http://videomaker.com/community/forums/ Videomaker Forums » Tag: Mac - Recent Posts en Mon, 23 Nov 2009 18:24:07 +0000 http://videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/which-mac-is-best-for-me#post-51612 Fri, 23 Oct 2009 20:47:48 +0000 Franko 51612@http://videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>Thanks to everyone! really appreciate the help. I was going for mac mini just for cost effective, but if you have to shell out the same amount as a macbook pro to get the mini up to scale. then ill just go with the macbook pro.</p> <p>I don't know exactly what ill be editing yet. When I graduate ill be doing anything to make cash locally. The hope is to jump into an indie career with local Indie film producer connections I have here. </p> <p>But the plan is I want a system that is semi portable, and can handle my own small scale production needs for my own projects, or small profit. and if i need any serious equipment cause I am working with a producer...I'll just rent equipment cause, it would have a budget. So I think macbook pro is all I need for now. Thanks again to everyone. You have all been a big help.</p> http://videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/which-mac-is-best-for-me#post-51611 Fri, 23 Oct 2009 19:33:03 +0000 Evan 51611@http://videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p> Well, I would say that the mac mini would not be powerfull for what you need to do. If you really need portabillity, go with the macbook pro. The macbook will not work well for you. I would consider the iMac pretty portable. You just bring it and a keyboard and mouse (wireless ones included) and you're set. It has a great screen and has a hard display to break (covered by plastic). I think for you the decision would come to an imac for semi portabillity, or a macbook pro for complete portabillity. </p> <p>Let us know what you get and how it works for you.</p> http://videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/which-mac-is-best-for-me#post-51610 Fri, 23 Oct 2009 17:34:55 +0000 D0n 51610@http://videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>I use macbooks (older ones, not the latest models) with 2 gigs ram, external firewire hd's, and an external tv/computer monitor with adaptor.</p> <p>They work fine with FCE and while the macbook pro's are worth the money, the macbooks are capable.</p> <p>I'd skip the mini, by the time you buy what it's missing, you'd be in macbook  prices anyways.... </p> http://videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/which-mac-is-best-for-me#post-51608 Fri, 23 Oct 2009 17:10:18 +0000 SargeHero 51608@http://videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>Franko:</p> <p>I have a Macbook Pro with 4 GB of RAM and I can run Premiere and After Effect without any mayor problems. In Premiere when you add color correction and among other effects the playback speed slow down a bit, but it works well. In After Effect is the same thing, the effects previews take some time to see it real time, but again you can work with it smoothly. I like the Macbook Pro a lot and the only problem is that it only have two USB ports and sometimes with some pendrives you cannot connect two USB devices at the same time because the pendrive takes too much space. This can be resolve using a USB cable extension. Two USB ports can be troublesome depending of what video production you are working, but there are many accessories that you can add up to the Macbook Pro to improve it and the OS rarely freezes. In general you will need a lot of hardrive memory and if its in your budget buy one with lots of it. I love to editing in the Macbook Pro and I have Windows on Boothcamp (it works horrible). I haven't had any regrets with the Macbook Pro. </p> http://videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/which-mac-is-best-for-me#post-51606 Fri, 23 Oct 2009 17:02:47 +0000 Eventvideoguy 51606@http://videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>What exactly are you going to be editing?  Are you a professional videographer or a Dad looking to play with some home movies. Do you have any experience on a MAC?  If you are a PC guy and are only looking at switching because apparently that is what they do in your area?  Or are you switching because you really want to switch?</p> <p>The nice thing about MACs is that they only have 5 different models.  Granted each model has different amounts of memory/processor power/HDD space. As opposed to PC's where there are 500 different models.</p> <p><strong>MAC Pro</strong> This is the full-on pro computer probably not worth your money if you're doing home editing.</p> <p><strong>MACBook</strong> I wouldn't even bother.</p> <p><strong>iMAC</strong> This is a good desktop for the average and above average user</p> <p><strong>MAC Min</strong>i I'd say this is the desktop equivalent of the MACBook Pro. Yes they are portable but don't forget, you would also have to transport the monitor, keyboard, mouse, etc.  So is it really that portable.</p> <p><strong>MACBook Pro  </strong>If you're looking for power and portability than this is what you need. These are awesome and if you get a educational discount can be very affordable.  