DV Rack Latency - Help!

Streckfus

Streckfus

Member
I downloaded the Trail Version of DV Rack (which includes the HDV add-on), and everything worked perfectly.

I just puchased and installed DV Rack (w/o the HDV add-on), and now there's about a .5 second latency between the live video and what DV Rack displays. My CPU usage is fine and my laptop more than meets the specs...tried switching out firewire cables...and still, there's a small but noticeable delay between what's actually happening and what's being displayed in DV Rack (both field monitor & audio spectrum analyzer).

I can't imagine that having the HDV add-on would make any difference in this area...but the HDV Trial Version worked perfectly and the regular DV Rack doesn't.

ANY ideas?

I'll eventually have to contact Serious Magic directly, but I figured I'd give you guys first shot at it.

Thanks.
 
It's normal processing time, and doesn't affect the actual clip, but you can keep it to a minimum by not recording huge clips. Just hit record every few minutes instead of doing one continuous clip, and the clips will flow together seamlessly.
 
But the thing is...when I was using the trail version there WASN'T the latency issue. Even when nothing is being recorded there is latency between the actual action and what is being monitored.

I understand that there will always be a certain amount of latency with Firewire, but when I was using the HDV Rack Trial Version there wasn't a latency that was noticeable enough to be a distraction.

Now that I'm using the full version, suddenly the latency is upwards of 15 frames. VERY distracting, VERY annoying.

It doesn't matter if I'm recording or not. The delay is always there, and with the trial version it wasn't an issue at all.
 
Have you done all the usual PC maintenance things to make it happy? Defrag, etc? It has big problems with non-optimized HDs.
 
powerdog said:
Have you done all the usual PC maintenance things to make it happy? Defrag, etc? It has big problems with non-optimized HDs.
Click to expand...

Yep. Nothing has changed from a settings standpoint since the install of the trial version. 80GB HD, 15GB used. Defragged. Nothing has changed - from PC config to camera settings. That's why it's so baffling...the only thing that has changed is that I'm running the full version instead of the HDV Trial. No latency before, annoying latency now. Weird.
 
Just chime in here: Before installing full version did you uninstall trial version?
 
ncje said:
Hmm I would be onto support at DVRack... though Im sure you already are.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I sent them an email already but probably won't get a response until at least Monday. I was just hoping that some DV Rack users on here might've had the same issue, but perhaps I'm the only one....which leads me to believe that the latency issue isn't "normal". Some latency should be expected, but not when I didn't experience any with a trial version!

Frustrating.....
 
Have you made sure your PC meets the minimum specs for DVR?

If you want a definite answer immediately, your best bet is to get on the Serious Magic registered user message board and do a search. I know this has been discussed before.
 
Streckfus said:
Yeah, I sent them an email already but probably won't get a response until at least Monday. I was just hoping that some DV Rack users on here might've had the same issue, but perhaps I'm the only one....which leads me to believe that the latency issue isn't "normal". Some latency should be expected, but not when I didn't experience any with a trial version!

Frustrating.....
Click to expand...

The weird part is that you didn't get latency with the trial version... A half-second or so of latency is completely normal in my experience; I was an early adopter of DV Rack SD, and that's where my experience has been, now using version 2 SD.

I just watch the action and monitor audio on the camera, set DV Rack to underscan so I can see the entire frame, turn on the safe area lines and glance at the screen now and then to double-check my framing. I like having the 1/3 frame markers as a composition aid, too.

I use the vector scope to check the color bars from the camera before the shot, and the waveform monitor to make sure I'm not blowing out the highlights, but to me DV Rack is primarily a DTE tool to eliminate capture time.
 
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