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Sequences unusable on Windows when Proxies are on a Networked Share
Hi all!
I’ve been plagued with this for almost a year now, and I really need to find a solution. I have a mixed Mac/PC environment with these specs:
Mac: 10.7.5, Xsan
Win: mix of XP and 7
CatDV: 9.0.6
CatDV Enterprise Server: 6.6b13
Media: Primary media stored on an Xsan
Proxies: stored on a 10.7.5 server, shared via AFP to macs and SMB to Win
H264 640×360 128 AAC created with Compressor
Network: ALL gigabit. All machines including the server are connected to the same HP ProCurve gigabit switch.Everything works GREAT on the Macs. I can edit sequences using proxies, it’s fast, it’s responsive, it works.
The windows side is entirely different. I can view the proxies in the catalog, even though switching between clips is a little sluggish, everything works. When you are navigating the catalog and you switch between clips, it takes a few seconds for the proxy for the clip to show up in the viewer, but once it does, the video plays back fine. But editing sequences with proxies is unfortunately unusable as everything from opening the sequence window to making basic edits such as adding clips to the sequence, changing in/out points, etc takes FOREVER. It takes almost a minute to just open the sequence window. Adding clips to the sequence takes almost 30 seconds. Usually the message display in the status bar at the bottom of the window says “Building Track VA1.” I really need to find a solution to this if one exists -all my producers have Windows machines because unfortunately we are a Microsoft house as far as communication and billing goes.It doesn’t seem to matter what version of Windows I am using, XP or 7. On all tested machines I have the most recent versions of Java and Quicktime installed. Before you respond, please look at what I’ve tried:
Tried copying the proxies to an actual Windows network share on an NT server (as opposed to the SMB share where the Macs access them). The speed is a little better, but it’s still pretty unusable. I’ve had some people suggest that we should install DAVE on the server because Apple’s SMB implementation in Lion is no good. But, even when the proxies are served from an actual windows share, editing sequences is still pretty unusable.
Tried copying the proxies to a location on the machine’s hard drive. In EVERY CASE, on EVERY MACHINE, the performance instantly becomes exactly what it is on the Macs. Responsive, snappy, and more than just usable, it works great. So that eliminates concerns about memory, VRAM, processor speed, versions of Java/Quicktime, filename length, proxy format etc. I have a new i5 Dell with 2GB ram here next to me set up as a test machine to play with if there’s anything else I can try.
WHY does it work great when the proxies are stored locally but not when they are served over our network? I have also looked at the Resource Manager in Windows to see if the CPU or network activity is pegging, and it’s totally fine. Network bandwidth doesn’t go over 5Megs, CPU is like 5%. Is there something to change in my switch? Anything else I can check?
WHAT GIVES?? Bryson? Rolf? Matt? Anyone? I’m willing to try anything here, but please keep in mind that:
1) it works great on the Macs – same proxies (hi-res media is offline so I’m not editing with hires)
2) it also works great on the PCs when the proxies are localThanks for your time guys, I am really at wit’s end here.
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18 Replies
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Back many moons ago, we had issues with quicktime proxy over a network on Windows. This was an MS and Apple thing.
Are you using mp4 or mov wrapper?
Have you tried an mp4 over the network?
bryson
bryson “at” northshoreautomation.com
northshoreautomation.com
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Is CATDV running on a MAC or Windows server?
Talkin’ bout film is like dancing about architecture.
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Yep, they are all mp4. sorry, should have specified that.
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CatDV Server is running on an Xserve running 10.7.5.
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I’m sorry I can’t help you. It has to do with mapping drives for the windows side of things. We had CATDV running on a windows server and had nothing but problems with proxies and drive mapping. We switched to a MAC server and dumped all the windows machines in favor of OS X. Now everything works perfectly.
We have a mac mini running CATDV server and a Facilis Terrablock. The Terrablock has a small partition for the proxies. All the partitions are mounted on the CATDV Mac Mini server and everyone is happy. Web client works on either a MAC or PC just fine, but we dumped the windows clients.
CATDV and Windows drive mapping is a complete mystery. CATDV is an incredible and deep product, but if I would have know how hard it is for CATDV to easily map Windows drives and Mac drives we might have gone with another asset management system. Our IT spent weeks trying to get both Linux and Windows servers working with proxies with no luck. Finally I got an old Mac Mini server and had it up and running in just a few minutes. However I’m not going to add windows clients as I don’t have the time and money to mess around with the drive mapping.
Talkin’ bout film is like dancing about architecture.
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Thanks for feeding back. We can map the drive just fine on the windows clients, everything technically WORKS, it’s just so slow! All of our producers want Macs, and I think the leadership would be open to getting them all macs, but the problem is that all of our other systems are dependent on MS Office and MS Dynamics, which all must run on PCs. Office for Mac, while better than it used to be, still has problems as it really doesn’t have native Exchange support… And Dynamics requires Internet Explorer which is no longer supported on the Mac (they stopped developing it before the support for Dynamics was added). So getting them all Macs would have its own challenges on the other end. Blech.
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We also thought of adding a few Macs in the producer’s area just for CatDV use, but had we known that we’d have to do that, we would not have purchased so many individual licenses of CatDV, we would have just bought the Enterprise Server and used the 10 that came with it.
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How are the proxies being stored? On the CATDV server or somewhere else?
Talkin’ bout film is like dancing about architecture.
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They are being stored on a 6TB Sonnet SAS-connected raid 5 volume. The Xserve that hosts CatDV is also serving the proxies.
BUT! before you say “separate the CatDV server from the proxy share server” remember that I did try copying the proxies to another server – an actual Windows NT server, and there was a slight performance increase that could be attributed to the fact that those jobs had been split up… BUT it was not enough for sequence editing to actually become useable.
AND!!! remember it works FINE on the Macs, which are accessing the same share and using the same network pipeline.
However now that I think of it, I believe there would be a performance increase for everyone if I did share the proxies from a different location.
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My terrablock drives are mounted to the desktop of the CATDV Mini server and served out from there. They work fine on a windows web client. Another option is to create a partition on the OS X CatDV server and try serving the proxies from it.
In 2013 when most everyone that is anybody has learned to play nice in the sandbox, it is frustrating we are still fighting leftover DOS dna in the form of drive mapping.
Talkin’ bout film is like dancing about architecture.
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