This reviewer had the MSP6.0VE prior to receiving the full version for review. Many will also traverse this path, upgrading MSP6.0VE to the full MSP.
The
PACK arrives
The first
thing one notices is the size of the pack. It’s just a CD and maybe a
manual you say – what’s in there???
Well, seeing as you asked, here it is: two CDs, a glossy printed manual, some warranty and registration documents, and ….. ……… packing!
Installation
The full
MSP6 comes bundled with some extras. These will be commented on in detail
once they have been used in a project. Some things to note. Sonic Foundry
ACID express requires an authentication code and serial number. You will
need to contact them – and you will need the computer id. This appears
in one of the setup windows when you first try to run the software. It
will install, but won’t run. Take a note of the computer id.
Hollywood FX appears but is purely a pdf advertisement.
But back to the main game…
MSP6.0VE actually defaults to an MSP6.0VE subdirectory under Ulead Systems – this is distinct from MSP5.2 which has its own Ulead MSP5 directory. As a result, MSP6.0VE is installed alongside, not over MSP5.2. When you then install the full version, all the additional components are added to the MSP6.0VE directory, except the Pixelan Spicemaster.
Having installed, you notice a lot more transitions, of course. Other than that, things are pretty normal.
The glossy manual is a guide, not comprehensive. It indicates that the detailed help is in the system. Experience suggests participation in user groups will be a necessary adjunct to the manual and system help.
The Project
My test
project involved a 2-camera shoot of a live event – both cameras picking
up people speaking, including close ups. The intention was to lay Camera
one down on Track Va and Camera two on Track Vb, after some black (I use
16, 16, 16 for black these days after some global forum discussions about
the right intensity of black for video leaders) and a rolling title. Camera
two’s usable footage was shorter, and started later, so I adjusted Vb
position to lip-synch with Va – using the right arrow key on the selected
Vb track to shuffle it along 1 frame at a time. I used Quick View from
the Preview menu.
The trouble was that, no matter what I did, the tracks would not play smoothly. If I used full preview (which involves rendering – I understand of the audio tracks), the display was no less jerky. With a patch from Ulead installed, full preview plays out to the 1394 port, if a DV device is connected and on – even that played slow. When aiming to synchronise on audio, you do need it to play smoothly and this problem precluded any further work on the project.
At this point, you may ask – what sort of machine was I using? What about the hard drives, etc. Well, the answer is that my OHCI rig is a budget rig, with a PPGA Celeron 300A running 450 (it actually can edit at 495 [110 MHz FSB]). It has 128M PC100(A) SDRAM and is fitted with a 13G ATA66 Quantum (system drive and video archive), and a 27G 7200rpm ATA66 Quantum. In theory, it’s around the minimum spec.
After a few attempts, I rebuilt the project on my Raptor rig. This is a Pentium III running at 600 with dual monitors.
Once the project was finished, and the tapes delivered to the happy recipients – I had time to troubleshoot the system (see below for details). In the process, we learned a few things:
1. MSP6 demands more out of the CPU and hard drives than Video Studio.
2. Trust but check. I found that DMA had somehow got “unchecked” on my system and archive drive (13G). Checking this helped a little. I then found that my Virtual Memory (Swap file) settings were incorrect. They hadn’t been changed when RAM was upgraded from 64M to 128M. This made a noticeable difference. But still not good enough.
3. Hard drive maintenance is CRITICAL to the smooth functioning of MSP6. Clearing out all video files not in use for the current project, and defragging what was left made a big difference. Now the program was usable, if still a touch jerky at times – more of a nuisance than an impediment.
4. Beta patches are just that. The preview to 1394 was working up to a point, but would hiccup a a jump cut from VA to Vb. If started again (Shift-Spacebar) after the cut, the preview ran smoothly. We can expect Ulead to refine this before the 1394 preview facilities are made a full release.
All in all, the combination of several factors made my first attempt at use of the software impractical. Forewarned is forearmed!
OHCI video editing demands a lot of the PC’s core systems, and everything needs to be well tuned and maintained.
Introduction
Install and See
Video Editor
Troubleshooting
What Next?