Hello Steve,

I responded to your email but I'll post my response here as well:

Lets strip down your setup.

I want you to only test with these videos --> serato.com

First do this:

Unplug ANY external drives connected.

Make sure SSL is shut down and rename the _Serato_ folder inside your Music folder on your internal drive so it says _Serato_1.
Once renamed open SSL and you should have a completely empty library.
If your having SSL read your iTunes library uncheck that option as well. We want the library empty.

Now import the test videos I linked to above.
I want you to test with these as we know they have been encoded properly.

Do you experience the same thing when your only using these videos?

Let me know and we'll go from there.

Note: In order to get your internal library back shut down SSL, delete the newly created _Serato_ folder inside your Music folder, and rename the _Serato_1 folder back to its original name by taking the number 1 off of it.

Hi Zach,
The test videos have no audio on them so testing them is bound to be Ok as I only have a problem with the stutter/glitch of the audio of the other player which the club can hear. The video itself doesn't stutter/glitch.

Hi Zach, just completed the test and didn't notice anything untoward with the test videos. Is there a way you could get a log of what I did off of my laptop?

Ok.. at this point try importing a handful of your videos from your internal drive and test.

If that works fine I would then plug your external back in to see if your still having the same issue.

If so, shut down SSL, open the external, rename the entire _Serato_ folder on the external by adding the number 1 to the end of it, and then re-open SSL.
At that point you shouldn't see anything coming from your external.
Now re-import ALL of your video files and test again.

Let me know your findings.

Hi Zach, I have done the above tests and again I have no problems that I can see. Just to confirm that I got my initial stutters with VSL turned off and I was playing audio only and when I loaded a video track that is when the problem occurred, don't know if this is relevant.

Ok.. so currently you have all your videos and audio in SSL but nothing is in crates correct?

If so, and everything is working properly, we'll want to re-add your crates.

Your crates will be inside the Subcrates folder inside the _Serato_1 folder on your external.
Open the Subcrates folder, copy all the crate files you see, and paste them into the Subcrates folder inside the current _Serato_ folder on your external.
Once done, re-open SSL and test.

What are your findings?

Hi Zach,
Sorry been away for a bit

All my videos are just in folders on internal hard drive on my Macbook Pro. I have done the above test with an external hard drive and a few videos and have found no issue testing at home.

Hey Steve,

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you. I just got back from vacation and am playing catch up:)

Are you sorted now or are you still having issues?

Hi Zach, I have been playing out and NOT getting issues when I'm playing videos all the time ie a night where I'm intentionally playing videos.
I do though get the odd stutter when I'm playing an audio only gig and use a video track that I haven't got the audio to or prefer the video audio, thats when I getting the problems.

Usually stuttering happens if not all the files have been analyzed.

With that said, rescan your id3 tags, let it finish scan, and then click 'analyze files'.
Let it analyze whatever it needs to at that point and then retest.

Hi Zach, a few points

1. All my files are scanned. Some have to be scanned multiple times before Serato recognises the auto volume on some tracks (mainly videos).
2. Video SL, the video crossfader using the arrow keys does not work flawlessly. Sometimes it just doesn't respond to key presses & this is rectified by reloading the video file into the same player.
3. I have found a way to stop the video stutter on loading. Just by pressing the Video SL button and activating it solves the problem in my audio only gigs, although this makes my laptop work harder it no biggie.

I believe this is a problem on my particular MacBook with regards to the stuttering/glitching upon loading videos.
If there is a fix for points 1 & 2 please let me know.

Many thanks

Did you follow my instruction above? I ask because I've found that simply clicking the analyze files tab won't analyze many files that actually need to be analyzed.
This is why rescanning prior is important. Rescanning the id3 tags will remind SSL of what info is in the id3 tags.. such as overview info.
Please rescan, let it finish, and then click analyze files.
If it starts analyzing files those are files that haven't been analyzed yet.

This sounds like the focus has changed off of the video fader.
Clicking on the virtual fader again should bring the focus back to the fader and your arrow keys should work again.

@ zack his problem is the same I was going thru on my mac. but what it does is say he's playing a audio set for like 2hr then after that he wants to do a video set and then once he open's vsl the video and wheel starts to studder then after it loads up it plays right. thats what Mines was doing. but I have 8gb in my macbook pro and dont get that. I also had a program called keep drive awake. b4 I brought a new macbook pro.

Ok thanks Zach will get back to you next week with my findings.

Ok:)

Hi Zach, here's the latest

I didn't quiet understand the ID3 scan thing but I have actioned it now and analysed the 450+ tracks that it found. This doesn't fix the video stutter on loading problem which I tested again over the weekend, exact same problem which is rectified only when the Video SL software is activated.

The problem with the Video SL video cross fader keys not responding every time is still a big problem. When testing even changing the transition to a different one doesn't fix the problem, I don't understand why it does it.

cheers Steve

Sorry for the delay. Your thread got thrown in the back of my inbox?
Can you please post a quick video showing what your describing as far as the stutter?

As for the crossfader keys not responding.
Click on the actual video fader to get control again. That should be all you need to do.

Hi Zach, just back from my hols and this problem is still here. If you can bear with me I'll try to get a video post to you over the weekend. I have just purchased another Macbook Pro with the latest i7 chip and have no issues whatsoever but still need to get this sorted on my 2 core 13''

Cool.. definitely get a video uploaded if you can:)

www.facebook.com

Ok.. I see a very short stop in the audio file on the right deck when you load a video.
This is really common if:
A. Not all your files have been analyzed.
B. Your hard drive is having a hard time communicating with your computer due to the specs of the hard drive.
C. Not having enough ram for the amount of hard drive space being used.
D. Your files are encoded in a way that is making your computer have to work harder to load them.

