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

Sign up for the free demo download (available later this year)

A free, fully-functional two week trial version of DV Rack is now available for download:

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

--- Mark

Anybody give this software a shot yet? It seems amazing, but I haven't given it a shot yet.

What seems flabbergasting is that not only does it record your DV as you go, making your laptop a direct-to-disk recorder, and not only does it have all those video and audio monitoring tools right there, it also has something called an Automated Quality Manager, which, as you're recording, supposedly marks frames where it seems as though something wrong might have happened - whether it be an audio pop, a blowout, etc. And then you can backtrack after you cut and review what it found as a possible error, and you could re-shoot right then and there.

http://www.seriousmagic.com/dvraqm2.cfm?crntPage=4

At only $495 for all that, it seems too good to be true.

<<<-- Originally posted by Imran Zaidi : Anybody give this software a shot yet? It seems amazing, but I haven't given it a shot yet.

What seems flabbergasting is that not only does it record your DV as you go, making your laptop a direct-to-disk recorder, and not only does it have all those video and audio monitoring tools right there, it also has something called an Automated Quality Manager, which, as you're recording, supposedly marks frames where it seems as though something wrong might have happened - whether it be an audio pop, a blowout, etc. And then you can backtrack after you cut and review what it found as a possible error, and you could re-shoot right then and there.

http://www.seriousmagic.com/dvraqm2.cfm?crntPage=4

At only $495 for all that, it seems too good to be true. -->>>

I saw it at NAB and was very impressed.

I've been playing with the DEMO version of Serious magic's "DV Rack" and thought I'd write a simple review of it. In short, it does what they claim it will do.

Step one is to calibrate the monitor using the built-in NTSC color bars. Calibration involves turning the chroma off and setting the black bars with brightness and contrast controls, then turning the chroma on with only the blue gun to set color. You adjust the color bars with the chroma and phase controls. Once the monitor is set to go, so are you. So far, pretty standard monitor setup procedure.

Step two is to capture some footage, which by the way, is almost too easy. You can capture footage by hitting the RECORD button in the software. As long as your camera is powered up, there's a signal coming over the firewire bus. No need to hit "record" on the camera. The capture footage resides in a special folder that DVRack creates on your hard drive; that makes the footage available to DV Rack. I experienced no dropped frames in the over 60 minutes of footage I captured. While in this folder, you can recall the footage with DVRack to scrub thru it. You can also have DVRack identify video or audio signals that exceed some preset level you have defined. While the footage is in the special folder, it's not accessible for viewing or access by any other software. IN order to view your captured footage in any other software, like your NLE or WMP, you have to eject it from DVRack. You can do this by selecting the "eject" command. Unfortunately, once you've ejected the footage, DVRack can no longer view it, it's permanently ejected. I was hoping I could load some footage I'd already captured into DVRack for analysis, and, fortunately DV Rack WILL read a video stream coming from my DSR-20. This means anything on DV Tape is available to run thru DV Rack.

Realtime monitoring of my video has proven quite valuable. I can see the effect of adjustments made on my XL1s directly in DVRacks monitor and various scopes. By the way, the scopes, like any scope, needs to have the gain and biases calibrated before you can use them. There are no directions how to do this, so, you've gotta understand what your looking at to use it effectively. Also, the screen sizes of the various components of DVRack are not adjustable. I found the Vectorscope and Waveform monitor windows to be too small to see well enough. The scales aren't large enough to see clearly. The monitor allows you to select a couple of zebra pattern modes to monitor exposure. I'm used to the over exposure zebra, but, DVRack also gives you the option of setting up an under-exposure Zebra. This is sweet!

There seemed to be some small glitches when switching from the realtime monitor to scrubbing video that hasn't been ejected from the DVRack folder yet. The image in the monitor would hang showing only half a screen image. A few tries, going back and forth, finally got the software to fix the monitor image.

All in all, I found the DVRack software to be pretty useful. I'm not convinced, however, that the full purchase price is justifiable. It seems pretty steep, but, certainly cheaper than Vectorscopes, waveform monitors and other diagnostic hardware.

Now, if only I can load this software into my palm pilot and leave my 10 lb GRT-390 laptop at home.

