I am ready for HD:
http://dandiaconu.com/gallery/ALL-CLIP-TESTS/IMGA0174?full=1

is HD ready for me?

Ok so I should have the 64bit card TODAY! meanwhile we are finishing the DirectDraw image preview - had it running for 2hours with no memory leaks or crashes! I will be getting the microATX board CPU and dual highspeed disks back next week along with an updated CineLink.. we still have the 3300rgb so I should have no problems running lots of tests next week with the new card and the hardware our programmer is sending back to me. Our to-do list still includes a high-quality bayer filter and Quicktime output along with some other basics like RGB balence zebra display and some UI updates ...at this point we have full control of the camera, A good preview that does not tax the CPU as much and RAW image save

once I start shooting I will post LOts and LoTS of images

Have 64bit card in my hand! this has been a LONG wait!

They tell me I have the worlds first production CL2 64bit Epix card...whooohoooo guess if I hang onto it for a few years it's value will go up?? LOL

Can't wait for some test footage/images.

praise the lord!!

and pass the potatoes.

I'm glad it finally got released. Congrats on the new arrival.
Steve

Obin,

I don't want to re-read through 159 pages. I might have missed this are you still using the old Russian 16mm camera body?

GREAT, GREAT,GREAT!!!
This shows how much someone with good decision making can influence the whole thing!
WELL DONE OBIN OLSON!!!!!!!
(you are the king of the new High Definition wave)

you guys are too cool ;)

no 16mm camera body..we will have our own design....

No ideas yet on an estimate final pricing?

Not yet! wait and see how things progress next week with tests

Could I use Arri 35mm lens on your camera? Or will you have an option so that you could mount different lens on the camera?

should have the mother board, Dothan 2ghz cpu and high-speed disks back from our programmer in a day or 2..then we can start shooting and testing!!!

I am taking a 3 day vacation at Sugar Mountain in NC for some snow boarding...it's hard to type right now after a full day of fun and total exhaustion on the mountain..conditions are great with a 35inch bed of snow that came down over the weekend..:)

I will be back Feb 3rd, my brother will be around the office till then working with the camera/system if it gets in from ups before I am back..

IS ANYONE ON THE LIST READY TO STOP THE THUMB SUCKING AND GET SOME REAL TESTS GOING!!!!!!!!

LOL

Saw your system and thought you might take it in the field, so you may require a battery source.
Lithium-ion batteries are what you should be looking at.
One supplier I found was Ocean-Server at: http://www.ocean-server.com/index.html

They build a range of systems from 95 to 6000 watts using their Lithium-Ion batteries.
The Li-ion batteries are 95 watt/hr batteries costing $170 and weighing 1.4lbs /.6kg.
Each 4 or 8 batteries requires a battery controller, i.e. BB-04; MP-04 or MP-08
The battery controllers feed a DC/DC converter (atx voltage output), i.e. DC-023

The Ocean-Server solutions of interest are:
Solution 1:
4 batteries / BB-04 / DC-023 which gives 177W /12A output @ 2 hours.
Weight: 7 lbs/3kg
Cost = $1K

Solution 2:
6 battery / MP-04 /DC-023 x2 which gives 314W /16A output @ 2hours
Weight : 12lbs/5kg.
Cost = $2K

See link for pretty pictures: http://www.ocean-server.com/download/controller19.pdf

This link, http://www.ocean-server.com/download.html (FAQ's) discusses system drain of various mini-itx, atx systems. It also looks at power consumption of SFF boards.
1) PC104 VIA C3 design, 512MB memory, 2.5" disk drive, running Windows-Pro.
Total power consumption is 14Watts (idle.)
2) VIA EIPA M10000 (1GHz), 2.5" disk, 512MB memory,
Total power consumption is 35Watts with LCD monitor (idle).
3) Intel 845 @ 1.8Ghz motherboard is 53 Watts

There are other cheaper systems but Ocean-Server fits the bill except for external housing.
You could build your own using Li-ion F cells (18650) and your own protection, monitoring, load balance circuitry but it’ll require a lot of playing around.

