I’m also looking for something in that vein. I work on a desktop and I was wondering if anyone has experience with the Intensity Pro 4K?
no support for intensity shuttle‽ i guess i can’t update my laptop ever again 
@BleuNuitVideo What Intensity Shuttle (USB 3 or Thunderbolt) and what OS and version are you using?
Check out the Pro Capture HDMI from Magewell. There is a DB9 connector with a breakout cable for CVBS, S-Video, and YPbPr. I haven’t used it myself, but have heard good things about their other cards.
Personally, I’ve had the best results with upscaling my CVBS or S-Video to VGA (usually 1080i) and then from VGA to HDMI (1080p). Many more good options out there for capturing HDMI than analog stuff these days, and this came out a lot cheaper than Analog → SDI then upscaling SDI with a Decimator or a BMD UpDownCross. Elgato just put out the new Cam Link Pro card with 4 HDMI inputs for $359, could be interesting and you’d still have 3 more HDMI inputs to play around with.
2 Likes
While I don’t have much experience with rescanning or comparing professional capture hardware, I have been more than happy using a RetroTink 2X Mini at the end of my chain to upscale the Edirol V4’s S-Video output to an HD signal. It’s a lagless line doubler designed for retro game consoles, so it has no issue processing really fast video. I haven’t tested how it holds up with direct input from circuit-bent gear (my setup usually has those devices going through one or two mixer TBCs before the final output), but I have never seen it drop a frame in the few months I’ve been throwing glitches at it.
The 2X Mini is the cheapest of RetroTink’s products ($80 for S-Video/CVBS → HDMI), and there are other higher end ones if you desire more input options like component/RGB and higher output resolution (the 5X-Pro appears to provide a massive upscale and is top-tier in its class among gamer-types). As for capture, I just connect the HDMI output of the 2X Mini to a generic USB-C capture card from Amazon (~$20) into my Macbook Pro, then record + export via Camtasia, Quicktime, or OBS. The results aren’t cinema-level HD or anything, but more than acceptable for being thrown on the club projector during my DJ sets. Really affordable way for me to get started sharing my glitches with the world, figured the 2X Mini and RetroTink upscalers deserve a shoutout.
Sample of capture (plus some YT compression 
) here:
4 Likes
I’m using USB 3 on a Windows 10 Home (OS build 19042.1237).
1 Like
Just an FYI that the new Apple M1 chips don’t support Black Magic Intensity Shuttle / Shuttle Thunderbolt, which I learned the hard way during an install this weekend lol. Blackmagic released a new Desktop Video driver for M1 chips but no Intensity Shuttle support, which I assume to mean there never will be.
Yep, intensity shuttle are not receiving attention anymore.
ah fuck
1 Like
I think the line-doubling feature of the RetroTink specifically means doubling the 240p signal used by classic gaming consoles to 480p that can be better interpreted by modern TVs. I was strongly considering a Tink for capturing my visuals but the Mini has been out of stock for a while. And the 2xPro is like $150+. More in-depth videos mentioned that the de-interlacing isn’t really the best for either. I’m also pretty sure both only output 480p max, and you’d have to get the crazy expensive 5xPro for 1080p.
I ended up buying a used Gefen GTV-COMPSVID-2-HDMISN Scaler for $100 on eBay (~$300 retail). It seems to be a broadcast-quality 1080p ADC/scaler with a powerful on-screen menu. Also supports S-Video. I’ll be using it in conjunction with a pretty decent 1080p Magewell capture card. Also got a used GTV-HDMI-2-COMPSVIDSN ($130) to convert in the other direction.
I’ll report on my results when I get it in the mail.
1 Like
@wednesdayayay or whoever else might know - how are your experiences with the composite to microSD device that was listed above (or similar boxes from DIGITNOW, etc)? The video seems a bit de-saturated, but not terribly so. Have you found yourself continuing to use it? Any other major issues?
very curious, any results to report here?
1 Like
I’m also curious. I cannot see any indication about whether this box supports 576p or it’s limited to 480p (like the cheaper one by Renkforce: Amazon.de). This one by Grabstar claims to support up to 576p: Amazon.de
1 Like
good ole ebay… the box that is linked there now is no longer the one I bought.
I use this as a back up recording device mainly. I mostly record to SSD or to the computer and use this and or VHS as backups depending on the project
it isn’t great quality for sure
this Timelapse from a LZX contest I did was made with footage from one of these composite > microSD recorders
my system is all packed right now because we are moving into a new house soon but I can try to dig out the box once we get unpacking.
1 Like
I have been messing around with the intensity shuttle trying to figure out the optimum options for capture. My question relates to video compression. In the example photos, one is the raw video capture, and the other is a compressed version of the same capture. I guess my question is, what do you even call this type of “artifact” if thats even the right term, and what can be done to prevent it? What would also be great is if anyone can point me in the right direction to further learn about the topic of video compression in general.
I am very new to the topic, and I find the subject to be very esoteric. This was captured from a DVD to 8bit AVI, and then compressed to an H.264 MP4 file using shotcut. I’m not particularly interested in capturing DVDs, its just what I was using to play around with and dial in the intensity shuttle.
That may be an “interlaced video issue”, but honestly I don’t know, the resource described here may help: AV Artifact Atlas
I think that was exactly it. I re-exported with a de-interlacer, and it looks much better.
hey everybody,
im looking to upgrade my capture gear. currently i’m capturing s-video signal from the wj-ave5 into one of those cheapo usb composite capture devices. i’ve been looking at the extron rgb-hdmi 300a, but i’ll first have to convert s-video to RGB…
edit: i somehow glanced over the DVS 304 which allows me to go S-video into RGB, so my new question now is, would going from the DVS 304 into the RGB-HMDI 300A give me even better picture quality? or would that extra device be overkill?
ultimately it would depend pretty heavily on how you are capturing the upscaled HDMI signal. the extron gear would most likely be above average quality digitization of analog signals but wouldn’t really make a huge difference if the HDMI capture was low quality. is probably a good rule of thumb to avoid capture chains that involve a lot of moving parts. partially to just prevent multiple points of potential failure, and partially to avoid having a final capture signal that has been through multiple re-encodings and has multiple levels of baked in artefacting
1 Like
thanks for that! i definitely agree, i’d like to keep my capture chain as simple as possible while maximizing the output. for now i’m going to stick with the DVS and capture RGB, currently on the hunt for a bmd shuttle as well. thanks!
it will be a lot more difficult to find a capture card that handles RGB signals than composite/svideo/component, would recommend against that if you are just getting started
1 Like
The camera I used for rescans for a long time was stolen in November, so I’ve quickly adjusted to capturing video directly — not sure why I didn’t make the change sooner, to be honest! So easy to boot up OBS and record.
All of my equipment runs into an Extron ISS506 seamless switcher, and I run its VGA output into an Analog Way upscaler. Then a passive DVI-D to HDMI converter into a cheap HDMI capture card. Have experimented with more expensive capture cards and don’t notice any difference, even when inspecting very closely.
3 Likes