PROBLEMS WITH R6 AND BLACKMAGIC VIDEO ASSIST

[nickodwyer]

Hi. I've been filming interviews with the R6, outputting 1080 video via the HDMI cable to a BMD 12G Video Assist (5" version).

I have two problems and I'd be grateful for advice from anyone who's had them and solved them.

1. After five minutes or so of interview recording, the BMD VA starts flashing up a "dropped frames" warning. I'm using one of their approved drives (Samsung T5) as recording media. I've tried swapping the cables and swapping the media and it still drops frames after a few minutes. I don't know if this is a Canon problem or a BMD problem?

2. More seriously, the R6 camera sometimes simply shuts down. Full battery; no warning signals or anything - it just switched itself off, leaving the BMD VA recording black. When I got the camera switched back on again it was recording out of sync with picture ten frames ahead of picture. Any thoughts? Canon Support have been hopeless, saying the camera shuts down after 7 mins 29 sec at higher frame rates. But I'm not recording a higher frame rate (yes, I know the R6 outputs at 50 through the HDMI) and the HIGH FRAME RATE tab is set to DISABLED.

  It made for a rather nervous day of filming - and the loss of a key chunk of the client's interview.

Nick

[Waddizzle]

So, what frame rate and format are you using to record?  

Is this a new behavior, or has it always behave this way?

If you are using the high frame rate mode, 120 fps, then the 7.5 minute would apply.  Normal playback speed of such a recording would approximately 30 minutes or so.  Make sure you are using quality cables.  Be cognizant of the potential for ground loops if you are using an AC adapters to power up your gear.

[nickodwyer]

Hi. Thank you for thinking about this. It has done the switch-off thing before, yes.

The camera was set to 1080p at 25fps. The HIGH FRAME RATE tab was disabled. But the R6 actually outputs via the HDMI cable at 1080 50i. The BMD VA was showing it was recording at 1080 50i ProResHQ.

Canon's response is that the camera will shut down after 7.5 minutes at high frame rates. But I'm not running at a high frame rate.

And I tested the thing yesterday with all the same settings and the camera and BMD VA ran and recorded quite happily for more than 12 minutes.

That's an interesting thought on the AC adapter so I ran the VA this morning off batteries and it did the same thing on the dropped frames.

The Canon R6 was running off batteries but they were fully charged.

Nick

[Waddizzle]

Unfortunately, I will not be able to assist you in troubleshooting your BlackMagic gear much, if at all.

How are you setting the frame rate in the BlackMagic gear?  Is it detecting the frame rate automatically, or are you dialing it in directly?