I am a professional videographer and use mine to edit on the go. They are very fast and inexpensive to upgrade.  The MAC store gave me some partner web addresses to upgrade.  http://www.crucial.com/ &amp; http://www.macsales.com/.  I was able to buy a new 500GB hard drive and 4GB of memory for just about nothing as opposed to at the MAC store.  Bottom line is they are fast.  I would highly recommend on if you're looking for portability.</p> <p> </p> <p>Remember, you can dual boot a MAC with Window.  Or if you purchase the 3rd party application you can run Windows from inside OSX and not have to worry about dual booting.</p> <p>Good luck.</p> http://videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/which-mac-is-best-for-me#post-51588 Fri, 23 Oct 2009 07:32:00 +0000 Franko 51588@http://videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>I was gonna have a custom computer built for editing. But found out here in my local area, Mac is the standard everyone uses. And if it requires more, you rent it. And realized i should get a mac. I will get a nice discount due to accademic pricing on all software and computers i get. But stuck on which Mac model I should get.</p> <p>I'd like to get a Mac Mini. Since I'm looking at price first. It's a desktop, but still portable if needed. But does it have the Memory, graphic and processing power to edit video with Adobe Premiere, and other Production Suite Apps? I think it does. But id like to make sure before i go out and get one.</p> <p>The other option I'm looking at is a Macbook Pro. As it has the 8 gigs of memory without getting the full blown mac pro...which i do NOT have the money to get no mater how much I'd like to have it. But its a considerable price increas just to have the extra 4 gigs of memory that the Mac Mini cant have (The Macbook pro im looking at even has the same graphics card as the Mini.)</p> <p>Or could i just get a plain old Macbook for full portability? does that have the power to use Production Premiere and company? Thanks to anyone who can help me</p> <p> </p> http://videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/video-editing-software-for-mac#post-51070 Fri, 25 Sep 2009 08:03:07 +0000 david5566 51070@http://videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>there are many video editing program for Mac users. I can give a long list. Adobe is well-known for its video editing products, and it has some video editing software for Mac, such as Adobe Premiere Pro, After Effect, and Encore. Avid also has some applications for Mac, say, Media Composer, Xpress Pro. But unfortunately, non of them is free. </p> http://videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/video-editing-software-for-mac#post-51049 Thu, 24 Sep 2009 11:19:24 +0000 robgrauert 51049@http://videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>Avid. Adobe Premiere. </p> http://videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/video-editing-software-for-mac#post-51045 Thu, 24 Sep 2009 06:53:36 +0000 chinalewis 51045@http://videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>Besides iMovie 09 and Final Cut Express and FC Pro are there any other good Mac video editing software? free, inexpensive or expensive. </p> http://videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/using-video-acquired-from-a-dvr-system-copyright-infringement#post-49869 Thu, 06 Aug 2009 17:41:39 +0000 composite1 49869@http://videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>Jerron brings up some good points and some clarification on 'fair usage'. However, the burden of proof will fall upon you. He's right that 'you don't have to comply', but the devil in those details is you'd better be prepared to defend your usage and if they file against your internet provider or your web hosting service, in order to minimize their headaches they will likely cancel your service.</p> <p>On the other hand, giving full credit for where you got the footage from often holds off those inclined to lawyer up. But that also depends on you using short clips and not entire broadcasts. With everyone embedding video the rules are getting pushed to the limits. As is at the moment, you're in the run it up the flag pole and see if anyone objects stage. Sticking to the topics and not attacking anyone specifically may help keep you out of trouble.</p> http://videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/using-video-acquired-from-a-dvr-system-copyright-infringement#post-49859 Thu, 06 Aug 2009 14:28:42 +0000 lenau92@gmail.com 49859@http://videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>Ok so then, what do you think about my situation?</p> <p>Id like to produce a political commentary web show. In this show id like to review things said in the previous nights news. This would entail either reading a transcript, or playing video clips of the discussed piece. Do you think i would run into problems with this? If i could do it... i would post it on youtube, but i also had interest in posting it on my personal website. This website contains advertisement.. would it be wrong to host a video with copyrighted material on a site where im making money from advertising? ... Its hard for me to see myself getting notified from fox news or cnn that they want to remove their clips from my videos... DO you think their are any dangers in just going ahead with it until someone stops me?