I read every review here before buying, and to be honest, you almost dissuaded me from my purchase. I figured that I would give it a shot. I spoke with Black Magic for a total of a few hours as well. They told me that I would need a 4 drive RAID 0 array to capture uncompressed HD, though I'm getting by just fine with a 3 drive array. Even then, I'm finding myself capturing in compressed anyways because uncompressed 720p from my Xbox 360 takes about 8GB per minute, where compressed is closer to 500MB per minute, and the quality is still rather good, though not as good. Once I got everything set up and configured correctly, it has been making very high quality videos. One gotcha that I found was that if you don't have the 360 configured to output in the exact same way that you have the Black Magic software configured, then you'll just get a black screen, but if it's all set up correctly, you'll be good to go. I'm using a non-supported motherboard in the family of supported ones. I think it supports the GIGABYTE UD5 and I'm using the UD3 with no problems. My biggest advice for people thinking about purchasing this device is to do your homework and make sure that you have the necessary PC hardware before spending the money. Call Black Magic too...they will tell you if your system is not going to work. I'm loving it so far. Blackmagic Design Intensity Shuttle for USB 3.0 Computers, Capture and Playback Professional Quality HDMI and Component Analog Video in Both SD and HD (Requires x58 based computer or better)
**Update 2: BlackMagic pulled their support on P55 motherboards all together! BlackMagic you are required to give back my money IN FULL now. You can't claim one thing, release a product, then change your mind!!!!! What kind of company is this? Good luck to all who spend almost $200 on a device with a company that won't be around for that long.
My first comment: Why would you design an inexpensive piece of hardware that only works on a chipset that sits on I7 or Xeon processor motherboards? Those are some of the MOST expensive motherboards, and pieces of hardware, out there!??!! More on that later, please READ-ON.
BlackMagic is one of those companies that have great ideas, but their hardware engineers and testers don't simulate real world environments. A cheap device should work in a mid-market, semi-expensive piece of hardware, right?!
Currently I am a hardware and software developer that has been in the industry for 8 years and working for one of the largest platform companies out there.Currently I have a $4000 built computer, with a GIGABYTE GA-P55-USB3 LGA 1156 Intel P55 USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard, a Quad Core Intel processor, and 4 WD 10000rpm Raptor hard drives all running on Windows 7 x64.
Initially I tried connecting the Shuttle to one of the USB 3.0 ports on the computer, which are part of the motherboard, but I was having trouble with the detection. I then tried to update the motherboard's bios because I was told this could be the issue. After the BIOS update the shuttle was detected and showed up in Windows 7 Device Manager just fine, but the "Media Express" app that comes with it said it didn't detect hardware.
After this debacle, I decided to purchase the recommended add-on card that was the USB 3.0 6GB/s Asus x4 lane PCI Express card and add it to my x16 express lane on my motherboard. This also required a firmware update. Once I did this, the Blackmagic drivers detected the Shuttle but then told me I needed to update the Shuttle's firmware. I went ahead and clicked update. After that I figured this would allow me to use the device. NO! The Media Express application still would not detect the shuttle.
Finally, I decided to contact support. The support engineer first emailed me asking me what Chipset I had on my motherboard. He told me it only supports the P55 or x58 chipsets. I told him my setup and that I had it correct per their website and docs. He wrote back and told me "I am stumped, let me research more." What a CROC! This inexpensive hardware only works with P55 or x58 motherboards! This is barely 3% of all computers out there. (Probably less!) Why would you design an inexpensive piece of hardware that only works on a chipset that sits on I7 or Xeon processor motherboards? Those are some of the MOST expensive motherboards, and pieces of hardware, out there?!?! Either way, I had a P55 motherboard, but it didn't have the 6GB/s USB 3.0 ports on it, which is what required me to purchase the additional card.
After purchasing new hardware to support this device, I have found myself with a useless device. It still doesn't work, and it still says it can't detect the device. The only way to get this to work is if I purchase a NEW P55 or X58 motherboard that has the 6GB/s USB 3.0 ports on it already, or purchase a board that has higher bus speeds.
EPIC Fail on BlackMagic's part! BlackMagic, you need to design hardware that works with a much larger set of computers than just x58 machines. That's how you MAKE MONEY! Hauppauge has a device, that is even more inexpensive, that works perfectly. How are they getting an embedded device, that has a low speed CPU in it, to work better than the BlackMagic's Shuttle working with a Full Desktop CPU? (Hauppauge 1212 HD-PVR [...] Hauppauge 1212 HD-PVR High Definition Personal Video Recorder]]). Come on guys!
This guy says it all: On YouTube, Search for user "TheNewBoston", he has a video called: "How to Record XBox 360 Gameplay in HD", scan to 1 minute 51 seconds. Sad, but true.
The original industry standard for uncompressed video, beginning with the original SD video, was 270-Mbps SD video, but the latest 1080p is 2.97 Gbps or which is done over 3G-SDI for 1080p video broadcasters. 2.97Gbps is NOT 6GBps like the ASUS USB 3.0 card I have can perform. Why shouldn't this work? The SDI data rate is 270 Mbps for SD, 1.485 or (1.485/1.001) Gbps for 1080i HD, and 2.97 or (2.97/1.001) Gbps for 1080p 3G-SDI.
The Hauppauge device is a fair comparison. Why?! Well the Hauppauge device is receiving uncompressed video, correct? By its lonesome, miniature, inexpressive self, it is compressing uncompressed video before it sends it to your computer. Correct?!
Now comes in the Intensity shuttle. I have an expensive I/O USB3.0 capture card installed, which is capable of latencies of 4GB/s to 6GB/s installed in x16 PCIe lane on a Quad Core PC. That's STILL not good enough hardware?! Tell me there is not something wrong with this picture?!
A hardware company that is targeting mid-market customers, with a cheap I/O device, for uncompressed 1080p video, should target the same price range of PC's as well. Correct? Not require highly specific hardware specifications.
At the very least, this device should capture 720p or 1080i with NO PROBLEM AT ALL. Still, it won't detect or work with my high-end PC at all. This is very sad and frustrating.
Honestly, BlackMagic, EPIC FAIL
UPDATE: If you need to know what North Bridge processor (etc P55, x58, etc...) is on your PC, try using the free cpu-z program which is @ CPUID dot com. - 1080i - High Definition - Hdmi - Call Of Duty'
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