CatDV head aches…

[Gerald Goldman]

I have found that copying to Cache-A from multiple machines, at the same time, has resulted in errors. However, Cache-A did not lock up. It reported the error in the transfer log.

The tricky part is that Cache-A builds the file structure first and then copies the files, so the LTO tape may show the files, but the files are not actually there.

Staging files to the device and then moving them to the VTape is a good way to avoid these errors. It’s a manual process, but reliable.

Hope this helps.

Gerald Goldman
Director of Post Production
Grace Creek Media
http://www.gracecreek.com
http://www.sportskool.com

[Bryson Jones]

Can you give us some more info?

Specifically, what OS are you on? What versions of the CatDV apps and Server? What server hardware and OS are you running on and what is you primary editing storage. As to the other questions, see below.

Define “lots of licenses” 5, 10, 50, 100?

– i get some sort of java error when i try to import a large amount of files.. the only solution i have found was to import small amounts at a time in multiple catalogs… is there a way around this?

“Large amount” 1,000? 10,000 or like 200? There are a few threads on here about catalog sizes and how to manage them.

i have tried going into advanced settings and upping the memory usage, but did not seem to help on catdv 9 and when i try on version 10 the application won’t open anymore and i have to re-install it….

What OS and Java versions are you on? Most likely this is a support issue for JB&A or Squarebox.

-Next problem… same thing different error. i import a number of files and CatDV just shuts down. Guessing its a memory issue again, but not sure.

Again, “number of files”, let us know and read that thread.

-other issues are archiving on Cache-A…..

You gotta take this to Cache-A support.

Bottom line, this likely has a good bit to do with workflow. (Yes, it is lame to have to say that and I promise it’s not a cop-out.) I’d contact your reseller and see if they can help you sort this out.

If there is no reseller to help, I’d discuss getting some workflow consulting from them or JB&A to make this all work together.

Sorry you’re having trouble. Some of these issues might be genuine tech support things (the crashes and non-launching could be java or OS related for instance and the Cache-A sounds fishy.) but this could also just be configuration errors or overloading the system. (Check the Cache-A site for their archive job time estimates to see if you are in line with expectations.)

Bottom line, there is hope. These systems have been successfully deployed all over the US and ROW. You’ll get it sorted.

bryson

bryson “at” northshoreautomation.com

northshoreautomation.com

[Kyle Beecher]

Wow, thanks for the support guys!!

Gerald, good food for thought. i have not had any errors in the transfer summary while doing this that i can think of… but yeah one machine does seem to be a bit more reliable.

Bryson, We all run Mac OS here. The two i work on mostly are 10.7.4. We just updated both the server and CatDV (pro 10) with the latest release when those came out. Primary editing storage is a networked 64tb xsan server, but honestly i don’t know much about it (i think its just a mac pro set up for this??).

we have 20 licenses.

large amount as in 10,000 and up. I usually create new catalogs to import to when it gets to about 10,000.

OS like i said before is Mac OS 10.7.2, and just opened “java preferences” and it has one for 64bit and one for 32. both saying Java SE 6 version 1.6.0_33-b03-424

Really appreciate the help guys!

Also, we are going to upgrade to the new Cache-A firmware and hopefully that will fix some of the hiccups on that side. But yeah it does seem like a bit of a workflow issue…. Just wish i could throw as much at CatDV and Cache-A as i have on my plate… Which is about 6 years of projects, files, videos, and other media that needs backed up.

[Bryson Jones]

You’re welcome.

In no particular order. Check these out.

https://forums.creativecow.net/readpost/278/701

https://forums.creativecow.net/thread/278/1073#1088

bryson

bryson “at” northshoreautomation.com

northshoreautomation.com

[Rolf Howarth]

I think Gerald and Bryson gave some good advice re the archiving problems but here are some hints if you have problems importing files into CatDV:

Size of catalogs – you can think of CatDV catalogs as being VERY roughly analogous to a folder on your hard disk, or a project in your editing application. There’s no hard and fast limit but just as you wouldn’t put 50,000 files in one folder with a flat hierarchy, or import an entire volume of media into one Final Cut project, it’s best not to drag that many assets into one catalog window. Instead, try to organise them in some sort of logical arrangement that makes sense to your workflow (by customer, by project, by episode, by tape, by month, by event, or whatever). The good thing is though, you can have as many catalogs as you want, and once they’re in the database on the server you can very easily search across all your assets regardless of which catalog they’re in.

Crashes – sometimes, a particular file can be corrupt and trigger a bug that causes a QuickTime codec to crash (especially 3rd party codecs). Try to isolate the file by noting what it was importing last or checking the CatDV error log file. Also, if you enable the protected player (in media playback preferences) that can help, plus you can set an autosave interval so you don’t lost too much work. If you do still have problems, go into Help > CatDV Error Log and press the Save button, then mail the log file zip archive to support@squarebox.com so we can investigate.