BlackMagic Design Analog to SDI Converter Question

Rumpel · October 21, 2022

In the video of Linus digitizing his VHS, Mark uses the blackmagic design analog to sdi converter. He says that he can use the composite wires, which I'm assuming is the yellow white red A/V cables. The input ports of the converter does not look like the composite wires would fit. What adapters are needed to use the composite cables on this converter?

Electronics Wizardy · October 21, 2022

The converter uses BNC connectors and most consumer devices use RCA connectors. Get an adapter like this one on amazon https://www.amazon.com/Adapter-Connector-Coaxial-Coupler-Selection/dp/B09TT3X8F6/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=rca+to+bnc+adapter&qid=1666390488&qu=eyJxc2MiOiI0LjA3IiwicXNhIjoiNC4wOCIsInFzcCI6IjMuOTQifQ%3D%3D&sr=8-3 and you can plug rca cables into that converter.

Rumpel · October 21, 2022

5 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

The converter uses BNC connectors and most consumer devices use RCA connectors. Get an adapter like this one on amazon https://www.amazon.com/Adapter-Connector-Coaxial-Coupler-Selection/dp/B09TT3X8F6/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=rca+to+bnc+adapter&qid=1666390488&qu=eyJxc2MiOiI0LjA3IiwicXNhIjoiNC4wOCIsInFzcCI6IjMuOTQifQ%3D%3D&sr=8-3 and you can plug rca cables into that converter.

Does this also apply to the sound wires (red white)? The ports for the analog sounds looks different than the ports labeled with s-video

Yoshimo · December 4, 2022

To anyone in the future looking at this video - I bought the Blackmagic devices shown here and used them to record my family videos. Here's some things you should know. Maybe it will save you a few days of troubleshooting:

The Blackmagic Analog converter NEEDS a strong signal and may benefit from time-based correction (Tbc). It's an enterprise device that isn't tolerant to poor signal or loose timings. If your VHS is too old, or was recorded with a lower quality device, or you recorded a VHS from another VHS, it may not work with this Blackmagic analog converter. In my case, one entire family home video from 1997 didn't show any signal at all, but later in the tape, where TV shows were recorded, it worked perfectly. In other cases, the signal would cut out frequently. I couldn't afford a fancy VCR machine like Linus used here, so your mileage may vary. I do have an old Sony camcorder that has Tbc built in, and the analog converter captured footage off the 8mm tapes in that camcorder that perfectly.
To address the issue above, I used an old Elgato Game Capture HD device, which as a consumer device is more accommodating to a variety of signal strengths and timings. This allowed me to capture VHS tapes at 720x480i 60fps on Windows using the Elgato software. I couldn't get above 640x480i 30fps on my Mac. Also doing HDMI out from the Elgato card to the Ultrastudio 3G Recorder didn't work for me. I had to capture from the Elgato card over USB.
You will need RCA Female to BNC Male adapters like the one here to connect RCA cable to the Blackmagic analog converter: https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B00VUG00FI?psc=1
You'll also need RCA female to 1/4" audio jacks for the Blackmagic analog converter, and an SDI cable from the analog converter to the Ultrastudio.
I got the Blackmagic Desktop Video software working on my M1 Max 64GB RAM Macbook Pro (running Monteray) & a 2018 Intel Macbook Air (running Catalina) without issue. At the time of writing - my M1 Pro 32GB RAM Macbook Pro (Ventura) cannot detect the Ultrastudio 3G Recorder, even after the November 2022 Blackmagic update. I'm guessing the newer operating system is the problem.

ubunonymount · February 13

On 12/4/2022 at 7:48 PM, Yoshimo said:

To anyone in the future looking at this video - I bought the Blackmagic devices shown here and used them to record my family videos. Here's some things you should know. Maybe it will save you a few days of troubleshooting:

The Blackmagic Analog converter NEEDS a strong signal and may benefit from time-based correction (Tbc). It's an enterprise device that isn't tolerant to poor signal or loose timings. If your VHS is too old, or was recorded with a lower quality device, or you recorded a VHS from another VHS, it may not work with this Blackmagic analog converter. In my case, one entire family home video from 1997 didn't show any signal at all, but later in the tape, where TV shows were recorded, it worked perfectly. In other cases, the signal would cut out frequently. I couldn't afford a fancy VCR machine like Linus used here, so your mileage may vary. I do have an old Sony camcorder that has Tbc built in, and the analog converter captured footage off the 8mm tapes in that camcorder that perfectly.

To address the issue above, I used an old Elgato Game Capture HD device, which as a consumer device is more accommodating to a variety of signal strengths and timings. This allowed me to capture VHS tapes at 720x480i 60fps on Windows using the Elgato software. I couldn't get above 640x480i 30fps on my Mac. Also doing HDMI out from the Elgato card to the Ultrastudio 3G Recorder didn't work for me. I had to capture from the Elgato card over USB.

You will need RCA Female to BNC Male adapters like the one here to connect RCA cable to the Blackmagic analog converter: https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B00VUG00FI?psc=1

You'll also need RCA female to 1/4" audio jacks for the Blackmagic analog converter, and an SDI cable from the analog converter to the Ultrastudio.

I got the Blackmagic Desktop Video software working on my M1 Max 64GB RAM Macbook Pro (running Monteray) & a 2018 Intel Macbook Air (running Catalina) without issue. At the time of writing - my M1 Pro 32GB RAM Macbook Pro (Ventura) cannot detect the Ultrastudio 3G Recorder, even after the November 2022 Blackmagic update. I'm guessing the newer operating system is the problem.

I really wanna convert my old family home camcorder Video8 Tapes to digital in best quality possible, so I bought Blackmagic Mini Converter Analog to SDI. Unfortunately I have get no Signal on my Blackmagic UltraStudio Recorder 3G.

If I stop the camcorder I can see the display overlay with battery-symbole, time-counter and start/stop. But as soon as I play the tape, I get no signal. The Analog to SDI Converter is flickering white. Sometimes you can see milliseconds of footage, but most of the time just black screen.

This corresponds to your Post. So I guess my Video8 camcorders Composite-Video-Signal is too poor for watching with Blackmagic converter. But I want to get the best possible result, so I need to stick to Blackmagic.

Do you think I could get lucky trying my tapes on a different player? Maybe on Sony EV-C500? Do you think other playback devices will have better signal, than my camcorder? Or does signal strength only rely on the captured videostream on the tape itself?

Or should I consider buying a TBC?