GaryBr
hi everyone, hope you all had a good Christmas.
I've had an ongoing problem with the automix feature. It hasn't really bothered me as I don't use it much, but I want to use it now for the first half hour of when the club opens seeing as we are coming up to the quiet January/February months.
When I use Automix mode with videos, the video that is coming into the mix pauses both on the screen and the sound too for a split second (enough for everyone to think a CD has jumped or something)
It happens at the same point on each video, at the point where the first video leaves the mix and the second one comes in.
Changing the performance settings doesn't help, and it does it on two different laptops exactly the same.
Has anyone else experienced this or know of a cure? It doesn't happen with MP3's only videos.
Gary
I've had an ongoing problem with the automix feature. It hasn't really bothered me as I don't use it much, but I want to use it now for the first half hour of when the club opens seeing as we are coming up to the quiet January/February months.
When I use Automix mode with videos, the video that is coming into the mix pauses both on the screen and the sound too for a split second (enough for everyone to think a CD has jumped or something)
It happens at the same point on each video, at the point where the first video leaves the mix and the second one comes in.
Changing the performance settings doesn't help, and it does it on two different laptops exactly the same.
Has anyone else experienced this or know of a cure? It doesn't happen with MP3's only videos.
Gary
Inviato Sun 30 Dec 07 @ 9:56 am
cstoll
Use the 8 or 16 second crossfade and use the FADE transition does it still happen ?
Inviato Sun 30 Dec 07 @ 10:17 am
GaryBr
I just tried 8 & 16 in the automix menu, it helps a little. Does the slider for mix length in the config>options menu actually do anything? It doesn't seem to make much difference to anything.
Gary
Gary
Inviato Sun 30 Dec 07 @ 11:37 am
GaryBr
No, changing the settings haven't helped.
I've got all the hardware I don't use disabled, up to date drivers, no IRQ conflicts. It was doing it on my old laptop as well. (Although the old version of automix, the 2 deck one worked ok)
I've just realised I've spent £5000 ($10,000) on laptops alone trying to get VDJ working properly :(
This is the only problem i'm having now, any other ideas or info i can give that might help someone work out the problem?
Gary
I've got all the hardware I don't use disabled, up to date drivers, no IRQ conflicts. It was doing it on my old laptop as well. (Although the old version of automix, the 2 deck one worked ok)
I've just realised I've spent £5000 ($10,000) on laptops alone trying to get VDJ working properly :(
This is the only problem i'm having now, any other ideas or info i can give that might help someone work out the problem?
Gary
Inviato Thu 03 Jan 08 @ 2:23 pm
GaryBr
Right, i have an update to the problem.
Its the Maya44usb.
When I uninstall it, Automix works fine through the onboard sound. When the Maya is installed it causes the sound & video to skip during the crossfade.
I have 6 usb ports, so i'm going to try installing it on another one.
Apart from that, what else can i try?
Gary
Its the Maya44usb.
When I uninstall it, Automix works fine through the onboard sound. When the Maya is installed it causes the sound & video to skip during the crossfade.
I have 6 usb ports, so i'm going to try installing it on another one.
Apart from that, what else can i try?
Gary
Inviato Sat 05 Jan 08 @ 11:28 am
discobrian24
GaryBr wrote :
Right, i have an update to the problem.
Its the Maya44usb.
When I uninstall it, Automix works fine through the onboard sound. When the Maya is installed it causes the sound & video to skip during the crossfade.
I have 6 usb ports, so i'm going to try installing it on another one.
Apart from that, what else can i try?
Gary
Its the Maya44usb.
When I uninstall it, Automix works fine through the onboard sound. When the Maya is installed it causes the sound & video to skip during the crossfade.
I have 6 usb ports, so i'm going to try installing it on another one.
Apart from that, what else can i try?
Gary
Yeah you were prolly sharing an IRQ with the video card, I would try a different usb port. Hope that solves it for ya.
Inviato Sat 05 Jan 08 @ 11:41 am
GaryBr
Ok, I've just checked my IRQ's
Maya is on 23, the two video cards are on 16 & 17. There is only USB on 23 with the Maya.
I'm really at my wits end here.
What else can i try?
Gary
Maya is on 23, the two video cards are on 16 & 17. There is only USB on 23 with the Maya.
I'm really at my wits end here.
What else can i try?
