08-10-2011, 06:51 PM

Hey everyone!!

I'm fairly new to Mac only having my MacBook Pro for about a year. I just upgraded to OS X Lion.

Now, I'm wanting to do some video work on it if possible.

I'm interested in capturing HD video via and HDMI cable from my HD DVR, doing some basic video editing and then burning to video to BluRay.

I've read about using Toast 11 to handle the BluRay burning part but I'm not sure on the capture and editing part.

Can anyone suggest the best way to capture HD video from an HDMI cable onto the MacBook Pro?

What suggestions would you have for basic editing software? Does Toast 11 do basic editing?

Thanks for any help!

08-10-2011, 08:46 PM

Trade your MBP in for a Mac Pro and you could use this card.

For recording over-the-air &/or unencrypted cable you can try this.

For recording from your cable/satellite receiver you can go with this unit. But it's going to be an analog connection via component, not via HDMI. This is probably your best bet.

If you have your sights set on using a HDMI in to your Mac, you're going to be waiting for quite some time. It's only recently that any manufacturer has dared to put out any PCIe cards for Windows that will do this. There is still the issue of whatever device you're using having crippled the HDMI out so that it can't be recorded. And then there is the issue of them not being able to record any HDCP content - component is the way around that.

08-11-2011, 04:39 PM

Thanks for the note Bobtomay!

I was looking at that Blackmagic and wishing I could get a Mac Pro to go with my MacBook but can't justify it right now.

However, I did see the Blackmagic Intensity Shuttle ( Blackmagic Design: Intensity ) and wondered if it would work. The only thing that had me questioning it was the USB 3.0. I was wondering if it would be backwards compatible and work in a USB 2.0, slower of course?

08-12-2011, 01:52 AM

USB 3 is, broadly speaking, always backward-compatible with USB2, but in this specific case I would shoot an email to BlackMagic on that.

08-12-2011, 06:56 AM

My guess is that the USB 3.0 does not work with Macs. They're pretty specific on the page stating that the PCIe board will work with Windows and Macs while mentioning only "Windows computers with the new USB 3.0 connection" for that device. I would guess their device requires the additional speed USB 3 provides. They're even specifying the Intel chipset required on the board in that same paragraph which means my Win 7 HTPC doesn't have the ability even if I were to get a USB3 add on card.

That does look like a nice breakout box though and BlackMagic is staying on the cutting edge.

edit: Check out the tech specs on it here. They're telling you anything with copy protection will not work via HDMI. In other words - no HDCP. Meaning even with that device you're still limited to using component for anything that's encrypted.

This is what everyone has done so far that I've seen with HDMI. None of them work with what most folks are wanting to move to their hard drives.