We used the DVrack HD Powerpack demo and it worked excellent

How is the demo limited? (e.g. time limited, feature limited, or both)? I downloaded the Powerpack demo, but I'm not sure I want to install it since the licensed version of DV Rack is already installed. Perhaps I should just use DV Rack until the licensed copy of Powerpack arrives.

I also have and plan to use Serious Magic Ultra 2. Has anyone here used the H1 with Ultra?

Best,
Christopher

It is time limited to 30 days I think, but full functional.

Intel Graphics are kind of hit or miss. There are some Intel chipsets that don't even support 32-bit color. Others have pretty good 3D support. Most Intel graphics chipsets that have the word "Extreme" in the title have enough 3d support to run DV Rack just fine.

Playing video (even high def) doesn't require very much from the video adapter.

It's gaming, and other tasks that do 3D rendering on-the-fly and such, that really taxes a video card.

A quick follow up.

Decompressing HDV isn't all that hard on a processor either. HDV is MPEG-2, which even at high def, a modern processor can handle fairly easily (MPEG-4, by comparison, takes quite a bit more processing power to decompress).

The demo version of DV Rack can be installed and run on the same system as the full version o fthe program - Windows treats them as two separate programs. I have both installed on my system here.

The demo is fully functional, and includes the HDV PowerPak functionality, but is limited to 30 days from the date installed.


(Note - if you travel across time zones, and reset your clock frequently to match local time, there's a chance that the demo may end prematurely. For this reason, we highly recommend leaving the system clock alone while running the demo, and disabling any auto-clock-set features you may have running. We do not have a way of restarting the trial period if it prematurely expires.)

We haven't qualified the H1 from Canon yet, but it conforms to the HDV spec nicely, so there shouldn't be any problem.

Use the split screen feature to compare easily the different cameras.
The grey chart is a start for the comparison.
A DSC chart is 'the' tool to calibrate properly.

Also, any ideas on how to set exposures to deal with dark-skinned subjects against a wall-of-windows background?

For any complexion you either need lots of interior light, perhaps daylight balanced with CTO gels (and it takes a LOT of light) or to gel down the windows, perhaps bringing them to 3200 kelvin as well to match incandescent light.

Dark-skinned subjects present particular problems - take a good look at what's been done, you'll find there is a lot of use of siders to create new highlights, then expose for the highlights and let lower skin-tones stay lower. Strong backlights too.

The only alternatives without lighting and/or gelling is to move the subjects away from the windows, or shoot them against the windows and let the windows blow out to super-white... or expose for the exterior and have your subjects as shadows with no detail... or close the shades/drapes?

More info would be found over in the photon management forum.

Really and Truly! When talking about field monitors VS. DV Rack, How do they compare. I've heard "If it is too good to be true, then it probably is". I was just looking around at real monitor prices (I'm still pretty new to video production) on B&H and couldn't believe some of the prices (very expensive). So where does DV rack fit into this? Is it like a production monitor, only the really cheap kind or is this software for real. How does it work for a B&W project. Can some one give me opinions? (those who have used both) I'm thinking about buying a monitor for my GS400 for shooting shorts.....and if the DV Rack is really a solid substitute, then I have a laptop and the decision is made. Thankyou so much in advance!!

DVRack is a solid substitute.

First, the monitor module can be calibrated to color bars just like a field monitor, has underscan, and has its own gamma setup to be more like a crt.

Plus, it has some other features, such as two user-specified levels of zebra, split screen with live against recorded, freeze, and zoom.

Then there's the other stuff - waveform monitor! You'll not get that with your field recorder, very handy for lighting setups and etc. DVR, either for short reference pieces or record to disk and you won't have to transfer your tapes for editing (I'd still roll tape for backup in most cases). Vectorscope. Still image grabber, shot clock (a general-purpose timer), quality monitors for video and audio to identify problem areas, a camera setup routine...

But I use the field monitor and waveform monitor most often, and sometimes use the DVR. Having said all that, you need a place to put your laptop, a laptop is much more delicate and attracts more attention from potential thieves, and you'll need an external hard drive to record much with the DVR.

Really a good product for DV, we're advised that bugs in the HDV version are being addressed at last. Your mileage may vary. Sony 8" crt field monitors such as PVM-8044 remain the industry standard.