EDIT: I originally posted that the DV Rack would not read from my DSR-20. It turns out I was having problems with a bad 1394 cable. After reading my report on this forum, Serious Magic contacted me and made their customer support immediately available to help me. I'm quite surprised at their eagerness to correct any problems with their software. Glad to say the problem was my own clumsiness. I can certainly appreciate any company this responsive to customer problems.


Bill Ravens__________________
Chalchihuitl Productions
Santa Fe, NM
www.geocities.com/ravens202

Bill,

Although DV Rack was initially intended mostly for field production, we've had a lot of beta testers wanting to use it for more things. We're planning to implement a clip import function in the near future.

It's odd that your DSR deck isn't working. I believe that DV Rack has been tested with a variety of DSR series VTRs and works fine. The software doesn't try to make any distinction between a deck or camera. If it's DV on a Firewire port, DV Rack tries to read it.

During the public beta we had a couple of people with some fairly unusual DV devices (like high-end transcoders etc.) that weren't recognized. The problem was that some devices wanted slightly different flavors of a "Start" command (as in "start giving us video on the port"). We made some changes in the 1.0 version to increase the range of devices we're able to read from. As far as I know, at this point everything works.

We'd certainly like to understand what's going on with your DSR 20. If you'd be willing to work with our QA folks via direct email and phone to sort it out, please email John Merlino at jmerlino@seriousmagic.com and include a copy of this post. John will ask you for some diagnostic information and may want to you to try some specific things.

Thanks,

--- Mark

Interesting to know, Mark. Thanx for your reply. I'll drop them a line.

I know that the DV Rack is made for more professional projects and has more pro features, but I've been recording direct to PC (tapeless) using the WinDV freeware, and firwire out for awhile, and because I can do this while my cam is in photo mode as well, I get a wider wide angle, and psuedo progressive footage. I use WinDV for most of my captures and D->A outputs. Anybody else using WinDV?

Bill,

Glad the issue turned out to be an easily resolved cable problem. I've been bitten by bad Firewire cables twice in the last year, some of these new cables flooding the market are sub-standard and don't hold up to flexing.

Regarding scope visibility, I mentioned it to the developers and was told that there is an interactive zoom/pan feature on the waveform and vectorcope in the release version (it will work like the one on the monitor). Also, the gain knob on the scopes will have a higher peak setting which will improve visibility.

The gold master has been released to manufacturing and I understand that the first orders will start to ship one week from today.

--- Mark

Jesse,

The photo mode trick is a good idea! DV Rack will work the same way.

While WinDV is a quite different thing as compared to DV Rack, in general Serious Magic encourages producers to start doing basic PC-assisted shooting any way they can. If WinDV helps more videographers get started shooting with PC-assist then that's ultimately a good thing for Serious Magic.

We are confident in the unique (and plentiful) features in DV Rack. If videographers get used to doing PC-assisted shooting, then when they have a project with the need and budget, they'll upgrade to DV Rack.

--- Mark

That's great news!!
You've already got my order on your books. I'm looking forward to the first licensed release.

Yeah, I like saving the heads on my cam, and cutting out the annoying capture step before editing. I would definitely upgrade to a program like DV Rack, when I start doing more professional work.

I also think more people need to try tapless recording. When they see how much easier it is, demand will grow and it will push tapeless recording technologies further ahead, whether it be D2D, Flash Memory, or Direct to PC.

There's a new DV Rack Overview video now available for immediate streaming. Here's the link:

http://xgen.vitalstream.com/mcasx.asx?media=1865684&package=6357

--- Mark

Great Product!

Is there a Mac version in the Horizon?

I will buy it right away..

please reply and let me know if a Mac version is in the works.

regards,
Charles

From the DV Rack FAQ:

Is there a Mac version of DV Rack?

Unfortunately not, DV Rack makes extensive use of Microsoft’s DirectShow technology which is only available on Windows itself at this time. Serious Magic does not currently expect to be able to port DV Rack to the Mac platform. Fortunately, laptop PCs are quite inexpensive and DV Rack is designed to work in a multi-platform environment. It supports writing files that are compatible with popular Mac software such as Final Cut Pro, Avid and Media 100.

--- Mark

I'll be looking for a laptop tomorrow.

Bummer '-(

Mark, thanks for the fast reply
You guys have some very interesting products

I wish i could find something like this for my Powerbook.

regards,
Charles

I'm pleased to announce that DV Rack began shipping out yesterday (and we're currently scurrying to fill the backlog).