Thank you,
David Farland

<<<-- Originally posted by Obin Olson : IS ANYONE ON THE LIST READY TO STOP THE THUMB SUCKING AND GET SOME REAL TESTS GOING!!!!!!!!

LOL -->>>


I'm ready right this second.

I'm ready to get on the list.

But how do you sign up?

yes, i'm ready for the real tests.. please.

Thank you David for your info I will be looking at many solutions for our power needs... I am looking at Anton Bauer Systems as they are standard for the video/film production.....

You're welcome...keep up the good work.
I think you're okay with the anton-bauer stuff even thou it's x2 the price, at least if you have a anton-bauer mounting plate you can use whatever's available.
I guess you know what your current drain might be. Make sure your battery can supply your continous current output as well your required total amp-hour rating if that make sense. Also note that the DC/DC (atx) converters range form 50% to 95% efficiency which can screw you.

Don't know what your OS for capture is but obviously the battery drain will be greater if you leave it on all the time as opposed to booting it when you're ready for a take. Anyway I've started a thread on this stuff at http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?s=&threadid=36689

Well done!

Dave Farland

farting around with the Epix 64bit card today trying to get the drivers working with windows..argg..will keep everyone posted....

Looks like I will have no luck with the DFI board..64bit slot does nto seem to work at all...does anyone have some links to other Dothan boards with PCI-X slots?

HELP

All I can find is the DFI 855GME. That's what you're using now, isn't it? There doesn't seem to be a different one available at the moment that I can find.

DFI 855GME yes, I have a bad board or that board will not work with Epix cards..I am not sure yet but I will try and find out ASAP..

so anyone that has a list of boards would be a help at this point

There's the Kontron Mungo560

Also Axiomtek has a board as well.

http://www.amplicon.co.uk/dr-prod3.cfm/subsecid/10131/secid/5/groupId/12073.htm


http://www.evalue-tech.com/products/ECM-5715.cfm

Hey Juan,

Isn't that motherboard also made by DFI (but just their industrial board division)?

Seems like the same model number as this one http://www.dfi-acp.com/Product/xx_product_spec_details_r_acp_us.jsp?PRODUCT_ID=3324&CATEGORY_TYPE=null


Might have a different BIOS, but other than that, I think it's the same thing as what Obin has right now.

Obin, the best advice is to give DFI-ACP a call just to make sure that it is the same thing, and there's nothing that would differentiate it from what you have right now, and enable the Epix card to work.

Either that, or Epix should maybe take a look at your board and see what might be causing the hang-up, because technically that card should work on your board.

One last bit of advice is to make sure that nothing is overclocked on your board, I know that DFI enables overclocking with that board, and so there might be some odd clock configurations happening that are throwing the Epix board off. I'm just saying this because the Aopen board comes with the front-side bus slighty boosted to give slightly faster out-of-the-box speeds.

yes, you are right on your comments Jay.
I don´t really know if that is the same DFI board or not.
Anyway first move would be to contact both DFI and Epixinc to check what is happening with any of them.
I would be inclined to think first option would be a bad BIOS on DFI board (that is the most usual thing to happen)

I think that's what you're going to have to do. And if they tell you the board won't support it after all, you might be stuck sitting on your hands again. I can't find anything else that isn't DFI.

I don't think you're stuck Obin, not everything out there is DFI.

Again, there's the Mungo 560 from Kontron. They have a riser card that fits the PICMG 1.2 edge on the card, and it brings out two 64-bit PCI-slots. Link is here: http://www.kontron.com/products/pdproductdetail.cfm?keyProduct=40088&kps=1690&kpc=237

BTW they also have a nice little 1U short-length rack enclosure for that board, that will take a 64-bit card via a butterfly-style riser card that fits on the PCIMG edge here: http://www.kontron.com/techlib/datasheets/MiniMorph19%20Datasheet%20-%202177.pdf

There's also the Axiomtek SBC83810 here: http://www.axiomtek.com/product_detail.php?model_num=SBC83810&majorcat=Embedded+PCs&subcat=5.25%5C%22+Petit+Boards+%285.75%5C%22+x+8%5C%22%29

Both of these cards are based on the 855GME/6300ESB, or basically have a Hance Rapids southbridge, enabling them to have PCI-X slots.