</p> http://videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/using-video-acquired-from-a-dvr-system-copyright-infringement#post-49829 Wed, 05 Aug 2009 21:29:15 +0000 jerronsmith 49829@http://videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>&gt;&gt;according to fair usage regulations you can use portions of said<br /> material either with permission or without in a non-profit manner which<br /> is a broad description but that's how it works.  b)The moment the<br /> copyright holder objects to your usage and requests you either remove<br /> the materials from your project or take it down entirely according to<br /> law, you are required to do so immediately.&lt;&lt;</p> <p>Just a clarification. Technically the "fair use doctrine" of the copyright laws does not make a distinction between whether you the infringer makes a profit from your infringement or not. What it actually evaluates is whether or not your infringement has a negative effect on the ability of the copyright holder to make a profit. It is the reason that YouTube can't successfully claim fair use for people posting even small clips from film and television. The copyright holder can claim that even small snippets can negatively impact their profits from both rebroadcast and dvd/internet download sales. </p> <p>And by the way if you are claiming fair usage you don't have to comply with cease and desist orders from the copyright holder. That is the entire point of the doctrine, they can't tell you not to use it, because it is a protected use. Keep in mind that the main thrust of the doctrine is to protect scholarly research, criticism, and satire not just because yo felt like using the material, so depending on the context you may be able to get away with a claim of fair use or not. Another issue to keep in mind is something a judge friend of mine once told me; "if you plan on using the fair use doctrine as a defense you must first admit that you infringed a copyrighted work."</p> <p> </p> http://videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/using-video-acquired-from-a-dvr-system-copyright-infringement#post-49817 Wed, 05 Aug 2009 18:43:49 +0000 composite1 49817@http://videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>Lenau,</p> <p>Yes and no is your answer. Yes it is copyright infringement if you take all or portions of copyrighted work to use in other projects without permission from the copyright holder. No, in that a) according to fair usage regulations you can use portions of said material either with permission or without in a non-profit manner which is a broad description but that's how it works.  b)The moment the copyright holder objects to your usage and requests you either remove the materials from your project or take it down entirely according to law, you are required to do so immediately.</p> <p>Those talk shows you mention almost always have permission to do so. To find out more about the rules and regs regarding US copyright at copyright.gov.</p> http://videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/using-video-acquired-from-a-dvr-system-copyright-infringement#post-49812 Wed, 05 Aug 2009 17:12:54 +0000 lenau92@gmail.com 49812@http://videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>&lt;span style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"&gt;<br /> &lt;p style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; background-image: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: #ffffff; background-position: initial initial; margin: 8px;"&gt; </p> <p>My question is in regards to publishing original videos online with clips from tv shows recorded via DVR.</p> <p>Is it legal to use video acquired from a DVR system in a video of your own? (like video clips from the news or a tv show)</p> <p>If so, are there regulations? ( Water mark? Not full screen, or frame the original video?)</p> <p>Is youtube's policy on this congruent with the actual copyright law?</p> <p>Is youtube's policy on this congruent with the actual copyright law?</p> <p> </p> <p>This is done all the time in pop culture talk shows where they review what happened the previous night on television... is this relevant?</p> <p> </p> <p>any thing else you think might be useful to my inquiry?</p> <p> </p> <p>&lt;/span&gt; </p> http://videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/to-build-or-not-to-build/page/6#post-49507 Mon, 27 Jul 2009 17:50:07 +0000 composite1 49507@http://videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>Norman,</p> <p>I'm on the fence on the AMD vs Intel debate. I happen to have had good results with both brands. Now that more programs are developed with AMD in mind, the main things I'm looking at are; speed, price, stability and flexibility. Right now, Intel has the advantage in the flexibility dept. while AMD has the advantage in pricing. Both produce very stable chips but Intel seems to be winning the 'core wars'. I currently am using an Intel Quad in my latest system and don't necessarily have any plans to build anything with an AMD in it. However, that could change.