#PAR Harddrive Problem
8 messages in this thread
I have a problem with my MC2217 GB harddrive and PAR although I think it could
be perfectly normal.
First of all I have 10 ANI files residing on thye drive they are as follows-:
1. 962frames
2. 350 frames
3. 749 frames
4. 249 frames
5. 27 frames
6. 251 frames
7. 201 frames
8. 5502 frames
9. 339 frames
10. 101 frames
Problem is this leaves me with nearly 6 minutes animation and only about 450MB
of the 1.6 mentioned free on the drive:
I know need to do some joins like 1+2, however this creates a file of 1312
frames extra and this file gets corrupted about halfway for some parts of the
animation. Could this be a bad spot on the PAR drive or is it normal that I get
this since the drive is for3/4 full after the join only 323.2 MB free????
I have min.compression Block Limit 302 Q-Factor 23 (I'm in PAL world remember)
Any suggestions, I have no backup available and I need to join all these files
into 2 or 3 files ???????
I should have had backup however, I ordered an external DAT and 10 days ago I
got an internal one so I have to wait about another week for the external.
I need the animation by Wednesday morning for a prersentation through the day.
Christophe
Christophe:
Is there enough room on your DOS drive for temporary storage of a couple of
your
ANI files? If so, I would copy off the ones which are not as important at the
moment. Optimize your drive next and then do your joins. Delete the original
segments, rename your .TMP file and then re-optimize your drive. I found that
when my drive gets full, the seam where I just joined two segments appears
corrupted until I clear out some space and re-optimize. I believe the newly
joined segments create a .TMP file which is placed on the slower tracks of your
hard drive. The closer your animation file is to the slowest drive track the
higher chance that it will not be fast enough to maintain playback speed.
Bob
Yes Robert you are right I figured that out, after the join I copy the two
segements I joined to another harddrive and I then do an optimize after that
the animations paly OK.
So my problem is solved, so to me it appears one can only use 1.1 to 1.2 GB of
the 1.6 GB on the disk for real animation which is for me about 6 minutes with
the best quality, If I would put the Block Limit down I probably be able to use
more of the disk.
Christophe
Christophe:
Good to hear you are able to play your animation after some wrangling. I have
the smaller Micropolis 2210A which I can fill up to about 90% before I get the
bad playback. This gives me about 5 minutes of clean playback. I believe that
.STL files are always stored on the slower tracks so you could just pile up a
bunch to keep the space from going to waste. <G>
Bob
Hi Bob:
I was called in to help a local animator resolve a similar issue with his PAR
and 2217. He was using BLF of 250 for all his work. When he got to 800 megs
filled none of his animations would play. after optimizations each time more of
his desired animations would play including ones that once played before
optimization. I suggested he never again use the BLF of 250 but reduse it to
240 for all his work unless doing just one or two short animations on an empty
drive. He agreed and after a couple of months work now has reported that he
can fill the drive to over 75% without problems. He has now resolved to stop
using the PAR as a storage device for his animations and make it a working
space for current projects.
In the early days of the par we all were bragging about the "ability" to be
able to use the higher BLF's for higher quality. Well, after a year of heavy
PAR use I must conclude that using the DPS's recommendation of 240 is right opn
target for best performance of the PAR with these Mic drives. The quality
difference between the two settings is, IMO, not perceptable.
I guess you are right with what you said, but for PAL DPS recommends 300 BLF
and I use 302, however I seem to be able to fill up the drive to 1.2GB at that
compression rate, which amounts to about 6 minutes of video, and that will be
enough.
However I'm waiting for my DAT backup, so for the moment I'm stuck with
playback. Luckely I just was able to get everything right and managed to preent
everything during 3 workshops today.
So all worked out well.
Christophe
Oh yes the pal figure of only doing 25 FPS. Must have to do with original file
bytes per minute
Don:
/_______________________From your message________________________\\
Well, after a year of heavy PAR use I must conclude that using the DPS's
recommendation of 240 is right on target for best performance of the PAR with
these Mic drives.
__________________________________________________________________
I haven't changed my 240 setting since I bought the PAR either. Now that I can
move around my .ani files which are often over the 896 frame threshold I can
keep my PAR drive pretty clear for joins and edits. Before PAR v1.5 I was
trying to keep everything on the PAR as long as possible, not a preffered
scenario.
Bob