Video Slave 3 - How Stable?

[TrentWilliams]

Hello,

I downloaded the trial of Video Slave 3 to find a more stable video engine than the AVE, but after using it all day i've had a dozen or so hard 'Video Slave 3 Quit Unexpectedly' crashes.

I'm not sure whether its my system, or the software is incompatible with my OS, or I just don't have it set up right.

Any advice or optimisation notes would be helpful.

- T

[tom_lowe]

Originally Posted by Trent W.

Hello,

I downloaded the trial of Video Slave 3 to find a more stable video engine than the AVE, but after using it all day i've had a dozen or so hard 'Video Slave 3 Quit Unexpectedly' crashes.

I'm not sure whether its my system, or the software is incompatible with my OS, or I just don't have it set up right.

Any advice or optimisation notes would be helpful.

- T

Not had any crashes myself here, been using it for several months.

[Marcel Risberg]

Trent, just to make sure ...
When using the trial version, the software automatically quits every 30 minutes as a standard behavior. Could this be what you're experiencing? Or does VS really quit with an error message? (I've never had my VS crash as of yet so I'm a bit surprised.)

Did you copy the app itself to the desktop or Applications folder? You're not running it from the DMG archive are you?

Curious ..

[TrentWilliams]

Hey Marcel,

haha Yeah that's not what I was experiencing, sometimes I can be a bit dense but this is not one of those times.

Yep the application really is hard quitting; 'Video Slave 3 Quit Unexpectedly - Report. Ignore. Relaunch.' It will do it maybe four or five times within a half hour period. Yes, i'm also running it from the Applications folder, i've tried removing it including it's .log, .plist, and cache files then reinstalling it but no luck.

After using it for a couple of days and ignoring the crashes; i'm 50% impressed. Using it as an alternative to AVE; VS3 doesn't playback at half speed, it lags on the first 5 frames after hitting playback, you can't resize the window beyond 50% of the original video size, and video freezes when you hit the full screen (on an ultra wide monitor).

But.

No more AVE hangs.

[tom_lowe]

Originally Posted by Trent W.

Hey Marcel,

haha Yeah that's not what I was experiencing, sometimes I can be a bit dense but this is not one of those times.

Yep the application really is hard quitting; 'Video Slave 3 Quit Unexpectedly - Report. Ignore. Relaunch.' It will do it maybe four or five times within a half hour period. Yes, i'm also running it from the Applications folder, i've tried removing it including it's .log, .plist, and cache files then reinstalling it but no luck.

After using it for a couple of days and ignoring the crashes; i'm 50% impressed. Using it as an alternative to AVE; VS3 doesn't playback at half speed, it lags on the first 5 frames after hitting playback, you can't resize the window beyond 50% of the original video size, and video freezes when you hit the full screen (on an ultra wide monitor).

But.

No more AVE hangs.

The not playing back at 50% and the lag are down to the fact it uses MTC. You also can't loop which is something I miss the most, but until AVE gets better (if it ever does), VideoSlave is the way to go, especially if you want to use Blackmagic or AJA hardware without genlock.

[amiller]

Originally Posted by tom_lowe

The not playing back at 50% and the lag are down to the fact it uses MTC. You also can't loop which is something I miss the most, but until AVE gets better (if it ever does), VideoSlave is the way to go, especially if you want to use Blackmagic or AJA hardware without genlock.

I've been using it for a couple weeks now. Used to use video satellite on an older PT system. I've experienced at least a dozen crashes. On the plus side, it is quick to force quit and restart it up.

Actually there is a way to make it loop. Look on the knowledgebase for that answer on their website. I have yet to try it as I have been really busy since I got it up and running after a studio upgrade. Haven't had too much time to "play" yet.

Yes, the lag time on startup is annoying.

I am using an Aja Kona 3G on a separate video computer. There seems to be no way to save the display offset in milliseconds. Something I am going to write to Flo about who is pretty responsive about suggestions and help.

Another quirk is not being able to "close" a session and bring up a new window. You have to just create a new playlist.

If you have to set an offset as I do for your monitor setup, then you need to take the offset off in order to do frame by frame nudging. Not good for placing Fx or matching Dx/ADR. So far my workaround is to have the video handy in the actual session as well.

I like it, but I don't love it as of now. I think Flo will continue to make improvements however.

[tom_lowe]

Originally Posted by amiller

Actually there is a way to make it loop. Look on the knowledgebase for that answer on their website. I have yet to try it as I have been really busy since I got it up and running after a studio upgrade. Haven't had too much time to "play" yet.

Yes, but it's not as simple as putting PT in Loop Playback or record, VS3 has to control Pro Tools and they advise sync can drift overtime. If Pro Tools sent MTC correctly this wouldn't be an issue! I was over simplifying, as getting it to loop isn't that easy.

[dr sound]

Originally Posted by tom_lowe

Yes, but it's not as simple as putting PT in Loop Playback or record, VS3 has to control Pro Tools and they advise sync can drift overtime. If Pro Tools sent MTC correctly this wouldn't be an issue! I was over simplifying, as getting it to loop isn't that easy.

But it is essential as is sync. Loop and sync, the two basic fundamentals
of Post Sound Mixing. Everything else is an added extra.
Get the basics right and I'm interested. Make it faster, better and repeatable and you have a winner. Compromise the essentials and I'm not interested.

[tom_lowe]

Originally Posted by dr sound

But it is essential as is sync. Loop and sync, the two basic fundamentals
of Post Sound Mixing. Everything else is an added extra.
Get the basics right and I'm interested. Make it faster, better and repeatable and you have a winner. Compromise the essentials and I'm not interested.

Sync is absolutely rock solid, far better than AVE. It's just looping has to be controlled by VS3 rather than Pro Tools. I remember reading somewhere that the looping can go out of sync over time, however I can't find that now, so may have imagined it.

All I can say is give it a try, especially those who have issues with video in Pro Tools.

[Frank Kruse]

Originally Posted by tom_lowe

Sync is absolutely rock solid, far better than AVE.

I can not confirm this.

F.