next purchase

[apu]

if you had the choice between the edirol v4 or upgrading your pc to dual processor etc etc so you can pump out dv quality video at 25 fps, what would you do?

i tend to think that although the edirol v4 is the bomb, its not going to increase the quality of a set in terms of res. it allows more flexibility but at the end of the day you are still pumping out granulated loz res.

in my last set i was actually disturbed by the low rez look on a big screen. it looked like crap to be honest.

so i am tending towards upgrading the pc and sticking with the mx10. it does the job and i will end up with sharper looking visuals.

i am trying to stay away from just running video tapes or dvd so i get a 100% live set using pc.

just wondering where other peoples heads are at over the res issue etc etc.

cheers

[holly]

Sounds like you've already made up your mind. I think it's a good choice. I'd go for improving the picture quality over replacing hardware that is working fine. Are you sure the processor upgrade will give you what you want? Have you thought about buying a new computer verses upgrading the old one?

[InfraRed]

What res do you project your visuals at? eg 640x480 or 720x486?

N

[MoRpH]

Actually the MX10 also tends to add some grain to the video. Anyways yeah seems like you have already decided...... ah lost another one to the resolution rat race.

[wellREDman]

bwahahahaha

one day all will be full frame uncompressed PAL


(so speaks the resident res snob )

actually as this is the newbie forum i should really say that yes having nice crisp stuff is definitely the thing to shoot for, but if yr just starting out and arent in a position to be able to eliminate the pixels from yr mix then dont be disheartened.
Jimi Hendrix once said, "there is no such thing as a mistake, only an opportunity to go somewhere else "
turn what you cannot avoid into a feature, work with the pixellation and make it into a part of the style of the mix

i have seen many mixes that have done this even enough to be enjoyed by a hi res snob like me :)

[sleepytom]

what software do you use?

most vj software is incapable of full res playback - even on a fast machine

your video will look much nicer if you spend the money on a new mixer (the mx10 is very very grainy)

also get a really good scanconverter then you can actually use all that loverly resolution

[wellREDman]

yeah i totally agree, the mx10s output is very muddy compared to just about any other mixer out there

and i doubly agree on the scannie front, it really makes a huge difference getting a good scan converter

[apu]

thanks for all the feedback.

i had no idea the mx10 had the issue with the grainy picture but then again its an old beast isn't it. there should be some mixers on the market soon with the edirol being released eh??

because i use a geforce dualhead card it has composite or svhs built in so no scanny reqd as far as i can see.

i was using 320x240 on elektronika to 25fps. rather than go to full dv i might try 640x480 to see what i can get a way with. its such a shame to have dv quality loops reduced down. i am pretty sure a dual AMD 1800xp should start to get where i want it to be.

holly to answer your question. i plan to upgrade the motherboard to a dual proc board and use the existing proc and ram i already have and then purchase another proc and stick of ram. then i am left with a main board with nothing on it but that will have to wait for a tuneup sometime further down the track when budget allows.

its a long slow process with this type of gear.

thanks for the comments again

i am still undecided especially since the mx10 issue is now apparent. even if i get some nice res out of the pc the mx10 is going to let me down everytime.

i guess i have to decide what component is the weakest link in the chain. it looks like the mx10 at the moment.

ciao

[sleepytom]

to get imediatly better looking video you should start using 384x288 clips (ie 1/4 screen PAL) - your source matireal is PAL dv so it will look a lot nicer when reduce it by a half rather than the odd number conversion to 320x240 (much less artifacts) (too stoned to explain why its 384x288 rather than 360x288 - its down to pixel aspect ratio - ask me later )

a good scancoverter like this one (http://www.vjcentral.com/hardware/show/2587) will provide much better quality than your tvout but at a high cost

bear in mind if you're thinking of 2 cpus that they must have the same stepping number (in reality this means that you must of brought them at the same time from the same shop)

also computers get better all the time - if you wait a year or so then dv res and firewire output should be a real possibility - spend your money on the V4 which will retain its value well and get a faster computer a bit later when it will be a much better machine for your money

[krokodril]

You were thinking about getting a dual processor setup, which is nice but besides(in reality this means that you must of brought them at the same time from the same shop)
there is something else you have to keep in mind.
Sounds like you use the computer to play&trigger clips, the workload will not be so big that it justifies a dual processor, remember 25 f/s will just stay 25 f/s even on high resolution.

but you might think about getting a new (fast memory) motherboard...(wont improve your clips, but will do wonders for other live visuals software)

[apu]

its a bit more than just play & trigger as its creating effects in realtime with the loops already running and stuff. nothing is pre rendered except the loops.

i really appreciate all the ideas.

learning heaps just from those alone.

[wellREDman]

if u cant afford the scanny tom mentioned, then in the ?350 range i really cant recommend the corioscan from vine micros,
a good scan converter is a huge difference between the tv output of any gfx cards even the matroxes