How would you get analog video into your computer? You'll need to add an analog video capture card for that specific purpose, and why wouldn't you just use the video capture software that assumingly comes with the card?

Chris

Thanks, that's a good point well made! What can I say, it's late!

Kind regards

Trevor

Will the software allow me to run it on two different computers (for example my laptop and my desktop) with just purchasing one copy, or will I need to purchase an additional license?

Yes, the activation process allows you to activate on your desktop and laptop simultaneously.

DV Rack does support the HD 100 now. Any HDV camera can work with DV Rack, provided you have the PowerPak installed.

Does anyone else notice a slight delay between the action in real life and when it appears on screen in DV Rack? I was shooting some test footage and I noticed a delay about a half second long. I figured it's just the time it takes to pass the information via firewire, but no harm in asking.

Yep there is and the hardest thing is to explain to a client looking over your shoulder that it is not going to look like that. The first time I used this in an interview setting, I had to import the clip into an editor after the first take just to make sure.

That being said, this is such a great tool in the field. The HDV workflow is really working itself out with all of these great tools. It's amazing that I walked out of the shoot with the files ready to edit.

I have also used DV rack to log shots from tape. I can pretty much digitize and rename clips in real time. Great tool!

Standard DV can have anywhere from a 1 frame to a 15 frame delay via FireWire. It's just the nature of the connection - it buffers a certain amount of data.

HDV will have a minimum delay equal to double the length of the GOP, since the Group of Pictures needs to be encoded by the camera, and then decoded by the software. So, 720p cameras have a minimum 12 frame delay, and 1080i cameras have a minimum 30 frame delay because of the long GOP.

The delay of DVCProHD and DVCPro50 should be similar to standard DV. I'll get confirmation of this soon and post a more technical answer.

HI Karl and everyone else who might be interested:

I wonder if SM would consider taking the meta data from the firewire data stream and displaying it during monitoring and capture. It would be IMO very very usefull to be able to see the camera settings. All this info is in the data stream but for some reaon most developers seem to ignore it.

In addition it would be very helpful to possible capture it and create an additional file that would contain the information, it could be a simple file that has the initial settings, and then creats a new record with the associated time code for reference when the values change.

I think you have a wonderful took, just hoped you might consider how bringin in and using some of the data the camcorder has stored might make it even better.

There is another point that might be worth considering.
Firewire has of course in camcorder mode the ability to re send a block of date based on an error. As I understand it, errors are corrected on playback v ia an error correction/reconstruction system. AFAIK no one is displaying this information for the user, so for instance if you are playing back a tape that has a large number of errors that are being corrected, there is no metric that shows just how much error correcting is going on, or if you are transfereing and there is a high error rate on the transfer you also do not have any indiction. Some of the camcoders will display head clogged, of the recovery gets completely out of line, but a feature similar to what ws implimented in digital audio recorders (a confidence indicator) that showed you just how much error correction was going on even in simpy corrected blocks would IMHO be very usefull.

Has anyone else seen a requirement for these types of added informational displays?

THANKS
Sharyn

Hi, I have a big problem with DV Rack and I was hoping someone on here had a solution. When I try to record either through DV Rack or my camera (DVX 100a), the monitor indicates that there is no video signal. However, if I close out DV Rack, while my camera is connected to my comp, then open it up back again, then I can see the video on my monitor and it seems to be automatically recording video. If I press record again, it stops recording. If I press record one time, then it says there is no video input. So, in other words, the only way I can get any video to appear on my monitor is to open up DV Rack while my camera is connected and not to touch the record button again, or recording will stop, never to be started again unless I close and open the DV Rack software again.

Any suggestions??

Michael,

This is very aberrant behavior. DV Rack should only start recording when you press the Record button in the DVR, or press F2 on your keyboard.

Just guessing with the information in your post, I would first look at CPU usage, and then look at the FireWire cable being used. However, I would recommend a quick call to Serious Magic technical support. They are very good at what they do, and can usually figure out the problem in a single call. 916-985-8050, ext 2.

I'm a new DV Rack/HDV PowerPak user - just bought it to work in tandem with my HD100, and I must say, it works like a charm.

There are a few features I wish it supported, though...

1) The codec isn't directly supported on Macintosh. I have to transcode to HDV QT in order to get the footage into FCP. It would be nice to lay off directly to the HDV codec.

2) Timecode - I know it's sort of redundant for directly digitized files, but it would be nice to have clips match the tape for ease of logging and sharing tapes with producers.

3) The interface is a little slow to pan around on - and I wish the objects were resizable. As it is now, I have to zip around a good bit to get to all the objects I use.

