I've been a long-time user of the Pinnacle Liquid editing software, starting out with Edition 5.5, then to 6.0 and 6.1.  I initially purchased a turnkey editing system (in 2002 or 03 with LE 5.5) from a company in Florida. It worked great - I was able create my projects and get them delivered pretty quickly, while still working full-time. I bought a digital SLR to complement my side-job of video services, and over time the video editing computer became more loaded up with applications that were not video. Ah yes, I was breaking the video editing cardinal rule of "don't load up too much extra software".

Then, I was laid-off from my full-time job, but was able to work out of our house doing much the same work. So I decided to try my hand at building a new video editing computer, using an on-line article from Videoguys.com as a guide. I got it built, but am having difficulties with random BSODs and getting 7.2 to install (more BSODs). I took the computer to a couple local shops; they both checked out the hardware and couldn't find any problems. But I get it home, and the problems crop up again. This has been going on for months now, and I'm getting a bit frustrated. Plus, I have projects to get out, and with two young sons at home, not a lot of free time.

To summarize, I'm looking for a shop or individual in or near Toledo OH where I can bring my computer and my L7.2 software, sit down with them, and get this working properly. I've browsed the forums, and appreciate the info I've gotten from them.  But I feel that someone "live and local" may be the key to my dilemma.

I would sincerely appreciate any suggestions.

Thank you for your consideration.

For one thing, according to your profile you are running an outdated version of Liquid. The current version is 7.2. Second, you have a DX10 video card and those only work correctly with 7.2 and the DX10 patch. The best thing to do is uninstall your current version of Liquid, download and install the Full 7.2 patch and then the DX10 patch. You can find them here.

BSOD problems are not related to Liquid but to your system. Most likely causes are bad memory, a bad motherboard or possibly a bad install of XP. You might want to start from scratch and remove the partition from your system drive and install XP fresh up to SP3 (which is required for the DX10 patch) and then install 7.2 and the DX10 patch. If you are still seeing BSOD's, then you have hardware problems.

Yes, I had printed that whole thread out last Oct. 22 when I was ordering the computer parts, and added it to my 3-ring binder-of-info. As my guide for this project, I was using an online article from Videoguys.com here They have updated it a bit from the version I printed last April, but its essentially the same. From the thread you referenced above, I have an Nvidia Quadro FX1700 installed - at the time it was hard to find ATI cards; also I remember something about ATI being bought or taken over by another company???  I just checked the Nvidia System Info and it is running DirectX version 9.0c - so I shouldn't need the Liquid 7.2.1 patch.

I went with the Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300, the mobo is Asus P5Q3 Deluxe with Intel P45 Express chipset. The ram and other components are listed in my system config. I have Liquid 7.0 listed because I haven't been able to get 7.2 loaded completely what with the bsod's occurring randomly. I've had a bsod happen when I'm just using IE7. Other times I'll be in IE7, I'll click something, and -poof!- no more IE7. It just goes away.

At this point, I'm pretty disheartened about my lofty idea to "do it yourself".  So far, it's not doing it for me. Maybe I should have bought another turnkey system - but, oh the expense!! Hopefully I won't end up with a big, digital paperweight on my desktop!

Thank you for your response.

It is not what version of DirectX you are running, it is the hardware itself. That card is a DX10 card so yes, you need the patch or you will get green flashes on effects when you render. Your components sound fine and lot of others here are using similar components. It is very possible you have a bad memory chip in your system that is causing the BSOD when it is addressed. Hard to know. Go online and look for some free memory testing software like "memtest" and run it to see if it can find a bad chip. Also, make sure the memory and everything else is well seated on the motherboard.

Just to be safe, if you are sure the hardware is OK, I would just start fresh with a clean install of XP and make sure you have SP3. Just install whatever drivers you need (audio, video, etc) and any updates for your motherboard from ASUS and then install Liquid. Try not to install any other programs that could cause issues.

You should be able to get this to work. If you still get the BSOD, then you are going to need a good computer tech to try and find what component is bad in the system. You don't need a Liquid expert, but you might need a good tech.

Thank you very much for your suggestions. I googled around and found Memtest86+ v1.70 on a website called UBCD - Ultimate Boot CD. This site has other apps I may need to try,also . Right now the memtest has been running for over 13 hours (41st pass) - it has no errors listed so far. I read somewhere in my searchings to let it run for 24 hours - I'm halfway there.

On another computer, I dowmloaded the DX10 patch for future use once I get 7.2 loaded. I may try running it with one of the 1GB memory sticks pulled out to see if either one or the other affects performance. More news as this story unfolds...........

Thanx again!

Just a brief update.......  I ran memtest86+ for almost 24 hours - no errors. Before reloading the OS and reinstalling the software, I decided to pop the cover and unplug/re-plug all the cables. I also pulled the two 1GB ram sticks and swapped their sockets. It booted up okay. Next, I loaded 7.2 - this time it went smoothly (no BSOD), then loaded the Lew-reccomended DX10 patch. Things seem to be running more stably - knock on wood! I'm going to do a small project to see if everything else runs okay.

Thank you for your help and suggestions.

Just an update here........  It turned out that the frequent BSODs were a cry for help by the CPU! 

After Googling "avid liquid 7 users in Toledo", I contacted axel andy who gave me the name of a local technician they've worked with.  Axel andy said the tech was a great hardware guy, and I agree - he nailed the problem quickly. He popped in a new CPU, ran the same tests that the original had failed on, and now I'm good to go - hardware-wise. I still need to get some software issues resolved (why doesn't Title Deko Pro "Save as new to Liquid").  Ah, but that's for another day - and forum.

Thanx all for your suggestions and especially the referral to the local guy.