Serato Video General Discussion

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 Serato Video General Discussion
How Did Your NYE Gigs go with VSL?
Talk about Serato Video and Video-SL.

How Did Your NYE Gigs go with VSL?

nik39 3:46 PM - 1 January, 2009
So.. I've been playing with videos for at least the 6 months, no issues. I tried hard to prepare some more good videos for NYE, encoded stuff in the last weeks, .. well prepared I'd say.

And then this happens! I reencoded DJ BIGWIZ's NYE clip, put it on my USB stick. At the club I attached this stick to the USB hub, where the ext. drive with videos and the Trigger Finger was connected to. I had to push the stick hard, since the stick was a bit wider than usual and then all the trouble began. I realized how copying the files from the stick to the drive was veeery slow, so I aborted the process. Started copying to my desktop first - quick, no delay. So it can't be the stick. Copied from desktop to ext drive. Sloooow. Since this is a NTFS drive and I was using NTFS-3G I thought maybe that was crappying up. Restarted the Mac, same issue. Restarted again drive not detected at all. Fired up Windows in Parallels (took yeaaars) to check the drive, drive had not problems. Plugged back into OSX - some cryptic error message from NTFS-3G. So I thought maybe I should update my NTFS-3G - restarted, again new problems. Some dyld loading problem on OSX. In the meantime I started my PC Notebook to check the drive natively. No issues. Then I realized the new NTFS-3G problems were due to the fact it required a new MacFuse version. Rolled back NTFS-3G ... and see after a restart things seem to work.

Nice!!! 20 minutes to 12, just in time. I am getting ready to import the clips (incl. the one from BigWiz).. then suddenly the music stops playing. Waveforms are still visible.. Everything seems to run. I suspected a problem with the soundsystem, the owner was luckily behind the bar, and fired up his iPod, then I realized... OSX reported the drive has been ejected. That resulted in the videos not being able to be played. I suspected a dodgy USB cable. Ran to my car, got the replacement cable, ran back. But things still didnt work.

Fuck it, no videos. I'll play audio only. In the meantime I realized that the Trigger Finger also didn't work... This led me to think that the USB hub (where I squeezed in the USB stick) was the problem. Disconnected the HUB, plugged in the external drive and the drive was detected properly. But I was too scared that the drive will crap up again. Decided to play audio only. Of course all this hectic actions, and problems didn't make my set any better. Was not very fun at the beginning. No video at 12o'clock. Not a biggie.

Anyway, later that night (after I made sure that the drive did not disconnect itself anymore) I gave it a try again, and it worked. However, this was still a great NYE, good music, nice people (appreciating the music), my lady, friends... private after party. Awesome :-)))

HAPPY NEW YEAR

How did your NYE go?
lvmez 4:22 PM - 1 January, 2009
vsl 3 hours, no problems. worked great. i used bigwiz's NYE intro too. i had pre-loaded it into itunes. worked fine.
DjFelixFresh 4:27 PM - 1 January, 2009
Wow, that sounds like that sucked. Good to hear the crowd and bar did not get upset. Everything went well for me. Thanks again to Wiz for that video clip.
nik39 4:55 PM - 1 January, 2009
Quote:
Good to hear the crowd and bar did not get upset.

Yeah, it was just this one dropout - I was lucky though. Missing videos was not such an issue, the crowd did not notice. They danced. Gotta rethink my backup play, however.
Funkytownstopsix 4:57 PM - 1 January, 2009
say Nik some FYI with any drive that in insert into a Mac you have to eject it or you could damage the drive or the data on it. Your not to pull it out so eject through osx...Even though I don't think it was your problem glad it worked out for you....
nik39 5:25 PM - 1 January, 2009
Yeah, that is the problem. I suspect now that the dodgy usb hub was causing intermittent connection, which resulted in possible corruption. Maybe.
djchrischip 6:39 PM - 1 January, 2009
lvmez where were u 4 new years eve doing video?
djchrischip 6:40 PM - 1 January, 2009
sry 2 hear about ur nye experience nik39, hope u figure out the problem easily and that it isn't too hard 2 fix.
VJ Elite 6:41 PM - 1 January, 2009
My first time on the road with Serato and all I have to say is "F__K VIRTUAL DJ" I am sold. I did 2 parties. The firsrt one I went to I used Virtual for convenience. It crashed on me made me look dumb. I got so used to Serato that I didnt feel the vibe...I didnt feel like a DJ...like I was working. I got to the second party at about 215 and kept everyone there til 6 with Serato. I am impressed. I love it. No more virtual for me. May use it to run effects/visuals.
Demon 7:50 PM - 1 January, 2009
I've had similar situations happen with my USB Hub's. I'm yet to find a reliable one that doesn't loose its power the more USB's you plug into it or just stop working all together.
a-swift 8:17 PM - 1 January, 2009
Flawless NYE with VSL, as always.

