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.

Delay?
 

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.

Some FEATURES to consider for DVrack
 

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

Problem with DV Rack
 

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.

DV Rack 2.0 hd Problems
 

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.