Still, overall I'm very pleased - I'm surprised at how easy it is to learn how to use, and how well it works in both HDV and DV modes on the HD-100.

I've just got DV Rack 2.0hd installed on my Dell Dual Core lappy (2g ram). The problems I'm having...

1/ I get live monitoring for exactly 35 seconds before it freezes. I switched Windows settings to "Adjust for Best Performance" as per the Serious Magic FAQ. No change.

2/ Using the conversion tool on my desktop I ended up with a file that played back at twice the speed (in media player and vegas). The file brought in from P2 card to internal hdd. On the laptop I get a file with no video (in wmp and vegas)

3/ The aspect ratio of the converted file on my desktop plays in its native aspect ratio in wmp rather than 1280x720. This may be unaviodable but it's a bit of nuisance. I like cineforms conversion tool (correct aspect, smaller file size, less demanding on the processor), but I don't want to shell out another $200 for no good reason.

I've read somewhere that 2g ram may be a problem, but I can't find the thread.

I've emailed Serious Magic but I'm needing a quicker response.

Any help (especially on the first 2 problems) would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

Steve

Hi Steve,

1. The live monitoring freezing after 35 seconds is the "over 1GB" RAM issue. We should have this fixed by the end of next week.

2. What recording profile did you use to record this clip? Currently, there is a known issue with 24PN and 30PN clips that we are aware of. It should've only affected the audio, however. Did the video also play back at an incorrect speed?

3. The Pixel Aspect ratio is in the AVI files. Other programs, such as Premiere Pro, will display the files in the correct aspect ratio, but for some reason, WMP is not reading the value.

1.Is this the same issue I see with my HD100 when previewing, that the monitor output lags after a while and keeps stuttering until I stop the input and let the internal buffer to play until the last frame? I have 1Gbyte RAM on my Laptop. It happens after a few minutes in 720p monitor mode.

2.Secondly is it normal that my sound devices pop-up in the devices list? When I click on it DVrack 2.0 HD locks my system until I reboot.

3.I have crashes of the DVrack 2.0 HD software when I change tapes or if I turn off my HD100 in HDV mode.

Any news on this? Does somebody else experiences the same stuff?

We're using dvrack, and it's incredibly useful for framing shots, etc.

We're always contending with monitoring how much background noise we're picking up, cars passing by outside, etc.

I know it has an audio monitoring component... is the best use for that bit basically to visually tell you how much other noise you're actually picking up? If the actors aren't talking at that second, you see a bump in the volume meter, you know you picked up some other noise?

IMHO there is no substitute for monitoring your audio with headphones while shooting. Conventionally, this would be by the camera op with headphones plugged into the camcorder, or by an audio engineer who is listening to their mixer with headphones.

What DVRack does enable is:
Another place to monitor with headphones. There are options to turn the laptop audio on or off during recording, turn it on and plug the headphones in there.

Instant playback to headphones or speakers to see if your takes were good.

The audio monitoring module is more oriented to catching pops and other overdriven audio.

The visual display of the spectrum analyzer might help identify background noise that is too loud...

But, if the sound matters, there is no substitute for monitoring with headphones. Good headphones on good ears will tell the story of what's going into the recording.

I hope I'm not coming across as a whiner but it has been a whole month since anyone from Serious Magic posted on this forum, coinciding with the Adobe acquisition announcement.

OK, so there haven't been that many new questions raised, but there are outstanding questions that haven't had any kind of response.

I have just pitched for and won a job which would have been a perfect opportunity to try out Ultra 2. While it may mean extra work, I'm going to do the chromakeying in After Effects, for two reasons:

1. because, busy with acquisitions or new releases or not, Serious Magic have a user forum here at DVi and I think they have a responsibility to be active in it and to at least acknowledge requests for help in a timely way. It seems a fair exchange for them using the forum to tell us about new product developments etc.

2. (and this is the main reason, to be honest) because the price of Ultra 2 in the UK is almost £100 ($180) greater than in the US. That, in my opinion, is a ridiculous hike and I cannot believe it is based on any shipping or tax costs. I understand that Ultra 2 does not ship with any Master Sets Libraries (in my opinion making it less attractive) so presumably a download version would be around the same size as the demo - 250Mb (smaller even, as the demo includes samples of MSL's and video clips that could be ditched). So why is there no download version?

I dunno, maybe I'm I'm being petty, but at the moment I feel let down by Serious Magic. Maybe they're bound by Adobe's rules now and aren't allowed to demonstrate a personal approach to customer care. And that, coupled with the disgraceful gouging of their international customers does mean, I'm sad to say, that they are unlikely to do any more business with me.

Ah, but that's probably the root of the issue - it's not their problem any more!

