Serious Magic DVRack

Ignacio Rodriguez · November 27th, 2004, 12:49 PM

I have never tried it. However similar setups have been discussed before. It seems that what you get in that mode through Firewire is a less than optimal deinterlaced, downscaled DV image. The deinterlacing algorithm reduces resolution, and then you will lose even more if you crop the image for 16:9. It's not the same as being able to access 30 still frames per seconds from the camera's photo mode, that would be great and you would have enough resolution to work with in native 16:9 DV afterwards. But this camera can't do that. You are better of using the camera in 16:9 DV mode, which is actually very good. I have not used DV Rack but I imagine it must be able to deal with 16:9 DV.

Boyd Ostroff · November 27th, 2004, 01:52 PM

Yeah, originally some people thought they were getting 30p full resolution images, but that turned out to be optimistic. I tried this myself, and even though I didn't study the captured results, I could tell on the monitor that they were pretty bad. I think I was seeing the same low res image the camera displays on its LCD screen. For example, if you went into the photo mode menus the image shown via the firewire port was identical to the LCD screen, complete with text and menus. I'd guess it was 640x480, and possibly at a low frame rate also. Right away I decided it wasn't worth further exploration. But if you liked what you saw then give it a shot and let us know how it turns out.

Cliff Hepburn · November 28th, 2004, 05:03 PM

Thanks, I thought I was onto something, guess not.

Michael Sinclair · November 28th, 2004, 05:17 PM

Interesting thread. I am a real newbie at video. However, I have been playing around with capture from my Canon Optura 300 direct to my new computer I put together. I put the Optura on still photo mode and use Vegas to capture to disk in Dv format. My family actually looked at some video transfered from the Canon to the hard drive via firewire then at some video captured to disk with the 300 on still photo mode with the SD card out of the camera. Many people asked me why the direct to disk in still camera mode looks so vivid, clear and sharp looking. I wanted to put a firewire card in my wife's laptop and use the camera on the go like that. One big problem I have is finding the best program or encoder to encode Mpeg2. My DVD renders lose quality from the original. Especially when viewing a moving subject. This is the biggest issue I see with the consumer market for archiving DV or even older home video to DVD.

Kent Dammand · November 30th, 2004, 10:50 PM

testing

no way to see camera menus on dv rack?

Danny Fye · December 1st, 2004, 06:41 AM

<<<-- Originally posted by Kent Dammand : testing

no way to see camera menus on dv rack? -->>>

Depending on the camera, I think there is, but why would you want to?

If you do, then the menus could get recorded as well as the video.

There should be a menu item to send it out.

Danny Fye

Ed Frazier · December 1st, 2004, 04:14 PM

Camera menus, at least on my XL1S, can be sent out on the analog outputs, but not on the firewire output. I don't know if that is the same with all camreas though.

Barry Green · December 1st, 2004, 07:20 PM

On the DVX you can't send the menus out the firewire either. I can't think of a camera that does allow it, so I'm guessing that no, there will be no way to see the menus on the DV Rack monitor...

Danny Fye · December 1st, 2004, 08:10 PM

<<<-- Originally posted by Barry Green : On the DVX you can't send the menus out the firewire either. I can't think of a camera that does allow it, so I'm guessing that no, there will be no way to see the menus on the DV Rack monitor... -->>>

I guess the question now is why would one want to?

Danny Fye

Paul Matwiy · December 11th, 2004, 06:02 PM

We are currently in heavy testing of Serious Magic's DV Rack. The software loads on any PC Laptop (over 1.2 GHz) and enables you to record from a DV camcoder and monitor the following:

Monitor with safe area, zebra patterns, 16x9 mask, undescan, and calibrated brightness, chroma, phase, and contrast. The software also provides the ability to frame grab, view time code and view waveform monitor and vector scope. It also contains a video analyzer (5 color spaces).

The recorder saves in avi1, avi2, QT, Canopus, and Matrox DV formats. it supports PAL and NTSC video standards, but does not support HDV strams at this time.

2 week trial is available by download. Price is $500 US

http://www.seriousmagic.com/dvrack.cfm

Very interesting.

Barry Green · December 11th, 2004, 07:31 PM

Even more interesting is that they've announced a "lite" version of DV Rack, which primarily gives the field monitor and disk recorder, for just $99. A lot of features are stripped down, but for $99, it's very interesting indeed.

Travis Maynard · December 11th, 2004, 08:57 PM

Ahh, DV rack looks like such a great program. Now, all I need is a laptop....Ehh, and 500$. :\

Rob Lohman · December 14th, 2004, 07:59 AM

The program has been discussed quite a lot here on DVInfo
already, check out the following threads:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthrea...threadid=35171
http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthrea...threadid=25742

Lauri Kettunen · December 15th, 2004, 01:42 AM

Does DV Rack or any other software has a buffer? (That is, when you start to record, it will store also the previous 5-30 seconds)

Rob Lohman · December 15th, 2004, 06:05 AM

The DV Racks feature page clearly states:

Quote:

Never miss the beginning of a shot again with the Pre-record Buffer in the DVR. It can be be set to start the clip up to 30 seconds before you hit the Record button on your camera

Source: http://www.seriousmagic.com/dvrack/f...20benefits.cfm

November 27th, 2004, 12:49 PM	#61
Ignacio Rodriguez Contributor Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Santiago, Chile Posts: 932	I have never tried it. However similar setups have been discussed before. It seems that what you get in that mode through Firewire is a less than optimal deinterlaced, downscaled DV image. The deinterlacing algorithm reduces resolution, and then you will lose even more if you crop the image for 16:9. It's not the same as being able to access 30 still frames per seconds from the camera's photo mode, that would be great and you would have enough resolution to work with in native 16:9 DV afterwards. But this camera can't do that. You are better of using the camera in 16:9 DV mode, which is actually very good. I have not used DV Rack but I imagine it must be able to deal with 16:9 DV. __________________ Ignacio Rodríguez in the third world. @micronauta on Twitter. Main hardware: brain, eyes, hands.