--- Mark

The first free update to DV Rack is now available for download (DV Rack owners should select "Check For Updates"). Here's a partial recap of what's new.

--- Mark

· New Feature – Added an aspect ratio feature to the Field Monitor. There is a new menu entry that allows the user to select the aspect ratio of the input. Aspect ratio can vary from 1.0 to 2.4 (note: 4/3 is 1.333 and 16/9 is 1.778). The default aspect ratio is 1.333. This is to help users with 16/9 lenses or squeeze mode see the video at the right aspect ratio.

· New Feature – Added a menu item to the Field Monitor to switch between 0 and 7.5 IRE. The default is 7.5 IRE.

· New Feature – Added zoom/pan feature on the Waveform and Vectorscope screens. Use shift + mouse drag vertically to zoom, drag mouse to pan (like in the Field Monitor).

· Improvement -- Increased the power of the gain feature of the Vectorscope so display is more readable.

· Improvement – Brightened the Waveform Monitor in the parade/r-y/b-y/y modes. Also turned the default brightness from 100% to 75%.

· Improvement – Added an on-screen display to show what line is being used when the Line knob of the Vectorscope and Waveform Monitor are changed.

· Improvement – Now persisting the last device selected in the application settings. When the application starts it will reacquire the last device used if it’s still connected, else it will use the first device found.

· Improvement -- Changed the multiplier of fast scrubbing from 3 to 2 (fast scrubbing is when you scrub a clip with shift + arrows, multipliers are changed by selecting a number on the keyboard).

· Improvement – Added auto-repeat to the menu arrows when the mouse is clicked.

· Improvement – Added click-drag on the arrow of the menu.

· Improvement – Unified all the on-screen displays to use mixed case, except for PAGE N of N, NEXT PAGE and PREVIOUS PAGE in the menu.

· Improvement – Added the full pathname of the current project in the About box.

Wow, what an excellent (and prompt) list of updates!

DV Rack is really, really cool. If you haven't downloaded it yet, do yourself a favor and try it out. The only problem I've encountered so far is an overwhelming itch to shell out big bucks for a large-screen high-power laptop to run it on in the field!

I purchased DV Rack and am very happy with it. I use it in my home studio and the direct recording to disk option saves much time and allows me to weed out and delete bad takes immediately. The interface is great and the calibration tools have changed the way I work.
Also, one of the statements Bill made in his review in this thread wasn't quite correct.
While the footage is in the special folder, it's not accessible for viewing or access by any other software. IN order to view your captured footage in any other software, like your NLE or WMP, you have to eject it from DVRack. You can do this by selecting the "eject" command.

I leave all my recorded clips in DVRack folders and NEVER eject. The clips are immediately available in Vegas or any of my other tools. As long as you don't directly change the clips, they're available to use. I label all my clips with text descriptions in DVRack which helps me stay organized.

Will this software accept the JVC HD10U ( JVC HD10U is the HDV prosumer camera)?

I'll buy this software and a new PC laptop if it will work! Anyone tried it?

Murph

Hi there

DV rack is indeed a very interesting tool, and I am sure it will be very useful for me in the very near future

I have however 2 points I'd like to raise, to see if these will be incorporated into DV RACK 2/or updates

1 - It would be great to have a VERY BASIC timeline rack, that you could display under you DVR-1000 rack, with a similar size window. You could then set a simple in and out point on a clip in the DVR-1000 rack and drag and drop the clip into the Timeline rack. This would allow immediate in the field rough cut editing, without having to change software. I dont see this as being too complicated - what are your thoughts

2 - Also how about having an option to allow for a TV out display? For example I have a realtime edit card on my PC, with a WYSIWYG output, so if that could display what DV Rack is currently showing, then a few more people could see the image on another monitor. For example, you could have someone at the laptop using the DV Rack software, and the director/producer/costume/makeup depts could be seeing this also on the screen connected to the PC/Laptop (I'll get to this in a bit) This would be useful if linked with the idea above, as you could also see a rough cut on that screen too - it saves a big crew crowding round a laptop screen. I dont think you would have to worry about sorting out the colour setup of the other screen too much, as it would be just a general screen for watching playback
I am aware that you can't add a realtime edit card to a laptop so easily, so you wouldn't have a breakout box, however a lot of laptops have TV-Out connectors, so could the monitor image from DV-Rack be sent to this?