You can find details on the chipset here: http://www.intel.com/design/chipsets/embedded/855gme_6300ESB.htm

But before you go out and purchase anything new, I'd do what Juan and others have suggested, and that may involve phone calls to DFI and Epix, because again, that board should work, there should not be any incompatabilities AFAIK.

from the error code windows gives and the fact that the 32bit card does not work in that slot Epix tells me i'ts not the Epix stuff but a hardware issue with my board..I am going to buy a Mungo board and test that I guess...hope for the best

I will also send the DFI board back so that they can check it over

we are also looking at how hard it would be to convert our app to Gigabit Silicon Imaging camera systems

also don't forget we need AGP slot for the Directdraw to work on the graphics card...

I thought you said you didn't need AGP??

If that's the case, then I'm sorry, but that DFI board is all there is with PCI-X and AGP.

The Mungo, Axiomtek, etc. are all based off the internal Intel Extreme2 graphics engine, bascially the same built-in video that the DFI board uses, but they don't give you the option of another AGP card and external video acceleration. If you've been using the internal graphics on the DFI, then you shouldn't have a problem with the other boards, but if you've been running your video off an AGP video card, then that's a problem.

my programmer says "forget it" if it does not have AGP as he is using DIRectX and we need a graphics card for that...anymore ideas gang?

Not really, I mean you have to use something that's using the 855GME/6300ESB chipset if you're going with Penitum M, and the DFI is the only one I know of that uses PCI-X and AGP. Needing those three items is actually a pretty obscure combination.

There is an option with the P620x from GMS (http://www.gms4sbc.com), but that is a PMC interface they use on their system, so you'll have to search for some adapters to get the PMC-X slots to a PCI-X slot form-factor to work with the Epix card, and then again, there's no guarentees that it will work, because technically your DFI set-up should work.

Do any cards work in the PCI-X slot? If not, then it might just be a bad board.

The only other option I can think of is to go COM-Express and have somebody build you a custom baseboard with everything you need, but the NRE on that is $20,000 and up depending on what you want integrated. And again no promises that the Epix card is going to work with that setup, because it's not working with a setup it's suppose to work with in the first place.

Frankly I'd go back to Epix and ask them "what gives?" I'm sure you paid a nice penny for that board, and it's suppose to work. You're not using an obscure combination, and it needs to work, because then there's no guarantee that any PCI-X motherboard out there will work.

Before you go shopping for other boards, get to the bottom of what's wrong with your combination.

I don't have any cards to try in pci-x slot.. ideas for a low cost test solution Jason? I guess I should test the slot with a standard card

Yes,

any PCI card should also work in PCI-X slot (of course depening on the voltage that slot is delivering).

What's the voltage that the Epix card needs?

There are 5V and 3.3V PCI-X slots out there, and the two are not necessarily compatible with each other. Some slots are suppose to be universal, but other's aren't.

I am not sure what the voltage is EPix wants..I will look at the card now and see if I can find any info...

Well DFI board says PCI X 2.2 so I guess it is 3.3 V.
Maybe I'm wrong anyway

You can't go past ringing Epix tech support and talking to them about compatibilies of their board i.e speed, pci-x 1.0a specs etc, with other motherboards.
Also I hope you're using these sites for ideas http://www.motherboards.org/mobot/index.html & http://users.erols.com/chare/main.htm
Is your spec 64bit/pci-x-66mhz/agp/SFF with low cpu current as optional? How cpu hungry is your capture anyway.
Forgeting temperature, APC have a couple of boards
http://www.americanpredator.com/products/industrial_controllers/index.html
Then you have all the industrial single xeons (7501/05)which are much cooler than P4's.
Thank you,
David Farland

The American Preditor board looks pretty good, although you better go with a Xeon that's 2.4Ghz or lower if you want battery power, and even then, you might be talking about a Hytron 120 or Dionic 160 on the Anton Bauer line-up.

