HDMI To Thunderbolt Video Capture For Mac M1 Max MacBook - Blackmagic Ultrastudio 4K Mini Unboxing
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 12 ก.ย. 2024
- HDMI To Thunderbolt Video Capture For Mac M1 Max MacBook - Blackmagic Ultrastudio 4K Mini Unboxing
In this video I'm unboxing and showing a close up of the Blackmagic Design UltraStudio 4K Mini Thunderbolt to HDMI video capture and playback interface.
While this interface will work with many Windows PC configurations that have Thunderbolt interfacing and also older Intel X86 based Apple Mac computers. I use this for HDMI capture and HDMI output monitoring for my Apple Silicon M1 Max MacBook Pro.
It's worth noting that at the time of this video, this is the cheapest Apple Silicon compatible video interface hardware technology for HDMI and SDI capture and playback for resolutions up to 4K UHD, 4K DCI at frame rates up to 60FPS at 8 bit 10 bit and 12 bit that will work with any Apple Silicon M1 based computer, including the M1 Mac mini, M1 MacBook Air 2020, MacBook Pro M1 2020, iMac M1 2021 and the latest M1 Pro AND M1 MAX based MacBooks.
All these M1 based Macs can only interface via USB C and Thunderbolt. This is why the options for recording HDMI and monitoring HDMI are very limited.
This interface is awesome for recording high quality 4K 60FPS game capture from anything like a Windows gaming PC, Sony PS5, Xbox Series X. In fact, it will pretty much record any gaming computer or games console HDMI output.
Although it's perfect for game and gameplay capture, it's obviously perfect for recording HDMI or SDI from a video camera or VTR etc. It is also perfect for monitoring the output from DaVinci Resolve and many other NLEs and some can also use it for input and ingesting via HDMI and SDI.
Keep an eye on my channel as will be doing videos soon on how to game capture PS5 gameplay on Apple Mac MacBook and M1 Apple computers and also how to capture gameplay from an Xbox Series X to the Apple Silicon Mac range of desktop computers and MacBook laptops.
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I’m David Harry. Thank you very much for watching this video, take care and goodbye now.
Cheers,
Dave.
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Hi David! Thanks for the video :) This Ultrastudio 4K mini can improve of the premiere pro performance?
Hi, Sebastian. No, it will not help with things like processing. It will help with certain codecs and certain types of scaling in certain instances but not directly things like effects etc. Cheers, Dave.
Have a bit of a complex question, so i’ll try to give context and break it up into parts. Firstly is i’m a fairly new colorist in the grand scheme of things and just wrapped up my first feature film and am on to the next one. I’m beginning to upgrade my setup and this is on my list. However there are some things i’m wondering if you have clarification about so i’ll give some context to my setup and where the question is coming from.
Firstly, I potentially have clients in house at any point for an in person grading session, so I have a client monitor setup at my couch in the office. It’s an LG OLED which for the moment is just connected directly to my imac pro, via thunderbolt to hdmi.
Secondly is my desk, where i of course have my imac pro, and my main monitor which I will be upgrading to a more professional monitor that also has some hdr capabilities, also connected currently via thunderbolt 3 to hdmi.
The part that gets things a bit messy is since i’m on mac, i have to use mac color display profiles in the davinci preferences. Not a problem, but not sure if it will be with an IO device.
So my questions are in relation to the IO device and my setup. Firstly, can i use multiple monitors with one IO device such as this 4k mini? And can I use them at the same time?
If the answer to that is no, am I able to use multiple IO devices with resolve at the same time or not? Such as me getting the 4k mini for my reference display and just the 1080p io device for the client monitor.
If the answer to that question is no, will leaving the mac display color profiles option in resolve on effect what the io card is showing me, or does the io card bypass everything including that setting. I don’t mind if my client monitor is using a GPU signal and it’s slightly off, at least for the moment.
Sorry it’s a bit of a long question, thanks!
Hi Zack.
Your Mac colour profiles won’t be an issue for an external monitor with any of the BlackMagic devices. The output from the I/O device will be strictly what you set it to within the setup of Resolve on the project setup page.
For instance, if you set the project output to be rec.709 gamma 2.4, that’s exactly what will come out of the I/O.
