Aurora Still Going?
by MoisiePants
on
Nov 14, 2006 at 4:32:17 pm
Hello everyone
I've read through some of the posts on this forum about whether Aurora are still going strong or not - which representatives of Aurora seem to insist they are.
However, I'm nervous about buying one of their cards:
Re: Aurora Still Going? by David Battistella on Nov 14, 2006 at 7:30:21 pm
Aurora has definitely downsized, but I am not certain that they are defunct. The products are reliable. I would be more concerned if they were not keeping up with driver releases.
There really isn't a competitive alternative to the FUSE. You can look at AJA or Decklink products, but I am not sure they provide the functionality you are looking for.
Re: Aurora Still Going? by John Lussow on Nov 18, 2006 at 2:06:44 am
No driver updates since March and the manual for the Pipe family asks to check back on January 2, 2006 for the new manual. I still love my Pipe Studio but Aurora seems to be pretty much dead. Did everybody get Mike's email?
Re: Aurora Still Going? by hitpro on Nov 21, 2006 at 1:45:33 am
We have been trying to contact Mike and the Aurora team as well for months. We were in a transition to slowly moving all our audio post rooms to the Pipe Studio / Fuse X system when Aurora stopped responding to any communications. Got one email from former Aurora Sales director Mike Stoven who answered one email from me . . . he now works for Mac Professionals.
Our big problem is we cannot playback any codec on our old Initer X cards but the Aurora MJPEG-A. No problem when playing half size videos for the ProTools rigs, but a big problem when we need to make DVDs that clients use for presentations. As they want as high a resolution as possible in the source quicktime files. Not the end of the world but a real pain in the . . .
Also when we bought the Pipe Studio we did not purchase a BOB in hopes to trade it in with Aurora for a rebate. Thus we are stuck with an expensive paper weight. Also with a mix of Fuse X and Ingiter X cards that are not 100% compatible (except for half size video playback). Anyone with a spare BOB (break out box) that they want to sell please contact me at dennis@hitproductions.net
Thanks and hoping that Aurora somehow pulls though this . . .
Dennis Cham
HIT Productions
Music | Sound Design | Post
Re: Aurora Still Going? by Ken Zukin on Nov 21, 2006 at 5:44:20 am
All the products on the Aurora website say "out of stock." Supposing that Aurora has now joined the "living-dead" corporate status, is it best to migrate another direction sooner than later? I have the Pipe Studio setup and it's been a solid performer. But if Aurora isn't going to release upgrades, aren't we all just tempting fate in a bad way to stay with these systems. And what's the prevailing wisdom these days, AJA Kona, or Blackmagic Design?
Re: Aurora Still Going? by hitpro on Nov 21, 2006 at 5:51:56 am
I am giving them till March or April 2007 . . .that is when we are doing our big studio revamp. Then it's with the Blackmagic Decklink SPs + Decklink Extreme. . . sad it is such a good product and I do not want to spend $$$ when we have to. Hopefully someone in Aurora is reading this . . . please do not go away!
Dennis Cham
HIT Productions
Music | Sound Design | Post
Re: Aurora Still Going? by David Battistella on Nov 21, 2006 at 2:50:49 pm
This thread is making me sad. I own and Igniter and Pipe Studio and they are both very relaible products but with lack of Drier support it has become a stretch. When I made the move to HD I went wtih AJA products. They are a very diverse company and have supported the products in an outstanding way.
Re: Aurora Still Going? by Cofe on Nov 21, 2006 at 11:29:45 pm
as of now Pipe drivers work perfectly with all the latest FCP studio software and OSX and QT versions.
My guess is that even if OSX or QT will maybe get a point upgrade, FCP studio will most likely go next year to vers 6 (whenever that is?) This new version will most likely be Intel optimized and be written for OSX Leopard.
Because the Pipe drivers are pretty rock solid right now their might be even a chance that they'll work on G5 PCIx machines with these new FCP/OSX versions, but they might not.
It really depends on what you want your software/hardware be able to do? You not always need the latest and greatest just because its out there (and do you really use ALL the functionality that FCP studio is capable of??). But I have to move HD next year, so I have no other choice then to get a new video i/o and most likely a new compi as well. For that as far as my research goes I tend to look at the Kona3.