Of course, if you've been looking at doing compression, such as DNxHD, that might flush those possibilities, but I'm not sure how processor and resource intensive DNxHD is.

BTW, Juan is right, just looked some more info, and PCI-X 2.2 is only 3.3V, not 5V, so make sure that the Epix cards don't need 5V to run.

thank you Jason. I will make it a point on monday to ask Epix what the voltage is for the CL2 64bit pci-x card..I think it's PCI-x 2.2 but not sure

No compression on the fly - it will be a post shooting task

Whilst you're speaking to Epix I'd also ask them-

i.What is the cpu/mem % usage on their 'test system whilst capturing?
ii.Lowest spec system that would support capture only?

iii. Current drain/s of board?

Depending on who you speak to, it's best to follow-up with an email on tech questions just so the guy has time to check with the company guru.
I'm still phased on how Epix are able to capture 400MB/sec on a 64bit/66Mhz bus. Must be no cpu happening.
If you speak to Blackmagic on their Decklink hd which max's out at 240MB, they insist on 64bit/100Mhz.

DF,

Who said Epix was capturing 400 Megabytes per second??
I've lost that part.

I don't care about what they are capturing at...it's not the issue. The problem is the fact that windows can't use the hardware on the 64bit slot. This is a big problem and untill we have an answer for this we can't move forward with our development.

Saw it here:
http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:eDAqr0pcuLUJ:www.advancedimagingmag.com/eblast/+CL2+64bit+Epix&hl=en

ta,
Dave Farland

<<<-- Originally posted by Obin Olson : my programmer says "forget it" if it does not have AGP as he is using DIRectX and we need a graphics card for that...anymore ideas gang? -->>>

AGP on board the motherboard is still AGP under direct X controll (though ussually a lot less efficient AGP which might also be a speed problem).

You are most likely facing some hitch that will be corrected. Ring Epix and DFI and ask them what it could be. It could just be a driver or bios problem that they need to fix, and will when they get around to it, but until they know about it they won't be able, sort of thing.

You have the first board, keep them informed, that is how some companies work, they don't correct things until the users finds out there is something.

All is not lost, just takes time for them to sort out new hardware combinations.

The things I can think of-

i.Enable DMA

ii.Try win2K cos this looks like their first xp of the range.

iii.If after 2 days of support/trying, get them to fix it, ship it to them, as WM says you're their beta tester.

iv. Ask them what mobo actually works and get it.
If it's incompatible you're still able to develop whilst your looking for your next sff mobo.

v. Find out from DFI what spec the pci-x slot.

vi. Send the DFI mobo spec to EPIX support this weekend.

vii. Ring your local computer shop/s, tell them your after a pci-x system but only if your board works in it.
Sorta the truth if the DFI doesn't work and you want to continue developing.

In six months this problem will be FORGOTTEN!

Good luck,

DF

I can't see how DirectX or DirectDraw are limited to work with AGP.
It is a graphics standard to talk to your graphics card and should
work just as fine with AGP, PCI & PCI Express. Otherwise there
would be no reason for 3D cards to be out on all those platforms!

was the whole 'altasens' thing just an april fools joke?

Eric: no, it was delayed and from the last I heard it should be
shipping soon. But, this is a highly specialized market, so delays
can and will happen. If you can't be patient this game is not for
you....

trying to make headway with DFI and Epix still....

in the meantime.....

We are working on getting 16bit tiff export..we had it but found out we had tiff files that had been broken down to 8bit then saved as 16bit..this will not work...we need an SDK or codec that will provide FULL 16bit data.. anyone know of a 16bit codec/SDK I can send to our programmer that will deal with the data without loosing bitdepth?


thanks for any help with this one...


I can post a raw file for anyone that needs it...

post away.