[James Beattie]

Are you editing on a macbook? I have had this type of voodoo when the battery expands, thus pressing play by simply resting your hands on the keyboard.

This may be a battery failure, causing voodoo.

Otherwise try new user settings, there may be a button mapped to your mouse that is inadvertently pressing play.

[James Beattie]

It’s really all about the amount of data you need to get from the drives. So, whatever your resolution is.

You can put a firewire card in a PC, and connect an external drive to it.

As John indicated you have to be careful of formatting the drive. If it is formatted for Mac, the PC will not show the data on it. The PC will see the drive, but it will ask to format it.

MacDrive is a tested product on the PC that would enable you to read Mac on the PC.

But if you are just asking for the sake of using storage, you could use Firewire (800 is preferrable) or ESATA, which is considerably faster.

I am of the mindset that since drives are so cheap these days, you should get something redundant, so if a drive fails (it happens all the time) then you are not left trying to recover your data. A great box is the Gspeed ES Pro, with the Atto raid card. Good bang for the buck and redundant. So that your drive doesn’t fail minutes before your deliverable.

[James Beattie]

Adding another external monitor (extended desktop) is really not a good idea. It is my understanding that the Avid is coded for 2 monitors, and I do not know it is worth the risk.

An AJA Kona LHi (HDMI connectors) or Kona LHe (2 HDSDI) connectors is going to give the best results based on my experience.

[James Beattie]

Of course the Red is just dropped frames, but before you Red you are indicating that it is showing Yellow. Yellow means the processor is overloaded. What type of material is it? You may consider transcoding it to an Avid DNX material. If you are using AVC-Intra this is a typical occurrence if the machine is underpowered (less than 12 cores).

If before the dropout, it were indicating blue, then it would be drive related.

Avid has to actually unpack material in order to play it. The processor decodes the frames on the fly and allows you to see it in real-time. If this material is complex (XDCAM or AVC-Intra) the processor gets overtaxed and it begins dropping frames.

[James Beattie]

Very strange. Do you mean it is automatically stopping at each edit point?

What version of Media Composer are you using. As of 5.0 a lot of tools changed, and it would help to know which version.

Since you say super bin, I assume it is before version 6.

When in doubt, in the main project window, go under user settings and create new ones, then start over.

[James Beattie]

In that case, it is an excellent solution. May I recommend Raid 6, or 5+1 configuration on the Synology.

Raid 5 will give you redundancy if you lose 1 drive, Raid 6 or 5+1 give you 2, but eats up your available space. Always have a spare drive, it can take 4-6 weeks to get a warranty replacement from the drive manufacturer.

I have used Drobo for this type of Archiving in the past as well.

[James Beattie]

This can sometimes be an issue with the “hidden” database files. When it says iniitializing Media Streams, it always has something to do with the databases.

Is there an Avid MediaFiles folder on the top level of any drive, including the OS drive? If so, rename it to xAvid MediaFiles.

Then go to Machd->Applications->Symphony->Supporting Files->Avid_MediaFiles Then delete the msm.fmid and msm.pmr files.

Now relaunch and see if it is happy.

If it is not, login as root and see if it works. It could be a permissions issue.

[James Beattie]

Depending on the resolution you are looking at this has the potential to work. When looking at the data you are trying to pass, you should always half the amount of potential data.

For a 1GB connection, you should expect to get around 512mb/sec. So if you are prores, you are about 140mb/sec. Avid, DNX 145mb/sec.

But remember, storage performance is about low latency, not just bandwidth. So the responsiveness of your array may be poor, even though you have plenty of bandwith to the box.

The Synology is typically intended as a network parking place. There are several Synology options that including iScsi. Which is essentially gigabit ethernet that is optimized for high bandwidth connections.

Typically you have a NAS, like a Synology connected with multiple Gig connections or a 10GB connection to a switch so you can get as much throughput to the storage as possible. If you had 2 Avids there would be a few tricks you would have to do to make it work.

You should be fine, but I would be concerned about the real-time functionality you would get.

I know it is more expensive, but you should consider some of the smalltree solutions. They are esentially computers with high bandwidth storage attached, and multiple network connections to a switch or to computers direct connected.

I work for a reseller that sells several high bandwidth options, but for 2 systems you may simply consider a smalltree rig.

Thanks
James

[James Beattie]

Put your new license plate on a layer above the piece of video you wish to replace.

Now put an effect on it, my favorite is a 3dPIP. Then go in and choose the tracker in the effect mode. Add 4 track points onto the layer with your existing license plate (when you start moving things around, the layer you are working on goes invisible). Hit the start track button.

Once your track is done, your overlay should be complete.

I am oversimplifying some steps, but those are the primary pieces.

If you have used motion or after effects in the past, based on your particular experience it may be easier to export, composite and bring it back in. The Avid is perfectly capable of doing it, but it is all about being familiar with the tools, and having enough time to experiment and learn.

[James Beattie]

I would look for an Avid reseller in your area, or as close as possible. Typically and Avid reseller will have experience with these 3rd party products. I am with a reseller, but this board is more for issues, and not sales.

However, upon looking at your config it looks like you are on the right track. I would add the Nvidia Quadro 4000 for Mac. It uses Cuda acceleration that would be beneficial when using after effects. Buy the mac corded mouse, or a trackball or pad of your choice. Many of my clients dislike the bluetooth mouse.

In order to do proper deck control, Avid recommends the Tripp Lite USB to serial adapter – for Mac, and add the 232 to 422 adapter from Addenda for proper deck control. Theoretically the AJA 422 port would work, but supposedly it is not as accurate. Timecode accuracy is worth $100 of bits.

Put a small mixer or volume control in line to control your speakers up or down. A Mackie 1202 is a quick fix.

Finally buy a nice chair, you will be sitting there long enough, a nice chair will make your life better.