Hi DJ Deano,

You pose a number of questions here:

Firstly you are working on both Windows and Mac OS which inherently have their own optimization guidelines.

Which Machine do you use for Video Editing ? What Video Editing Software do you have installed ? You can run your main Video Track in Video-SL and Drop an Audio Visual Sample over the top from the Second Virtual Deck or alternatively you can Edit your drops into your .MP4 Files as a Master Clip.
Do you have Handbrake installed and the recommended Video_SL Preset for Handbrake ?
Handbrake can be used on Windows and Macintosh machines.

You will need to install Codecs for Windows and Mac.

Quality of your Output Video will be determined by the Quality of your .MP4 files and your Video Card which will scale your Display as per Video Card Resolution.

If you could give me more information on your Computer Specs for both setups this will help determine the capabilities of your Video Set Ups.

Let me know if you have any further questions.

Hi Anthony.

I'm in the middle of re-ripping my videos to get 'fresh copies' of my videos.
Yeah im using handbrake to sort them all out, the only ones i got issues with is the promo only stuff where there is '2' tracks per track if you know what i mean. But im getting around that.
I have also noticed on the preset that the video output size always differs from the original size, any reason behind this as, i've been unchecking the keep aspect ratio, and resizing to original size.

I've come from a PC based system, but now getting grips with my macbook pro which is 2.4 ghz intel core 2 duo, with 4gb of ddr3 ram. running 10.6.8.

I dont use video editing software thats why im asking which is the best, to suit using ssl with video.

Im a stickler when it comes to quality, as when i go into a bar after ive finished you can tell who is using a laptop from the headphone socket and downloaded mp3's

So thats why i want to use decent quality software to get what i need, so i can head to a fully 100% video show. so where i dont have a video for, i want to create something on top of it, say such things like a 'simpsons clip' or something else, then fade out to something else on top of the track, so im not using a pre done clip or visualisation just for audio only.

I know you can drop video clips onto a track, but id rather have something mastered to that track before, so i know the clip is long enough for the track etc.

Im not up on video editing software, so i wouldn't know where to start.
Also where is the best place to get stock footage of clips etc?

Hi DJ Deano,

This is a good process to get into. As far as the Output from Handbrake being a different size you need to set cropping to custom and set them all to '0' in the Picture Settings TAB.

Although I havn't used the new Final Cut Pro X from Apple it looks like an intuitive full HD Video Editing Solution at a reasonable price ($300 US I think).

www.apple.com

When it comes to Video Editing though It will come down to personal preference and price point. You should be able to export your edits into a Video-SL compatible file from most editing packages.

There are a number of articles and FAQs in our support area that clarify video codecs and containers that are supported by Video-SL.
FAQ's here: sera.to

Im running the same setup as you and it runs like a dream :) Although which Video Card did you buy with the laptop ?

Hi Anthony.

The spec of the video card is what come with the mac laptop, it is the Nvidia GE Force 320M.

So would you recommend unchecking the keep aspect ratio and setting the size to the same as the source, aswell as the method you mentioned above?

Also i had a look at Final cut pro, but it looks a tad expensive at £199.99. Without a demo version i think.

I've seen clips on you tube that ableton can handle video, but not sure if that is a good way to go, however it would work with serato aswell with the bridge. Hmmm.

Dean

Hi Anthony.

The spec of the video card is what come with the mac laptop, it is the Nvidia GE Force 320M.

So would you recommend unchecking the keep aspect ratio and setting the size to the same as the source, aswell as the method you mentioned above?

Also i had a look at Final cut pro, but it looks a tad expensive at £199.99. Without a demo version i think.

I've seen clips on you tube that ableton can handle video, but not sure if that is a good way to go, however it would work with serato aswell with the bridge. Hmmm.

Dean

Not sure why it double posted, admin feel free to delete extra post.

Hi DJ Deano,

The Nvidia GE Force 320M should be capable of running Video-SL but it may be limited. As Video-SL scales the Output according to the Video Card GPU.
According to Notebookcheck.net, the 320M does not have dedicated graphics memory, but uses shared memory for the system for its graphics processing, giving it poorer performance than a GPU with dedicated memory.

There are a number of ways you can conform your video rips and exports using Handbrake or alternative applications to be compatable with Video-SL. It comes down to your personal methodology. As far as Video Editing Software there are many packages on the market and it will come down to the program that best suits your needs.

Video, although very limited is included in Ableton Live 8.2 if this more suited to your creative process. Great if your doing remixes of Music Videos but not so great if you're cutting up video with effects and titles to Sync with an audio track.

Let me know how you get on and if you have any further questions.

Hi Anthony.

Very great full for your input. but gutted now that it looks like the mac, is not suited for this. Though all macs were good with their stuff.
May have to rethink video now.
I've got a dedicated PC tower based pc with a lot of memory, and graphics cards, but i cant exactly lump that around. Not only that, does SSL work well on a PC?

Its now put a damper on the other aspects.

Hi DJ Deano,

Don't discount the Mac as a platform for what you are trying to achieve. Limitations of the video card can be sorted with an upgraded Video Card. Generally speaking Macs handle Video in Scratch Live better than other OS.
If you have Serato Scratch Live installed and you are using Rane Hardware you can download the demo version of Video-SL onto your Mac and test it out. It is a fully functioning version with a Video-SL watermark.
I hope this helps :)

Let me know if you have any further questions.

How can you upgrade a video card on a mac?
Would more RAM not help out?

I've got the demo already installed, but im waiting for my SL3 to turn up first. so i can try it with the players and not just the offline player.

Hi DJ Deano,

Cool, give the Video-SL Demo a try when your hardware arrives and test out the performance. Let me know your findings and we'll take it from there.