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Video Architect Joined: 10 Jul 2004 Posts: 1093

hi folks-

it's beta time!

first of all: the following beta requires tiger, and a machine with a decent (coreimage-capable) graphics card. it's a universal binary, and it runs just fine on intel-based macs. if you try to use it on a machine that doesn't have a fast enough graphics card, clips just won't play back.

if playback is poor, it's probably because your graphics card isn't fast enough. we'll certainly work on improving performance on low-end machines as soon as we're able, but right now the priority is getting all the features working. for the time being, everything is based on coreimage, and the name of the game is fast graphics cards. i know that toby's rev-A imac g5 (nvidia something-something 5200, 64mb) certainly doesn't like this beta, but it seems to fare quite well on 2-year old alumabooks (we've got access to a 1.25 and a 1.5, and they crunch 640x480 clips like nothin'- off the internal drive, no less). macbook pros seem to be able to crunch HD off an external drive. as i'm writing this, dave is telling me that the g5 is crunching two 1280x720 HD files with fx driven by audio analysis. the general consensus so far seems to be that this is exponentially more powerful than the current version of gridpro- we'd love to hear how it runs on your machine, too.

this beta doesn't have a time-out, and doesn't expire. when it launches, it attempts to check to see if an update is available; you do *not* need the internet, this check is purely optional. if it sees that there's a new version available, it'll open a page in a web browser with a list of updates and a link to the new version. downloading the update is optional, but it makes everybody's lives easier if you're not experiencing/reporting bugs we've already fixed. updates will be frequent (no set schedule, but every couple days or so).

here's how it works:
you drag files into the media bin (below where it says "drop files below"). double-click on folders to explore their contents, click on files to trigger them. drag fx from the lists in the "Layer Compositor" window to any fx chain. have fun!

the bugs to watch out for:
- if your external display is above or below your main display, going fullscreen will make your main display go fullscreen. if the external display is to the left or the right of the main screen, everything works properly.
- the only thing that saves at the moment are behavior chains. saving fx chain presets and the contents of the media bin (which will include a whole brace of features that haven't been implemented yet) are coming [very] shortly. this isn't really a bug, but it's inconvenient enough to be worth mentioning.

mostly, this beta is missing features. this is definitely the earliest we've let something go public (this specific app has been in development for just over two weeks), so we ask that you bear with us while we get things up to speed.

here's the beta:
http://www.vidvox.com/download/GridPro_CocoaUB_b1.zip

enjoy!
: : ray

conjgrats on getting the beta out... this is very promising...

on my machine (imac g5 radeon 9600 128MB) I can load clips but triggering them does nothing? nothing appears in preview or fullscreen

so I can't actually do anything with it yet....

Guest

just back from a great gig with mr todd at 7am...and happy happy joy joy theres that promised beta...with a new mac mini in the house as of last week to test it out on...let u know reeeeeeel soon what we think.

way to go viddyvox...on the way to full res realtime, u guys fucking rock.

ok you appear to have resolution issues. loading 320x240 clips works. loading 640x480 clips doesnt seem to work?

coments?

Guest

Machine Model: PowerBook5,4
CPU Type: PowerPC G4 (1.1)
Number Of CPUs: 1
CPU Speed: 1.5 GHz
L2 Cache (per CPU): 512 KB
Memory: 1.25 GB
Bus Speed: 167 MHz
VRAM (Total): 64 MB
Vendor: ATI (0x1002)

so, early results on an old pbook with min ram... interface is slow but the output chugs along with great resolution...its nice having all this stuff right on the gpu... the blend modes are incredibly clean... missing wet/dry on the fx...and being able to turn an fx off without removing from the chain...but i make the assumption that this is a proof of concept and all the obvious things we know and love will be there.. it doesnt like some clip (codec) formats..but i just dragged a bunch of random stuff in there to see what happened...so eskaton... u are an animal too...up at 7am on a sunday and grabbing the grid beta...what did u just get home from a gig too for happy joy joy betalove?

Video Architect Joined: 10 Jul 2004 Posts: 1093

if the clips don't play back, your graphics card isn't up to snuff. it's going to be interesting to see how all the various hardware weighs in; toby's rev-A imac g5 can't play back clips either, my dual-800/9800 does 3-4 streams of DV, and all our alumabooks seem to work fine...

as far as resolution problems, i'm definitely not sure what you're talking about- i've got 320x240, 640x480, 720x480, and 1280x720 clips loaded, and i'm switching back and forth between them like crazy. care to explain what you're experiencing? perhaps a screenshot?

peace
: : ray

yum i knew i stayed awake for 1 reason\.... ill be back
Wink

l1
()

I get playback on a powerbook G4 550 with 16mb video card!
2 movies with 1 effect play fine.

hmmm no out put on the mdd with radeon 9800 as main out put yet..... just white or black on fullscreen

imac 9600 does

Video Architect Joined: 10 Jul 2004 Posts: 1093

hey l!nk-

have you got any other graphics cards in there? i had to take out all my non-coreimage compatible cards (couple radeon 7ks) before the gpu acceleration kicked in...i've got a dual-800 quicksilver with the same card, so it's totally doable...

peace
: : ray

Video Architect Joined: 10 Jul 2004 Posts: 1093

*Last edited by l1nkdna on Sun Mar 26, 2006 6:55 am; edited 1 time in total*

yeah a 64mb radeon 7000 pci as main GUI monitor and rad 9800 as AGp main output

sleep deprevation works...now whres that screw Driver .. Wink

Video Architect Joined: 10 Jul 2004 Posts: 1093

take the 7k out, and let me know how it runs?

pizzle
: : ray

outputs worksing...wondering whats coming ref no 2 card setup or if i have to now split the 128mb down to 2c64 ? Smile

playinf with 640's

only 1 effect per layer ?.. oh i see drag to top or bttom see red line
drop..

*Last edited by l1nkdna on Sun Mar 26, 2006 10:22 am; edited 1 time in total*

MDD g4 dual 867 1.75GB ram 4internals drives to read vids from
running 4x640x640 mjpeg with 1 effect oon each i have split the radeon 9800128Mb intro 2 screens and have the out put screen full screen(itll only go full screen if split to 2 monitors unlike Gp (i kno its early) Smile

but interfaceand FX are on the ball fast so far Fx are pretty instant with out much jerk/stutter on adjustment or implementation..so far ;

.....could seriously do with a save folder Button SOOn especially the amount of times i open and close/break an app having to load folders in evertime during testing is gonna hurt
look sso promising , i like the scalable wondows/fx etc sweet and workable

and are layers going to be tabbed ?

audio analysis works although a little quiet ive got all hardware at max to get a decent signal into me sound card m-audio delta 2496 but its working and so does sound reactive QC pieces like "cities_of_the_future_bm.mov"

and audio analysis makes so much sense now and is easy to visually adjust and semi-understand thnx Smile

Fx...
saturation blend is a HEAVY one ...

Composite modes...
so glad we have theses now i make a lot of random layers art utilising composite modes (withpout knowing abou them 2 deep)

Interface...
would it be possible to have double click to minimise into dock (for the windows) so can sort through quickly (i kno its erly but these things as im sure u kno as a user (in beta test mode) help Smile

but hey if not ill cope..

Scrubing in the Time slider is incredibly responsive