4000 problems

[methuenbill]

Just unpacked ad set up my new 4000. The product would never have left my company in the condition it was shipped. The cover was not completely on the unit (the front left was sticking up and left an 1/8 gap into the unit) I can live with this. The installation instructions were poor at best. (I write installation instuctions for field installation of equipment) The first thing the unit asked for was for me to select a country ( no USA listed) I continued with no country and continued following the user hardware manual. I attemped to load a video in to the unit. The picture recording on the tv kept skipping and jumping ahead with the audio out of sync. It played back ok though, but this was annoying as I hoped all was loading well. I got one tape to play through and started on the second when the unit just shut down in the middle of the tape. I restarted the unit again and the tape play through that point ok. When it got to the end of the tape it shut down and said the machine was inproperly shut down please shut down correctly. I did notice that when I did an auto split it was fast. I reloaded the Bogart software but no change. I loaded a third tape only to have it freeze and lock up again. Maybe the unit doesn't like the Sony VX 2100. I hope to figure out the bugs so I can start to make money with the unit but for now I will continue to use my Avio. If I had known there was this many problems to be fixed I would have waited to order.

[Jeanton]

Hi Bill

I Also have had lots of problems with the machine shutting down with the slightest glitch. My experience is that don't import footage and let the tape fully run out or it will freeze up (put some extra footage on the tape and stop it manually or use the timer) and sometimes when it froze up the footage that just recorded in was lost and I had to do it again. And Bill it is pretty normal when you record your footage in that it looks shaky but it will all be fine when you start editing. I was also dissapointed when I turned the machine on and it was just another editing machine. I mean not loaded with the features Jorge showed us the utube video's but they are working on it and will come shortly I believe. All in all it is a very fast machine and quite (exept when you burn a DVD it is very noisy) with supurb picture quality and my old trusty Avio was getting a bit slow (what can you expect after 7 years extensive usage).Hopefully with the next update the machine is much more reliable as we all know from Macrosystems(all problems have been adressed to our Australian distributor and past on to Germany).

Regards

Jeanton

[TimKennelly]

Yeah, there are certainly a fair amount of rough edges on it still.

Some of the main things I have noticed is don't pull the plug unless nothing else works.

Try the three fingered salute first and give it a couple of seconds to react and one second after the LED screen goes dark before pushing the on button again.

If that does not work hold the power and Ok buttons for a couple of seconds at the same time and give it the same one second period after it shuts down before powering back up again.

I have never liked the stupid warning that we powered down incorrectly and wish that would be replaced with "Dang, sorry about that dude !".

I am looking forward to the next update and hoping that will fix most of them, not to mention give us the functionality that Jörg showed us at the March Get Together.

[chetdavis]

Bill,

First of all I apologize as it sounds like your new S-4000 unit was mis-treated in shipping. We do not let any of these units leave our warehouse in Boulder in that condition.

Regarding the importing process - I assume you are importing SD footage into an SD project. There is a known issue that you should monitor your recording and either click stop to end the recording or set the Timer in the Record menu for a finite length of time to ensure your recording is concluded. The system does not like to just have the tape end or the recording end. Part of the reason is the new higher performance demands more out of the unit and it can be seen to be a little more finicky than earlier models. Also, as the 2nd post mentions - if you have any footage that is less than stable, with breaks in the footage, etc. you should carefully monitor your import process.

As to the additional features of the massive new import and export options - those are coming as Tim pointed out. You can read more about them at the bottom of this thread: viewtopic.php?f=14&t=444

While I agree with Tim that there remain some additional issues for improvement on the new S4000 product line I also wish to point out that I am truly enjoying the speed of the new system, the ability to monitor with such high resolution and the other smaller benefits of the S-4000/Bogart SE OS. I have completed several projects on my S-4000 PRO and I too look forward to the additional capabilities in the coming weeks and months!

