On Wed, 29 Dec 1999 11:50:31 +0800, "David Winter" wrote:

>I have posted my problems with IPFs in Preminfo.dll to rvp and rvd, also the
>the Canopus Raptor Premiere user forum. I've also posted my negative views
>about preview files being discarded when timeline adjustments are made.
>
>If the originator of this thread would care to email me, I will copy him the
>fault descriptions and the thoughts coming back from Canopus.
>
>A look at the Adobe "Customer First" (please don't laugh) website item on
>IPFs in module Kernel32.dll will give you some idea of the scale of
>vulnerability acknowledged by Adobe. In essence they say their program
>pushes the limits of the PC system, so if anything is going to knock it
>over, video editing will.
>
>Some driver conflicts, or more specifically drivers causing memory
>addressing conflicts may not become apparent until buffers are filled, etc -
>which video editing does with ease! So, with my case, the finger is pointed
>at the network card, but I have strong suspicions about the Promise FastTrak
>ATA33 card. A strip down is planned early in the new year.
>
>So, in essence, we all need absolutely pristine perfectly balanced PCs for
>Adobe Premiere to run without risk. Because some owners managed to get a
>combination of hardware, driver versions and software which doesn't trigger
>any problems, they report a good stable product. I guess our issue is this:
>
>Is Premiere tolerably resilient to hardware variation, or too vulnerable for
>commercial acceptibility?
>
>My reading is that Premiere "as is" should only be used in a total system
>with single vendor accountability. Unfortunately, it offers too good a mix
>of function and user interface to be constrained to full OEM system
>applications - but I do think more upfront disclaimers about its
>"twitchiness" would be in order - if not a more resilient product.
>
>I am surprised that Canopus took it on board - in Australia it is the only
>edit package bundled with Raptor - given its vulnerability to PC environment
>variables.
>
>Maybe the best environment (for the future) for this package is with a
>hardware set which covers all user implemented I/O on a video rig (analogue
>video, audio, 1394a, SVGA (x 2 for dual monitor!), networking and/or modem)
>in one set with drivers fully tested for Premiere compatibility. The Matrox
>RT2000 goes part of the way, but it's the networking and/or modem which is
>vital today as updates are very frequent and not circulated by physical
>disk.
>
>If h/w vendors are reading, what's stopping you implementing networking on
>1394a, and integrating this in your DV hub along with SVGA?

Nice over-view post!
Yes, when we first built a FireWire editing computer,
we did a lot of research first - and, much of that
research turned out to have incorrect/overly-conservative/
insufficient information in it! Best is assembling a
basic system with the most-likely-to-work parts and a
minimum of software. If it does not work right at that
point, replace parts and software a piece at a time until
it does. Then, add more software/hardware a piece at a time,
replacing items that reduce operating efficiency (uh, that's
sometimes a euphemism...!;-). Attempting to add a FireWire
card and Premiere to an existing, loaded computer is
just plain asking for failure, alas... People are upset
that Premiere doesn't work ideally on some non-optimized
computers, but maybe forget how "bleeding-edge" this
process is. It takes more effort to build up a good,
working computer for video editing than for anything
else I can think of - and so few years ago, the whole idea
of editing high-quality video picture and sound on a home
computer would have seemed pretty far-fetched (now, it is
only difficult...;-). BTW, the last item that went since
it interferred with video-editing on a more recent
computer and was replaced was an incompatible network
card...