Reviewed in the United States on November 4, 2011
Do NOT be dissauded from purchasing this product based on angry reviews. Check to see exactly why each person was unable to get the Intensity Shuttle to work, and see that most of them assumed their hardware would be compatible with the product without doing the appropriate research first. I had relatively little trouble installing the Shuttle and getting it to work, although I will admit setting it up is going to take some technical knowledge and at times will test your patience. However, as long as you follow the installation instructions to the letter and have your system set up to meet or exceed the relatively high requirements, the Intensity Shuttle works like a dream.
First of all, consider the absolute basics. The Intensity Shuttle tells you right on the box that your system MUST connect to the unit using USB 3.0 ports. If you look at your computer's USB ports, they will be BLUE as opposed to black. If your USB ports aren't BLUE, they probably aren't 3.0 ports and will not work with the Shuttle.
Secondly, just because you have USB 3.0 ports doesn't mean the Shuttle will work with your system out of the box. In addition to having the blue 3.0 ports, you will also need to have upgraded them to the latest drivers and firmware versions. You can check to see which drivers and firmware you are running by going to the "Start" menu, then to "Programs", and finding "Renesas Electronics USB 3.0 Host Controller Utility".
Your computer will NEED to have driver versions no less than 2.0.4.0, and firmware version no less than 3025. Don't worry if you don't have them yet, as they can be downloaded. This is more than likely the main problem most people encounter when having trouble getting the Intensity Shuttle to work, as they assume the USB 3.0 ports on their system will work, without having checked and upgraded their drivers and firmware to the latest releases.
If you have USB 3.0 ports and an internet connection (just in case you need to download drivers and firmware), an x58 based or later motherboard, as well as 4 GB of RAM and LOTS of hard drive space, you should have NO problem getting the Shuttle to work like a dream. This system was able to handle the shuttle with little to no difficulty.
Intel I7 950 CPU @ 3.46ghz
Asus Sabertooth x58 motherboard
6 GB DDR3 1600mhz RAM
ATI Radeon HD 6870 1GB GPU
1TB 7200rpm WD HDD
If your system specs approach or exceed those, you will be able to use the Intensity Shuttle. A few things you NEED to watch out for that may throw you off guard!!!
In order to capture video using the Shuttle, you must have the Shuttle AND its software configured to match the video source you are recording from. This has been a point of confusion leading many people to think the Shuttle isn't working, when in reality they haven't set the software to work in synch with the hardware. To even get a video feed to appear on your monitor using the Shuttle's Media Express software, you must first install both the Shuttle and the software, all appropriate drivers, reboot your system, and then access your Control Panel and access the "Black Magic Intensity Control Panel", and set the Shuttle to accept a video feed from your choice (HDMI, Component, S-Video, etc).
After having done that, you must ALSO set the software to capture footage that matches the resolution and framerate of the footage you're feeding into the Shuttle. For example, I recorded footage from a PS3 using component cables (you cannot record HDMI footage from a PS3 due to HDCP protocols) at 720p running 59 frames per second. In order to get a video feed on the monitor, I first had to change the Shuttles settings in the Control Panel to accept a "Component Video With RCA Audio" feed, and then change the settings in the Media Express software to accept a video resolution of 720p at 59 frames per second. Voila, the video feed from the PS3 appeared, and I was ready for recording. Don't worry, its really not as complicated as it sounds. Its just a matter of knowing where to go to access your settings, and knowing what they should be changed to, based on what type of video you are feeding into the Shuttle.
In other words, the Shuttle does not detect your video feed automatically. After the drivers for the Shuttle have been installed, you need to manually access your Control Panel, then find and open the mini-Control Panel FOR the Shuttle, and set it to look for video from the appropriate cables. After that, you need to manually set the software to look for video matching the Resolution AND frame rate of the video that's coming across those cables, be it 1080i, 1080p, 720p, etc.
ALSO, I would reccommend purchasing a reserve drive to store video. Uncompressed video files recorded from the Intensity Shuttle are HUGE!!! In some cases, a measly 30 seconds of 720p video is more than a gigabyte in size. Yeah, you read that right. 30 seconds of video = gigabytes of space eaten up! The quality is flawless, but space will soon become an issue. However, there are tricks that you can employ to deal with this problem. I usually import my raw video into high end HD video editing software, like Sony Vegas Pro 9, and render them into formats that preserve the most quality while shrinking the file sizes, like WMVs or MPEG2. Depending on your settings when rendering, you will lose very little quality, but its barely noticeable to the naked eye unless you're a diehard video enthusiast. However, its a small price to pay to have crisp, clean, high quality video to work with that doesn't eat up hard drive space, because if you plan on working with the Shuttle's Gigabyte-sized files, you'll probably find yourself strapped for space fairly quickly.
After I record video, I import that video into Vegas and render it into a format that's much smaller, but looks just as good (and sometimes better, somehow), to the naked eye. That way, my video files are usually around 300MB each instead of 1GB each. How you handle this problem is up to you, but really comes down to user preference and how much quality you want. Trust me, the Intensity Shuttle will give you all the quality you can ask for.
At any rate, I hope this review helps clear up most of the confusion surrounding the Intensity Shuttle, and gives you a rundown on what you'll need to get it working, and what to expect once you begin using this nifty piece of hardware. Remember, USB 3.0 ports upgraded to the latest drivers AND firmware are a must, plus having the Shuttle set to accept feed from the proper source, and having the software set to accept that feed at the proper resolution and framerate, are the most common problems people have issues getting past. Get these right first, and you'll be on your way to editing in no time!
The only reason I gave it 4 instead of 5 stars is because its tricky to set up, and currently, the system you will need to make the most of it will be pricey. With patience and attention to technical details, the Intensity Shuttle WILL work, but make sure you have the right hardware before buying it.