Let me know your thoughts guys, especially about the simple rough edit idea

Regards
Lawrence

Ok after reading this large report, I have a question. And please forgive me if this sounds really dumb. But as a precausion, could I record onto my tape inside my GL2 and to the software using the same camera? I'm very interested in this technology, but it's nice to have a back up.

Lawrence, I made a similar suggestion on the SM forum allowing you to do a "rough cut" on the clips in DV Rack. That would be a great feature and I sure hope they consider it.

Steven, you can record to tape and disk at the same time with no problem.

Here's a pretty good review on the product by Charlie White.
http://www.digitalproducer.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=27790

That's a heck of a review. Wiping the drool off my DVX as I speak.

I'm going to give the trial a shot with my laptop and external drive to see how it fares. Barring any 3rd hurricane making it's way here.

<<<-- Originally posted by Lawrence Stevens :
2 - Also how about having an option to allow for a TV out display? -->>>

Are you talking about seeing the monitor display, or the whole laptop screen?

If you want to see on a monitor what you can see on DVRack's monitor, that's easy: just hook up a composite or s-video output to the camera.

If you want to see everything that DVRack sees, then just hook the monitor up to your laptop's s-video port.

Yes I am talking about seeing what only the DV Racks monitor sees

However if you just linked to the camera s-video/composite output, then you would not see anythin on the monitor when you played back from the DV Rack software. Therefore it would be great to see exactly what the DV Rack software Monitor window sees, it would be in total sync with the software then. If that simple roughcut feature I talked about was added, then the monitor would see that too - this would not work if the monitor was hooked up directly to the camera

Make sense?

Lawrence

Thanks Jim

<<<-- Originally posted by Lawrence Stevens : this would not work if the monitor was hooked up directly to the camera-->>>

My demo period has expired, so I can't test it, but...

... doesn't playing back the file also play back through the firewire? If so, then yes, you could still monitor it through a monitor hooked to the camera. You'd have to switch the camera to VTR mode first, but other than that, it should still work...

If DV Rack doesn't output the playback through the firewire port, then no, it won't work. But if it doesn't, it should, so we'd have to report that to them as a feature request.

Christopher, I just heard back from the lead developer of DVR and he said it doesn't support HD at this time.

Yeah, I actually talked to the guy on the phone. Seems like a nice guy. However, just like you said no support for HDV...yet?

I'd like to put a shout out for any current and future HDV users to request support. This product would be HUGELY beneficial to us.

Interestingly, the DV Rack guy said they had an HDV camera!

Murph

Lawrence,

DV Rack already works as you ask. The S-Video (or composite) Out video port on laptops is not just a copy of the laptop's main screen. This output can display a different image and DV Rack displays the contents of its field monitor here, including clip playback, Zoom, Split, Safe Area, Zebras, etc.

--- Mark

That sounds great Mark
I look forward to trying that out on the demo

What are yor thoughts on adding the simple editing 'rack' to the software

Just make a simple in and out point in the 'rack' that records the clip, and drag it to a timeline rack.

If something like that is included at a later date, like a xx.1 version update, and I bought the software now, do you think I would have to pay more money to get that update?

Basically if this is going to ever be included, I will wait to buy DV Rack then, because this I really think would be a great addition

regards
Lawrence

Just downloaded the trial version. I am very impressed. If I can scrounge up the money I will definately buy it.

Just a question to Mark.
As you know the lcd display has a differen gamma setting and is of course progressive unlike field crt monitors. Does DVRack adjust the gamma to display a more "accurate" color and exposure?

DV Rack FAQ (http://www.seriousmagic.com/help/dvrgeneralfaq.cfm#18)

Will video calibration work effectively on the LCD monitor on my laptop?
(4th question from bottom)

Just used DV Rack in the field for the first time.

Suffice it to say, I just ordered a 30' firewire cable, and I hope never to shoot without DV Rack again! :)

Downloaded the trial version. IT is INCREDIBLE. Very easy and Ultra Portable. I downloaded it around noon today and I have already shot some highlight with it. LOVE IT........