</p> <p>Concerning your fine argument for HDD backup vs Tape; numbers wise, it is much cheaper when you put it the way you did. But, you also have to figure real-world components into the equation like; power, medium stability and reviewing capabilities. </p> <p>Power issues are mighty important. With no power, you can't view the footage from a harddrive particularly with the bigboy's you mentioned. With tape, if need be I can take a battery powered camera and a tape, plug it into a battery powered laptop and still keep working. As an aside, you can do the same thing if you have your materials archived on solid-state media (but those are more expensive than tape.)</p> <p>Medium stability is a major factor as well. Long as the tape was in good condition initally, you use a VTR with clean undamaged heads and store it properly, digital tape will last a very long time. Harddrives are also very good for archiving but you are completely at the mercy of the hdd's mechanics and file system. At any given time you connect your drive to power and to your system it could fail catastrophically. It's a regular occurrance no matter what platform you work with ergo the 'many redundancies' used to back up volatile digital footage. Unless a tape broke, I've never seen one 'crap out' like the many harddrives I've had to recover or lay to rest.</p> <p>Lastly, you have to factor in what you're viewing it on. If you need a quick look at some archival footage, you can keep a small rechargable player or camera in your archiving area. Whereas with HDD's you are committed to connecting them to a computer or laptop for external drives. The cost of the computer / laptop has to be factored into your overall costs of useage along with it's power usage and time accumulated in it's use (start-up, shutdown, etc.)</p> <p>Don't get me wrong, I like and utillize HDD storage, but still will store footage on tape as well until the solidstate technology reaches the economical / storage capacity of current HDD's before I make a 100% switch over.</p> <p>Oh, and I am unaware of anyone who's built a Xeon system.</p> http://videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/to-build-or-not-to-build/page/6#post-49423 Fri, 24 Jul 2009 03:33:12 +0000 NormanWillis 49423@http://videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>Hi Comp.</p> <p><em>&gt;&gt;Backing up is my main beef with a fully tapeless workflow. You have to put all of that footage onto a drive and drives are fragile.</em></p> <p>I think the key here is redundancy.  You can get a 1TB external USB Seagate Free Agent for $129.00 right now through Tiger Direct, and prices keep dropping.  So that's $129.00/1000 GB = $0.129 cents per gigabyte of storage in hdd's, versus $7.00/13GB =$0.54 per GB with HDV tape, or something like, I dunno, 400 times cheaper?  So even if you have three external hdd copies of everything (just for redundancy's sake), you are still at least 100 times better off, in the long run.</p> <p>But I do have a couple of questions for you.  Earlier you said that Sony Vegas was optimized for AMD.  How big of a factor is that, considering the fact that Intel processors currently outrun/outperform the AMD ones?</p> <p>And does anyone ever home-build a Xeon?</p> <p>Norman</p> http://videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/to-build-or-not-to-build/page/6#post-49317 Mon, 20 Jul 2009 23:09:14 +0000 composite1 49317@http://videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>Norman,</p> <p>Yeah the Apple/Jobs thing is a real factor. Seeing how the bean counters over there are already rolling with 'iLife' and 'iThis' and 'iWannapuke'. It may well be innovative software, but it will be interesting to see what happens when Jobs ultimately steps down or passes on. Not to mention they're coming out with 'Snow Leopard' and they make some ballsy claims about it's max system requirements. How they are going to back all of that up while still using the FAT32 file system will also be interesting.</p> <p>Yeah, Avid has their own weirdness going on as well typically, because the bean counters are looking at 'what sells' not 'why it sells'. They seem to be under the auspices that their primary market is big-time Hollywood. But, like they implied in those discussions all that's starting to change.</p> <p>The Sony/Adobe combo is a pretty good fit. Encore is alot like Cinescore, but I believe the latter is a lot easier to use. I much prefer ACID for the freedom to create with premade loops or your own. Takes a bit of tweaking to make it line up but I think it's much better. Encore has not impressed me. Glad to hear V9 has been stable for you.</p> <p>Backing up is my main beef with a fully tapeless workflow. You have to put all of that footage onto a drive and drives are fragile. Maybe when the solid-state harddrives become prevalent, larger in capacity and much cheaper they will be a stable option. I find that any savings in time not digitizing is lost in how many redundancies of backup sources needed. Even the vaunted Blue-Ray technology is already obsolete as you can't store any real amount of stock footage on a BR disc. 40GB max for a dual-sided BRD is still going to come out to quite a large and expensive pile when archiving a 500GB+ Drive full of uncompressed HD footage.