MacPro w/ AMD 5870 1GB DDR5 vs. RedRocket

[Chris Gavrilovic]

Do I need a RedRocket if I have a 5870 1GB graphics card? Is the RedRocket a rebranded ATi card as it is? Or something RED produced specially?

Thank you

[Jeff Kilgroe]

RED Rocket is something else entirely. It does not replace your primary video card. The RED Rocket only processes R3D data. Whether or not you need a a Rocket card has nothing to do with what video card you have, but rather what workflow(s) you're trying to implement.

[Chris Gavrilovic]

RED Rocket is something else entirely. It does not replace your primary video card. The RED Rocket only processes R3D data. Whether or not you need a a Rocket card has nothing to do with what video card you have, but rather what workflow(s) you're trying to implement.

20 minute workflow? Shots ranging from 10 - 60 seconds long? The MacPro also has 16GB data and an 8GB RAID. Should this suffice?

[Alexander Ibrahim]

20 minute workflow? Shots ranging from 10 - 60 seconds long? The MacPro also has 16GB data and an 8GB RAID. Should this suffice?

Uh ... do you mean you don't know what a workflow is?

Also, not too conversant in computer terminology? I doubt you have an 8GB RAID. Nah ... you are probably just an incautious poster.

Take a little more time with your posts and you'll usually get better answers.

The answer to your original question is that your Mac Pro is not enough to process Red footage efficiently except at 1/4 resolution. You need a little extra processing something to get really rolling.

Workflow is your plan to get from camera footage to finished production. What steps will you take, and what software will you use at each step, and how you are going to move the data you care about from one part of the project to another.

With Red footage I recommend most beginners use Adobe Premiere Pro CS 5.5 to edit.

You need to get an Nvidia card to help with processing the data from a Red camera. Choose one that is compatible with Adobe's Mercury engine.

At some point Apple will probably add processing of R3D data files to Final Cut Pro X (FCP X), and then I'd expect FCP X to work with Scarlet or Epic just fine with your current Mac and video card. That's because FCP X uses a technology called OpenCL, which can take advantage of the processing power of both Nvidia and ATI video cards, like Adobe Premiere can take advantage of the power of Nvidia cards with their Mercury engine.

[Dan Kanes]

Hi! Are you trying to process footage with RedCine X Pro, Adobe CS5.5 or something like Davinci Resolve (Lite)?

For CS5.5 I would recommend the best Nvidia card you can afford.

For RCX/Pro I would recommend a Redrocket

And For Davinci - I would recommend two Nvidia Cards, or perhaps two AMD/ATI cards - haven't tried that at all yet, but I Get decent one-light performance in Davinci with my single GTX470

[Chris Gavrilovic]

Uh ... do you mean you don't know what a workflow is?

Also, not too conversant in computer terminology? I doubt you have an 8GB RAID. Nah ... you are probably just an incautious poster.

Take a little more time with your posts and you'll usually get better answers.

I can't stand people like you in forums. Yes, your s**t does stink. No, you're not God. I mistakenly put GB instead of TB.
Take a little more time with your posts and you'll usually come off sounding less like a malcontent.

[Chris Gavrilovic]

Hi! Are you trying to process footage with RedCine X Pro, Adobe CS5.5 or something like Davinci Resolve (Lite)?

For CS5.5 I would recommend the best Nvidia card you can afford.

For RCX/Pro I would recommend a Redrocket

And For Davinci - I would recommend two Nvidia Cards, or perhaps two AMD/ATI cards - haven't tried that at all yet, but I Get decent one-light performance in Davinci with my single GTX470

Thank you for the tips. It would be for FCP-X <= As awful as it is.

[Alexander Ibrahim]

I can't stand people like you in forums. Yes, your s**t does stink. No, you're not God. I mistakenly put GB instead of TB.
Take a little more time with your posts and you'll usually come off sounding less like a malcontent.

GB vs TB? Yeah who cares ... but in context its clear to me that you haven't even done a google search before asking, nor do you care enough to take a second look at what you wrote.

I really don't think you know what a workflow is, and I think you are trying to sound smart by throwing that word around.

Yeah, I hate that you're a know nothing poseur. I'd appreciate your situation more if you just stuck to words you knew and made sure your question made sense. There sure was a time when I didn't know what a workflow was - but I didn't pretend I did.