Nik39, when will people learn not to use externals with Serato. Anybody who tells me I have never had a problem with an external drive, I just tell them they haven't been doing it long enough. It WILL fuck up on you, and usually at the worst time possible. Just say no to externals.
Demon 8:38 PM - 1 January, 2009
Yeah when will all of you external HD Searto users learn. Oh wait I'm one of them. I use an External because all my vidz won't fit on a 500 gig internal with all my audio as well. I do a lot of quick mixes so I like to have a large selection of videos to choose from. I've NEVER had an issue with an external HD at a live gig but I probably haven't been doing this long enough so I'm just waiting for my shit to crash at the worst possible time.
a-swift 8:48 PM - 1 January, 2009
the worst case of when will they learn was a guy a know who does serato from one of those apple wireless hard drives. yes, a wireless hard drive.

the first time i saw him play the music stopped 3 times in one night. wireless resets or whatever.

i'm serious. a wireless hard drive at a gig. music stopping, complete silence at random times throughout the night.
nik39 9:55 PM - 1 January, 2009
Quote:
Nik39, when will people learn not to use externals with Serato.

C'mon, you know me better than that :-) I absolutely agree, you should not use ext. drives.

But... my videos simply do not fit onto the internal drive. I don't think that even with the new 500GB it would fit. But I guess that's the next thing I will check.

Problem is.. the new 2.5" 500GB drives produce a lot of heat, and they are not very robust from what I have read. AFAIk they simply have more drive platters than the previous generation. The more drive platters you pack in the higher the risk of failing due to heat, space etc. :-( Trade off.
a-swift 10:15 PM - 1 January, 2009
true, all my videos won't fit on my laptop either. this is the reason i keep a "fairly" tight list of videos and mp3 on my laptop. my 320GB is pushing maximum density though for sure. i could probablt trim it up a bit even more too.

but i will tell ya, it sucks to look for a video that you know you have but it's not on your laptop. and like i've said before, i HAVE used externals at the gig before to transfer a file to my laptop while I'm spinning with serato. i've never had a probably doing that,.. i am just way against using an external to play files directly from the external in serato.
DJ-Phat-AL 10:54 PM - 1 January, 2009
I personally haven't had problem ONE (knock on wood) with using my external firewire800 bus powered 2.5" drive for all my videos. Not sure if it is because of firewire800 or what... but it works flawless.

My NYE at the palazzo was ok. I was what was the old 40/40 club. It is now the sports book for the Palazzo. It is beautiful but hard to find easily in the hotel. over 70 screens!! 5 private rooms with screens and pool tables and stand up arcade games in the rooms. Stadium seating with massive projection screen. .... unfortunately the majority of people were right outside watching all the action of the strip. The jumps, the fireworks, etc.

VLS worked great for the 6 hours I played!
And I will be there til saturday doing the same thing 6 hours each night with VSL.

One thing I noticed is the difference in quality. This the first time I used a VGA output to do video with VSL. The other venues have had composite. WOW what a difference especially with all the plasmas!
mizu 2:36 AM - 2 January, 2009
Also my first night out with VSL. 2 hours solid mixing vidz. 7 hours outside my set playing custom loop animations of company logos and flyer promotion. No glitches, No dropouts. First time running serato on leopard as well. Ran to 2 20 inch monitors, a 52" LCD 1080p, and a 152" projection. The crowd went crazy. I was lucky enough to have a crowd that had never seen a video mix show. Had heard in the past a lot of people do not dance and just watch the video, but this was not the case. The production company got tons of compliments, and told me that they wanted me back first chance they got. Success never felt so good.
Jay Sol 10:48 AM - 2 January, 2009
nye was good for me. i didn't have any problems. did video from 9pm-3am here in Honolulu at an exclusive VIP party hosted by Reggie Miller. it was pretty kool.