Either way, the cheery face in the Serious Magic website videos is now hacking me off. Actually, it hacked me off from day one but I'm only now prepared to admit it ;=)

Maybe they're bound by Adobe's rules now and aren't allowed to demonstrate a personal approach to customer care.


That could very well be true, Ian. Some companies do not allow their employees to post on forums as representatives of the company.

Also you should bear in mind that no company has a 'responsibility' to post on the forum. It's always an act of generosity on the part of companies who choose to participate and interact directly with their end-users.

-gb-

Greg, absolutely agreed there's no formal responsibility.

Without wishing to sound like a pompous ass, I'm talking more of a moral responsibility. If they benefit from using the forum as a free marketing tool to tell us about their products, I feel they have a duty to give something back to the community and we are perfectly justified in feeling disgruntled when they don't.

It's not as though Serious Magic is a DVi sponsor! At least not according to the sponsor list.

Don't get me wrong, I'm 100% grateful for free advice on these and other forums. And of course I realise that I shouldn't expect free advice to go on forever. But I get an empty feeling when you see personal service levels drop as soon as the acquisition flag is raised. Kinda smacks of "made my buck, i'm outta here".

Sorry, but whether or not Adobe has banned SM staff from posting on these forums, I still feel let down.

Ian . . .

when using dv rack 2.0 the image in the monitor on my laptop is stretched
horizontally. camera is an hvr-z1u and the monitor has the same stretched image whether dv cam or hdv. anybody know how to correct this?

Been awhile since I've asked a dumb question. At least a few minutes.

I have a JVC HD100UA, and I generally record in 720 24p.

Is there any difference in the quality of image between recording to a hard drive while using dvrack on a laptop, and recording to dr-hd100?

I know the dr-hd100 is a lot more portable, but either way you get a bunch of .m2t files, yes? There would be no difference between the m2t files recorded either way.... yessss?

no difference, afaik. the dr-hd100 records to FAT hard drive format while DVRACK will record to whatever format you have your hard drive formatted to, usually NTSC. This has absolutely no effect on video quality.

If using the HD version, there are two monitors available, one is 4:3, the other 16:9.

However, both can be adjusted for aspect ratio in the menu settings.

I work with both. And they give both the same quality since it captures the m2t file from the Firewire port.

Hello. We are setting up shot and doing trials with Ultra2 software. I know we would like just to key the screen alone and then keep rolling into your footage.

If I want to stop/start recording for a different scene, do I need to rekey the screen?

All other variables, lighting, camera settings and where talent will be standing will all be the same.

Any advice, tips would be great.

If I want to stop/start recording for a different scene, do I need to rekey the screen?

All other variables, lighting, camera settings and where talent will be standing will all be the same.

Any advice, tips would be great.

Keying with Ultra is done in post, so what do you mean?

Keying with Ultra is done in post, so what do you mean?

Thanks for your quick reply

I answered my own question when looking around more.

I can shot one clip and then utlize the In/Out points of the software.
What I typically do is shot a scene, then in Post Premiere, i would do an auto scene detect to seperate the clips so I can log them. I rather work with small clips of each scene vs. 1 master clip which i must scrub though.

Some friends and I are removing the engine from a car tomorrow (yes, I'm a huge car geek) and I thought it would be interesting to record a timelapse video of the removal process, but I've never done this before, and I'm rather confused.

Assuming we will be working for about 4-5 hours (beer breaks included), what frequency should I set up DV rack at?

There are two settings in the menu...TmLps Frequency, and TmLps Net Frames.

I will be shooting with a JVC HD110 in SD 24p mode.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!

First, decide how long you want the timelapsed version of the event to last. e.g., for a 5 hour task, if you want to see the whole thing unfold in 1 minute, you'd want to record at 1/(5 * 60) normal speed = 1/300 of normal speed. Since normal speed is 24fps in your case, you'd want to record one frame every (300 / 24) = 12.5 seconds.....

Thanks for your quick reply

I answered my own question when looking around more.

I can shot one clip and then utlize the In/Out points of the software.
What I typically do is shot a scene, then in Post Premiere, i would do an auto scene detect to seperate the clips so I can log them. I rather work with small clips of each scene vs. 1 master clip which i must scrub though.

You definitely need to rekey each scene. There are usually enough subtle differences between lighting or whatever and ultra requires you to grab certain parts of the green screen so they can be sampled for the best key possible. So each shot needs to be processed separately.

I recorded a series of interviews on DVRack HD using the HVX200 set at 720p/30p. I set the DVRack to record QT files.

The clips played back fine on my PC. I hooked the drive up to my Mac and tried to import the files into FCP 5. I immediately got an error message that said the media files are not optimized for FCP. The message recommended recapturing the media or using media manager to create new files to improve their performance.