</p> http://videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/to-build-or-not-to-build/page/6#post-49280 Sun, 19 Jul 2009 07:30:02 +0000 NormanWillis 49280@http://videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>That MacVideo that said ProApps was going down along with Steve Jobs' health really made me think twice about going Apple, or Avid.  I had no idea that Avid is going down, and that bit the guy said in the end about Adobe quietly but steadily improving CS4 and 5 really made me think hard.</p> <p>I am looking forward to getting into Creative Suite, but right now I am just trying to learn all of the ins and outs of Vegas.  The software does so much.  I will probably build my next machine, and although I will probably build a machine that could run Avid (with "Intel everything", as John Rofrano is recommending) I don't see much reason to spend big bucks on their software.  What makes more sense is just to learn Vegas, and then pick up CS-whatever after that.</p> <p>So far Vegas Pro 9 has been really stable.  It is on a fresh install of Vista 64 Ultimate (b/c I need the language support), and not one crash so far.  Way better than I expected.  I did get an external USB drive for 'drive wipes' like you suggested somewhere; and if the machine ever gets unstable, then a clean install is only a couple of hours away.</p> <p>So it looks like I also will be heading for the Vegas/CSX combo....</p> http://videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/to-build-or-not-to-build/page/6#post-49253 Fri, 17 Jul 2009 20:12:32 +0000 composite1 49253@http://videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>Norman,</p> <p>You voted your mind at the time. It's been a long thread and a great deal of info and research on your own later. Pre-built systems obviously have their uses or they wouldn't be as prevalent. If you think about it, though there are tens of thousands of in-house built units out there the number wouldn't scratch the paint on the number of pre-built's that get made each year.</p> <p>As I mentioned at the begining of this thread, building your own is not for the casual user or the technically disinclined. You must have a strong background in computer usage and understand the basics of how they work. Once you get past the concept of the unit being 'sacrosanct', you'll be able to 'crack open' the case and find the computer is just a machine that can be altered. With practice, you'll get to the point where you'll see a pre-built and either know you could build a better one or be ready research you could.</p> <p>Yeah, Avid has been at this since the beginning. That Apple has been able to gain on them is because of their initial association and their similar tightness on the technology. Avid really stepped away from them when they went cross-platform. If apple ever unpinched their sphincters and allowed some of their software to go crossplatform, they would probably dominate for a while. Lately, I've changed my mind about going back to Avid. I've been working with the Adobe Suite for the last year and it's really a pro setup. I'm still a hardcore Vegas Suite user (haven't gotten 9 yet) and find that there are things Premiere can do and Vegas can do so I use them both. The combination of the two suites allows me to do some serious finishing work and with certain compatible hardware options, I can do similar work at far less expense than putting together a Media Composer setup. Now that money all around is much tighter, that is a serious consideration.</p> http://videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/to-build-or-not-to-build/page/6#post-49217 Thu, 16 Jul 2009 17:48:00 +0000 NormanWillis 49217@http://videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>Yeah, well at least I finally understand why Avid specs their machines out like they do.</p> <p>I wish I knew how to go back and change my vote from 'modified Dell' to 'home-built'!</p> <p>Norman</p> http://videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/to-build-or-not-to-build/page/6#post-49216 Thu, 16 Jul 2009 16:36:21 +0000 composite1 49216@http://videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>Norman,</p> <p>Nice article. I too 'graze' at the Cow from time to time. Yeah, there are a lot of myths as to what causes instability with windows products. The biggest cause is as you mentioned coming from parts that don't play nice together due to driver issues. The great advantage of building your own can also be the biggest disadvantage. Being able to 'mix and match' parts can save you time and money up front. But, if you don't do proper research on the system requirements and driver compatibilities, you'll end up 'paying' those savings back by having to replace parts and or time spent on reconfiguring.