From what I understand, the Mac colour profiles are only for its own UI and Resolve essentially transforms to fit in with them when using a Mac screen. It’s a bit like using a transform LUT for playback.
I don’t have this interface anymore but if memory serves me well, you can have two simultaneous outputs, HDMI and SDI. Don’t bet on that though, as I’m not 100% positive.
However, even if it doesn’t, you can always use a splitter after the output to get more simultaneous outputs.
Unless anything has changed recently, you can’t have multiple cards active in Resolve for the output, it just uses one at a time out of what’s available to it, which you should find in the global settings.
Resolve can be a bit confusing, as some of the settings in the global and project settings look like they are conflicting when they’re not. Or it sometimes looks like something is overriding something else depending on what page you’re on.
Sorry I can’t be more specific about the simultaneous outputs in the Mini 4K. However, it is a great little box and the cheapest thing you can buy for what it does. One thing you should be aware of is that you will definitely hear its fan if it’s close by, which it likely will be due to the cable length restrictions of Thunderbolt. it’s not crazy loud but if you’re in a quiet room, you’ll definitely hear it if it’s close by.
You may also want to look into using a Thunderbolt to PCIe enclosure, depending on what Mac you’re using. This can potentially allow for more I/O options as you may be able to use PCIe I/Os externally.
Cheers,
Dave.
@@DavidHarry Thanks a bunch! I'm new the world of building a color suite so this is all great to know
Very nice and detailed unboxing. Can't wait to see you use it!
Nice one Tone. I’ve already started on a video that’s a proper geeky comparison between using this interface and an Elgato interface. It’s basically Pro Res 4444 QX vs H.265 4:2:0, just to show people the difference between ultra high and standard codec delivery to TH-cam so people can see what effect TH-cam has on the uploads. It’s a proper nerd video but there’s nothing like it on TH-cam that goes into the detail I’m doing. It’s a three part video, the explanation video, the H.265 upload example and the Pro Res 4444 XQ upload example. The ProRes upload was 120GB for a three minute video 😂 I’m a complete tool 😆 Cheers, Dave.
@@DavidHarry 120GB for a 3 minute video 😳
Thanks for explaining the ports
Hi David, hope you're well. Commented a long while ago on the Atomos Ninja V video and now on this one. I'm looking into upgrading from the Ninja V to this unit, I only use it stationary and copying files is really bothering me and slowing me significantly in my workflow. With this I could start/stop recording just from my mac with software and it would save the files directly to the internal or connected storage of my mac right? I'm on a M1 Max. Do you think it would be a good upgrade? Thanks and take care.
Hi. If you have the money, this is definitely the best option for up to 4K 60FPS on Mac and also Apple Silicon. Being able to record direct to the Mac is great for fast workflows. Although editing direct from a Ninja SSD is also fast. With the 4K Mini you also get the option for higher codec options, ProRes 4444. The 4K Mini also has a fan inside of it and it's probably about the same noise level as the Ninja, or maybe a bit quieter than the Ninja. The XLR phantom powered mic input is also great to have if you need to do simultaneous commentary. I don't have my 4K Mini anymore, and totally regret selling it. However, when I was using it I would have a 4TB Thunderbolt SSD on my Macs to record direct to, even with Resolve and then edit immediately with Resolve. I would have to say that it's hard to justify the cost of the 4K Mini, although there isn't any "like for like" competition. So I cant say that it's good value for money but it definitely is awesome and makes for some great workflows. Between it and the Ninja, the Ninja easily beats it as far as value for money is concerned and if you're only recording ProRes 422 HQ, they will both look the same. However, for a static setup (studio etc.) where speed and turnaround are really important and cost is not a limiting factor. The 4K Mini is an absolute dream. As I wasn't using mine for video output, only the video input, I kind of convinced myself that I was only half using it, which is why I ultimately sold it. This was one of the stupidest rationalisations I have ever done 😆 Cheers, Dave.
