Hi

 

I'm so frustrated with Avid (again). If you have read my recent posts you will see that I am having a few problems with my system. Since buying the certified hardware, building everything to spec and upgrading to the newest version I'm left with a system which stutters and can't play out a single stream of DV420.

 

To find out any information about technical problems is a nightmare. I know many on here love Avid (me too) but many won't say a bad thing about them, sadly I am now not one as this company provides no easy way of finding out what is wrong, when things no wrong.

 

I know machines inside out and have worked with Avid for many years and consistently it always has been the same - fingers crossed it might work and oh yea it has bugs we'll fix it later. I've spoken to two Avid engineers about my problems and they are stumped, i'm so sick and tired of having to muck around just to cut.

 

FIRSTLY AVID! TELL ME HOW AND IN 1,2,3 STEPS WHAT TO DO TO INSTALL. I've just read from Marianne's post that you need to do registry removal before installing MC3. Something I haven't done and something I wasn't told in the readme. Why! and Why! Do I, a user, have to go into the registry to remove things. NO OTHER SOFTWARE I KNOW OF, ASKS IT'S USER TO DO REGISTRY HACKS!

 

Avid you should be ashamed of yourself, tell your programmers to sort it out, stop building your products simply by pushing new things in the backdoor, STOP using your users as lab rats for your software.

 

Why is there still no software that automatically checks your system and makes sure drivers and things are optimised properly for an install of new software BEFORE INSTALLATION. Why is it THAT WE have to find things out by coming on here. Why is that nothing with Avid is ever, ever simple ! Why is it that many links to Avid documents on this site, go no-where since you've update the layout of the forums. WHY is it that the knowledge base is so hard to navigate and out of date, for example - the NVIDA setup does not match the current layout of the drivers.

 

EVEN to post this I had to copy and paste the text from Firefox which I always use to Safari as it would not post! The forums no matter what machine I use all seem to be slow or do not load properly in any mac version of Firefox ! 

 

I'm sick to death of this. I'm having to become an software and hardware engineer to make your software work, I'm an editor - let me cut ! If this isn't working soon, it all goes on ebay and I'm buying FCP.

 

If anyone could help I would be most appreciated, I know when I phone Pinewood tomorrow I'll just be told to delete the MC State and the DIODrivers - Yes I've done that and no in doesn't make a difference.

Regards,

Frustrated in Glasgow. 

 

dear frustrated fellow,

i've experienced myself how competent and helpfull the avid community here in the forums is, and i'm confident that you'll find the same level of support as well.

you can help others to help you, though. start by putting as much information as possible about your system into your profile, your hardware configuration and especially driver versions may be relevant.

bytheway:

avid surely can't be blamed for your firefox causing problems - the same platform (CommunityServer) is used in quite a number of top level internet services like MySpace and others, used by millions of firefox users every day.

 

Sorry to hear about your problems.

I've just read from Marianne's post that you need to do registry removal before installing MC3. Something I haven't done and something I wasn't told in the readme.

It is definitely in the ReadMe that came with my MC3 upgrade (for upgrades from 2.7/2.8). The Readme was quite specific about the upgrade/uninstall/reinstall.

NO OTHER SOFTWARE I KNOW OF, ASKS IT'S USER TO DO REGISTRY HACKS!

It's not a hack, it's part of the uninstall of 2.7/2.8. No need for registry changes if you do a complete new clean install, only for the upgrade, which requires an uninstall.

glasgoweditor:

The forums no matter what machine I use all seem to be slow or do not load properly in any mac version of Firefox ! 

That's weird, I'v been posting on these forums for some time, from Firefox Mac and Firefox PC.

It sounds as if you may have more fundamental problems with that CPU than just the Avid software. Could you post your system specs, including the video card you are using and what driver version you have installed please.

"Why is there still no software that automatically checks your system and makes sure drivers and things ..."

I agree.  Avid DS Nitris uses VIE (Version Info Extractor) to determine if the system meets specs, and can even output a CAB File (summary) for evaluation if necessry.  The older Meridien & ABVB systems had Avid System Test Pro.

The first choice in the installer should be, "Run System Analysis".

Randall L Rike:

"Why is there still no software that automatically checks your system and makes sure drivers and things ..."

I agree.  Avid DS Nitris uses VIE (Version Info Extractor) to determine if the system meets specs, and can even output a CAB File (summary) for evaluation if necessry.  The older Meridien & ABVB systems had Avid System Test Pro.

The first choice in the installer should be, "Run System Analysis".

Could not agree more !

 

 

Add a third vote for this.

 

FYI, this post was done on Firefox - I only access the forums with Firefox.  If you email Pif, I am sure that he will respond quickly to see what the problems is.

Adding my vote too.  It can't be that hard, surely.

Also up until very recently I was accessing the forums exclusively with Firefox.  I've changed PCs and at the moment I'm using IE more from inertia than anything else, but you've motivated me to try Firefox on Vista.  I'll let you know how I go.

glasgoweditor:

I'm sick to death of this. I'm having to become an software and hardware engineer to make your software work, I'm an editor - let me cut ! If this isn't working soon, it all goes on ebay and I'm buying FCP.

