andrebetz:

Perhaps Blackmagic doesn't want to fix it? I've never had a problem with Resove Studio or After Effects using the output from the Ultra Studio Mini.

 

 

This particular issue affects Media Composer and Blackmagic's Media Express app. After Effects and Resolve Studio work very differently from Media Composer. 

I have been asking avid every week for 2 months about the status of an updated driver and Avid keeps saying the driver is in final testing. For 2 months. Also, there are issues with AJA boxes on these versions so it isn't strictly just BMD... which works fine in Premeire and resolve and Nuke and every other app.

Yes, same here, tomorrow I'm unplugging BMD UltraStudio, and will keep it in the box till the final phase of testing update will be out.
I can't even express how frustrating is to work like this - timeline is sluggish, slow, trimming is impossible to do and every 30 min to 1 hour avid crash. It is totally unacceptable. In every other software BMD works flawlessly.

andrebetz:

Just updated to Desktop Video 12.7 and MC Ultimate 2023.8 running on Monterrey 12.7. Same issues. Beachball causing application to hang needing a force quit. This is with latest drivers as of this morning.

 

Frustrating.

What computer hardware are you on?

kkordisch:

I have been asking avid every week for 2 months about the status of an updated driver and Avid keeps saying the driver is in final testing. For 2 months. Also, there are issues with AJA boxes on these versions so it isn't strictly just BMD... which works fine in Premeire and resolve and Nuke and every other app.

Hi, 

Which issues are you facing with AJA boxes? That must be a seperate issue you are facing, unrelated to BMD+MAC Studio. 

kkordisch:

works fine in Premiere and Resolve and Nuke and every other app.

I mentioned the issue persists across Blackmagic's own Media Express application. Resolve, Premiere, and Nuke are built with different playback engines/different buffers.

AJa drops frames and goes to black quite a bit. Read the forums. Others have complained about this as well.

kkordisch:

AJa drops frames and goes to black quite a bit. Read the forums. Others have complained about this as well.

Hi there, 

We have different bugs open with Blackmagic + Mac studio... One of them is crashing when trimming with BM I/O enabled. 

If you are facing issues with AJA video hardware and Mac Studio systems, we should investigate that seperate issue through a support case:  Support - Broadcast & Video Post Support - Avid

I am not making a case. Avid has all of the info they need and they have for months now. I am just letting you and everybody know Apple silicon with IO's is a bad idea and should be avoided unless you use 2021.12.8 and Aja 16.2.2. Then you magically don't have these beachball issues. Anything else is absolute crap.

All I can say is that BM driver may cause the crash but it doesn't cause the driver or the device to crash just Media Composer. If Media Composer is seeing something that tells the software to beach ball, that fix is on Avid. If Avid made the BM device to crash (which it doesn't) I can see it being BM fault. It's up to the app that crashes to learn to play properly. If you are saying it's Mac M1 fault then I can get it. But Avid has the ability to change how its app reacts to what the BM device is doing. It's their responsibility since they got out of the hardware business. I've been cutting on Avid since day one back when it was run on an apollo workstation back in the 1990s.  And I've spent millions on their hardware and software over the ensuing years. At one point I had 10 100k+ machines. All I want now is to be able to move quickly on a robust machine and make edits without crashing ever few minutes.  

andrebetz:

...Avid has the ability to change how its app reacts to what the BM device is doing. It's their responsibility...

This is not entirely correct.

There are two parts to the story of getting rid of all of the bugs. The first part is Avid taking responsibility for all of the code adjustments that need to happen on the Media Composer side in order to get the editing software into a position where it interacts with the I/O devices. The second part of the story involves changes to the I/O device's firmware so that the I/O device actually recognizes all of the changes in code that Avid has done. 

Avid has completed all of the work in the first part of the story. We are now waiting on AJA and BMD to complete their end of the work. When they do, they'll release new firmware that includes validations for not just Premiere, Resolve, and other NLEs but also Media Composer as well. Until that happens, this issue will persist. So, the way to get that done is not to complain on these forums but on theirs. 

I've been on their forum and it seems they are being tight lipped about any updates. I understand why we are all frustrated with the situation that hasn't seemed to get any better for months. Over at the BVM forums, It feels like screaming into the void. At least, here, we know there are actual people who are trying to make a difference... even with everything going on with the business side of Avid.

This all started back in 2022 versions and even in some 2021 versions on apple silicon. So what you are saying is Avid hasn't reached out to these IO companies for almost 2 years to fix this? Am I hearing that correctly? I just want to make sure that is what I am hearing because that is what it sounds like. 

Also, like I mentioned, I have been told for 2 months now that there is a version of desktop video that is in finally testing. Then 12.6 then 12.7 dropped with zero fixes. Can we get info on who avid is talking to at Blackmagic so that we can call them? My contact at blackmagic has not heard anything about this.

I have to agree -- the lack of transparency among BMD, AJA and Avid is discouraging.  Avid says they are waiting on AJA and BMD, those companies are radio silent or say they are waiting on Avid.  It's extremely frustrating.

In any event, Avid has yet to come to the table with a straightforward, "Here is the version(s) of Avid MC we recommend / believe to be stable with AJA, and with BMD, on Apple Silicon hardware."

Customers are playing whack-a-mole and guessing games with the combinations.  Tech teams are unable to come with a correct answer backed up by Avid, so editors are moving to Adobe.

Anecdotal claims that there are versions of MC 2021.12 (but not the lastest!) usually turn out to be not-quite-correct but they can't even be investigated by customers since Avid has made the installers for these unavailable.

Every call I have with an editor or a producer about Avid is now a bad one and I have begun opening with "It is a bad time to be an Avid editor."  It's a very bad feeling.

Sigh. Avid makes a car. A car that crashes when you put on tires made from another manufacturer. It works in the driveway, runs and has all the bells and whistles that you'd want in a modern car. Great stereo, gps, heated seats. But the second you take it out of your driveway it crashes because it can't use tires made by Michelin. Avid used to make tires but they got out of that business decades ago.  My complaining to Michelin about how their tires make my car crash isn't gonna do anything.