Serious Magic DVRack

[Ed Frazier]

It sounds like you have already talked yourself out of getting DVRack, but let me address a couple of points you mentioned that might benefit others.

DVRack will run on the computer you are currently using at the church, provided it meets minimum specs. No need to buy a laptop in your case.

You can still capture to the removable hard drive so there is no need to change anything there. If you are able to capture direct to disk now, it should work with DVRack.

I doubt you'll find DVRack at a lower price than currently offered by SeriousMagic and you get the full package, not a stripped down version, which isn't even offered now.

Your total cost to utilize the product would be $279.95 http://www.videoguys.com/dvrack.html, and an additional benefit would be that you no longer need to lug that 5" monitor around anymore.

I don't like dealing with rebates either, but for $200, I'll spend 5 minutes filling out the form and addressing an envelope any day.

[Mark Randall]

One other point I forgot to mention. Serious Magic doesn't monkey around with rebates like a few manufacturers. It's sad that this is the case with a few companies because rebates should be a trustworthy thing, however I've had a couple of rebate nightmares where it was apparent that the company really didn't intend to pay most of the rebates as promised.

With SM, you just fill out the form (and it's really quite short), add the receipt and send it in. You'll get your check, usually in a few weeks.

[Alex Filacchione]

Danny, I think that the best thing to do would be to download them demo and use it and see if it helps. The demo lasts for 14 days, and it fully functional, not crippled.

For me personally, the audio stuff is the stuff that I don't need. Coming from an audio background, spending a lot of time in recording studios, building my own project studio, etc. I have enough control over audio that I can get a good signal in and not worry about it.

The things that I like (I downloaded the demo but have not yet installed it for other reasons - I am waiting for the calibration cards to become available on the seriousmagic shop so I can get some and then install the demo and really put it through it's paces) are the "Broadcast monitor" esp the under/overscan feature, the Quality monitor to let me know if frames are bing dropped, and the calibration tools.

With something like Premiere Pro (which I have) I can get waverform monitors and vector scopes. When I record to disk I get notification if frames are being dropped.

However, I don't get the kind of notification that DVRack gives as far as where they are dropped (the display will show you exactly where in the timeline the frames were dropped and you can scrub to them and see if it is a real problem requiring a reshoot or not). I don't get the under/overscan feature in Premiere (but I think that Premiere will show the actual video footage, not just what your LCD shows). The thing that I really like is that not only does DVRack have all of those calibration features and more, DVRack seems to make it VERY easy to use them to calibrate your camera, whereas in Premiere, you just get the scopes.

The other thing that DVRack does that is REALLY cool is the continuity tools. The ability to do split screen of previous footage with current footage will allow me to make sure that if I take a break in filming and the subject moves, that when we continue I will have framed the subject precisely to match the previous footage. That is a really cool feature that you are not going to get in a broadcast monitor.

From what I have seen, the only improvement that I would like right off of the bat (and not having used it, it could be that this feature is in there) is to layout your "rack equipment" in a side scrolling (left to right) layout as well as the standard up & down scrolling. And blank "filler" components to take up the blank spaces between devices!

I too am hoping for another rebate offer. I imagine that by the time I order the calibration cards from them and install the demo and really put DVRack thru it's paces the rebate will be gone, and thanks to the holidays so will my money! :-( However, if I really like it, I will wait for another rebate offer and buy it. My main concern right now is that it may not work with the video card built into my D2D miniPC solution (which does not allow for me to add in a "real" video card). I won't know until I try it, however.

Alex F

[Danny Fye]

I have a question for you. I looked at the online manual for DVRack and I noticed that it has to be activated like Windows XP does.

If I get DVRack and install it on my desk-top computer at church and then at some time in the future I get a smaller or a note-book computer, will I then be able to install it on that computer without having problems with the activation?

I don't want to be stuck in the future.

Thanks,
Danny Fye

[Mark Randall]

DV Rack permits two activations on two different machines.