on the topic of externals, i've been using serato regularly since February 2005 and i must say, i've never had any problems occur while using the program. almost all of my drive crashes have been my fault. i've dropped 3 of the 4 externals that i lost. my current setup consists of a 500GB bus powered fw800 drive that i use for video and audio and am yet to have a problem with. as mentioned before, i dont have enough space on my laptop for all my audio and video and i like to keep the drive on my serato machine as empty as possible, just a personal thing.

i unno, everyone has their beliefs, some people have more luck than others in the world of external drives.
DJ DisGrace 3:22 PM - 2 January, 2009
Quote:
Flawless NYE with VSL, as always.

Nik39, when will people learn not to use externals with Serato. Anybody who tells me I have never had a problem with an external drive, I just tell them they haven't been doing it long enough. It WILL fuck up on you, and usually at the worst time possible. Just say no to externals.


+10000000000

Just playing audio this NYE but about anhour in my drive just choked! Retarted my Mac, and played files off the internal drive. Got greedy and tried reloading the same drive - lasted about 20 minutes and just hung up - colored wheel of death.... had to hold on/off until the laptop rebooted....

So for the first time in 2 years, I played some vinly while I moved crate files around on my back up drive... ALWAYS BRING A BACK UP DRIVE!
DJ Lil Vito 5:40 PM - 2 January, 2009
VSL, 5 hours smooth as BUTTER baby! After 1 o'clock my mixing was sloppy (drunk), but all is good. Here are some vidz from NYE at my spot:

Watchwww.youtube.com

Watchwww.youtube.com

Watchwww.youtube.com
DjSatuRn 5:45 PM - 2 January, 2009
I've been using an external since the plugin came out.The only time I had a problem was when the power went out on it(BASS). Other then that it has worked great. It's a 1TB FW800.
DJ Lil Vito 6:00 PM - 2 January, 2009
I use a 2.5" 500GB FW800 external that uses BUS power and (knock on wood) have no problems ever.
DjWoody 11:22 PM - 2 January, 2009
I did a latin night. It was definitely off the hook.

No problems with Video SL whatsoever. :) Only minor problem was some drunk ass idiot who kept on asking me to play some hip hop song on the middle of my spanish rock set. I told him NO! And he got pist off. He kept bitching most of the night until he finally shows up with a stack of money and trying to pay me to play it. I had security kick him out of the DJ booth!
Jay Sol 2:38 AM - 3 January, 2009
i checked out my NYE venue the day before to make sure i was good to go. they only had CDJ's and a DJM 800.

there video setup was all HDMI. i didn't have the time to go pick up the MDP to HDMI adapter but luckily they had a HDMI dvd player hooked up and it had composite inputs. i was able to rock my video set and it looked aight.
Jay Sol 2:40 AM - 3 January, 2009
btw, i meant to mention that i brought my 1200's and 57 cause i hadn't spun on CDJ's in years and didnt wanna wing it for such an important event.
Dj K.Smith 3:52 AM - 3 January, 2009
Went really well... Videos from 7pm until about 12:30am... Everything from classic rock to hip hop to pop to country... It was a tough night as it was an older, affluent white crowd, but once the majority of them left the remaining minorities and I enjoy some music from 2000 and after, lol...
Dj K.Smith 3:53 AM - 3 January, 2009
*enjoyed
djnak 5:24 AM - 3 January, 2009
Ran video flawlessly from 10:30 to 2:45 for the first time out killed I might add Why oh why did I spend so much time trying to figure out vdj in the past I couldnt even get it to run good at home and vsl was as easy as install add videos and it was good
marknonsense1 7:53 AM - 5 January, 2009
Quote:
I use a 2.5" 500GB FW800 external that uses BUS power and (knock on wood) have no problems ever.


The My Passport Studio? The Only thing I don't like about it is the cables are not long enough. . . A 500Gb Internal would be more then enough to hold all vidz and music needed for a gig ( If you only use it for gigs that is)

westerndigital.com
a-swift 5:41 PM - 5 January, 2009
Quote:
Quote:
I use a 2.5" 500GB FW800 external that uses BUS power and (knock on wood) have no problems ever.


