Has anyone had experience with recording to a Atomos Ninja recorder from VDMX? Have you experienced sync issues and were you able to resolve them?
The Ninja recorder freezes up, loses input and stops recording.
I am recording with a Ninja 2 from my Macbook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2015) 2.8 GHz Intel Core i7 running MacOS Mojave 10.14.6. I am using VDMX 5 to send video to the Ninja via HDMI at 1080p 30hz. I have tried a few different HDMI cables and the same thing happens when I am at 1080i 60hz.
One thing that worked somewhat is saving the clips at the same frame rate (30fps). Previously, my clips were different frame rates 30. 29.97, 15, etc. Making all of the clips the same frame rate did help the situation a great deal, but it still happens, but less frequently.
I am using a guitar to trigger clips with MIDI and it works fine when I am playing slowly, but once I start playing faster (many notes in a quick sequence or strumming) and there are many clips changing quickly, the Ninja freezes up again, loses input, and stops recording, but will start recording again after a few seconds.
Please let me know if you have any insight or suggestions to help this situation.
Hi Jeremy,
I don’t have a Ninja recorder, but I’ve had loads of issues with external recorders and HDCP. To my knowledge, the Atomos and BlackMagic design devices will not record HDCP content, which sometimes the mac throws out. To test this theory, you’d have to break the HDCP signal. Some people use VGA to break it, or I use external recorders that avoid HDCP all together. Another reason these pro recorders stop recording is the capture media is not fast enough to handle the capture. I’m not sure which model you own (I think there are 5 versions of the Ninja recorder at this point), but someone from Atomos can tell you which media is required for solid capture performance.
I use H.264 or H.265 recorders. Similar to the Cloner Alliance devices sold on Amazon. I get them directly from the manufacturer in China. I’m waiting for a 4K30 capture device to arrive in the next week or two. If it passes the test, I might import a couple to resell.
I’m assuming you are outputting via the MacPro’s built in HDMI (or a Thunderbolt to HDMI adaptor)?
You could try using an output device like the Blackmagic UltraStudio. This device outputs a standard broadcast spec signal which it what the Atomos recorders are expecting.
I use an UltraStudio Mini Monitor to output to my SmallHD monitor.
One question about it. Does it record only your desktop or will it also record the output of the Full Screen Display 1 (i.e. the video that you are sending from VDMX to the projector)?
Also, what is the best storage external storage for it? It is a USB Flash Drive, correct? It is difficult to find 1T and 2T Flash Drives.
One of the splitters I have breaks the HDCP. Two of them don’t. I can’t say for sure because they are getting made by different manufacturers all the time. The only way to find out is to get one, plug it in, and try to pipe out HDCP content (Netflix, HBO, some blu-ray devices, etc.) Depending on the HDMI cables you use and how long they are, you may not need additional power. The one I have uses a Micro USB cable to pull in 5V 2A for the splitter. I use a cheap raspberry pi (5V 2A) AC/DC micro usb power supply for longer runs (50’ HDMI to splitter to 2x 50’ HDMI to projectors).
They’ve been sold out for a while, but I’m waiting on a delivery of the same exact device from their supplier (in China and at half the price). If it’s good. I’ll post a link to the manufacturer or import a few. I have the 1080p versions and they work great. The H.264 compression keeps the media sizes small and removes the need for fast capture cards like (SSDs, CFast, etc.). A simple USB 2.0 thumb drives can capture hours of footage. I recently used it to capture this: https://vimeo.com/516766978
One question about it. Does it record only your desktop or will it also record the output of the Full Screen Display 1 (i.e. the video that you are sending from VDMX to the projector)?
The device has an HDMI in and Out. It will capture whatever you send into it.
Also, what is the best storage external storage for it? It is a USB Flash Drive, correct? It is difficult to find 1T and 2T Flash Drives.
I got my 4Kp30 recorder today. It works great for my needs. I wish I could record 4Kp60, but that would require a more expensive capture card. (i.e. Magewell 4K for $300+) and I picked up this recorder fro $120. (It’s identical to the ClonerAlliance UHD 4K, just doesn’t have their brand name on it.
Got a Ninja V recently. No sync issues of any kind coming out of an M1 Max MBP.
On a different note, does anyone know how to simulate an HDMI record message out of VDMX? The Ninja is incredible for capturing my footage, but I’d love if I could mimic the “quantized record” feature of the Movie Recorder plug in, and evidently you can trigger recording on the Ninja over HDMI with the right type of signal.
Additionally, since I spent an absurd of time trying to research the uses of the Ninja to capture my VDMX footage without much luck, it’s genuinely brilliant for my needs.
I wanted steady frame rate capture of my audio reactive visuals so I could use them in my Final Cut projects without speed ramping or losing sync with audio. I can report complete success recording UHD footage at 24 and 60 frames. The trick is to set the refresh rate of the Ninja to your desired framerate in the Displays system preference.
Worthwhile aside: from the MBP I don’t see a way to send 23.9icantrembertheotherdigit to the device, so if your project is at that framerate you may have to do some tiny tweaks. Not a big deal on short clips, but it definitely gets weird on at 35 minute video.