One thing that hasn't been mentioned is how user friendly this application is. It allows you to set up your "RACK" how you want it.

Great Application with a million uses in the field.

SC

When I first got it, I wasn't even planning on using the digital disk recorder feature that much, I was primarily interested in the waveform, vectorscope, and field monitor.

I didn't even know you can ZOOM IN on the field monitor, which is way cool...

... and the digital disk recorder is phenomenal.

And the audio monitor is just a bonus -- the ability to see with your eyes where the frequency range is falling, instead of arbitrarily trying to hear it, is very handy.

Don't care much for "SureShot", I can focus better with the zoomed-in monitor and set exposure more accurately with the waveform and the zebras.

Overall, an absolutely fantastic program. I went and bought a laptop just to be able to use it, and I still think it's a steal.

Barry,

Since you're so happy to have the zoom feature, I just wanted to make sure you knew about the full screen mode in which the video takes over the whole monitor. To toggle between the normal and full screen views, simply press ALT+ENTER. All the keyboard shortcuts for clip playback work when the video's filling the screen and the transport controls are nowhere to be found.

Hey Mark, what's the chances of a "HDV" version coming out to accompany the HDR-FX1? I'd be first in line to purchase..

Murph

Since you're so happy to have the zoom feature, I just wanted to make sure you knew about the full screen mode in which the video takes over the whole monitor.
Whoa... just tried it on my 17" LCD... AMAZING! Very, very cool. You can zoom in a lot closer, but the full-screen monitor looks great!

You guys really seem to enjoy working on this software, don't you? It shows in the final product.

Still think you need to change the 16:9/4:3 switch. Ideally it'd be a button on the front panel, but if not, the menu option should work more like a Panasonic BT-H1390Y: either 16:9 or 4:3. If you want to provide for more aspect ratios inbetween, maybe you could make it through shift-clicking on the arrows to scroll through by small increments.

Just used it on a shoot, I am flat-out loving this software, haven't been this pleased with a software purchase since I dumped Premiere and first got Vegas 4+DVD. I bought a laptop specifically to use it, and now I'm starting to think about one of those micro-laptops with the little 7" screens, I think DV Rack on one of those palmtops would be a dynamite, indispensable combination!

To anybody who has downloaded the Trial Version of DV Rack:

We sent out a survey by e-mail to people who downloaded the DV Rack trial recently, and the number of replies has been less than expected. With so many filters out there that block presumptive spam, we are wondering whether people are even receiving the survey. So if you have it, would you do us the favor of dropping me a note with the following info?
* What site did you download the trial from? (seriousmagic.com, downloads.com, other???)
* Did you receive an e-mail from Serious Magic asking you to fill out a survey?


In order to avoid clogging this thread with replies on this matter, please send your response to mmapes@seriousmagic.com. I assure you on my honor that you will not receive any emails from us as a result (with the possible exception of a courtesy thank-you, and unless, of course, you request any information).

Thanks for helping us get a handle on this matter.

Hey Mark,

Microsoft just released the "Virtual PC 7" software. Does this version include the pieces needed to get DV Rack working for HDV on Macs? I'm bummed that Virtual PC 6 wasn't useful in that way - if Virtual PC 7 is compatible I'll buy it and DV Rack!

Murph

I don't think this will work or be fast enough. Virtual PC on Windows
itself does not support firewire for one. Does VPC on the Mac
support that?

If you look at the specs on Microsoft's site - Virtual PC for Mac is suppose to be really fast. I've also got a G5 dual 2.0ghz, so that ought to help.

The main thing is that Mark mentioned that the inside guts of DV Rack need something in Windows that wasn't provided in previous Virtual PC for Mac software. I think it was Direct X? If this newer version just released has that inner workings then maybe DV Rack will work? I am just wondering.

Murph

Murph,

I think your question about Virtual PC 7 was directed at Mark Randall, who's infinitely more tech-savvy than I am. I haven't discussed your question with him, but I did run it by DV Rack's lead developer. He found that the web site did not provide enough information to draw any conclusions. When we have a chance, we'll give it a try.

Excellent! I appreciate it, and I'd love to see HDV support on Mac with Virtual PC or even Mac native! I think there are a bunch of people interested in it.

Murph

Any word on DV Rack for Mac via VirtualPC??

Also, any word on HDV support...even on PC??

Murph