We used a professional field monitor and DV Rack side by side on a recent shoot, and there was no question that the field monitor was better in certain ways. The picture was more accurate, and possibly sharper. You can't pull focus with DV Rack because there's a slight lag. I'm not knocking it, because the extra features are great, and it's certainly more convenient, but don't kid yourself. Just to make sure it's clear, I think DV Rack is a great product and they have excellent customer support.

I use my Pentium M 1.6GHz laptop with 1GB memory to capture via DV Rack to an external firewire drive without any problems. No special video card. Firewire is your best option because it doesn’t require the CPU. USB uses some CPU and while USB2 will have enough bandwidth, I don’t believe USB1 will work. (my laptop only has USB1 which is why I use firewire)

~jr

You need both. Both of them are very necessary tools.

The NTSC production monitor is the only true image. But DV Rack gives you the VectorScope and the Waveform Monitor, which in some ways are "better than your eyes". This is because your eyes are "forgiving" when looking at an image, but the scopes are pure data.

So, time to further torture your credit card. :)

I appreciate the insight. When talking about the waveform and vectorscope on DV Rack... This stuff works like any other waveform and vectorscope that you could purchase right? I mean putting a "separate" vectorscope unit next to your laptop that has DV Rack should yield the exact same information. Am I correct on this? The production monitor on DV Rack may lag on some things a little, but the scopes are "hard & true" info and should not differ from any other scope(???).

...but the scopes are "hard & true" info and should not differ from any other scope(???).

That's correct. As an example: on the Waveform Monitor during a close-up, there are two tiny spikes above the midtone "mass" of the actress. Those two spikes are the whites of her eyes!

When she blinks, the two spikes disappear. When she drops her head, the spikes disappear. That's how fine the info is.

Considering a new laptop based around the AMD Turion. It runs on a SiS chipset with SiS GFX solution. Anyone have any experience as far as how the GFX solution holds out for HDVrack?
Tested our older laptop which had built in Intel GFX, which is a few years old now, and it worked just fine. I assume the newer SiS GFX solution would be better still but I thought I would ask.

Has anyone found a simple (inexpensive) firewire switch that would enable you to connect 2 or 3 cameras to one laptop for using DV rack as a monitoring tool?

I'm not talking about a production switcher, just simply something to enable you to jump back and forth between camera inputs for color balancing, framing etc without having to pull wires like a one-handed puppeteer!

Obviously you would not be able to use the record/capture function of DV rack, but the monitoring and calibration functions of this tool are worth the effort alone.

ummm yeah... where was that?

Check out the Ocean Matrix OMX-8FWS. It's an 8 input punch and crunch (mechanical) switch.

http://www.markertek.com/SearchProduct.asp?item=OMX%2D8FWS&off=44&sort=prod

I've not used it and don't know what happens when you do a mech. switch on a PC FW input.

There's also a Laird vertical interval switcher at about $900...

I've not used it and don't know what happens when you do a mech. switch on a PC FW input.

Good point. You'd probably have to close DV Rack before selecting a new camera and then reopen it.

Actually, if you have two firewire ports in your computer (or 2 firewire cards), DV Rack will do this automatically. Hook 'em both up, right-click and switch.

Works very well.

Actually, if you have two firewire ports in your computer (or 2 firewire cards), DV Rack will do this automatically. Hook 'em both up, right-click and switch.

Works very well.

A/B? Of course. Didn't think about that... :)

You shouldn't have any problems. The requirements listed for the software don't mention anything extraordinary regarding video adapter, and it's not the type of application that would normally demand any heavy processing from the GPU.

Generally speaking, the SiS chipsets work fine. If you do run into problems, get the latest driver from www.sis.com and you should be fine.

I’m trying to achieve a greater depth of field by making the background slightly defocused in Ultra 2. This works for backgrounds that you supply yourself (just click the background or foreground layer and apply DeFocus) but no amount of clicking on the virtual set background will allow the defocus to work. Is there any way to defocus the virtual sets?

~jr

Go to View - Displayed Inputs - Pre-defined (or just hit Alt-P.)

Select the Vset layer you wish to defocus. Go to the Input tab, and move the Defocus slider.

Thanks, that works great, but only seems to work if the background is static. I’m using the Digital Studio backgrounds and the defocus control is grayed out. :( But it did work on the Library and I’m using that too. Still, the defocus is a great feature. Thanks,

~jr

It does depend on the set. In MSL1, since many of the sets were developed concurrently with ULTRA, some of the advanced functions like defocus were locked out. On newer tracking shots in MSL 2, 3, and 4, you can defocus during the tracking shots as well.

