R3D and Ivy

[Cid J Salcido Uyarra]

just came across this post from engadget...
http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/19/intel-ivy-bridge-gpu-to-support-4k-resolutions/

http://vr-zone.com/articles/post-idf-bites-ivy-bridge-gpu-to-support-4kx4k-displays-/13584.html

been waiting for Ivy Chipsets for quite some time, I don't see a reason to invest in any computer until these are released (Not to mention T-Bold and USB 3 on both platforms). Does this mean we'll be able to encode R3D files at a reasonable rate with only an Ivy CPU. The Red Rocket is two years old which in tech terms is like a decade. I wonder if the Rocket is Future Proof in the sense that more processors are unlocked through Firmware updates to allow 8K encoding?

Is there gonna be a reason to own a Rocket with in the next two years?

 

[Alexander Ibrahim]

Yes.

The Rocket is a hardware implementation of an algorithm.

Its very much faster than a software implementation.

Ivy Bridge isn't magic.

I would expect a modest increase of 12-15% in performance over the recently released Sandy Bridge systems. The second iteration of Ivy Bridge compatible CPU's will have more notable improvements.

GPU's will have more improvements than CPU's in this time frame as they are more specifically focused hardware.

With technology you can always wait for the next thing ... I wouldn't. I'd rather buy what you need today. Certain bits of tech remain relevant longer though.

For example, I have no qualms about investing in a Thunderbolt based RAID array. I would prefer if the available units had legacy connectors for perhaps eSATA, but that probably won't stop me.

Coming back to your question ... it depends on your precise needs.

By the time Ivy Bridge rolls around I expect to be shooting 5K for a 4K finish. So .. I expect to use up all my CPU's capacity ... and will need a little extra push to work smoothly.

So, I expect I'll still need a Rocket for a few more years. I expect a Rocket 2 or Rocket 3D will come out soon that can decode two 6K streams in real time for Epic S3D applications. (People are using multiple Rockets in high powered workstations for this today.)

 

[Malvin Ng]

Intel even specifically mentioned RED in one of their slides

 

[Alexander Ibrahim]

I missed this bit when reading up on Ivy Bridge.

This could be more exciting than I thought!

 

[L. Langer]

The security aspects of Ivy are great too. Intel has really stepped up to the plate to bring a solid platform for professional and consumer use.

 

[Brandon J.F.]

Wow, I hope this lives up to the hype...

 

[Malvin Ng]

Wow, I hope this lives up to the hype...

I'm sure they will , especially since this will be a die shrink to 22nm and also the new tri-gate thing they have going on at the same time

 

[Alexander Ibrahim]

Wow, I hope this lives up to the hype...

I'm sure it will live up to its billing ... but read it carefully.

You could play 1080p back on machines that were clearly not suitable for 1080p post production in anything like real time. If you had a look at a late model G5 editing XDCAM EX footage ... well let's just say that required saintly patience unless your ingest included a transcode to ProRes, in which case it only required great patience.

So ... I wouldn't expect to depend on Ivy Bridge performance for realtime editing and CC of 4k footage, but it will make it far easier for computers to reach that goal. In other words, you'll still lean on the GPU and a Rocket pretty heavily.

That said ... you may be able to do all that on a beefy MacBook Pro or an iMac, especially for smaller projects, like say a music video or commercial.