CasablancaForum.us

I am running some test on my newly acquired RenderBooster. I am not getting the super speed rendering that I anticipated on SD to DVD projects. However, when I try to check the installation and operation of the RB, I see conflicting information. Specifically when rendering SD DVDs, the instructions say that I should see the 2 indicator light flashing alternately. What I am seeing is one blue light staying on and the other red light flashing rapidly. Which is correct? I don't find any category of 1 light on constantly and the other flashing anywhere in the written materials furnished. To check the installation, I turned off the S4k Pro to remove the RB, delete the RB software and see if it updates as advertised and then reactivate and see if I get the described sequence of flashing lights and additional rendering speed. First test was with a 121 minute edited file which rendered in 67 minutes on Medium quality and 58 minutes on low quality after deleting the 1st add film and then adding again on low setting. I can't really continue with the test as the S4kP will not restart after sitting for an hour. Anyone know what the current light flashing sequence is for correct rendering of the RB?

I have extensive experience with RB. As long as one light is flashing and the other is static, all is well. Some units may have a blue light. Mine is Green.


The timing you described appears to be faster than real time. RB really shines for HD. The sequence flashes during the rendering process and of course the word. "RENDERBOOSTER" appears in ARABESK. '

Thanks Lou, I was hoping for a little faster rendering than 2X, but 2X will equal 2 Renomee Pluses rendering at real time. I asked the light flashing question since the RB flashing lights sequence did not match the info shipped with the RenderBooster. Therefore I did not know if it was functioning correctly. By the way, if you decide to reinstall the RenderBooster software, don't look for it on the "All Software" disc. It's on the Bogart 5.XX software disc. I will try rendering one more time with no RenderBooster to get a sense of speed difference using the same project. Also, to check the image quality of Medium vs Low settings using RB.

So, Bob, are you saying that RenderBooster is not that big of a plus until you fully upgrade to working in the 1080 formats (have a S6000 & I love the Bogart 5 so far)? Sigh, poor me, still working in SD, as in 2000 model DVcam cameras, (although, I am getting closer to buying a EX-3 with 2 32GB S X S cards, batteries and extra lenses). My market hasn't screamed for HD yet... but it is coming soon.

BTW, SD on my S6000 system is not that slow, allows me to get a fresh cup of coffee and have a quick bath room break...

Obviously rendering is a much bigger problem when working with huge HD files than when using SD files. For me, SD files can consume a LOT of time. I have one customer that required about 200 hours of render/add film time last year. By splitting my acquisition onto 2 hard drives and using 2 Renommee Plus units to render/add film at once, I was effectively able to reduce the 200 man hours to 100 actual hours or about 2 1/2 weeks worth of work saved.

The Renommee units are getting a little long in the tooth and I would like to move on to my gen III unit, a S4000 Pro editor.
Early OS software was not a whole lot better than the Reno Plus. After acquiring the RenderBooster, I tried conducting a comparison test. The file is a 121 minute DV video that has been split into 18 sections. 7 are animated background title files totaling about 40 seconds. 4 are 7 seconds long ea. with an animated lower thirds title graphics for speaker identification. The rest are plain scenes. There are 16 - 1/2 second cross fades. A fairly plane vanilla project.

The Renommee Plus takes 121 minutes to render/add film for the project with compressed audio.
S4kP with OS 5.6 Arabesk 5 no RenderBooster takes 85 minutes to render/add film for the project with compressed audio.
S4KP with OS 5.6 Arabesk 5 RenderBooster Med video quality takes 66 minutes to render/add film w/compressed audio.
S4KP with OS 5.6 Arabesk 5 RenderBooster Low video quality takes 58 minutes to render/add film w/compressed audio.

Video image quality looked pretty much the same on a Sony 850 line CRT 14 inch monitor when playing. Paused or still image had slightly more artifacts on the RenderBooster Low quality setting to my eyes. Bottom line, the RenderBooster makes the S4000 Pro a viable substitute for using 2 Renommee Pluses. I would opt for the Medium video vs Low for the difference in image quality even if takes a few minutes longer. Unlike the 600% to 1200% reported speed increase for HD, the 40% to 80% increase for SD video (85 min vs 66 min vs 58 min) is below my expectations but significant. YMMV

Hey Bob !! those 121 dv test was STANDARD right?

Yep!

The whole "RenderBooster" theme reporting bugs while rendering for Arabesk outputs
is haunting the German MacroSystem Support Forum almost every day since the release of RBs.
I really can't tell you how many different experiences have been posted.
It seems there are 2 or 3 different versions of the RB having been released.
Some having green or blue leds for featuring the switched ON position.
Some of the RBs do work as they should while other RBs will quit rendering after some time
and were sent back to receive a new one.
Rendering a film in standard definition seems to end in serious trouble because of sudden stops in rendering.
There also seems to be a big problem since the RB will extremely heat up and then quits it's normal operation.

Hey Hans !!! thank for the update,I have a cassie friend that is testing the RB,so for HD render from ARABESK
is more stable than SD? my only concern is that the PRICE is hight for what you get,why not invest in faster
processors like 3.2GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 or i7 ? I think this will increase the power of future generation
of Casablanca editor,or maybe I am wrong ?.....

Hi Franklin,

yes, rendering HD for Arabesk Blu-ray is more stable than SD.
MS won't invest in faster processors because of more noisy heatsink problems.
This was the answer to the same question you just have asked.