Gary
Inviato Sat 05 Jan 08 @ 11:54 am
discobrian24
Try setting your output video to 16 bit (medium) in ur graphics card settings.
Inviato Sat 05 Jan 08 @ 12:03 pm
GaryBr
Ok, i will give that a go tomorrow as i'm off to work in a bit.
I'll let you know if it works.
Thanks,
Gary
I'll let you know if it works.
Thanks,
Gary
Inviato Sat 05 Jan 08 @ 12:17 pm
djcel
GaryBr wrote :
Right, i have an update to the problem.
Its the Maya44usb.
When I uninstall it, Automix works fine through the onboard sound. When the Maya is installed it causes the sound & video to skip during the crossfade.
I have 6 usb ports, so i'm going to try installing it on another one.
Apart from that, what else can i try?
Gary
Its the Maya44usb.
When I uninstall it, Automix works fine through the onboard sound. When the Maya is installed it causes the sound & video to skip during the crossfade.
I have 6 usb ports, so i'm going to try installing it on another one.
Apart from that, what else can i try?
Gary
Is it in ASIO or Simple ?
Can you describe how you used the Maya 44 : 4.1 ?
Inviato Sat 05 Jan 08 @ 4:23 pm
GaryBr
I'm using the maya in asio with timecodes. I'm also using the latest version of VDJ and the latest maya drivers.
Gary
Gary
Inviato Sat 05 Jan 08 @ 9:35 pm
djcel
Ok so in the Performances options of Windows, set "Background services" instead of "Programs"
It will improve the use of your ASIO drivers towards the CPU need.
It will improve the use of your ASIO drivers towards the CPU need.
Inviato Sun 06 Jan 08 @ 1:54 pm
GaryBr
Just tried changing to background services, it didn't make any difference to the problem. I'm sure people are running VDJ ok with less specs than me.
I tried to install XP on a new partition, but can't do it because I don't have a floppy drive or the sata drivers. XP couldn't find my hard drives.
I guess I'll just have to make do with it not working :(
I tried to install XP on a new partition, but can't do it because I don't have a floppy drive or the sata drivers. XP couldn't find my hard drives.
I guess I'll just have to make do with it not working :(
Inviato Sun 06 Jan 08 @ 3:00 pm
GaryBr
Ok, I tried the software with a different sound card, I used a Creative External USB card and the problem is still there.
Here are my specs, I need some expert help with this.
ntel® Centrino® Duo processor technology featuring Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor T7500, Intel® Wireless WiFi™ Link 4965AGN network connection and Intel® PM965 Express chipset
Clock speed: 2.2 GHz front side bus : 800 MHz 2nd level cache : 4 MB
Operating system: Genuine Windows® Vista® Home Premium Edition
System memory: 4,096MB DDR2 RAM (667 MHz)
Hard disk capacity: 320 (160 + 160) GB certification :S.M.A.R.T.
HD DVD-ROM W, DVD-RAM, HD DVD-ROM
Graphics adaptor type : NVIDIA® SLI dual GeForce® 8600M GT supporting TurboCache™ technology 512 MB dedicated VRAM (up to 2303 MB total available graphics memory using TurboCache™ technology with 4 GB system memory)
memory type : DDR Video RAM (resp. DDR Video RAM and DDR system memory combined)
connected bus : 16x PCI Express
1 x line-in
1 x external monitor
1 x RJ-11
1 x RJ-45
1 x TV-out (s-video)
1 x i.LINK® (IEEE 1394)
1 x external microphone
1 x headphone (stereo)
1 x 6-in-1 Bridge Media slot (supports SD™ Card, Memory Stick®, Memory Stick Pro™, MultiMedia Card™, xD-Picture Card™, SD™ IO)
1 x integrated 1.3 Megapixel Video Camera
6 (Left 2, Right 4) x USB 2.0
1 x S/PDIF-out (optical)
1 x HDMI-out (supporting 1080p/1080i signal format)
Expansion 2 x memory slots (1 to configure)
1 x ExpressCard slot
Wireless communication Wireless Technology : Bluetooth™
Compliancy : Wi-Fi™
Network Support : 802.11a/b/g/Draft-N
Wireless Technology : Wireless LAN (802.11a/b/g/Draft-N)
Wired communication topology : international V.92 modem
speed : 56 Kbps data and 14.4 Kbps fax
topology : Gigabit Ethernet LAN
speed : 10BASE-T/100BASE-TX /1000BASE-T
Sound system supported audio format : 24-bit stereo
Supported sound standards : MIDI support
speakers : built-in Harman Kardon® stereo speaker system with 2 x bass reflex speakers, 2 x tweeter speakers and 1 x subwoofer technology
manufacturer : Toshiba Bass Enhanced Sound System with Dolby® Home Theater™
Pointing device type : Dual mode Touchpad
Enhanced Intel® SpeedStep® Technology
integrated 1.3 Megapixel Video Camera for Video over IP
integrated microphone for Voice over IP
Multimedia Bar with 6 Easy Keys (Internet Browser, CD/DVD launcher, Play/Pause, Stop, Rewind, Forward)
Microsoft® Windows® HotStart™ for instant-on entertainment
HD Audio support
SM BIOS compliant
I do the obvious things, turn off things I don't need. There are no IRQ conflicts between graphics & usb.
