[Shaun Gish]

This.

[Shaun Gish]

I agree that AV Foundation is a solid move for video in general. What scares me is that it basically could be “privatized” very quickly by apple if they decide they want to push users to FCPX’s new approach.

Also – AV Foundation isn’t just self contained in FCPX – it’s the entire A/V framework for iOS (and soon to be the entire A/V framework for Lion and future OS releases). That’s what scares me.

[Shaun Gish]

Thanks for the quick response.

Is this how things will most likely work with most third party I/o devices? Basically extending the desktop to a video monitor and then displaying the viewer on it fullscreen? Seems like quite a kludge. Also – it appears that I cannot have the viewer output this way while also using a separate monitor for the event viewer, correct?

Not knocking AJA – you guys have always had great support. This seems more like you were hamstrung by Apple’s UI

[Shaun Gish]

Yea. That’s what I originally saw but no luck. Also – I tried the card in a third Mac Pro and it isn’t seeing the card either. The original Mac Pro sees it fine. It’s getting a bit frustrating that I can’t get any support from the original manufacturer.

[Shaun Gish]

Thanks for the alternative product. Ultimately I’ll probably end up buying both the Magma and the StarTech model (I need a more portable solution but the 4 card option for the price point is very attractive).

I’ll let you guys know how well they work (not that very many people will need an express to SAS type setup with thunderbolt being all the rage…)

Thanks

[Shaun Gish]

The best solution I’ve found so far would be this: https://www.magma.com/expressbox1.asp coupled with an ATTO SAS card (which I already own – H680)

Anyone have experience with this sort of setup or know of a less expensive alternative? (Not that this is THAT expensive for what I’m trying to do but if I can save a buck and it’ll work then I’d rather go that direction).

Thanks

[Shaun Gish]

It would be ideal to find an open source solution that met 50% of those requirements and then I can develop from that point forward (we’re primarily a software development shop)… the problem is that nothing seems to… and if they do, they aren’t based on any sort of metadata standard (dublin core)

CatDV appears to be a pretty cool app… but it doesn’t really accomplish what I’m trying to accomplish – mass archival with an easy web interface for review/asset search. It looks like I’d either have to build most of the web interface (using the MySQL version) or I’d have to publish html based pages for everything and that’s not practical… Going the MySQL route is an option… but that appears to only be an option with one of the more expensive server based systems…

[Shaun Gish]

Alright… this is incredibly frustrating…

Not only can I not import an exported xml file – I also can’t drag a sequence from one project to another.

I obviously have a corrupted project… And there appears to be absolutely no way to salvage it.

Anyone have any ideas?

[Shaun Gish]

You obviously don’t read very well.

I have a major client that I do online edits for – this means that they do the initial editorial work and hand over a PROJECT FILE to work from. Not a ProRes export… if that were the case – no big deal. But I actually have to work with what they give me… so right now I have to use a laptop running FCS3 to do the online work (which is painful at best) and then export for my tower to output via the IoHD. And before anyone says “you can do anything on a laptop…” this is a major network show with 10 cam multicam clips – it’s a beast of a project that I have to cut on a laptop or jump through hoops to get the client to export a version that I can use.

I’ve said nothing about being unwilling to provide the system that the IoHD requires – to the contrary – I HAVE NOT upgraded my main system specifically because of the issues with IoHD. Also – NONE of my issues have to do with Snow Leopard – it’s a complete and total mess – my issues deal with FCS3. I could care less right now about Snow Leopard – I just need to be able to open an FSC3 project file without a bunch of workarounds when they are provided and use them appropriately.

My needs haven’t changed at all – I want to acquire stuff in ProRes as painlessly as possible and I want to edit in ProRes as painlessly as possible. That was why I bought the IoHD… and right now the editing part isn’t happening so well with my clients demands. I don’t mind the wait as long as there is communication.

It’s a bit frustrating that you bring up a bunch of points that have nothing to do with my post and then try to act like I don’t know what I’m doing. I have been in the broadcast business long enough and I own a very successful software development company so I don’t really feel like I need to post a list of achievements to vent about a PR screw up by a company that has a product in high demand. I definitely don’t want to bore you with all of my major product update cycle stories and I find it a bit odd that you’re so feverishly defending them. It is STUPID that they haven’t just said something to the effect of “Hey – we haven’t forgotten you – we’re about a month out.” That’s really all we are asking – I’d love to be able to tell my client that all of the added time spent working on my laptop instead of in my edit suite will hopefully end in 4 weeks… instead of just saying “I don’t know”.

Anyway – this has become a very pointless and frustrating post. I don’t plan on hating on AJA any more – I will wait for them to update the drivers/firmware and I will continue using the product. I just wish that people wouldn’t just blindly say “they’re working on it – deal with it” – the situation flat out sucks and they can fix it by just being more open with where they are at. (Look at RED and how well they handle firmware issues – they may not deal with it as quickly as most people want but they do tell you what the heck is going on)

[Shaun Gish]

You’re kind of missing my point. I didn’t choose to install FCS3 – my clients did – when they hand you a FCP 7 project file and expect you to get it to tape and your workflow has been up to this point based on the IoHD it’s a very awkward process to say “do you mind going back to your shop to export a version of the timeline that I can work with?”

I have emailed and called AJA – both times they have talked to me (and I’ve dealt with them since the original IO came out – they’ve always picked up the phone). The problem I have is that I shouldn’t have to pick up the phone or call – they should be more proactive about letting people know where they are at so that we don’t all get frustrated.

The biggest issue I have overall is that when I actually did talk to AJA I told them that I had tried to output from a FCS3 system and was able to hear audio but not see picture and wondered if there was any sort of workaround and the response was literally “well, you’ve gotten further than we have…”

That’s not encouraging when all I did was plug it in to a laptop running FCS3 (this was about 3 weeks ago).

I think the lack of communication is frustrating because it seems to imply that their other products are going forward and that there’s a chance that the IoHD may get left in the dust. Let’s put it this way – if it’s this difficult to write the drivers for a unit that is so dependent on the ProRes spec, why waste the time (from a business perspective) especially when you consider how old the IoHD is and how well some of their new products address a lot of the market that the IoHD was targeted at. I mean if I had it to do over again I would buy a KiPro and a Kona LHi – even though the costs are considerably different, you have a dedicated acquisition setup that doesn’t require a host machine and a way to output from what you should be outputting from anyway (a tower).

It just all feels like they are going to drop the product and aren’t willing to let us know yet… I’m probably way wrong… but that’s what lack of communication does to consumer trust…even if they have great support 99% of the time.