As of mid-March, the official forum has been updated and moved here: http://www.seriousmagic.com/msgboard/

What are the differences, if any, between these two?

Ultra Key was the original ULTRA 1.0. It's the very first release of the program, which changed its name to ULTRA very shortly thereafter. Version 2 of the program was released about this time last year, and it includes a ton of new features and improvements. Some of the highlights are faster rendering, HD support up to 1920x1080/60p, user-controllable virtual shadows/reflections, paint mask, multi-point pan/zoom, and more. Here's a link for a full rundown: http://www.seriousmagic.com/products/ultra/whats_new_in_2/

I use the DataVideo SE-500 4 input S-Video switcher. It works well and features 4 frame synchronizers for glitch free switching and color correction on each input. It is available for under $1000 and does a nice job. I output that to a Canopus analog to digital converter for firewire input to DVRack.

Karl,

I'd like to buy Ultra 2 if the following workflow, well... works.

1) Record in front of greenscreen (ReflecMedia) with HVX200 using P2 cards.

2) Import footage into Mac FCP 5.0.4 (not Universal) on a G5 (using the normal HVX direct to HDD, then to G5 workflow), import into FCP, edit then export as a Quicktime H.264 movie and save it to an external HDD.

3) Remove the HDD from the Mac and attach to a Sony PC Vaio.

4) Open up Ultra 2 and work with it to do whatever you would normally do with the footage in Ultra 2 to produce the final effect with the greenscreen footage merged with the Ultra 2 backgrounds.

Would this work?

Then, if so - What are the movie exporting options? Could I export it back into a Quicktime H.264 format so I could then move the footage made on my PC back to my Mac, work with compressing the footage one last time in Sorenson Squeeze 4.3 on into a .flv format for Flash?

Or is there a better way, so the footage would not have to be compressed 3 times (twice in QT, once as an .flv)?

My ReflecMedia stuff arives on Monday and I'm trying to prepare the best I can. Thank you for being an active member of this forum.

Hi all!

Downloaded the 30-day trial today to just check it out during a commercial shot in a couple of days (using a XL-H1). We'll record to tape anyway but I thought that I'd check it out, and if it's as good as people say, we'll get it.

Everything seems to work ok apart from a very annoying overlay brightness "pumping" issue. If I record a file and play it back in Windows Media Player, the pumping is NOT there. If I play it back in DV Rack it's still visible. And, and that's slightly scary, the "pumping" is clearly visible on the scopes.

Also, if I scroll the interface up/down, the overlay turns black ever so often.

My laptop is a Intel P4 3Ghz HT with a Gb of ram and a 7200 rpm drive using a fairly old Radeon 9600 Mobile using the latest driver possible, which is kind of old. At least a year and a half. CPU usage never goes over 56% during capture. DXDiag for the Grapichs below.

Any suggestion?