I placed a clip on the timeline anyway and rendered it. Initially the audio played with the clip and then completely dropped out after 10 seconds or so. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Paul

Hi, would I encounter any problems recording to one of those USB cable powered mini hard drives? You can get them up to 160gb these days at reasonable cost, but the only thing is they are only 5400 rpm.

I'm thinking of getting these for portable field recording using HDV Rack 2.0 without having to resort to a larger, AC powered hard drive.

Also, does anyone know how much these reduce notebook battery life approximately?

Thanks for any info.

Well, have found 7200rpm versions of these now. But I guess the issues would be heat dissipation, reliability, susceptibility to jarring transport/handling, etc.

Still, would rather go 5400 rpm for greater storage capacity currently. I don't think there would be any problem capturing hd with these, but still would like confirmation though anyway.

Hi folks I have used dell inspiron 1300 and dv rack with 80 gig hard drive to decord SD using a XL 1s. I used mains power....but I had tested it previously and found it to work for about 2 hours before depletion (how old is your battrey). I also have a spare laptop battery just in case mains electricity is not available. Peace Les.

Of course, the HD100 is a small portable hard drive - and DV rack is a laptop based program.

I have DV rack 2.0 on a Dell Inspiron 8160 running perfectly fine - I don't use it to record, but I do use it to monitor the HD during studio/interview shoots.

My only want would be a 1394 splitter - so that I could run the FS4ProHD (which is what I have) AND monitor HD through DV rack simultaneously. Now that would be nice - sadly all I can do is monitor the HD down composite on an SD monitor (hd monitor too expensive at this time). I know, I could have forgone the laptop and invested in a monitor - but I really need the laptop to be Avid friendly as it was needed for field review of material on location in India.

Hi, sorry, but is there anyone who has experience using these portable bus powered hard drives at 5400 rpm for recording high-def material using DV Rack?

Thanks again.

I was thinking of getting DV rack for my new laptop, but When I installed the trial I can't get an image from the A1. I'm not even sure windows recognizes the A1. The only thing that appears in the hardware profile is AV/C Tape Device.

What am I doing wrong? Any help would be appreciated.

I was thinking of getting DV rack for my new laptop, but When I installed the trial I can't get an image from the A1. I'm not even sure windows recognizes the A1. The only thing that appears in the hardware profile is AV/C Tape Device.

What am I doing wrong? Any help would be appreciated.

are demoing the HDV version ??

(if you're running the SD version, DV Rack will only work if the XHA1 is running in SD mode)

There are two different trial versions? I tried putting it into SD mode and still couldn't bring up an image. The funny thing is I can capture HDV in vegas. So the camera is talking to the computer.

I went to the page and signed up for DV Rack HD 2 trial and I get sent a link for DV Rack SD 2.0 (DVRack20SD_1571.exe). I've done it twice now. There are no other options to download different trial versions. The e-mail even states it's a link to DV Rack HD 2. What is going on here? This is massively frustrating, since I'm considering paying $500 dollars for this bit of software.

Does a trial version of DV Rack HD exist? If it does I can't find it.

Ugh... nevermind. Just hooked up a DV camcorder to the laptop and theres a 1/2 second delay. I can only imagine what kind of delay is in store with HDV.

What are your laptop specs?

Anybody have a lead on whether Adobe will offer a "downgraded" version of Ultra 2 with the new PP3? I'm sure they wouldn't offer the "full version"....

Rumors anyone? (I confess, I'm hoping to save some $$ with the next upgrade...)

I've twice tried to download the trial of DV Rack HD2. I'm told on the download page that a link will be sent to my email address.

Both times I provided a different email address. I'm not getting any email with a link.

First tried 2 days ago

Any ideas?

Andrew

Eugene,

I am using a 2.5" (laptop) 5400 RPM drive as your describe with DV Rack (non-HD version). Here's a link to the drive and the enclosure used:

Drive: (SAMSUNG Spinpoint M Series HM100JC 100GB 5400 RPM 8MB Cache ATA-6)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822152024

Enclosure: (Bytecc Aluminium 2.5" HDD HD-HD1-U2FW)
http://www.directron.com/hd201u2f.html

--Rob

I finally got a laptop and would like to get DV Rack. I'm not shooting HD and most likely won't be for another year or so. DV Rack Express would be just fine for me. Any idea where I could still find any?

Thanks in Advance.

check with videoguys.com, a forum sponsor.

Thanks I have sent them an email. I have also seen it at some other online shops, but they are from companies that I have never heard of so before I check resellers.com I wanted to see what anybody else had to say.

Thanks