R3D Data Manager version 3.0 released!

[Conrad Hunziker]

We are proud to have a brand new release of R3D Data Manager. This version was a huge upgrade from the previous versions, leading to almost 40% more code. However, with that code comes some great new features.

Updates in this release:


New Source Queue System: We have created a new source queue system for managing multiple Red Sources at once. You can add up to 200 sources which will then be processed and copied by R3D Data Manager sequentially. So you can literally shoot a whole day of CF cards, then at night download them all with one click. Or if you have multiple Red Drives, set them up then knock them down with one click. R3D Data Manager will copy them all to the destinations you have setup, and make sure each one arrives there perfectly.
New Look: We have created a new look for R3D Data Manager. This one should be more pleasing to the eye, and easier to find your way around.
Multiple Subfolders: We now can handle directory of RDM folders in one shot. For example, if you copy all your footage (over several Red Mags) to a single folder on a shuttle drive, and take that drive to your Post Department. Now your Post guys can choose that single folder as the source and copy the whole days work in one batch to their system. This speeds up the time it takes to transfer footage, and you dont have to do each mag individually.
In addition to all of the major changes above, we did some code cleanup and workflow changes. These workflow changes were in direct response to users, so please keep your suggestions coming!


Overall, we are very happy with this new look and feature set. In addition, in the next couple of weeks you can expect a new version with our Quicktime Render module. The Quicktime Render module will allow fast and easy processing of footage, ideal for dailies or quick conversions. We already have a working coy of this running on our test systems - we just need to iron out a few last bugs.

Current Users PLEASE NOTE: You will need a new key before using this product. Make sure to have one sent to you by entering your information here (https://www.r3ddata.com/order/resend/)

http://www.r3ddata.com/images/R3Dmain-small.jpg (http://www.r3ddata.com/images/R3Dmain.jpg)

[Conrad Hunziker]

BTW - Current users should be able to upgrade by using the "check for updates" menu item in R3D Data Manager. Or, if you enabled it, it should check for an update when you start the program. Make sure you have your new KEY in hand!

[Uli Plank]

Sounds great!

[Rainer Fritz]

everything fine.... thx

[Russ Campbell]

Version 3 doesn't recognize when additional clips have been added to a Red drive and create checksums for those clips. I prefer to keep all the clips on the RED drives for commercials shoots as an additional copy for added security and use the 'Ignore all' setting. Version 2.4 would recognize that new clips have been added since the last copy and automatically begin creating the new checksums for those clips when you select the Red drive. Now I have to use the 'create checksums' command from the menu, which starts from the first clip and wastes a lot of time. Any ideas?

[Conrad Hunziker]

Ill have to look back at the code to see why this is happening. However, for now I would recommend against keeping copies of R3D data on your hard drive and re-using them. I understand the 'added security' reasoning, but if anything does happen it will take that much longer to find your clips. For example, if you had 5 clips on a drive, and then formatted, if the drive fails you will only have to deal with resurrecting the new footage since formatting. However, with your system, you will have to resurrect the 5 clips you already have PLUS then new clips, which could take hours/days longer.

[Russ Campbell]

Thanks for the response Conrad. I agree with you about the difficulty in finding the last 3 clips if a drive fails. On the other hand someone had a table turned over and both backup drives hit the deck and failed and all the footage would have been lost had the original footage not been kept on the RED drive. On long form, I reformat the drive after the footage is backed up. Most commercial shoots end up with 50 or less clips on each RED drive, so it isn't that big a deal if I need to recover from a failed drive.

[J. Bernard Vallon]

Please undo the "new look," or at least the tabs. It was very nice to be able to see all of the settings in one glance with no button presses.

[Conrad Hunziker]

We put the things into tabs because the queue system requires so much more GUI space. Getting things out of tabs would mean a much larger GUI, and it wont fit on some laptops.

[Jim Chu]

Thanks - your software is and has been the key to restful hours during shooting. Ok, only 4 or 5 at a crack, but they still count!

[Conrad Hunziker]

We are proud to announce the release of 3.1, with several bugfixes and additional help:



Improved Detection of Red Media. We have revised the way that R3D Data Manager detects Red Media (Red CF Card, Red Drive), which should prevent false positives and overwriting of ProjectInfomation.txt data.

Checksum Generation on Red Media Revised. We revised the checksums generation on Red Media to skip generating checksums on RDC folders that already have checksum files. This supposes that the checksums contained in those files are complete and accurate.

Revised Menus. We revised the menus in the main window to make more sense in the new queue workflow.

Help Menus. We added help menus to all the buttons in the GUI, to let you know what each button does exactly.

Keyboard Shortcuts. We added and smoothed out the keyboard shortcuts. We kept the old shortcuts as much as possible, except where they were conflicting with system or other shortcuts. Please look at the help menu for each button to see the new keyboard shortcuts.

As before, if you are upgrading from the 2.x series, you will need to obtain an new registration key (http://www.r3ddata.com/order/resend/). If you are already running 3.0, you do NOT need a new key.

[Steve Sherrick]

How do we get the new key?

[Steve Sherrick]

Nevermind :blush:

[Conrad Hunziker]

FYI, the link is in the note above, and its also in the upgrade notification window that pops up in the application. The link is also on our website of course too.

Thanks.

[Steve Sherrick]

Found it after I posted, sorry about that.

Just finished a copy with a lot of errors. But when I check the files, they seem fine. Best practices would suggest copying these again anyway?

Transfer details:

Red Drive FW800 > 2 eSATA destinations. Using Sonnet Express34 eSATA card on MacBook Pro.

[Conrad Hunziker]

Yes, best practice would dictate that you transfer them again. You can use the "remove ones with errors and transfer again" to automatically just transfer the folders that had errors.

In the end its up to you, if you want to allow the transfer with the errors. If there were errors, that means something didnt copy over correctly - maybe as simple as a backwards zero and one. It may play fine now, but will it hold up in further processing later?

[Steve Sherrick]

I followed your advice and it seemed to be successful the second time. What was strange is that it said there were several clip folders that didn't copy successfully, but when it did it the second time it came back showing it had replaced only one clip folder. But the checkmark window was there, so all is okay?

By the way, I love the new look and the new functionality. I'm using the queue system right now to backup from backups and it seems to work great.

[Conrad Hunziker]

Are you sure there were several clip folders that had errors? I know the new way the report is shown in the results window may make it look as if several were incorrect, when it may be only one. We are working on the result window only showing the errors FIRST, then the completed folders.

[David Guest]

Conrad - has v3.1 addressed the checksum issue when backing up from drives without reformatting? I also work TVC's - and am reluctant to format a drive mid-shoot (i prefer to keep the r3d files until the bitter end).

I know the r3d's are being copied successfully without the checksums (have done a few shoots with this version and checked and double-checked) - but ideally I'd like the extra security that they provide.

[Conrad Hunziker]

Conrad - has v3.1 addressed the checksum issue when backing up from drives without reformatting? I also work TVC's - and am reluctant to format a drive mid-shoot (i prefer to keep the r3d files until the bitter end).




Checksum Generation on Red Media Revised. We revised the checksums generation on Red Media to skip generating checksums on RDC folders that already have checksum files. This supposes that the checksums contained in those files are complete and accurate.


So it should work for you.

[David Guest]

Great, thankyou.:biggrin:

[Conrad Hunziker]

Just an update to those who are watching this thread. Version 4.0 announced:

http://www.reduser.net/forum/showpost.php?p=305665&postcount=1

[Conrad Hunziker]

Just as an FYI to those watching this thread, we just released version 4.2:

http://www.reduser.net/forum/showpost.php?p=362168&postcount=1