Im buying a new MAC PRO but what cards and computer would you get?

[Uli Plank]

What is your final product?

A MacBook Pro will do very well if you transcode your stuff to ProRes and work from a small e-SATA RAID connected via an Express Card adapter. It will have a hard time doing the transcode and it will be awfully slow doing a grade with Color.

[tillHavis]

For what its worth Torrey I would def go with a Pro Mac and Sell/ Use your Pro Mac for lighter work, maybe offload.
A new Pro Mac is due in the second quarter of 2010.
Proposed Spec: Gulftown processor, support for 128gb ram, maybe even light peak ports with 10gbs (transfer speeds 10 times faster than gigabit ethernet) this looks like a big leap forward from the current model, their are also talks of a new design case, greater support for graphics cards and a faster 300GB boot SSD. Light Peak will do away with multiple ports and result in one connection for all devices, I am really looking forward to the new Pro Mac, should meet most of your 4K processing requirements for the next few years.


http://www.macrumors.com/2009/10/14/...own-processor/

[Torrey Loomis]

We are filming a RED feature in May/Jun next year on the proverbial limited budget. My question is basically this: Will a MacBook Pro (top of the range) be sufficient to edit a feature?

I want the Macbook for portability and flexibility, but also want a reasonable amount of performance.

Does anyone have any thoughts or advice?

Julian,

Don't do it. Get the tower.

You are going to be pressured to deliver dailies as soon as possible because the director or a producer has a friend with a RED Rocket machine, and they'll be used to getting their rushes quickly because their friend can do it--so as the DIT, they'll expect you to do it, too.

Working with multiple TB of data for a feature is just that much easier with the expandability of the tower--let alone the possibility of a RED Rocket card.

Short form (music videos, commercials, other small pieces...) are fine for a MacBook Pro, but we're deploying Mac Pro towers out to all new feature productions.

Torrey
-----------------------------------------------
Torrey Loomis
President & CEO - Silverado Systems, Inc.
(916) 760-0032 •*FAX (916) 404-5258
torrey@silverado.cc
http://www.Silverado.cc

Silverado Twitter at*http://www.twitter.com/silveradosys
StudioBuilder blog at*http://silveradosys.blogspot.com

[Carlos Prio]

Hello Terry,

01. I purchased a MacPro w/ the ATI 4870 as a multipurpose (clip processing, FCP, etc...) machine. Immediately I connected 2- 30" displays with the second unit connected to the Apple dual link box>display port. Needless to say (as Jeff warned), I have dancing pixels all over the second head.

02. So, I have purchased an Nvidia "cheapy" card and viola perfect screen but I am now short a slot for a Redrocket/raid card expansion. Should I try putting both heads on the Nvidia???

03. what do you guys do when you need 2 heads, BM or Aja, RR & Raid???

Any help is much appreciated and I would like to thank you for your time and advice in advance since you are a reseller and this unit was not purchased from you. You have been very generous with your experience and knowledge!!!

Cheers,
P

[Torrey Loomis]

03. what do you guys do when you need 2 heads, BM or Aja, RR & Raid???

Carlos,

At this point, you might consider the ATI 3870 card:

http://ati.amd.com/products/radeonhd...cpc/index.html

Its a single slot card powerful enough to drive both displays.

The GTX 285 also does two DVI, but it takes up more room.

Caveat--I have NOT tried the 3870 myself, but some clients have with good success.

Torrey
-----------------------------------------------
Torrey Loomis
President & CEO - Silverado Systems, Inc.
(916) 760-0032 • FAX (916) 404-5258
torrey@silverado.cc
http://www.Silverado.cc

Silverado Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/silveradosys
StudioBuilder blog at http://silveradosys.blogspot.com

[Julian Gerretsen]

Dear All,

Many thanks for all your advice. Unfortunately I have been away until recently and have not had the chance to reply. I am taking all advice on board though so thanks again!

Regards,

Julian