MSP6 with the Raptor

During the testing, Canopus had not formally released Raptor v2.0 for installed machines – it was limited to EditDV versions. My rig was running Raptor 1.13 with the updated MSP6 plugin. As Canopus notes, this plugin is limited. One captures using Raptor Video. One edits using MSP6. One prints to tape from MSP6, which feeds the whole rendered project to Raptor Video for writing to tape. Preview – quick view uses software only and displays in the MSP6 preview window. Full Preview involves rendering – and involves starting up Raptor Video and the loop through, and displays in the Raptor Video window. Scrubbing is to the MSP6 preview window. The delay in preview output is the same with Raptor as with the OHCI cards with the camcorder attached and previewing over the Firewire – about 6 seconds before any video plays.

Overall, the project ran smoothly on the Raptor. Previews worked nicely. I was able to synchronise the audio quickly, and find the edit cut points without excessive additional work (when compared to similar projects in Premiere).

My dual monitor rig was overkill for MSP6 – it works nicely on a single monitor. Because the loop-through previews appear on a Raptor Video overlay screen, there’s no need to dedicate a large preview screen area, unlike Premiere. The screen dump shows how one can build a very wide timeline indeed with MSP6. The freedom to use the “real estate” of the desktop effectively is a major bonus of MSP6.

MSP Audio
If MSP has a weakness, it’s in the area of audio. At the very least, one would expect some basic tone controls as an audio filter. Premiere has a 7 band graphic equaliser, and a 3-band parametric – which could be applied multiple times. This gives plenty of scope for retuning material – even captured using camcorder built-in mics. I have externals but rarely use them – and I’m an old sound rig operator! This is an area that I’d earmark to Ulead for improvement.

Conclusions on the Project
I felt that Premiere’s scrubbing in Raptor was easier, and if given a choice of editors for this work, would make my simple titles in MSP6, and export that as a file. I’d import the rest to Premiere and edit there.

What about Ulead?
What I’ve found is that Ulead is a company that’s been quick to respond to problems. Some users found early that audio got 8 frames out of synch after about 16 minutes, others that there were audio glitches. I’ve been distributing patches to fix those. Fairly early in the piece, I had a patch for export from timeline – but no finished project to test it on! Others found that the Ligos encoder would not do VBR. This was confirmed by Ulead and work put in hand to find a solution. Ulead are listening and responding to user feedback, and reported faults.

It has been encouraging to me to see how this company is now co-opting their client base to tune and enhance the product to mutual benefit. It can only be a win-win outcome. I commend them, and their OEM resellers like ADS, most strongly for their positive attitude to their user community, especially those on global Usenet and Web site forums. One can therefore reasonably have hope that the comments in this review – which aims to look at what an ex-Premiere user would find – will lead to refinements in the product.

Next: Troubleshooting and Future Plans

Introduction
Install and See
Video Editor
Installation
What Next?