Hey guys,

I've been running into a problem with exporting to tape and am at a bit of a loss.

When I play back m2t files in Media Player Classic, every 4-10 seconds there's a visual freeze and audio glitch. As well, these glitches are thrown to tape. If I brought the files into a Premiere standard HDV project, I do not see the glitch again until I throw back to tape, and they reappear. I'm fairly convinced it's not a problem with the file itself, but a playback issue, as this seems to be effecting known good footage, as well. When I convert files to Cineform they play fine, which is what allowed me to edit this current episode. However, if I cannot throw back to tape.... I've got a big problem.

The problem started when I installed a 3ware RAID card and Cineform. I'm not sure which caused the problem, as they were installed at roughly the same time before I noticed the problem. The RAID card is not properly negotiating PCIe x4, it's negotiating at x1 instead. My first inclination was that it was not pulling enough data fast enough with this problem, but I popped a couple of old drives back into my computer as well, using the onboard nvRAID raid1 setup like I had before. This drive setup is not being used for anything else currently. The glitches appear, and appear to be in the same spots. As well, this is an identical setup hard drive-wise to what I was using on the first 6 episodes without this problem.

Could this possibly be a codec issue? If not, any suggestions as to what else it could be?

Thanks in advance for all of your help (this time and the many before!) everyone. :)

Carl

PS - Problem appears in the same spots in Accelerated Playback and Quality Playback Cineform modes, figured it was worth a shot.

Upload a short M2T that has the problem, so others (and maybe me) can see if it is a file issue or your PC is glitching.

According to my posting rules, I can't post attachments, and I don't currently have dreamweaver installed, so I can't upload using that.

I did go back and doublecheck, and it's all the m2t files on my computer, whether known good or not. I'm pretty sure it's an I/O or playback issue of some sort, not the files. I went back and watched files that I've used in previous episodes and haven't touched, to verify this.

Thanks for the amazingly quick response!

C

send a file to support (at) cineform (dot) com using www.yousendit.com

Sent, thank you. :)

C

After agonizing for hours, and pestering Cineform mercilessly today, I think I solved the problem. It seems my trusty old media player (Media Player Classic) that has served me well for many years and 9 months of m2t fun without a single problem, was the culprit. VLC Media Player plays my m2t's fine, with a few glitches but not the severe issue I had before. Hopefully, there will be no problems throwing to tape *crosses fingers*

My main point I wanted to get across is..... David, Jake and yourself are awesome, and I'm sorry to bother you with a problem that turned out to be my own stupidity, and once again not a Cineform issue. Thanks a million for all your help.

Carl

Thanks Carl. We're here to help. Good luck with the rest of the project....

The master copy is officially on tape, air copy is rendering out now. :)

I watched it throw to tape, and couldn't see any small glitches like VLC was giving me, let alone the big, mean looking, and very repetitive glitches MPC was giving me. I am so glad to no longer have to worry about using Premiere to throw to tape. (Would just quit and go back to Render and Record screen after a few hours, consistently.) Saved from the hell that Adobe has put me through! :)

After that, just 2 EDLs, 2 aiff's, an art department DVD copy, a DVD of graphics and music, a printed version of the EDLs, a few release forms, a few technical specification sheets (in a language I don't know, gotta love that most of the terms were taken from english!) and it's good to go! Gotta love networks. =D

Thanks again. :)