Regards,
Chet

[methuenbill]

Which country should I pick? The unit still locks after startup. It occasionally will get past startup but locks when i get to the edit window.

[erictomakin]

I posted a message earlier but never got posted...I must have failed to click "submit".

Anyway, my major question was how to burn BD to the internal Blu-Ray drive. Supplemental manual suggests to do this on the System Settings (Arabesk is apparently functional for SD burns only). Where is the function to do this? On the Finish page, it brings up icon for "Record to VCR", but none for the internal drive. Incidentally, after rendering HDV material, if you click the arrow key on the right, it shuts down the system. It's cyclic, so its not just an erratic incidence. I have not tried archiving it to tape using the DV controls.

I have used the Force quit method ("OK" and "Power") after multiple locks, and rebooting or unplugging the power cord on the back up to 30 minutes (when unit is "OFF...to clear residual circuit activity I guess). It's fortunate that the Casablanca Systems, in all its models from the classic and on.... "never" (in my experience) lost an active project. It's always there waiting for you to resume work after being "scolded" for not shutting unit off properly...guilty or otherwise.

I have not been able to burn DVDs for my "anxious" clients yet. I tried burning a project on the SD mode through Arabesk and it took hours to render up to the point where it just froze. I had to force-quit to stop it again. My only option right now is to export it out from the S-Video to a DVD recorder. NOTE: The S-Video will become ineffective when you change screen settings...i.e: a dual DVI/HDMI monitor combination. It will re-activate after you shift it back to analog, as suggested on initial connections.

Chet, please advise how I can burn to Blu-ray, even though it is recommended that playback be done only on PS3s for now. I think all S4000/S4000 Pro Bogart users can be categorized as Beta-testers right now. This forum is a big help in using it as a resource for working around existing technical issues, as well as a venue for announcements for future enhancements, software corrections and additions.
(The media manager, when available, will truly make it a great machine uniquely superior in its class).

Eric T.

[TimKennelly]

Eric,

Arabesk is strictly for SD DVD use as it always has been and I have not been having any issues with that.

Just like with the generation two machines you can tell if the unit has frozen by placing the cursor over the progress bar.

As long as the machine is trancoding footage the cursor will lightly "flicker", if it stays solid it means the machine has frozen up.

DVD transcoding is a tad quicker than real time.

I did not opt for the BluRay option, but to burn HDV footage you use the Backup process set to DV (rather than DV Backup) and opt for the DVD burner rather than external hard drive.

[erictomakin]

Thanks, Tim....will try that.

Eric T.

[LouBruno]

To get rid of the COUNTRY PROMPT: Choose GREAT BRITIAN>CLICK OUT OF THAT PAGE AND RE-ENTER and add OTHER COUNTRY.

You will no longer have a prompt asking for the COUNTRY.

Which country should I pick? The unit still locks after startup. It occasionally will get past startup but locks when i get to the edit window.

[LouBruno]

This is important. When you receive your unit only download the softwares or those that are currently operational.

WHY? Because non-operational softwares will effect other operational softwares. That is why MSUS highlights the working softwares with the instructions. It is my understanding that more and more operational software(s) will be forthcoming.

In regards to Blu-ray: Software will probably be available for authoring. In the interim, simply archive to HDV tape. I personally archive everything on a FLASH DRIVE in MTS. MTS allows for a true backup to the project in HDV via the RECORD/USB window....some people are not aware of this. ALSO......MPEG2 plays very well in PS3 for now and downloads faster than MTS files.


Additionally, just like a computer, patience is needed during downloading of video. By clicking numerous times, this will confuse the operation.

Lastly, some breaks in video are caused by the stopping and then the physical reviewing of the recorded scene in PLAY mode while in the camcorder. This causes confusion as there is a TC break when restarted. This occurs on other editing software systems as well. If you must review wait till the END of your recording.

SLOW DOWNLOADS in HDV>depends on the camera. This is not a Bogart issue.