Trouble streaming through Blackmagic Card

Note: The Black Magic Intensity Pro is no longer supported due to playback issues stemming from their firmware. Click here to view a list of approved capture devices.

Question:

The desktop broadcaster gives us the following error message:

“Video source unavailable. Please check that it is correctly installed and not in use by other applications.”

The camera can be seen by Blackmagic Media Express and by the Web Broadcaster via Firewire and/or HDMI. However the desktop broadcaster cannot access the camera.

Answer:

The reported behavior is related to the capture card you are using.

In the web broadcaster the system picks automatically the camera video source this is why it displays as soon as you open the broadcaster.

Based on our hardware experience with the Blackmagic Card, we can also recommend the following set-up:

Please first check if you can see the capture video via the Blackmagic’s own “Media Express” application.

Inside it first click the Capture tab.

Next from the Edit -> Preferences browse through the Project video format resolutions until you see a picture.

Then close the Media Express and open the desktop broadcaster. It should have the format selected as default and working.

We are frequently using this workaround as blackmagic driver does not use a standard video format pickup methodology, nor do they document the updates they are doing.

Also, we recommend against using the Blackmagic audio as an audio entry, instead use external audio into line-in or microphone input.

Please note that the Blackmagic Card can only be accessed by one application at a time (If Media Express is running then you will need to close it before opening the broadcaster).