other programs.

Keep in mind that playing with the configuration involves literal 'black magic', as I've had to reboot to fix bad configuration changes. Reconfigurations I found to be mistakes would not get fixed by restoring the settings. I would have to change them back and reboot.

I can't guarantee which setting from BlackMagic's configuration will make it to OBS correctly. I started in 1080i 59.9xxx in BM. Then, @Jim helped by changing it to 1080p 29.97 in BlackMagic's Express program. Then, we went back to OBS, and since the dropdown included that framerate, OBS was prepared to receive that framerate. That means Blackmagic was finally sending its card data in a format OBS interpreted it as.

I'm going to have to downsample/downscale somehow, though. My computer's barely old enough to process one camera.

 

[Devon SFO]

I know this is a pretty bad necro, but I don't really have anywhere else to turn, at this point...

I'm in the same boat as you guys, NotStungEntertainment and David Webster. Two Intensity Pro cards, one capturing camera footage via the camera's HDMI port, one capturing game footage from a console's HDMI port. (HDCP is not an issue here.) When the camera's plugged into either of the cards, it works just fine! The card's video input in the Blackmagic Desktop Video Utility shows it to be 1080i 59.94 fps, and it appears in both the Blackmagic Media Express program and multiple capture programs. Everything's great!

But, when I plug in a gaming PC, a Wii U, an Xbox 360, a PS4 with HDCP disabled, etc etc etc, the same thing always happens... The card's input is set to 1080i 60 fps in Blackmagic Desktop Video Utility, and while it appears and captures just fine in BlackMagic Media Express, it only shows a black screen in any other capture program I try it in.

Now, NotStungEntertainment talks about @Jim helping him by showing him that Blackmagic Media Express ALSO configures Blackmagic cards across other programs... but I've so far been unable to make this happen. I don't know where to go to get this option in Blackmagic Media Express, or if I need a different version (I have the current Blackmagic drivers+software package, 10.7), and what I CAN find that's changeable in BlackMagic Media Express that looks similar to what I need, is the project settings, and that doesn't retain after a shutdown nor does changing them make the cards work in any other program.

What's the secret? How can I get my Intensity Pros to capture at a resolution or framerate that OBS would actually accept?

 

[NotStungEntertainment]

Hey, Devon; No harm. Before I begin, I'm a she! :)

1. When I call my theorization, "Black Magic", I mean it. It's definitely a hypothesis. When Jim was helping me, he went into the settings of Black Magic Media Express, and changed the settings of "Project Video Format." You were right, that's the place.
   
   In it, all my settings are the same. For my Intensity card, or my Decklink, both use 1080i60 in the project settings. I no longer believe this affects any other program.
   
   I won't update my original posts until I'm arsed to do so. ;)
   
   
2. Try *every* output setting in OBS for your framerate. Secondly, different devices will trigger different Blackmagic Framerates.
   
   For my HDMI Cameras, even though they say they output at 1080i60, Blackmagic in OBS Studio (I upgraded!) uses 1080i59.94 from my Intensity card.
   For my HDMI Laptop connection, Blackmagic in OBS Studio uses 1080i60, and works on my Decklink best.
   
   FYI, I did a lot of testing between cards when configuring everything. Try using 1080p29.97 for your BM Intensity's game video in OBS, not 1080i59.94. You may be able to type this in.
   When using my Intensity card to capture, I had problems with improper deinterlacing. 1080i59.94 for my laptop HDMI output, and 1080p29.97 for my camcorder HDMI output, did not display right in OBS Windows & Blackmagic 10.3.7. (Yes, still old school there.)

Black Magic cards, even though they say they capture at p, do not. In their app, they capture at i60 and deinterlace it to p30 for the project.

Black screen is a good start. It may not sound like it, which I can relate. :/ But it is a good start because it means OBS is detecting the device.

Don't give up. Jim may be really busy in the chat, but he and other people inside the IRC are a boon, and they may know just what to do to fix your situation after you've given up hope. I was really impressed how simple the solution was, but I couldn't for the life of me have guessed how to configure the correct FPS settings.

In retrospect, I think Blackmagic cards are affordable, but I don't think they're the easiest to configure and rely upon. I don't ever upgrade my Blackmagic software unless I'm in the mood to reconfigure everything. It's just like software development: you don't update a package unless you're ready to re-integrate it. But I never imagined that feeling as a consumer. :/

PS: Reply if this helps you!

~NotStung's Producer

 

[Becca Scott Kerns]

.....so the answer is return your blackmagic devices? I'm having similar issues trying to stream xb1 to OBS using the BM ultrastudio minirecorder. Works in Media Express -- doesn't pick up anything in OBS.