4 Replies Latest reply: Jan 12, 2013 4:50 AM by marq5.1 RSS

    Export button grayed - working around SpeedGrade

    marq5.1 Community Member

      Hi,

       

      I am determined to get Sg to work on my ProMac 3.1 OS 10.6.8 and my MacBookPro OS 10.7.5

       

      I have actually had some success so I am making this post as a kind of online log of what I have done to get some usable results. There is some superstition in the solutions I have found since I have no idea what the causes of the problems are. I hope that this may help anyone else who has spent hours trying to get some good results from this program.

       

      I am pretty pleased with the user interface (after getting used to it) and the looks that I am getting. I know that this program together with Pr has a lot of potential. That is why I have decided to invest my time in getting it to working.

       

      One of the first things that I noticed (this may be superstition) Sg doesn't like folder paths with special characters. (I usually add a ">" to folders that I am actively working with so that they go to the top of the list in my Finder view. I have stopped putting ">" in my folder names and that has helped (I think).

       

      On my ProMac I was able to start Sg (as long as it hasn't been updated) and use it to do my grading but I wasn't able to export until I did the following:

       

      Deleted

       

      LastCommandLine.ircp

      LastSession_backup.ircp

      LastSession.ircp

       

      from

       

      HDD/Users/User/Documents/Adobe/SpeedGrade/6.0/settings

       

      And-or in Sg hitting (cmd R) and then navigating to the Output pane. cmd R brings me to the Monitor pane with the Audio tab open but when I go back to the Output pane the Render button is magically active.

       

      This has also been my method for getting the same result using my MacBookPro. The MBP is running Sg with the update 6.0.4x18.

       

      I was hoping to export my graded material as a ProRes422(HQ).mov but for some reason Sg exports all of the export modules I have made so far as frames. I'm not sure how to process a .mov sequence so I created a .tiff output module under the "Frame Sequence tab" under "other..." in the Format & Options menu and that works fine. I just use QT Pro to turn the image sequence into a .mov with my desired codec.

       

      I hope that this information helps anyone, it sure would have saved me a few days of puzzling.

       

      Cheers,

       

      DK

        • 1. Re: Export button grayed - working around SpeedGrade
          marq5.1 Community Member

          Hi,

           

          This is a bit of an update.

           

          since writing the above entry I have been able to work with Sg without any snags. Even the problem with the strange export file format has disappeared.

          Sg is working on my MacBook Pro (10.7.5) and my ProMac 3.1 (10.6.8) (without the Sg update) as it should.

           

          I wish that I could say what exactly has ended the strange behavior, but I can't.

           

          Cheers,

           

          DK

          • 2. Re: Export button grayed - working around SpeedGrade
            Patrick J. Palmer Adobe Employee

            Hi DK,

             

            thanks for the update. Definitely let us know if you come across any eratic behaviour again.

             

            Cheers,

            Pat

            • 3. Re: Export button grayed - working around SpeedGrade
              marq5.1 Community Member

              I have still not given up on Sg. But I have to be honest, it is becoming more of a pet project than a useful tool.

               

              I am currently working on a HDR project. The is the first time that I have experimented with HDR and video so bare with me. I would love to have any input on this.

               

              I am using Ae in combination with Photomatix and and Magic Lantern's HDR setting for the 5D mkII.

               

              I was hoping to use Sg to process the .exr sequences generated by Photomatix. It seems like Sg should be able to do this comfortably, but I am having all kinds of buggish problems trying to get it to. I can import and grade the .exr sequences, but Sg experiences an "internal error" and freezes when I try exporting it. I have now resorted to grading my .exr files in Ae where (though not comfortable) has been working reasonably.

               

              On the upside, I'm learning a lot about the potentials of Sg.

               

              I am also grading Alexa material and that is working pretty well now. I traced the problem with the strange export behavior (footage was being rendered as an image sequence with a .mov ending when the output method was ProRes QT film) to the Dynamic Link function. If I bring footage manually into Sg this problem doesn't happen. I have also been keeping the file structure of the media files I am processing with Sg as flat as possible (which is killing my data organization, but making Sg more run stable).

               

              Any ideas about exporting .exr sequences would be much appreciated.

               

              Cheers,

              • 4. Re: Export button grayed - working around SpeedGrade
                marq5.1 Community Member

                I've been using Sg successfully for a while now. Most of the problems persist, but I am able to export graded clips as ProRes as I need.

                 

                The automatic naming convention from the Sg export is flawed

                Dynamic Link doesn't work

                 

                I updated Sg yesterday to see if the update has addressed any of these issues. I'm guessing that nothing has changed since my last post.

                 

                After I update Sg, Sg crashes at launch. When I de-install Sg and download Sg from the Creative Cloud, it works as before the upgrade.

                 

                What is in the update that is causing Sg to crash at launch?

                 

                ProMac 3,1 OS 10.6.8

                2x2.66 GHz QCore Xenon

                10 GB 667 Mhz RAM

                NVIDIA Quadro 4000