BlueFish444 Creates 3D Ultra Video Card Updates

Since our review of the Create 3D Ultra Video Card in February 2013, BlueFish444 has released a series of updates that offer improved integration and workflows when used with Avid Media Composer 7 and Adobe Creative Cloud software. BlueFish444 has also collaborated with Sonnet to offer Thunderbolt support through Sonnet’s Echo Express Pro Thunderbolt Expansion Chassis, letting MacBook Pro and Mac Mini users enjoy the high-quality performance of Create 3D Ultra video cards. If that wasn’t enough, BlueFish444 has dropped the price of the video card, making it even more accessible to independent video producers.

BlueFish444 offers some of the highest-quality uncompressed video I/O cards available. Their cards are used throughout the industry by professional editors, colorists, compositors, and animators. Filmmakers and video-production professionals invest a lot of time, energy and, quite often, money on producing the highest quality images on set. The last thing that they want is to sacrifice quality when processing and converting their video with their video I/O cards. This is where BlueFish444’s Create 3D Ultra video card comes in.

Create 3D Ultra is a PCI Express card designed for dual-link 4:4:4 and 3D I/O workflows. Like all BlueFish444 cards, the Create 3D Ultra processes uncompressed video frames in 12-bit, regardless if the frame is 8-bit, 10-bit, or 12-bit. Processing in 12-bit is essential if you want to maintain the original image quality during acquisition. Every RGB to YUV color space conversion and 4:4:4 to 4:2:2 sampling change are converted at 12-bit, providing four times the quality of 10-bit processing. The card provides real-time, hardware-based video scaling, also at 12-bit, for up/down conversion between 2K, HD, and SD. It uses a Sync(x) video interpolation algorithm with 25 x 25 TAPS, meaning that each individual pixel is scaled with data from 625 pixels for 1/128 sub-pixel accuracy. By using the Create 3D Ultra video card to scale video, you free up your CPU and GPU to perform other tasks. The BlueFish444 driver set is compatible with most popular applications, including software from Adobe, Apple, Assimilate, Autodesk, Avid, and Eyeon.

As previously mentioned, recent updates have greatly improved integration and workflows within Avid software. Using a Create 3D Ultra card with Avid Media Composer lets you enjoy either YUV 4:2:2 or RGB 4:4:4 workflows, 8-bit or 10-bit SD/HD-SDI capture and playback, as well as high-quality scaling between SD and HD. BlueFish444’s 12-bit processing occurs behind the scenes whenever signals are transitioning between YUV and RGB color space, such as when graphics are being done on a desktop LCD (RGB color space) and previewed on an SDI monitor (YUV color space). DVI/HDMI preview of the SDI output is available for use with lower-cost alternatives to SDI monitors, such as HDTVs and projectors.

As part of the new updates, BlueFish444 drivers are now certified by Avid. New Windows 7 driver compatibility enables HD YUV/RGB SDI I/O support in Avid Media Composer 7, Symphony 7, and Newscutter 11. Added features allow it to support "audio punch-in" for simultaneous voice-over record during playback in Media Composer 7, and Avid’s ability to switch to a third-party software package without shutting down Avid software or BlueFish444 hardware. A new Thunderbolt-enabled Mac OSX driver brings HD YUV/RGB SDI I/O support for Mac users of Avid Media Composer7 and Symphony 7, and lets MacBook Pro and Mac Mini users gain the benefits of Create 3D Ultra cards via Thunderbolt connection using Sonnet’s Echo Express Pro Thunderbolt PCIe Expansion Chassis.

BlueFish444 has also greatly enhanced integration with Adobe Creative Cloud NLE and graphics creation workflows on Windows computers. Adobe becomes the first software application partner to support full 12-bit capture and playback of SD, HD, and 2K video, as well as up-, down-, and cross-conversion with the Create 3D Ultra video card. Other new features include SDI transport selection between Single Link, Dual Link, and 3G Level A (1080p 50/60), and native Cineon 10-bit RGB pixel format support. As with the Avid drivers, DVI/HDMI preview of the SDI output is also supported when using Adobe Creative Cloud software. Please note that at the time this article is being written, Create 3D Ultra does not have Mac drivers available for Adobe Creative Cloud, but BlueFish444 confirms that they are under development.

Included with the Create 3D Ultra video card is BlueFish444’s Symmetry software for 3D and DI capture and playback. To fully unlock all that the video card offers, the optional Fluid software provides licensing modules, which allow for enhanced features, including multi-channel I/O, virtual VTR, third-party codec encode/decode, hardware de-bayered capture, and timed capture.

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