BTW. If you are thinking about using it for game capture, it has the same limitation as the Ninja. You can only play at the frame rate you are recoding at. So for instance, you cant play at 120FPS and pass it through the interface and record 60FPS. You have to play at 60FPS and record at 60FPS. You may also want to look at my recent videos about the Elgato 4K X. This has issues right now with Apple Silicon, which Elgato say will be sorted. This will allow up to 144FPS 4K pass though and record up to 144FPS 4K. Although, when it is fixed the likely setup would be to play at up to 4K/144 and record 4K/60, for TH-cam. This will only record 8 Bit 4:2:0 using NV12 for 4K/60 or use MJPEG at 8 Bit 4:2:0 for 4K/120 or 4K/144 (when the Apple Silicon issues is fixed). However, you can record direct to the Mac using ProRes 422 HQ in OBS using NV12 (8 bit 4:2:0) and after you've edited the ProRes footage and uploaded it to TH-cam, there won't be any difference compared to 10 Bit 4:2:2, as long as you don't grade the footage. I have an example comparing the 4K X using ProRes 422 HQ vs the Ninja in a recent video, you cant see any difference once it is 8 Bit 4:2:0 on TH-cam. Cheers, Dave.
@@DavidHarry Hi, thank you for the answer! So while the Ninja V is a greater value for your money, my main issue is having to copy/transfer all the time. My workflow consists out of many short segments I record and between recordings sometimes things happen and I need to delete a file, rename and so on. This results in many SSD physical disconnect/insert actions and it will drive me crazy extremely fast I believe. Looked into Atomos Cloud but the offering is just plain expensive and not what I'm looking for.
I looked at the 4K X, my main issue with those devices is it does onboard encoding, meaning their will be already too much compression for FPS analysis (TRdrop is the tool used and it requires lossless, or very close to like 422HQ) for accurate analysis. I would still need them both, from time to time I need a 1080P120 recording and I see that BMD has no 1920x1080@120Hz in any of their products. My workflow was initially devided in some OBS recordings (Avermedia G573) and the Ninja V. I want to switch to HDR completely, but to do so the only footage that will actually look good on YT is if you recorded in an very high bitrate like 422HQ -> P010 on the capture devices just doesn't seem to be able to capture the real essence of the scenes like it does with 422HQ on my Ninja V. By the way, I have optimistic thoughts that Elgato 4K X would be any different.
Thanks again, seems like I will probably be adding this unit to the workflow soon. Take care!
@@ajgamingcomparisons Hi. If I can think of any other solutions or any other ideas I can always get in touch with you via the comments on your channel. I may have some hidden tests on my main channel or my gaming channel that may be interesting. Here's one video on a test channel that I have, these videos are usually private but I think this one is live. This was a 4K/60 recording with the 4K Mini that was then upscaled to 8K. If you use an appropriate browser you should be able to view the 8K stream even if you don't have an 8K monitor (I don't). This just goes to show how better subsequent encoding, upscaling and processing are when you start off with a very high quality source, all stuff you obviously already know. From what I remember, this was recorded ProRes 4444 although the upscaled H.265 master file for the TH-cam upload wasn't a very high bit rate th-cam.com/video/dP0sZZfsWZk/w-d-xo.html Cheers, Dave.
Hi David,
Thanks for the cheerful review!
Can the device do dual out?
let's say one USB C and the other over HDMI?
Hi. Unfortunately the USB C can't do DP output :( Cheers, Dave.
Got here early to say - I'd love to see you use this with Davinci Resolve Live and show some examples of use case with on-set grading / live vfx etc...
Hello, is it possible with this device? Thanks
@@Janes_Patrocinio it's only possible with this device/some decklinks
So you can't use this to playback 4k 120 in resolve?
How about a review with the unit actually powered up?
Awesome & Thanks :)
You are very welcome. Cheers, Dave.
@@DavidHarry Sir, Can we connect the SDI Program out from ATEM Prodcution Studio 4k to UltraStudio 4k mini's SDI IN & record the 4k feed into SD CARD or SSD connected to the USB C port ? Thanks 🙏🕊
@@krishnansrinivasan830 you can connect an ATEM to to the Mini but SD card is not a source for capture. You also can’t use the Mini stand alone, you need to use it with computer and then use the computer’s storage for capturing the video to.