Best regards,

Max Hagelstam

Display Devices
---------------
Card name: MOBILITY M10
Manufacturer: ATI Technologies Inc.
Chip type: MOBILITY RADEON 9600 Series AGP (0x4E50)
DAC type: Internal DAC(350MHz)
Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_4E50&SUBSYS_05001558&REV_00
Display Memory: 128.0 MB
Current Mode: 1280 x 1024 (32 bit) (60Hz)
Monitor: Standardbildskärm
Monitor Max Res:
Driver Name: ati2dvag.dll
Driver Version: 6.14.0010.6378 (English)
DDI Version: 9 (or higher)
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
Driver Date/Size: 8/12/2003 13:00:00, 369152 bytes
WHQL Logo'd: Yes
WHQL Date Stamp: n/a
VDD: Saknas
Mini VDD: ati2mtag.sys
Mini VDD Date: 8/12/2003 13:00:00, 594432 bytes
Device Identifier: {D7B71EE2-0D10-11CF-026E-0A25A1C2CB35}
Vendor ID: 0x1002
Device ID: 0x4E50
SubSys ID: 0x05001558
Revision ID: 0x0000
Revision ID: 0x0000
Video Accel: ModeMPEG2_C ModeMPEG2_D
Deinterlace Caps: {6E8329FF-B642-418B-BCF0-BCB6591E255F}: Format(In/Out)=(YUY2,YUY2) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,1) Caps=DeinterlaceTech_PixelAdaptive
{335AA36E-7884-43A4-9C91-7F87FAF3E37E}: Format(In/Out)=(YUY2,YUY2) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=DeinterlaceTech_BOBVerticalStretch
{6E8329FF-B642-418B-BCF0-BCB6591E255F}: Format(In/Out)=(UYVY,UYVY) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,1) Caps=DeinterlaceTech_PixelAdaptive
{335AA36E-7884-43A4-9C91-7F87FAF3E37E}: Format(In/Out)=(UYVY,UYVY) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=DeinterlaceTech_BOBVerticalStretch
{6E8329FF-B642-418B-BCF0-BCB6591E255F}: Format(In/Out)=(YV12,0x32315659) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,1) Caps=DeinterlaceTech_PixelAdaptive
{335AA36E-7884-43A4-9C91-7F87FAF3E37E}: Format(In/Out)=(YV12,0x32315659) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=DeinterlaceTech_BOBVerticalStretch
{6E8329FF-B642-418B-BCF0-BCB6591E255F}: Format(In/Out)=(NV12,0x3231564e) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,1) Caps=DeinterlaceTech_PixelAdaptive
{335AA36E-7884-43A4-9C91-7F87FAF3E37E}: Format(In/Out)=(NV12,0x3231564e) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=DeinterlaceTech_BOBVerticalStretch
Registry: OK
DDraw Status: Enabled
D3D Status: Enabled
AGP Status: Enabled
DDraw Test Result: Not run
D3D7 Test Result: Not run
D3D8 Test Result: Not run
D3D9 Test Result: Not run

Are you absolutely the problem isn't in the recorded clip? If I'm understanding the problem, you are seeing the luma values on the waveform fluctuate slightly, creating an "oscillating" effect. I have seen this just recently, and it was caused by an oddball set of flourescent lights, and an incorrect shutter speed setting in the camera. (60Hz lighting and 1/50th sec shutter speed is a BAD IDEA.) Setting the shutter speed in the camera to match the lights corrected the problem.

If that could not be the problem, then I would get an updated video card for this system - 2003 drivers could cause a number of problems, including a flickering black screen. Updated drivers will be available from your laptop manufacturer, or from www.omegadrivers.net if your laptop manufacturer hasn't kept up to date.

Hi, I've been using DVrack for a little while, but not all the time. I have a couple of questions that I can't seem to figure out.

1. What is the best res. for the laptop screen? I have recently ran it with HDV coming from my Z1u at 1280 and it looked really good. There was a little delay in the video, but it looked better on the screen than at 1024. 1024 looked grainy on the screen.
(BTW I understand that it is just the monitor and doesn't effect the video being captured)

2. When recording from my Z1u, I had primary audio coming from a mixer into channel 1 and then had a shotgun for ambiant into channel 2. On the DV Rack screen, the main audio was showing up on the Right channel (which is usually Ch.2) and the shotgun was on the left channel (which is usually channel 1). I'm wondering why?

Thanks,

David

David,

I'm not sure whats going on with your audio channels, but I can address the laptop screen question.

All LCD panels whether on a laptop, desktop, or LCD television have native resolutions. This means that at that resolution the images, video, text, etc will be at its finest. This is because the laptops have a defined number of pixels that turn on and off to display the image. They are stationary and part of the panel.

Its likely your laptop's native resolution is 1280 x 1024 if you're saying the image looks good at 1280.

Once you start resizing the resolution on your laptop to anything less, i.e. 1024x768, 800x600, etc. you are basically telling it 'fake' those other resolutions by playing games with the pixels thus getting a blockier / grainier image.

I would recommend leaving it at 1280 for maximum image quality - but as you correctly state - it doesnt affect the video being captured so it doesnt really matter.

Thanks. I keep forgetting about the native resolution of LCD screens. Now if I can figure out the audio thing.

Very Good question. I'm trying to figure out the same solution, although I don't use an HVX. It is a pain working between ultra2 and FCP.

I like Serious Magic and their products, but decided that the above work flow was too long for my own taste. I'm now editing greenscreened footage using a ReflecMedia screen with a blue light ring and Mattennee. I have been happy with that process.

sorry I didn't respond earlier - I was waiting for some important data regarding DVCProHD and how we want to support it for ULTRA on the PC. I still don't have an exact answer on that, but did want to comment on the above workflow.