Why doesn't it work properly??????????????
Gary
Here are my specs, I need some expert help with this.
ntel® Centrino® Duo processor technology featuring Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor T7500, Intel® Wireless WiFi™ Link 4965AGN network connection and Intel® PM965 Express chipset
Clock speed: 2.2 GHz front side bus : 800 MHz 2nd level cache : 4 MB
Operating system: Genuine Windows® Vista® Home Premium Edition
System memory: 4,096MB DDR2 RAM (667 MHz)
Hard disk capacity: 320 (160 + 160) GB certification :S.M.A.R.T.
HD DVD-ROM W, DVD-RAM, HD DVD-ROM
Graphics adaptor type : NVIDIA® SLI dual GeForce® 8600M GT supporting TurboCache™ technology 512 MB dedicated VRAM (up to 2303 MB total available graphics memory using TurboCache™ technology with 4 GB system memory)
memory type : DDR Video RAM (resp. DDR Video RAM and DDR system memory combined)
connected bus : 16x PCI Express
1 x line-in
1 x external monitor
1 x RJ-11
1 x RJ-45
1 x TV-out (s-video)
1 x i.LINK® (IEEE 1394)
1 x external microphone
1 x headphone (stereo)
1 x 6-in-1 Bridge Media slot (supports SD™ Card, Memory Stick®, Memory Stick Pro™, MultiMedia Card™, xD-Picture Card™, SD™ IO)
1 x integrated 1.3 Megapixel Video Camera
6 (Left 2, Right 4) x USB 2.0
1 x S/PDIF-out (optical)
1 x HDMI-out (supporting 1080p/1080i signal format)
Expansion 2 x memory slots (1 to configure)
1 x ExpressCard slot
Wireless communication Wireless Technology : Bluetooth™
Compliancy : Wi-Fi™
Network Support : 802.11a/b/g/Draft-N
Wireless Technology : Wireless LAN (802.11a/b/g/Draft-N)
Wired communication topology : international V.92 modem
speed : 56 Kbps data and 14.4 Kbps fax
topology : Gigabit Ethernet LAN
speed : 10BASE-T/100BASE-TX /1000BASE-T
Sound system supported audio format : 24-bit stereo
Supported sound standards : MIDI support
speakers : built-in Harman Kardon® stereo speaker system with 2 x bass reflex speakers, 2 x tweeter speakers and 1 x subwoofer technology
manufacturer : Toshiba Bass Enhanced Sound System with Dolby® Home Theater™
Pointing device type : Dual mode Touchpad
Enhanced Intel® SpeedStep® Technology
integrated 1.3 Megapixel Video Camera for Video over IP
integrated microphone for Voice over IP
Multimedia Bar with 6 Easy Keys (Internet Browser, CD/DVD launcher, Play/Pause, Stop, Rewind, Forward)
Microsoft® Windows® HotStart™ for instant-on entertainment
HD Audio support
SM BIOS compliant
I do the obvious things, turn off things I don't need. There are no IRQ conflicts between graphics & usb.
Why doesn't it work properly??????????????
Gary
Inviato Wed 09 Jan 08 @ 4:47 pm
Paz75
you got a sweet machine there m8. just curious though, why did you buy a cheap soundcard?
Inviato Wed 09 Jan 08 @ 10:17 pm
GaryBr
Hi Paz75,
The reason i brought the Maya was it was recommended as being a good solution when i purchased VDJ a year ago.
I don't know much about sound cards. I've tried numerous laptops and sold them till i eventually got this one.