@@DavidHarry Thank you so much Sir 🙏🕊️
@@krishnansrinivasan830 You are very welcome 👍
When you say “no 4K ingest or monitoring” 17:39
If there’s an M1 Mac trying to consume a 4K 60fps HDMI stream, can I not look at it on a Mac connected with thunderbolt? Is that video not 4K 60? Does it not look 4K 60 once it’s in software?
Hello David, great detailed video, thanks for making it! :) Quick Q: can I use this to get the clean signal FROM my M1 Max Pro into a reference monitor? I am looking for a 4K solution which would enable me to send a clean unprocessed signal from my laptop to an external reference monitor and grade footage in my Dacinci Resolve. Is this the device for me? I know that capture cards that the BM makes are the go to solution for desktop machines but ehm, with the soldered Mac components... no expansion is possible. Thanks!
Hi Alexander. You can already send a signal from your MacBook to an external monitor without this type of interface. Your MacBook has a HDMI output that will connect directly, or you can use one of the Thunderbolt ports with a Thunderbolt to HDMI, or Thunderbolt to DisplayPort cable. If you mean can you record the output from your MacBook, then yes. You'd need one computer doing the recording with this interface and the MacBook being plugged into the interface for recording its output. Once recorded, you can then edit and manipulate the screen captured footage in Resolve and also monitor the output via this interface to your reference monitor. Although, if you simply want to record the desktop/screen of your MacBook, OBS Studio is now Apple Silicon compatible and this will work on your MacBook to record its desktop/screen and you can then edit that screen capture in Resolve. Here's a video about OBS that you may find interesting th-cam.com/video/zbCQ85GJWOU/w-d-xo.html Cheers, Dave.
@@DavidHarry David, I'm sorry if I made myself a bit unclear :) - what I am looking to do is color grade my footage in Davinci Resolve, on my Macbook and monitor the output on an external reference monitor. In order for this to be "exact", I need a completely clean video signal to that monitor which is impossible to do if it is connected directly to the Mac/PC. BlackMagic offer their capture cards (decklink) to enable such a feed but my Macbook is unable to install any additional components internally so I need an external solution :). (Clean video feed = no alterations by Mac OS and/or Mac hardware so it is absolutely color correct)
@@alexander.starbuck Ahh, OK Alexander, I understand what you are asking. Yes, that’s exactly what this interface will do. In fact, I think it’s the only interface that you can use with any ARM based Mac system to get 4K/60 out to an external video (grading) monitor. I’m not sure but I don’t think that even someone like AJA do anything like this over TB for 4K/60, or if they do it will be more expensive than this one anyway. There’s even the chance that the up coming M2 Mac Pro machines may not have any PCIe interfaces, just like the Studio doesn’t. In which case, the only option for “proper” timeline monitoring to an external video monitor (not GPU mirroring/splitting) will be via TB. Don’t forget, this interface will also capture up to Pro Res 4:4:4:4 as well and will also do HDR in and out and certain resolutions and frame rates in 12 bit, especially when using SDI. BTW, if you’re in the UK checkout eBay, there’s two of these at the moment for around £550 used. Cheers, Dave.
Is this really my only option if I want to display my hdmi laptop to my thunderbolt displays ?
Hi Ron. This is not for displaying a laptop output to a Thunderbolt Display. If your laptop has USB C, do a search for USB C to Thunderbolt cable/adapter. Or if your laptop has a HDMI output, do a search for HDMI to Thunderbolt cable/adapter. Cheers, Dave.
Top notch.
Looking to stream a multi camera set up in 4k.
So I was looking at the dual model of these.
Looking forward to the ongoing series.
Sound 👍 If HD/1080 is of any use to you, checkout the Ultrastudio 3G Recorder. It’s a tiny little box that just does HDMI in over Thunderbolt and only costs around £100. If you’re on Windows or Mac desktops with PCIe, there’s also the Decklink Quad. That one is very unique, it’s got 4x 4K/60 HDMI inputs on one card, perfect for multi-cam streaming. I’ll be doing some capture tutorials and stuff to do with OBS as well over the next couple of months on this channel. I may even do a game capture video with my Xbox on the other channel, so I can get dead drunk and swear my head off while I get proper frustrated because I’m a crap gamer 😂 Cheers, Dave.
@@DavidHarry I'm too old for that gaming shite.