The My Passport Studio? The Only thing I don't like about it is the cables are not long enough. . . A 500Gb Internal would be more then enough to hold all vidz and music needed for a gig ( If you only use it for gigs that is)

westerndigital.com


you don't need a long cable dawg, just velcro the whole drive to the backside of your screen like dirtbag_filthy does!
mizu 5:58 PM - 5 January, 2009
lol
Jay Sol 11:53 PM - 5 January, 2009
lol, yeah, i got that one. i been meaning to get a longer cable but i haven't really needed one. my laptop stand fits it nicely and when i use my whole setup, i have enough room on my laptop stand to fit it on the back.

a 500gb internal would be enough but my internal is only 320 and i really dont want too much crap on my internal. i'd much rather stream off an external at 800mbps.
DjFelixFresh 1:43 AM - 6 January, 2009
Ha! I using a 1.5TB drive no issues yet! (Crosses fingers). I spin at strip clubs so I have a huge music and video library.

**sorry to Nik39 we seemed to have hijacked this thread**
DjFelixFresh 1:44 AM - 6 January, 2009
I meant to say I am using a 1.5TB drive. Because I spin at both Nightclubs and a few stripclubs.
marknonsense1 2:51 AM - 6 January, 2009
Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
I use a 2.5" 500GB FW800 external that uses BUS power and (knock on wood) have no problems ever.


The My Passport Studio? The Only thing I don't like about it is the cables are not long enough. . . A 500Gb Internal would be more then enough to hold all vidz and music needed for a gig ( If you only use it for gigs that is)

westerndigital.com


you don't need a long cable dawg, just velcro the whole drive to the backside of your screen like dirtbag_filthy does!


Velcro doesn't sound like a bad idea. . . (Not on the back of my screen. . . lol) but maybe on the bottom.
StevenWayne 6:06 AM - 6 January, 2009
damm nik, thats some serious stuff. i would've panic'd and just left my set and went home and got drunk. good to see things worked out though.

my video nye went great. i'm with swift, no external for me, too risky.
VJ Elite 1:36 PM - 6 January, 2009
I have been using external for years...no issues.
DJ Sound Technique 3:51 AM - 7 January, 2009
Quote:
Quote:
Nik39, when will people learn not to use externals with Serato.

C'mon, you know me better than that :-) I absolutely agree, you should not use ext. drives.

But... my videos simply do not fit onto the internal drive. I don't think that even with the new 500GB it would fit. But I guess that's the next thing I will check.

Problem is.. the new 2.5" 500GB drives produce a lot of heat, and they are not very robust from what I have read. AFAIk they simply have more drive platters than the previous generation. The more drive platters you pack in the higher the risk of failing due to heat, space etc. :-( Trade off.



I have been rocking externals since I first started using serato with no issues at all. The only thing that happened is if 2 djs hook up externals, the one not in use sometimes goes to sleep and would cause a freeze for a bit while it wakes up when loading tracks but I played 6 hrs new years rocking all videos with no issues at all.
DJ Lil Vito 4:33 AM - 7 January, 2009
Nah, I use the Lacie rugged HD with the orange rubber around it. Rock solid.
andrew b 10:10 PM - 7 January, 2009
lil vito, is that a crooklyn clan track i hear you are playing in your youtube vid?? hahah jk.

i lost faith in my 750gb wd studio hd with the firewire 800 i had a crash on that, =( (at a gig ouch) so i went out and bought a hitachi internal 320gb 7200 rpm with an enclosure, firewire 400 and NO PROBLEMO BABY, ROCK SOLID! (knock on wood) i would recommend this to anyone
Jay Sol 9:25 AM - 8 January, 2009
i'm gonna pick up 2 more 500GB studio (fw800 powered). format one for mac and clone my regular drive and format one fat32 in case i need to use it on a pc. i have a backup of all my music on 2 separate externals so i'm not too worried if the one i have now crashes. i got all my data. it will only inconvenience me but i have no problem with that.
lvmez 1:11 PM - 8 January, 2009
get (2) terabytes for video. they fill up quickly.
marknonsense1 12:07 AM - 9 January, 2009
Quote:
i'm gonna pick up 2 more 500GB studio (fw800 powered). format one for mac and clone my regular drive and format one fat32 in case i need to use it on a pc. i have a backup of all my music on 2 separate externals so i'm not too worried if the one i have now crashes. i got all my data. it will only inconvenience me but i have no problem with that.