--- Mark

[Danny Fye]

<<<-- Originally posted by Ed Frazier :

Your total cost to utilize the product would be $279.95 http://www.videoguys.com/dvrack.html, and an additional benefit would be that you no longer need to lug that 5" monitor around anymore.

I don't like dealing with rebates either, but for $200, I'll spend 5 minutes filling out the form and addressing an envelope any day. -->>>

Congrats to you! You have convinced me. I just purchased DVRAck from Videoguys. I didn't know they had it for that price.

Serious Magic's web page doesn't seem to list online sellers that sell DVRack. At least I didn't find it. I saw a list of different places in different states but not online stores. Could this be an ommision?

Oh well, at least I can now really find out how useful DVRack will be.

I called Videoguys and asked about their return policy and they told me 30 days. So if I find I don't find DVRack to be useful during the 30 days, I can return it for a refund. Minus shipping of course.

Thanks,
Danny Fye

[Danny Fye]

<<<-- Originally posted by Mark Randall : DV Rack permits two activations on two different machines.

--- Mark -->>>

So what happens if one machine breaks down and/or needs a complete re-install or I get a new machine. What would be the procedure for the activation at that point.

I forgot to ask earlier, will DVRack work with my ATI All-In Wonder Radion with 16 meg of memory on it?

I noticed a discrepency on the rebate forms. On one it says, "May not be combined with any other offer or
used for purchases made through Broadfield Distributing, Inc., Wynit, Inc. or direct from Serious Magic, Inc." and on the other it says, "May not be combined with any other offer or used for
purchases made through Broadfield Distributing, Inc. or Wynit, Inc."

So, on one I can't buy it direct from Serious Magic and on the other I can. Since I already bought it, it no longer matters to me but to someone else it might.

I printed out the rebate form and it prints rather small. I can't possibly write in those teeny tiny little boxes. Would you allow that a label be placed on it instead?

I am not trying to nit-pick away at all this, I just wanted to get some answers and point out a few things that I noticed.

Thanks very much,
Danny Fye

[John Jay]

Just playing with the demo, for two cam operation with two firewire ports ( built-in and IBM cardbus) on max screen resolution of 1024.

My question is how to get the two field monitors side by side?

[Rob Lohman]

Are you sure it supports that? I thought it grabbed the first
firewire camera it sees, but I could be wrong in that. For that to
work you need to have an option to pick the device it is working
with and be able to open a second instance of DV Rack.

[John Jay]

Rob 4 U >>>Setting Up More Than One Camera
DV Rack does support multiple cameras but your system must have one FireWire card for each camera installed. DV Rack does not support multiple cameras connected to one Firewire card. To switch between cameras:

Connect each camera to your computer. Then, in DV Rack, right-click and select the camera that you would like to record from from the pop-up menu.


Anyone >>>

My question is how to get the two field monitors side by side?

[Rob Lohman]

Wow! That's a pretty nice feature, cool!!

[Jim Quinlan]

Here's a response from serious magic on their forum from a few days ago with a similar question. Karl Soule said:

"It is possible right now to have multiple cameras hooked up to DV Rack, but DV Rack can only monitor/record from one camera at a time. You can use this to match cameras, for example. Record a small clip from Cam 1, Stop, switch to Cam 2, and compare Cam 2 to the recorded Cam 1 clip. Adjust Cam 2 as necessary. Repeat for Cam 3.

Are you looking for ISO feeds from multiple sources simultaneously, or a single feed that switches from camera to camera? Right now, DV Rack does neither, but I'm looking for feedback which way you'd like to see us develop toward. "

[John Jay]

Hmmm <amused to death>

Think I'll wait for the F50 .......

[Valeriu Campan]

Thank you Mark,
I contacted Mike on Friday, still hope he gets back to me before the end of the month

[Cliff Hepburn]

I hooked up my 950 to DV Rack and switched the camera to still camera mode. It appears the entire CCD is used as opposed to the cropped image when using it in video mode.
Is there any reason I shouldn't use the camera with DV Rack this way to take advantage of the entire CCD? My goal is to crop it down to 16:9 in post production.
thx
-Cjh