Wait and see until you have to make a move and take the option available on the day. Old saying: If you always wait for the best next Mac you'll never buy one...
Thanks a million Aurora for your amazing products so far and who knows....
Cofe
Re: Aurora Still Going? by hitpro on Nov 22, 2006 at 12:19:05 am
I too want to see Aurora continue. Our problem (being an audio post facility) is not too much with the drivers as I am very satified running older drivers. The problems we are having is that the Pipe / Fuse X series will not playback the old Aurora MJPEG A codec properly and our older Igniter X products likewise do not play back anything but Aurora MJPEG A. If anyone knows a workaround for this please email me. As we move sessions between rooms, it is a pain with compatibility issues.
Only way the systems work is when we use 320 x 480 . . . but any other resolution jitters like crazy.
Would appreciate if anyone out there has a fix.
Dennis Cham
HIT Productions
Music | Sound Design | Post
Re: Aurora Still Going? by Cofe on Nov 22, 2006 at 2:17:46 am
this sounds a bit like a field order problem?
what setting is your interceptor for 'filed order' set too? try the other one (lower to upper/upper to lower) to the one you have now to play back your MjpegA footage on the Pipe/Fuse.
Just a thought...
Cofe
Re: Aurora Still Going? by hitpro on Nov 22, 2006 at 6:39:21 am
Hi Cofe, thanks for the tip. Yes it was a field order problem. And we have tried switching field orders, so far we were unsuccessful. In the new Pipe Studio when opened in FCP, the Aurora MJPEG A codec is missing and we just merely used the MJPEG A codec in the list. This all plays back fine in the Fuse X but not on the Igniter Lites.
The only way we were able to make things work was with 320 x 240 (sorry for the typo in my last post) or half size. According to Aurora tech support, this is because the half size video was not dependent of frame order. Or at least that is the way I understood it.
Problem is I am stuck with two incompatible Aurora cards . . . Also I was hoping to trade in our old Aurora Igniter X Pro, for the Pipe Studio, so I only have one breakout box. This has made one of the cards an expensive paper weight. I love Aurora hardware and have scoured eBay and all the dealers for Fuse X just to get rid of the compatibility problems. Not much luck though.
Then again I am sure Aurora has bigger problems on their hands, so my prayers that they get out of the problem they are in and stay in business. Hmmm maybe Apple will buy them . . .
Dennis Cham
HIT Productions
Music | Sound Design | Post
Re: Aurora Still Going? by Cofe on Nov 22, 2006 at 8:53:43 am
annoying problem, sorry for the mess.
Another thought: have you tried to use the DV codec?
As far as I remember this plays ok on the Igniter in OSX (but its been a long while that I used my IgniterSDI (anyone wanna buy it?))
The DV codec might be bigger in size but is highly efficient in terms of CPU usage and doesn't need fast disk drives.
again just a thought....
Apple buying Aurora would surprise me as Apple and AJA are pretty close and actualy have their offices not far from each other. Who knows??
Cofe
Re: Aurora Still Going? by hitpro on Nov 22, 2006 at 12:12:55 pm
Thanks for the DV tip Cofe, I'll try it. Worth giving it a shot.
Why apologize for the mess. . . I really appreciate the help. Aurora is going through tough times. I would be willing to support them if there is any chance of their survival.
Regards!
Dennis Cham
HIT Productions
Music | Sound Design | Post
Re: Aurora Still Going? by Ken Zukin on Nov 22, 2006 at 1:27:47 am
Cofe,
Thanks for your post - you put things into perspective for me. I'm shooting an editing with Panasonic's DV50 codec - so I think I can eek a little more life out of my current system (G5 2.0 DP). I agree it's not always necessary to have the latest, greatest, but you can end up in no-man's-land when you can't upgrade FCP, but other applications require a QT upgrade, for example.
I'll probably wait till I buy a new computer, then deal with the requirements of more sophisticated storage needs, and a different cap. card as well. Aurora, if you're reading this - big thanks. Your products gave me years of reliable service, and paid for themselves many many times over.