I'm ex British military and we make piss take programmes for the lads posted overseas.
Our content is way too strong for TH-cam so we post direct to BFPO.
Have one FX6 and three FX3. Want to up tge output to 4k as most of the mutts watch on a laptop or phone.
So whilst 1080 is fine we just want to stream in the highest quality to give them the best experience.
Use the BM ISO to stream at the moment on a 4 camera system.
I’m far too old for gaming myself but it doesn’t stop me making a prick of myself 😆 Two of those Blackmagic devices I mentioned will go up to 12 bit 4:4:4 at standard frame rates over HDMI and the same but up to 59.94/60 over SDI. I used to be a partner in an independent film production company and was head of post and I’ve got over 30 years experience in audio as well. Give me a shout in the comments if you ever want to talk technical bullshit about video/audio. By the way, one of my brothers is a King’s Badgeman. Cheers, Dave.
@@DavidHarry Yes I knew your background.
Thats why I love the no bullshit reviews.
The problem I have is that we make the show in the Philippines.
Hence Para's in the Philippines.
We are all ex Airborne and literally rip the crap put of everything posted in the World press through the eyes of a squaddy.
It gets very blue with alchohol being a major production caveat.
The reasons why we have FX3's and a 6 is because of the heat so needed bodies with fans.
Unstable electricity means a lot of our recordings are done on battery.
We have no issues recording and uploading in 4k.
It's the livestreaming where we want to keep the quality.
Sounds like you’re having a blast. Totally understand all that bollocks with heat and humidity. For live streaming using up to four cameras you may want to have a look at that Decklink Quad. You can use that with something like OBS and something like an Elgato controller/switcher to control the scenes. That can be used either for streaming or just live cut/mix straight to a 4K capture for uploading later. If you ever do any editing of synched multi-cam shoots, as in, load the four cameras in an NLE and do a multi-cam edit, check out Edius by Grass Valley. I’ve just moved from that because it’s Windows only and I’ve gone to Mac but know it really well. It’s got awesome multi-cam functions, not that I used multi-cam much but I know people who absolutely swear by Edius for multi-cam. Edius is also optimised for all the Sony XAVC variations and I think it was the first NLE to handle Sony RAW as well, although Edius is 10 Bit. Cheers, Dave.
So how many cameras can this device capture? 2? One through SDI abs one through HDMI?
I have troubles with thunderbolt capturing on m1-max and decklink devices, also ultrastudio 3G. It randomly delivers transparent or black images. I think it is because of a bus halt while CPU power transitions. This occurs since about 5 months. I have no solution.
Have you contacted bmd support?
@@mariotriforce 6 months I was annoying BMD about this, with the last update they solved the troubles. What a luck.
@@MeinDeutschkurs gud gud, was their updates in that time?
@@mariotriforce before 2 days.
@@MeinDeutschkurs no sorry what I mean is was their any updates besides the update that fixed it 🤔
Hi David, would really appreciate it if you replied.
I'm curious to know as the spec sheets regarding the Blackmagic video cards are a bit confusing on their website, both the declink 4k mini monitor and the ultrastudio 4k mini claim that they can playback 444 through the HDMI, but in the supported codecs part the declink mini monitor 4k can't output uncompressed 444 it does only 422, does that mean that my declink card when I playback for color grading work if I grade raw files footage it doesn't output 444 so to prevent chroma subsampling I would have to upgrade to the ultrastudio 4k mini ? sorry for my bad English but it would really help if you could tell me if that's the case so that I can know whether I should upgrade or not
I'd recommend you reach out to bmd sales department 🤔
Same here, hace you figured it out?
It dosen't support hdmi 2.1 because it didn't exsist when they started manufacturing them, hopefully they will update it with hdmi 2.1 some day as I want some Dolby vision hdmi tunneling support 😋
Hey bro, is there any way to share my Internet that I receive in iPad wifi, to PC or laptop or Mobile ( Android ) ?
Sorry, I don't know, all my iPads are WiFi only. I'd imagine any iPad with Cellular connectivity will do sharing. Go to settings and look for something that says Tethering.
Can you 4k out via HDMI?
yes, as was explained in the video and as the name clearly suggests.