I think that's doing to much but more power to u. . . . I would get a a 1TB Studio for 159 as the back up. . . And as far as a DeeJayin on a PC I just wouldn't do it. . . lol Not cause I don't like PC but cause I don't even F**k with them. Mac or I don't Dj @ all. . . May be why I'm always home <--haha

store.westerndigital.com
itchie 3:25 AM - 10 January, 2009
Quote:
i'm gonna pick up 2 more 500GB studio (fw800 powered). format one for mac and clone my regular drive and format one fat32 in case i need to use it on a pc. i have a backup of all my music on 2 separate externals so i'm not too worried if the one i have now crashes. i got all my data. it will only inconvenience me but i have no problem with that.


this is basicaly what i got going on except they're TB drives. i use a mac for VSL and PC to edit and capture mixes. all new edits go on the mac (journaled) drive and everything (fat32) gets backed-up from there. i actually have three harddrives, all the same, Scratchlive Folders and everything. but i also have a tsunami, earthquake and zombie take-over plan...
marknonsense1 4:35 AM - 10 January, 2009
lol
Jay Sol 10:22 AM - 10 January, 2009
LOL!! i haven't thought too much about the zombies but i live on an island so i have a tsunami plan and we are a volcanic state so i have an earthquake plan.

i do however have an alien invasion plan. bet you wanna know what that includes. lol.
dj vmb 9:55 PM - 14 January, 2009
Quote:
most video systems I have plugged into are composite video with an RCA connector.

this is the one thing about the macbook pro that i love though. for about $40 in extras, you get:

DVI
HDMI
S-Video
Composite Video
VGA

I mean, other than component video, I'm pretty much ready for whatever they have there. Reminds me I do need to start keeping some bnc > rca adaptoids in my bag.


I spun at a club in Houston that had around 6 big LCD screens and one projector that projected on to an entire wall. I was pretty happy with the layout...until I get there. The whole system was connect threw COMPONET!!! That’s the only thing I didn't have.

I had to plug in with video rca's manually to only two TV’s on the stage because that all the wire extensions I had. Other than that, it went pretty good.
a-swift 11:16 PM - 14 January, 2009
I have this same problem at a new place I just picked up. 50 plasmas, all component HD switcher in the rack. Looks like I have to get a transcoder. Sigh.
nik39 11:18 PM - 14 January, 2009
<noob-question> Doesn't VGA carry the component signals?
D-Twizzle 12:01 AM - 15 January, 2009
no, you need to get something like this www.svideo.com
radio shack also has something similar for $60. vga in, component, s-video and rca/composite output.
a-swift 1:01 AM - 15 January, 2009
Quote:
<noob-question> Doesn't VGA carry the component signals?


i used to think this too, since VGA is compatible mostly with RGB equipment and the connectors look the same. 3 RCA conectors. But the signaling is different for component video.
Culprit 7:22 AM - 15 January, 2009
i freakin hate s-video quality tho.... how can u guys stand it? it gets blurry after 1024x768..

i usually run my videos at 640x480 tho, but still using the dvi, its soooo clear
Culprit 7:41 AM - 15 January, 2009
smartvm.com

not bad for the price, anyone have any experience with this unit or can recommend something similar?
itchie 10:10 AM - 15 January, 2009
I have a Gefen DVI Cat-5 entender and a Gefen VGA Cat-5 extender. I love them both. Gefen=Quality.
a-swift 6:34 PM - 15 January, 2009
Macbook pro video out is native DVI. doesn't need any other connectors.
Culprit 10:02 PM - 15 January, 2009
yah that would work fine.
a-swift 10:30 PM - 15 January, 2009
My Tv has DVI input directly. He probably is going into a switcher at the club that has DVI input. DVI out of the MacBook pro is also compatible with HDMI signaling so a cheap DVI to HDMI cable will allow you to connect via HDMI. I know your TV has HDMI.