#Studio Magic
4 messages in this thread
I recently purchased the Studio Magic product. The product is not nearly as
intuitive as advertised. If you've heard the joke about the software salesman
and the devil, apply it here. Anyway, I am wondering if anyone knows of a
bulletin board or at the least a tech support number for these people.
Thanks in advance for any help.
Don:
> recently purchased the Studio Magic product. The product is not nearly as
intuitive as advertised. If you've heard the joke about the software salesman
and the devil, apply it here.<
Yeah–unfortunately, their manual (once you get past the setup instructions,
which *are* good) reads more like ZEN & THE ART OF LOW-BUDGET VIDEOMAKING <g>
than a practical guide (I think I took 'em to task for it in my review of the
product).
>Anyway, I am wondering if anyone knows of a bulletin board or at the least a
tech support number for these people.<
The number I've got is (408) 378-3838. I should warn you, though, that they're
not only about as "spacey" on the phone as their manual is, they're also
apparently going through Chapter 11. You may not get much help there…
What specifically are you having trouble w/? Maybe I or someone else here can
help out,
Tim Liebe
Tim:
Thanks for the bad news.
The problem is as follows:
I hook up the camcorder to video 1. VCR to Video out. When I attempt to overlay
titles or graphics, the television goes nuts. (i.e., colors skew, video
(horizontal & vertical) scrambles.) After 5 hours of trying to overlay titles I
gave up so I don't
know if I'll have any other problems.
Any assistance you can offer is more than appreciated.
Don:
>The problem is as follows:
I hook up the camcorder to video 1. VCR to Video out. When I attempt to overlay
titles or graphics, the television goes nuts. (i.e., colors skew, video
(horizontal & vertical) scrambles.)<
Before I suggest you send the card back to Studio Magic (or return it to where
you bought it for a new one), have you made sure that your software understands
what sort of video signal you're sending it? It occurs to me that, for some
reason, the card can't tell if you're sending S-Video signals or plain
composite signals unless you tell it (and, of course, the manual is ZERO help
on this score), but check your setup to make sure it understands what you're
sending it…). Also, you *are* using NTSC video and not PAL or SECAM, right?
Oh, one other thing occurs to me–have you tried straight dubbing from your
camcorder's A/V output to your VCR? If the camcorder's A/V outputs aren't very
good, or the tape was badly recorded for some reason (don't laugh–it happened
to me when *I* was reviewing it!), there's nothing in the Studio Magic to clean
up the time base error, which will show up when you try and dub tape from your
camcorder to your VCR. Also, try reversing the process if you can–go in from
your VCR, and out to your camcorder, and see what you get then.
If that fails, it sounds like your Studio Magic's genlock is *facocked*, and
you'll have to see about returning it (Studio Magic, even though they're filing
Chapter 11, should still have to accept it for a return…). Try calling them
and asking–if you can get through…
Hope this helps,
Tim