Now are we done pissing about?

FCP X doesn't work with Red footage today. There is a thread here trying to get people to send Apple feedback about it.

Your workflow choices are rather limited if you really want to stick to FCP X - its a bad deal for Red users right now.

Premiere CS 5.5 is really where its at for Red editorial today. That's my primary advice. If you can't get Premiere that's fine you use what you have right?

RedCineX Pro is the best free tool to get into the edit suite if you record sound on the camera. You can set some parameters and have it render overnight or whatever.

DaVinci Resolve Lite is the way to go if you didn't record sound on the camera. Its a lot faster than RedCine X Pro. It's also free. Again, you can set some parameters and just get to rendering. If you have a 5870 card you'll probably get around 1/2 realtime renders, provided you keep your parameter changes straightforward.

Both should be able to give you a format output you can edit in FCP X. Though, in FCP X I am not clear about your options if you want to stay in 4K.

[Chris Gavrilovic]

GB vs TB? Yeah who cares ... but in context its clear to me that you haven't even done a google search before asking, nor do you care enough to take a second look at what you wrote.

I really don't think you know what a workflow is, and I think you are trying to sound smart by throwing that word around.

Yeah, I hate that your a know nothing poseur. I'd appreciate your situation more if you just stuck to words you knew and made sure your question made sense. There sure was a time when I didn't know what a workflow was - but I didn't pretend I did.

Now are we done pissing about?

FCP X doesn't work with Red footage today. There is a thread here trying to get people to send Apple feedback about it.

Your workflow choices are rather limited if you really want to stick to FCP X - its a bad deal for Red users right now.

Premiere CS 5.5 is really where its at for Red editorial today. That's my primary advice. If you can't get Premiere that's fine you use what you have right?

RedCineX Pro is the best free tool to get into the edit suite if you record sound on the camera. You can set some parameters and have it render overnight or whatever.

DaVinci Resolve Lite is the way to go if you didn't record sound on the camera. Its a lot faster than RedCine X Pro. It's also free. Again, you can set some parameters and just get to rendering. If you have a 5870 card you'll probably get around 1/2 realtime renders, provided you keep your parameter changes straightforward.

Both should be able to give you a format output you can edit in FCP X. Though, in FCP X I am not clear about your options if you want to stay in 4K.

No we're not done pissing about. My original question didn't contain the word "workflow" in it. I was following up with a question from another person. So mind yo' bizniss'. And by the way, since you are so clever, its "you're". As in, "Yeah, I hate that you're a know nothing poseur." or "You're odd, you know how to spell 'poseur' correctly, but not 'you're'".

I'm aware FCP-X doesn't support R3D files. I also loathe FCP-X, but my team of editors uses it so it's really all that is on the plate.

I do appreciate your advice. What I don't appreciate is futurist hockey players that think they rule the online world of forums. Don't feel bad though, it's a common attitude shared amongst film makers for whatever reason.

Now we're done pissing.

[Alexander Ibrahim]

No we're not done pissing about. My original question didn't contain the word "workflow" in it. I was following up with a question from another person. So mind yo' bizniss'. And by the way, since you are so clever, its "you're". As in, "Yeah, I hate that you're a know nothing poseur." or "You're odd, you know how to spell 'poseur' correctly, but not 'you're'".

I'm aware FCP-X doesn't support R3D files. I also loathe FCP-X, but my team of editors uses it so it's really all that is on the plate.

I do appreciate your advice. What I don't appreciate is futurist hockey players that think they rule the online world of forums. Don't feel bad though, it's a common attitude shared amongst film makers for whatever reason.

Now we're done pissing.

You see ... you still don't get it.

You didn't know what workflow meant. You didn't look it up and you didn't ask. Instead you told us your projected show length.

That's how everyone reading knows you were trying to BS everyone here.

Like "your team of editors." (Those are the disbelieving quotes, not the literal quotes)

I don't know any facilities that have moved to FCP X. FCP X is particularly bad for team editing environments. Every facility I know that regularly uses editorial teams also uses Avid, so I'd be interested in hearing more about this team. If your team of editors is using FCP X, you should probably share that with Apple - you are probably the only ones.

I'm kidding ... I'm really just calling you on your BS again.

One more thing ... your RedUser profile is the 6th hit for you on Google with just 20 posts here. How do you want to be regarded here?