</p> <p>Mr. Rofrano is on point about in-house built systems. I personally do not recommend them for the casual user. For the professional editor, freelancer or production house I strongly recommend them provided they have the technical resources and personnel to maintain their systems which by the way they would need anyway. </p> <p>Yes, the closer you stay to recommended system requirements/compatibility the better. That goes for AMD chips and mobo's as well. So far my latest build has been quite stable. The only oddities have been; CS3 glitches involving the licensing and Vista's protection protocols (fixed), minor weirdness with the 'Gadgets' panel on the desktop after startup (fix by hitting refresh) and the very rare startup stall (fix by restarting system.) I'm just sorry we currently don't have room for that 'super system' I spec'ed out!</p> <p>And you're welcome.</p> http://videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/to-build-or-not-to-build/page/6#post-49187 Wed, 15 Jul 2009 22:16:48 +0000 NormanWillis 49187@http://videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>Hi Comp.</p> <p>I thought you would appreciate this.</p> <p>I have been on Creative Cow a lot (grazing).  John Rofrano of VASST is telling me that he and all of the people he knows use in-house built PC's.  He says that because MS and Intel work so closely together, that so long as one sticks to an Intel processor, an Intel motherboard, and uses RAM and components that Intel recommends, one essentially has the equivalent of a 'closed system' Mac, for a lot less money; and with more possibilities.</p> <p><a href="http://www.johnrofrano.com/pcequipment.htm">http://www.johnrofrano.com/pcequipment.htm</a></p> <p>Apparently it is not Windows that is unstable, but deviations from the MS/Intel standard combinations that causes instability.</p> <p>I just thought I should pass that along.</p> <p>I appreciate all of your help in this thread.</p> <p>Norman</p> <p> </p> http://videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/to-build-or-not-to-build/page/6#post-47660 Mon, 08 Jun 2009 22:50:51 +0000 composite1 47660@http://videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>Norman,</p> <p>No worries. I am also trying to stay ahead of 'an avalance' as I've got several pending in-house editing projects staring at me waiting to get done. Still trying to recover from the last 2 weeks worth of shooting. Fun, but tiring. You can see our latest commercial at: <a href="http://www.dreadedenterprises.com">http://www.dreadedenterprises.com/Screen</a> in the sample videos section. Did all the post work on the new system and it works just fine. Now, I'm sort of wanting to build that beast I sent you the specs on. That will have to wait. </p> <p>When I get a moment, I'll look up those specs on the Matrox boxes. I'm still locked down on a Multibridge for this current system, however the AJA Xena line is looking interesting for the 'beast' maybe. I was looking to roll with Media Composer down the line, but the Adobe/Sony workflow we've got going is starting to gel. Maybe when they bust out with CS5 I'll be looking to build that new rig....</p> http://videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/to-build-or-not-to-build/page/6#post-47645 Mon, 08 Jun 2009 16:45:51 +0000 NormanWillis 47645@http://videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>Hi Comp.</p> <p>How are you doing?</p> <p>I got blasted by a 'good avalance' of stuff, and am presently still buried, will have to catch up as I can.  I will try to read the render farming article later, as I believe that is a way I would like to go.  Thank you very much for sending me the article.  If there is anything else good on render farming I should read, please let me know.</p> <p>By the way, about the Matrox RT.X2, I was talking to a guy with Cineform, and he was saying that I would have much better success with Cineform Prospect HD and one of the new Matrox MX.O2 boxes with the MAX technology chip.  He said the quality of the Cineform codec is far superior to that of the RT.X2, and the MX.02 with MAX would give me the ability to encode H.264 faster than real time.  Since most of our views will be on the web, I thought I should ask you about that.</p> <p>Thank you,</p> <p>Norman</p> http://videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/to-build-or-not-to-build/page/6#post-47470 Tue, 02 Jun 2009 23:47:56 +0000 composite1 47470@http://videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p><em>"You are taking away one of my reasons to 'stay PC.'"</em></p> <p>Norman,</p> <p>Not at all. As I have always said, there are advantages to either platform. Both can do the same things you just have to find the software and gear to facilitate what you plan to do. I was quite fluent with mac's when I changed over to PC. At the time I would be at work on the mac and go home and do my own projects on a PC. After awhile, I began to prefer the PC for the numerous reasons I've already mentioned. Mac is a stable platform (depending on what you call stable) and so is Windows for the same reasons. The biggest differences between the two are primarily the file system (FAT 32 mac, NTFS win.) I much prefer the NTFS file system as it allows for really big video files (aprox. 