You say you've analyzed your files so its not going to be that.

After re-reading your posts its still unclear whether this issue happens without your external plugged in?
If not, then B may be the culprit.

You also mention that you had no issues with the test VSL test files and that your files have not been encoded with Handbrake?
This leads me to believe your issue may also have to do with how your files have been encoded.

Just so we're clear... have you tested without your external plugged in and if so do you experience this issue?
Also, have you moved some videos files from your external to your internal, unplugged your external, and tested using your files internally?

All my files in the test were straight off the laptop hard drive with no other software running and not connected to the Internet. No external drive connected or tv card. The stutter as explained b4 is random but can be persistent. If u load a file which stutters into say the right deck for example you can then load 5 or more into same deck with no stutter.
All files that I encode myself are done with Handbrake but I also currently download files weekly from www.promoonly.com which are supposed to be SSL ready.
My laptop has 4th of ram which should be enough.

To recap
All files analysed
No external hard drive attached
No problem with test video
4gb ram which is plenty
All of my files are from solid legal sources promo only & poparazzi

Hope this helps
Problem only on my MacBook 13'' core duo and whilst checking online seems to be the only laptop which has this issue with your software. No problem on my new 15'' i7 quad core MacBook which runs like a dream.

Ok.. so if your not having any issues with running the test videos off your internal drive then I'm guessing the issue is going to be either not all your files have been analyzed or the way your videos are encoded.

I would like to strip down your setup again to verify.

At this point... make sure your external is unplugged.

Rename the entire _Serato_ folder located in your Music folder so it says _Serato_1.
Open SSL and you should have a completely empty library.

Now import, say, 20 of your video files.

Do you experience this lag with only those 20 files in your library?

Ok Zach will get on this tomorrow. Will try to make a note of which files are jumping, seems to be pretty random & as far as I know all files are analysed as per your previous instructions.

Cool.. let me know:)

Hi Zach, sorry haven't got back to you sooner but will definitely have test results for you later today as I haven't had a chance to action it yet

Hi Zach just completed the test.
I imported about 50 tracks into Serato all of which were encoded by me using Handbrake. There were no audio glitches during this test.
Just for the record, nothing was turned on other than Serato, no hard drives attached & only TV card attached to Macbook but not TV connected, internet disabled as well.

What's next? :)

Ok.. so everything thus far is working.
I would now add things back into the equation.

I'm assuming you did have VSL turned on when testing ya?

Is everything ok after attaching the video adapter to your tv?

Does everything go bad after reconnecting your external drive?

VSL was NOT turned on during the test. I noticed the issue when playing at an audio only gig and I only required the audio portion of some video files which would from time to time glitch on load. Played last night and didn't notice a glitch when loading a couple of videos during the course of the evening after I had returned everything back after test. External hard drive was connected, NO TV card but this is still a random occurrence.

Its still not clear where the root of the issue is coming from.
Is is safe to say that this has only happened when your external drive is plugged in?

Now that's a good question but I believe in the past whilst testing at home that it has glitched with the hard drive plugged out. I have recently upgraded my hard drives from USB 2.0 to Firewire 800 but the problem still persists when I'm working in bars & clubs.

I think you need to do some more testing without the external.
If it happens without the external plugged in then we can rule the external out or any files on it.
Unfortunately this is really the only way to troubleshoot and narrow down where the issue is.

My guess is its has to do with your external drive or the connection between the drive and the computer.

OK thanks. Next chance I get I will do extensive test without external attached and get back to you

Sounds good:)

Hi Zach, redid the test and after the initial test, changing the Serato folder by adding a 1 then changing it back for some strange reason seemed to temporarily solve the problem even with the hard drive plugged in. Today I tried it again but got a glitch with no hard drive plugged in so I'm still baffled

Hey Steve...

If you feel this is still an issue I'm going to get the Serato support staff to help.

Yes please, I believe it is only an issue with a few MacBooks with my exact specifications but really need to get this sorted as my MacBook should be able to easily handle your software

I have found a fix for the glitch on the 13'' MacBook Pro laptop which works for me 100% of the time. I have been testing for over a week with no issues.

Equipment
Model Name: MacBook Pro
Model Identifier: MacBookPro7,1
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2.4 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache: 3 MB
Memory: 4 GB
Bus Speed: 1.07 GHz
Boot ROM Version: MBP71.0039.B0B
SMC Version (system): 1.62f6
Serial Number (system): W8037U5AATM
Hardware UUID: DABC08D8-E3AC-56FF-907C-1E030103****
Sudden Motion Sensor:
State: Enabled

Equipment
1. 1TB Iomega Black Belt hard drive which has a mixture of audio & video files plugged in via the firewire 800 port.
2. Original Apple TV adapter.
3. Serato SL1.


Important things to do before playing out
1. Make sure all files are properly scanned & analysed using SSL
2. Don't use files from internal laptop hard drive (just find the Serato folder & backup folder then add a 1 to the end of the folder name so that SSL doesn't find the files on internal hard drive). This is because the laptop doesn't handle the 2 databases very well at the same time so all your videos & audio MUST be on the external drive.
3. Make sure SMC Fan Control software is installed and the fan speed is increased as this stops errors occurring due to over heating. (About 5000 rpm works for me).

With the above done you should be good to go!


Hope this helps guys,
any questions just let me know on here
I am running the latest version Serato SL 2.3.1 (Which is shocking in my opinion as it crashes when editing files)

DJ Steve