next step in using the Akitio box in persuit of a compact but powerfull system

hooking it up to an intel nuc skull i7.

it is amazing how vmix performs in these miniature systems, I am well on my way to get my portable system under on kilogram and fitting in my backpack.

intel skull i7 underclocked and under volted running a steady 15% cpu which 4% is vmix, recording mp4 main at 1080p25 25 mbit to a sdcard.
connected to the akitiobox with bm duo 2 with one active input and one input through desktop capture through the network.

16 gb ram in two banks of 8 running 2400 mhz and a fast samsung ssd.

temp not over 60 celcius.

hardly any noise.

I think i can now proceed to build this into a case i can carry and quickly deploy.

few minor things to be tested: hooking the monitor up through the displayport on the akitio. and using a bluetooth keyboard and mouse. no cables.

all credits go to Martin who is proving again and again what a wonder vmix is!!

any body tested an intel i5 nuc with thunderbolt3 these will be released any time now with 7th gen chips and upgraded iris pros.

stefan

as you can see in the threat above, this issue has been reported.

it is just a matter of slightly attatching the innerworks 3-4 mm higher and adding a little room.

please report this to akitio also and advice your client to do the same. this way they might put some speed behind solving this hardware issue.

not everybode is as lightning fadt as martin is with fixing issues...

stefan

ps i managed to input a sdi input and then secure the card. this way i am able to use the lower port. but it is not a preferred way of working.

i managed to daisy chain a bm recorder thunder2 via thunderbolt3 to 2 converter, but not a second akitio.

the chain is visible but not the card. so a no go.

would have been too good to be true I guess

My question was can you use the BMD 4K mini recorder card and if so how many could you daisy chain.
I think the answer will be one.
So their is a different but similar question could you use 1 BMD 4k card and 1 Magewell 4K card?
The cost difference is a bit steep though.

I wonder could you use 1 Yuan 4 port(3 usable it seems from the thread) and 1 BMD 4 input card?

Thanks for letting us know about this stuff as it looks great on paper except your real world mileage will vary for sure.

Rich Shumaker

hi all,

I did not test bm mini 4k or the bm quad2. based on my experience so far, the cards should work as the akitio works just like an internal pcie slot.

there is one important difference though, the box should be cold booted connected to the tb3 port at start up of the laptop.

although you can hot swap the box, I fould that onlu the major port will be active. so port 1 and 2 in position 2 and 4 from the reference.

I don't know why this is but I guess bmd managed to have two inputs on one processor on the card and somehow the software will not activate the duo2 inputs.

energy wise the duo2 consumes about 10 watt, and the card has enough power for that. I don't expect a problem with the quad 2, but maybe somebody has tested this combo.

daisy chaining does not work other wise than using the tb3 port to convert to tb2 and connecting a tb2 mini. maybe other combies might work as well.

greetings,
stefan

I guess they will work. but if you are going to use only a one inpit card in the box, you are better off using a bm mini recorder with tb2 and a tb3 to tb2 converter. that way you have no need for external power and a small footprint.

I guess the akitio box is more usefull for full hight 2 or better 4 input / output cards like the bmd duo2 card in combo with a laptop.

stefan

Sorry for the double post,
But while searching for hardware, i came across this really interesting Magewell capture card :
http://www.magewell.com/...-quad-sdi-m-2/tech-specs



Quad SDI input you can put inside the NUC Skull Canyon. The only issue is letting cables out, which is made possible because Intel released 3D plan of NUC lids so you can modify et print your own.

My only concern is about securing the SDI cables which are plugged to the capture card. I'm currently thinking about a solution for this but this would allow using the NUC for production without needing a PCIE to TB3 box.

Only issue so far : I've been unable to find a reseller to buy this card.