1 150 year clip in DV if you had a drive that could hold it!) FAT 32 is ancient tech. It works mind you, but NTFS is more modern and more efficient to use in my opinion. The other glaring difference is the fact that you can still build your own PC legally. Truthfully, the only reason I would have a mac in my shop is for visiting editors or clients that couldn't edit their way out of a wet paper bag without FCP. Not that I don't like them or FCP, but I can do most and some things with Premiere, Vegas and Avid that FCP can't. Blue-ray anyone?</p> <p>Yes you can 'mix and match'. However, most of my IT bud's hate it. According to them mac is not as efficient on a network as windows particularly when they are on the same one. They say it does work and I've seen it done, they just hate having to work on it. Now, I hear tell that mac networks run just fine alone. You'd have to ask several IT specialists to get a real picture.</p> <p>No, you don't have to purchase several licenses for software on a renderfarm. Read the article renderfarming and it will give you a much better explanation than I can. Also, keep an eye out for this month's Studio Monthly for an article about a producer who transitioned to making videogame trailers. He was quite specific about why when he built his editing suite he knew 'it couldn't be a Mac-based workflow'. It's a good example of how depending on what work you're doing will truly decide what platform is best for it.</p> http://videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/to-build-or-not-to-build/page/6#post-47458 Tue, 02 Jun 2009 18:45:46 +0000 NormanWillis 47458@http://videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>Hey Comp,</p> <p>How does software work on a render farm?</p> <p>Does one need to purchase separate licenses, if it would make one have more than one instance of the program running at one time?</p> <p>Thank you,</p> <p>Norman</p> http://videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/to-build-or-not-to-build/page/6#post-47455 Tue, 02 Jun 2009 17:53:33 +0000 NormanWillis 47455@http://videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p><em>&gt;&gt;You can get Blender for free.</em></p> <p>Good to know.  Thanks!</p> <p><em>&gt;&gt;A unit like the Z800 would be where your hardcore compositing, color correction and perhaps high-end audio would all be combined into your production cut. With 192GB of RAM and 8 cores you could also do a final render out to HD or 2k+. Running the same project through a renderfarm would free up the unit to work on other projects.</em></p> <p>With a monster like the Z800 or the 'Comp1', do you suppose one could simultaneously render and edit?  Or is the rendering going to chew up all of the HDD throughput, such that you really need a separate machine for rendering?</p> <p><em>&gt;&gt;Nope, Lightwave runs on PC and mac.</em></p> <p>You are taking away one of my reasons to 'stay PC.'</p> <p>Is it possible to mix PC's and Macs in the same network? Or is it best all one way, or the other?</p> <p>Thank you,</p> <p>Norman</p> http://videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/to-build-or-not-to-build/page/6#post-47447 Tue, 02 Jun 2009 14:50:48 +0000 composite1 47447@http://videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p><em>"This thing looks twice as powerful as the Z800."</em></p> <p>Norman,</p> <p>A 16 core rig is hardcore. However, this unit is a renderfarm management unit. The management unit is the first computer in the render chain. I didn't see a price on it. My guess is it's pricey. A unit like the Z800 would be where your hardcore compositing, color correction and perhaps high-end audio would all be combined into your production cut. With 192GB of RAM and 8 cores you could also do a final render out to HD or 2k+. Running the same project through a renderfarm would free up the unit to work on other projects. 192GB = 1.92TB. I'm curious about mac's claim that OSX Snow leopard will handle 16TB. That's a pretty ballsy claim, but pretty far reaching seeing how current mobo architecture is only now reaching the 1.92TB RAM mark. One thing about it, you wouldn't see your average 'macie' rollin' into the apple store to pick up a unit with 16TB in it without having to sign a 'blood contract'.</p> <p>Nope, Lightwave runs on PC and mac. You can get Blender for free.</p> http://videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/to-build-or-not-to-build/page/6#post-47440 Tue, 02 Jun 2009 07:49:23 +0000 NormanWillis 47440@http://videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>And wait: isn't 196GB of RAM 0.196TB?</p> http://videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/to-build-or-not-to-build/page/6#post-47432 Tue, 02 Jun 2009 02:20:38 +0000 NormanWillis 47432@http://videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>Hi Comp.</p> <p>Check this out.  This thing looks twice as powerful as the Z800.</p> <p><a href="http://www.boxxtech.com/Downloads/Products/renderBOXX/r10300_SpecSheet.pdf">http://www.boxxtech.com/Downloads/Products/renderBOXX/r10300_SpecSheet.pdf</a></p> <p>It has four Nehalem-class Xeon processors!</p> <p>(Also, I guess LightWave runs on a Mac).</p> <p>Norman</p>