DC30 Xact Driver for Mac

User Reviews

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  RxkeApril 1, 2006

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  This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.<br />This driver is great. It's even far, far better than the older, 'original' ones that came with the card. 'nuff said.

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• Amazing software but broken in FCP 5

  emerge3dSeptember 16, 2005

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  This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.<br />I have captured many hours of high quality video thanks to this driver with FCP 3, 4.1 &amp; 4.5 HD. Currently using Xact 1.6.1 with a miroMOTION DC30+ on a QuickSilver G4 867MHz with 1.5GB RAM running OS X Server 10.4.2 and I have just upgraded to Final Cut Pro 5. I have found it is not possible to enable sound preview when capturing video (the option for this seems to have disappeared, has it moved?) Also the captured video won't appear in the Viewer Window but you can here the sound when you play the footage. If you click on another tab, then click on the video tab again the image of the other tab stays in the window. Can replicate the bug on my PowerBook G4 17" 1.33GHz running OS X 10.4.2, Xact driver 1.6.1 with FCP 5. Otherwise PERFECT with FCP 4.5 HD or older versions.

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• Unexpected consequence of Pinnacle dropping DC30...

  spuppAugust 9, 2004

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  ...support<br />This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.<br />Who would have thought that Pinnacle's decision not to support the DC30 series under OSX would be a good thing? This non-Pinnacle driver endows the DC30 with abilities it never had before. Multiple codec playback is an excellent idea, and well implemented. In addition to recording using the DC30+ lossless codec, a dual 1.25GHz G4 can capture 640 X 480 29.97fps NTSC video with no compression at all (about 30MB/sec) without dropping frames. I am impressed.

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• Wow - incredible!

  cPepperJuly 22, 2004

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  This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.<br />I just got a DC30 and tried it out under OS X 10.2.8. My G4/400/AGP had big problems with a proTV II before - but with the DC30 and this fine driver it really captures fine at 25Hz / 768x576 PAL. Both the DC30 and the Xact Driver are marvellous!

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• Wahey! Full-frame capture without drops on OSX.

  IIRDecember 11, 2003

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  This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.<br />I am using OSX Panther (10.3). BTV now captures full 768x576 PAL without dropping frames on a humble G3 with this version of the driver. Playback is equally smooth. A caveat is that the preview while capturing video is jerky - this doesn't happen in BTV on OS9/Pinnacle drivers. This happens when capturing / displaying at the same time - perhaps tweaked for a future update? Note - the DC30 audio hardware has an electrical noise problem on the left channel - a low-level buzzing - if you want better audio capture, do it via the Mac's internal audio as it also has a better dynamic range than the DC30. A great driver, extremely stable froma great developer. Superb!

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• Fantastic

  macguru_ausOctober 29, 2003

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  This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.<br />Fantastic product, I have been using this driver in 3 G4s and over 10.2.5-10.3 Some issues are not the fault of this driver... eg Audio out from the card refused to work in a 2001 quicksilver in os9 or OSX , with 3 different cards, but it works fine in my new g4 MDD. Direct DV capture needs a fast dual g4. VLC dvd playback needs a fast g4, not neccessarily a dual. My itunes has always worked fine in all combinations. I have not tried i Chat yet, however. The main job this card does, capturing analogue video, works better in OSX than it ever worked in OS9. All the previous problems with lipsynch and dropped frames are gone (on a fast g4) giving pro quality capture. The best you can hope for from an analogue source , anyway ! cheers Andrew

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• More features but still slow capture and grinds...

  IIROctober 7, 2003

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  ...iChat/OSX to a halt.<br />This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.<br />This driver has everything going for it, except speed. Unfortunately I cannot get a full-frame-rate capture (a 768x576 PAL source for example) with this driver in OSX, despite trying uncompressed or the card's hardware JPEG mode. In OS9 with the Pinnacle drivers it has absolutely no problem capturing and playing back at any resolution. I am not sure where the bottleneck is - the driver, or OSX's handling of capture data - although according to Apple the datapath has not changed since OS9 and is pretty efficient. This is a great driver (I would say one of the best drivers on OSX, period) but unfortunately I still have to revert to OS9 for capturing video with the card. One thing to note - the driver, when enabled, slows iChat to a grinding halt, then results in a total system freeze. Perhaps there is a contention issue with the driver.

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• Audio problems

  DA1August 14, 2003

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  This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.<br />the driver works finr under OSX in Final Cut pro but since installation iTunes fails to paly.iTunes opens but will not play. RealOne player plays however. The playback of video and audio in Fianl Cut Pro and Quicktime are fine, as is the import to IMovie. Sound is alos fine in iMovie. Potentially good but fails miserably when interfering with a central product like iTunes.

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• Is there a performance problem with this driver or...

  IIRJune 14, 2003

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  ...OSX?<br />This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.<br />With the Pinnacle drivers in OS9, on my B&amp;W G3 350, I get perfect video preview at full frame rate (768x576 PAL) with BTV Pro. With this driver in OSX the frame rate drops to an extremely jerky 4fps and the recording likewise using BTV Pro, even when I record with no video preview. Has anyone encountered this with BTV Pro? If not, there could be a graphics performance issue with either this driver or OSX.

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• Last version was better

  CHL--2008June 10, 2003

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  This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.<br />The new version does not work (problems with audio RAM) with my G4 and DC30plus. The old version worked - but without audio. HELP!?

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