Since right now the DVCProHD codec is not universally readable by all editors and compositors, it typically does need to be transcoded to another format before you can bring it into ULTRA. I wouldn't recommend H.264 as an intermediary codec. We mostly see Apple Animation codec being used, but this does result in very large files that are difficult to transfer back and forth.

Keep an eye on ULTRA for the future - we are looking at ways of improving the FCP workflow for the future.

Never used DV Rack but have been reading about it for a couple years now. Just bought a DVX100b and would like to use it with this software, but am concerned about having a laptop on set and the noise it might generate.
I've spent way too much time trying to clean up audio from crappy environments to ever want to introduce more noise to a set. But, I haven't really used a laptop in years and years. So, I was wondering if people here find laptops today sufficiently quiet for field use and if y'all find any restrictions with regards to audio.
Also, are there any other recommendations for getting a quiet laptop? Such as, is a 7200 drive generally more quiet than say a 5400 drive? Really, any advice is greatly appreciated and thanks ahead of time for any insight!

I know that I have to lock the camera down for shots that will be composited onto the virtual sets. I see that your examples show what appear to be camera pans and dollies. I assume this is done in software but I'm not sure how.

Do you have a tutorial that demonstrates this in sufficient detail so that I understand what the limitations of these methods are? This has been preventing me from making the decision to buy Ultra.

I would like to use this in our theatrical shoots. We often shoot with two cameras to get two over-the-sholder shots in one take. (We shoot a 30 page script in 6 to 8 hours twice a month.)

What would I need to do to build my own virtual sets? What if I use a 3d package such as Lightwave, build the virtual room with flat walls and then apply still photos to the walls? Do you supply details about how to build my own virtual sets?

Does Ultra require the camera to be locked off for all chroma key work or just for the virtual set work?

All your products look very intriguing. I'm sure that I will at least be buying DV Rack soon.

Rob:-]

We do have multiple tutorials on making sets available on our support site here: http://www.seriousmagic.com/help/tuts/tutorials.cfm?p=2 This should give you a good idea how most sets are created.

Right now, you can do a lot with your own sets. You can create sets with B-source monitors, foreground and background layers, and even add in certain camera motion using ULTRA's built-in Pan/Zoom tool.

Our VirtualTrak shots are a special feature of the Master Set Libraries, and cannot be replicated at this time. Right now to create these, we use a combination of 3D Studio Max and some custom tools that are in an early phase of development. We do want to release some kind of set creation toolkit, but that is at least 6-9 months away.

We do want to release some kind of set creation toolkit, but that is at least 6-9 months away.

Excellent! Looking forward to the release.

Best,
Christopher

I'm a little curious abou this as well. I don't have DV Rack yet, nor do I have a laptop yet, but that was my plan for field recording.

I'm working a shoot right now with DV Rack (with HDV Power Pak) and a Z1U, downconverting to DV. I'm using it with an external harddrive (Seagate). Both the laptop and the external harddrive are nice and quiet, and make just about as much noise as the camera. I'm not really that versed in laptops and drive speeds, so I don't have any real recommendations -- but most of the laptops I use at work (about a year old Dell's and HP's) are real quiet. On the set, we get more noise from the boom operator's fingers moving than the laptop.

If you don't have a production monitor, DV Rack is a godsend.

I just downloaded DV Rack which sounds like a brilliant solution to monitoring and quality control on location. However I can not see any video from my Z1P (or Z1U) at all on my Toshiba P30 laptop.
Anyone had experience with a similar issue

There are 3 versions of DVRack, I'm not sure what's available for preview.

For HDV you want the "HDV Powerpack" version of DVRack. Perhaps there is a preview version.

You could try just outputting DV from your Z1 and see if that works.

I've been pretty happy with the HDV version, except that it doesn't pick up camera time code in HDV (all clips begin at TC 0:00). There is some latency that makes it fine for checking shots & lighting, but not quite right as a a complete replacement for an on-set monitor, especially for action. It does do most of what I need a monitor for. I LOVE having the waveform monitor.

***edit***
BTW, check out this forum http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=107

I moved this to the DV/HDV Rack forum.

heath

Hi

Its great that DV Rack will be supporting the HVX200 however, it leaves us JVC HD100 folk a little envious!

Now we have component output at 8bit 422 from the camera. Could we have an update to DV Rack that would allow us to capture analogue? Or even SDI I suppose, but analogue would be preferred!

Thanks

Trevor