November 28th, 2004, 05:17 PM	#64
Michael Sinclair Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Brooklyn, NY Posts: 48	Interesting Interesting thread. I am a real newbie at video. However, I have been playing around with capture from my Canon Optura 300 direct to my new computer I put together. I put the Optura on still photo mode and use Vegas to capture to disk in Dv format. My family actually looked at some video transfered from the Canon to the hard drive via firewire then at some video captured to disk with the 300 on still photo mode with the SD card out of the camera. Many people asked me why the direct to disk in still camera mode looks so vivid, clear and sharp looking. I wanted to put a firewire card in my wife's laptop and use the camera on the go like that. One big problem I have is finding the best program or encoder to encode Mpeg2. My DVD renders lose quality from the original. Especially when viewing a moving subject. This is the biggest issue I see with the consumer market for archiving DV or even older home video to DVD.

November 30th, 2004, 10:50 PM	#65
Kent Dammand Regular Crew Join Date: May 2004 Posts: 80	Dv Rack testing no way to see camera menus on dv rack?

December 1st, 2004, 06:41 AM	#66
Danny Fye Major Player Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Independence MO. Posts: 318	Re: Dv Rack <<<-- Originally posted by Kent Dammand : testing no way to see camera menus on dv rack? -->>> Depending on the camera, I think there is, but why would you want to? If you do, then the menus could get recorded as well as the video. There should be a menu item to send it out. Danny Fye __________________ www.dannyfye.com

December 1st, 2004, 04:14 PM	#67
Ed Frazier Major Player Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Las Cruces, NM Posts: 343	Camera menus, at least on my XL1S, can be sent out on the analog outputs, but not on the firewire output. I don't know if that is the same with all camreas though. __________________ Ed Frazier

November 27th, 2004, 01:52 PM	#62
Boyd Ostroff Wrangler Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Mays Landing, NJ Posts: 11,802	Yeah, originally some people thought they were getting 30p full resolution images, but that turned out to be optimistic. I tried this myself, and even though I didn't study the captured results, I could tell on the monitor that they were pretty bad. I think I was seeing the same low res image the camera displays on its LCD screen. For example, if you went into the photo mode menus the image shown via the firewire port was identical to the LCD screen, complete with text and menus. I'd guess it was 640x480, and possibly at a low frame rate also. Right away I decided it wasn't worth further exploration. But if you liked what you saw then give it a shot and let us know how it turns out.

November 28th, 2004, 05:03 PM	#63
Cliff Hepburn Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Boston Posts: 75	Thanks, I thought I was onto something, guess not.

December 1st, 2004, 07:20 PM	#68
Barry Green Barry Wan Kenobi Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: North Carolina Posts: 3,863	On the DVX you can't send the menus out the firewire either. I can't think of a camera that does allow it, so I'm guessing that no, there will be no way to see the menus on the DV Rack monitor...

December 1st, 2004, 08:10 PM	#69
Danny Fye Major Player Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Independence MO. Posts: 318	<<<-- Originally posted by Barry Green : On the DVX you can't send the menus out the firewire either. I can't think of a camera that does allow it, so I'm guessing that no, there will be no way to see the menus on the DV Rack monitor... -->>> I guess the question now is why would one want to? Danny Fye __________________ www.dannyfye.com

December 11th, 2004, 06:02 PM	#70
Paul Matwiy Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Marin, CA Posts: 85	DV Rack Recording Tool We are currently in heavy testing of Serious Magic's DV Rack. The software loads on any PC Laptop (over 1.2 GHz) and enables you to record from a DV camcoder and monitor the following: Monitor with safe area, zebra patterns, 16x9 mask, undescan, and calibrated brightness, chroma, phase, and contrast. The software also provides the ability to frame grab, view time code and view waveform monitor and vector scope. It also contains a video analyzer (5 color spaces). The recorder saves in avi1, avi2, QT, Canopus, and Matrox DV formats. it supports PAL and NTSC video standards, but does not support HDV strams at this time. 2 week trial is available by download. Price is $500 US http://www.seriousmagic.com/dvrack.cfm Very interesting. __________________ Paul

December 11th, 2004, 07:31 PM	#71
Barry Green Barry Wan Kenobi Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: North Carolina Posts: 3,863	Even more interesting is that they've announced a "lite" version of DV Rack, which primarily gives the field monitor and disk recorder, for just $99. A lot of features are stripped down, but for $99, it's very interesting indeed.

December 11th, 2004, 08:57 PM	#72
Travis Maynard Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Chapmanville, USA Posts: 138	Ahh, DV rack looks like such a great program. Now, all I need is a laptop....Ehh, and 500$. :\

December 14th, 2004, 07:59 AM	#73
Rob Lohman RED Code Chef Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Holland Posts: 12,514	The program has been discussed quite a lot here on DVInfo already, check out the following threads: http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthrea...threadid=35171 http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthrea...threadid=25742 __________________ Rob Lohman, visuar@iname.com DV Info Wrangler & RED Code Chef Join the DV Challenge \| Lady X Search DVinfo.net for quick answers \| Buy from the best: DVinfo.net sponsors

December 15th, 2004, 01:42 AM	#74
Lauri Kettunen Major Player Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Kangasala, Finland Posts: 445	Does DV Rack or any other software has a buffer? (That is, when you start to record, it will store also the previous 5-30 seconds)