I'd read that a lot of people had good results with the Maya, and i wasn't sure if spending more money would solve my problem.
If i could be sure it would, then i would consider it.
The forums are really useful, but a lot of the information can be conflicting, and at the end of the day, you have to take a gamble on the advice you choose to follow.
The maya has worked ok in every way, apart from the automix glitch when using video.
Do you have any suggestions?
Gary
The reason i brought the Maya was it was recommended as being a good solution when i purchased VDJ a year ago.
I don't know much about sound cards. I've tried numerous laptops and sold them till i eventually got this one.
I'd read that a lot of people had good results with the Maya, and i wasn't sure if spending more money would solve my problem.
If i could be sure it would, then i would consider it.
The forums are really useful, but a lot of the information can be conflicting, and at the end of the day, you have to take a gamble on the advice you choose to follow.
The maya has worked ok in every way, apart from the automix glitch when using video.
Do you have any suggestions?
Gary
Inviato Thu 10 Jan 08 @ 6:52 am
Paz75
well, id be lying to you if i had a solution and if i said that the maya44 is a crappy card. i dont know it, i only note what i read in the forums. alot of talk goes on about the maya44, seemingly half good/half bad (in terms of how stable vdj is with it). personally i never had any problems with vdj when i bought a machine that is the same class as yours and i use a m-audio audiophile firewire card. i also dont use video so i cant give you help directly.
but i can comment on some things i have noticed in my research as a digital dj over the last year and a half and beyond as a producer:
1) usb audio isnt as good as firewire in a majority of cases. this is often because of the architecture of usb. its a standard that allows (in principle) up to 128 or so decives to be connected together. it uses a chip which governs the connection of each device. firewire, however has a similar chip on each device, rather than at the hub, so it has less latency. in terms of stability, i dont think this is a respective argument, that seems to be more due to design of the device itself.
2) i figure since you'e invested that much on a laptop, you should get something equally good for audio. check out RME, Motu, EMU, or something like that. these companies make midrange professional gear (not like Apogee or Digidesign (although digi also has some medium range boxes which are worth looking at) which are predominantly high-range pro, and often overkill for vdj
3) consider not using firewire or usb at all and go cardbus. this is a device which is physically on your machine's databus and the highest stability and lowest amount of latency possible. all vendors i mentioned make one.
4) high speed drives will also help. you could even go raid 0 as long as you have a suitable backup plan. you do mention you have 320 in 2x160 which would mean you do have raid 0, but just wanted to check.
now... having said all that, i have to warn that the sound card might not even be the issue at all. your videos seem to glitch at a consistent time. maybe it's the way theyre loaded in automix?
have you tried to use different formats? try autmoxing 2 VOB files, and then try mixing 2 really light mpeg files which are only a few meg each?
at this point you need to try an isolate what the problem could be:
-purely video problem (do you have SLI?)
-disk underread problem (highly doubt it if you are on raid0)
-audio interleave problem between video and audio devices
It's only a software problem when someone confirms that they have tried the exact same test and can reproduce it. Unfrotunatley around here, you get a lot of kids who like to blame the software immediately and expect the devs to fix it, which is unrealistic.
i will do some of my own tests today and get back, see if i can see the same thing... ive never used video though so dont know how much help i can be, but seems easy enough to try.
but i can comment on some things i have noticed in my research as a digital dj over the last year and a half and beyond as a producer:
1) usb audio isnt as good as firewire in a majority of cases. this is often because of the architecture of usb. its a standard that allows (in principle) up to 128 or so decives to be connected together. it uses a chip which governs the connection of each device. firewire, however has a similar chip on each device, rather than at the hub, so it has less latency. in terms of stability, i dont think this is a respective argument, that seems to be more due to design of the device itself.
2) i figure since you'e invested that much on a laptop, you should get something equally good for audio. check out RME, Motu, EMU, or something like that. these companies make midrange professional gear (not like Apogee or Digidesign (although digi also has some medium range boxes which are worth looking at) which are predominantly high-range pro, and often overkill for vdj
3) consider not using firewire or usb at all and go cardbus. this is a device which is physically on your machine's databus and the highest stability and lowest amount of latency possible. all vendors i mentioned make one.
