DV Rack 2

G

GuyS

Active member
I have downloaded the trial version of DV Rack 2. I am running it on my laptop which is a Compac Presario AMD 3400+ 787Mhz 1 gig of ram it has a 64Mb nVidia card with the latest drivers.

I find it is very very slow. The field monitor shows up and the image from the camera is fine, as is the waveform monitor. However trying to change anything on the menu or whatever ...sometimes locks up the app or just takes minutes for anything to happen. I haven't been able to successfully use the recorder function.

When I go to the Serious Magic forum I see a multitude of problems and complaints. Good luck trying to get Adobe to respond to anything.

Has anyone actually had any success with this program?
 
Yep.

I've had no problems with it (Toshiba Satellite M35-S203 I think that's 1.7 GHz Pentium M, and I put in 1.5 GB RAM...I think, and a dinky 60 GB drive.)

Anyway, no problems like the ones you are having.
 
I believe the recommendations are a 2.0 GHZ machine and 2 GB ram or a 1.8GHz and a duo core machine. Your CPU and graphics card are probably undermatched for DV Rack 2.

Contact the Serious Magic folks via email (found in the user forums). They responded to my inquiries within a day.

Scott


GuyS said:
I have downloaded the trial version of DV Rack 2. I am running it on my laptop which is a Compac Presario AMD 3400+ 787Mhz 1 gig of ram it has a 64Mb nVidia card with the latest drivers.

I find it is very very slow. The field monitor shows up and the image from the camera is fine, as is the waveform monitor. However trying to change anything on the menu or whatever ...sometimes locks up the app or just takes minutes for anything to happen. I haven't been able to successfully use the recorder function.

When I go to the Serious Magic forum I see a multitude of problems and complaints. Good luck trying to get Adobe to respond to anything.

Has anyone actually had any success with this program?
Click to expand...
 
My machine is actually has a 2.2 GHz processor (I incorrectly stated 787). I did go to the Serious Magic forum and found a link to the minimum requirements for DV Rack. My laptop certainly falls within those boundaries. The problem is there is no way to contact tech support. It is kind of a Catch 22. Serious Magics new owner Adobe wants a paid support contract before you can email them with questions. How do I know I want to use the program if I am using the trial version?

My reason for wanting a program like DV rack is I am doing a video shoot that involves some run and gun work so set ups and equipment are important. I will be shooting some interviews and will light the headshots a la Walter Graff style. Up to now I have been using a Toshiba 14" as a monitor. However I am looking for an alternative since quantity and weight of equipment is an issue.

Any other ideas other than DV Rack....? I've just about given up on it.
 
GuyS said:
Any other ideas other than DV Rack....? I've just about given up on it.
Click to expand...

I tried it with a my HD100 on p4 desktop and couldn't calibrate the monitor.

I've have never understood what DV Rack does that most NLE's can't do. I used Edius 4 as a monitor/capture for a studio shoot and it seemed to do everything the DV rack did. Vectorscope etc.

What NLE do you use?
 
I use Liquid Edition V6. Although not particularly popular here, I've been using it since V4 when it was a remake of Fast Studio. I've been thinking about Edius 4. Does Edius have a monitor and waveform display that would work on a laptop? I like the idea of a laptop because it also is a very portable monitor,
 
As usual the best way quite often is to go to the forums and talk to users. One member of the Serious Magic forum suggested that I defragment my hard drive. Bingo...I was surprised that that was the solution! DV Rack is working fine.
 
GuyS said:
I use Liquid Edition V6. Although not particularly popular here, I've been using it since V4 when it was a remake of Fast Studio. I've been thinking about Edius 4. Does Edius have a monitor and waveform display that would work on a laptop? I like the idea of a laptop because it also is a very portable monitor,
Click to expand...

I'm not clever enough to know the answer but nonetheless can't think of a reason edius wouldn't work. It's an extremely fast and stable software but too counter intuitive for me.
 
brianluce said:
I'm not clever enough to know the answer but nonetheless can't think of a reason edius wouldn't work. It's an extremely fast and stable software but too counter intuitive for me.
Click to expand...

As an owner of both (Edius Broadcast and DV Rack HD) I can . . . Edius will not record in 720 (period). It does, however, record 1080 like a hot knife through butter. This is a known issue, reported in July 06 and still (to my knowledge) unresolved.

DV Rack on the other hand, is "da bomb." Anyone interested enough to have tried to trial version probably shouldn't have a lot of questions. There is a lot of discussion elsewhere in this forum on the topic. Barry certainly recommended it highly in the early going. Long form stuff (stationary) DV Rack simply rules. It you have to shoot on the go the firestore is presently your best option, but you are not going to be able to compose your shot the way you can with DV Rack (or have the benefit of some of the other features).

As has been stated with many other topics . . . you have to choose the best tool for the job (for you). Good luck!
 
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