 ....I am very happy with Avid MC 3.0, but I must say this is the singlemost irritating attitude I detect from Avid. I refuse to do any registry manipulations or hacks as I am not a software engineer. I am mainly a professional editor amoung several other things who is learning to become a professional Avid editor, and installers are programmable to do all the steps Mariana listed in her post. BTW, I didn't do anything other than let the new software automatically uninstall the old software and then I find all is well. I'm editing and pumping out new projects without issue in Ver 3.0 so far.

....I sympathize with your frustrations and I too would like you to list yout system specs. You mentioned your customed built to Avid Certification spec. Could you have some faulty hardware ? I know that sounds remote but it has happened to me. I even had a bad cpu once !

....When I have had to call up Avid technical support over the phone, I have been greatly impressed with the quality and level of knowledgeable assistance I received. Avid techs have an Avid PC on standby where they can go over and perform the same tasks as you to see if they can reproduce your malfunctions and troubleshoot.

I hope you can get your MC 3.0 up and running, because it's a totally amazing app !

 

We're not seriously discussing firefox here, are we? There's no general problem using firefox, seamonkey, safari, opera, or any other major browser suite with this forum, any issues must be specific to local circumstances.

About upgrading MC 3.0 i must say that i didn't do anything to the registry before un/re-installing after 2.8, and it just worked fine. I planned to re-install windows from scratch later anyway, so i didn't care, but there was no need to do so because of Avid.

Upgrading Avid was not more difficult than any other windows application, but i can fully understand if anyone doesn't feel like modifying registry himself; most people wouldn't change tires on their car themselfes either, and that's ok, that's what mechanics live from, although it's an easy task once you dare do it yourself. I don't see any difference to upgrading software: you can do it on your own, but if you don't feel comfortable, pay someone to do it for you.

Sorry if that sounds offensive, it's not meant to be.

The Avid design philosophy is probably the issue here.  As those of you who regularly visit this forum probably realise, I have a history in computing that dates to the pre-PC era.  Editing the registry?  Absolutely trivial!  And that's the point.  The assumption appears to be that this is professional software that will be run by people who can call on a professional support team to do the routine maintenance.

Unfortunately this is less and less true as time goes on.  It's likely to become even more the case in the future.

If Avid really want the one-man shops to be able to install their software they need to build an application that will reliably remove all traces of the previous install including registry entries with little or no input from the user.  If this means a two-step process with a reboot in the middle to force a registry save and load, so be it.  It truly can't be that hard.

But then I also believe that having to deliberately tell your NLE not to put media on your boot and/or launch drive is dumb too.  It should default to saving on separate media drives, and warn you if you try to violate that condition.

This is something I've never understood. Avid has an entire building full of code-geeks doing nothing but writing one really amazing App. How hard is it to break a few of them off toward the end of a program cycle and write a decent installer? 

Why is it so difficult for them to write an installer that runs routines to first uninstall and clean the system or to test tot see if all of the system components meet Avid's specs?

There must be some logical, workflow/personnel reason behind the lack of time or resources given to install coding but man I wish someone up there would come up  with a better mousetrap.

Most of the professional editors on this forum always have a project ongoing (if not several). There is enough pressure dealing with clients on a deadline, keeping the hardware and software running and trying to creatively edit the material that you have been given.

I don't mind paying for a professional product. That is what I use to make a living. But I don't expect to jump through hoops to get that product to install. I don't care how easy it is to edit the regisrtry, it is one more thing that can go wrong in the install process and if it goes wrong it can be a disaster.

There is only one reason that Avid is approaching the installing of a $2500 professional product in this manner. That is to save a little money. I can understand how the maker of a $70 product might get by with this approach, but give me a break. It is the principle of the whole thing.

 

 

On the other side of this argument...I love how, whenever a situation comes up that isn't in line with how we all THINK it should be, the first thing that comes up is the "New Thinking" line.

Let's try not to apply Avid's marketing blurb to every single nuanced situation that arises over the next year...shall we? I think we can all agree here that there is plenty of evidence of New Thinking to be had with this company but it's really disingenuous to apply that catch phrase to every decision Avid makes from a software release  to what is on the Lunch Table in Tewksbury on any given afternoon.

Just to get back on point here, glasgoweditor must be having a more fundamental problem then buggy software.  For the record, the Avid software spec really isn't that complicated.  I understand why they have it, but the truth is, MC3 should run fine on any dual proc workstation with Xp Pro or Vista Business with enough RAM and nVidia graphics card.  I'm running MC3 upgraded from Studio Complete on a DIY system and it runs perfectly with the 002 and analog Mojo - and no registry "hacks."

I would suspect glasgoweditor's problem is bad hardware, more than likely RAM.  If he could posts his specs I'm sure that would be helpful.