4) high speed drives will also help. you could even go raid 0 as long as you have a suitable backup plan. you do mention you have 320 in 2x160 which would mean you do have raid 0, but just wanted to check.
now... having said all that, i have to warn that the sound card might not even be the issue at all. your videos seem to glitch at a consistent time. maybe it's the way theyre loaded in automix?
have you tried to use different formats? try autmoxing 2 VOB files, and then try mixing 2 really light mpeg files which are only a few meg each?
at this point you need to try an isolate what the problem could be:
-purely video problem (do you have SLI?)
-disk underread problem (highly doubt it if you are on raid0)
-audio interleave problem between video and audio devices
It's only a software problem when someone confirms that they have tried the exact same test and can reproduce it. Unfrotunatley around here, you get a lot of kids who like to blame the software immediately and expect the devs to fix it, which is unrealistic.
i will do some of my own tests today and get back, see if i can see the same thing... ive never used video though so dont know how much help i can be, but seems easy enough to try.
Inviato Fri 11 Jan 08 @ 12:06 am
Paz75
ok, so ive tried it myself (i never used it because i dont play music videos and wouldnt have the time to muck about with auxilliary videos at the same time as mix).
i do get something similar. when i have automix on, after the transition is finished, there is a tiny glitch which causes the audio and video to dropout. ive tried a bunch of different transitions and its the same behaviour.
however, i dont think vdj likes my video card and maybe i remember something about nvidia 7950 series somewhere. cant say for sure cuz i dont really pay attention to that. on my projector coming out from the s-video output of my laptop, the desktop flickers behind the video as well. on top of that, the transitions look really wierd where some kind of bar are flashing and it seems the video is not being utilized properly.
i tried mixing by hand instead of automix and the problem gets even worse. as soon as i play a second track without even fading in the video (only the one playing is faded in), the screen starts to overlay two videos with the strange weirdness.
truthfully, im unconcerned because i dont ever intend to do video and if i did, i would use a different machine with my video mixer for a totally different effect and purpose. but i thought i'd try it out to give a hand...
so it seems its a reproducable problem from my side. perhaps its the video hardware?
i should also note that the windowed version doesnt have the problems at all, only outputting to s-video. also to note that have a dual 512mb nvidia 7950gtx which is _not_ in sli mode as you cannot have multiple desktops in sli.
i do get something similar. when i have automix on, after the transition is finished, there is a tiny glitch which causes the audio and video to dropout. ive tried a bunch of different transitions and its the same behaviour.
however, i dont think vdj likes my video card and maybe i remember something about nvidia 7950 series somewhere. cant say for sure cuz i dont really pay attention to that. on my projector coming out from the s-video output of my laptop, the desktop flickers behind the video as well. on top of that, the transitions look really wierd where some kind of bar are flashing and it seems the video is not being utilized properly.
i tried mixing by hand instead of automix and the problem gets even worse. as soon as i play a second track without even fading in the video (only the one playing is faded in), the screen starts to overlay two videos with the strange weirdness.
truthfully, im unconcerned because i dont ever intend to do video and if i did, i would use a different machine with my video mixer for a totally different effect and purpose. but i thought i'd try it out to give a hand...
so it seems its a reproducable problem from my side. perhaps its the video hardware?
i should also note that the windowed version doesnt have the problems at all, only outputting to s-video. also to note that have a dual 512mb nvidia 7950gtx which is _not_ in sli mode as you cannot have multiple desktops in sli.
Inviato Fri 11 Jan 08 @ 12:54 am
davefromlondon
i just had, and fixed the exact same problem........however, the problem emerged while trying to fix another problem. I noticed my videos, once every few minutes, randomly, the video froze like a still photo, for 1 sec, sound played ok, then it fixed it self. hp laptop 2 x 1.5ghz, vista, 5.0 v6 2gb, 255 ded video, 5400hdd sata. NO SOUND CARD, I use the hp expansion port to dock station where I spdif out to digital input on mixer - I'm about to buy a EMU sound box for spdif in audio out - this avoids ANY issues of soundcards on laptop.....so this may indicate the soundcard is not the issue. i switched from favor programs to favor background......i disabled user accounts,.this fixed my video skip but introduced your same sound skip - just when next song title loads on auto mix.........i reversed my changes and clicked 'safe mode' on vdj performance ( so its on preset fastest, auto latency, safe checked, overclock unchecked)
Inviato Fri 11 Jan 08 @ 8:48 am
GaryBr
But i use timecodes. The Safe Check box doesn't do anything in ASIO mode.
Gary
Gary
Inviato Fri 11 Jan 08 @ 9:44 am
