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Mac Pro Configuration - suggestions please

Michael Grugal

Michael Grugal

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At the moment right now I am building a Mac Pro / Final Cut Studio work station. Basically I am looking to end up with nothing larger than a 1080p resolution. So I am trying build a station and workflow around that. This is what I've come up with so far.

Mac Pro 2.8 octo core
2gb from apple 8gb from OWC (10gb RAM)
nvidia 8800 gt

Storage (I am not sure about this):
g drive q

Monitors:
2x dell 2408
I figured this cause I can use one of these as on set monitor.

What am I missing here? Thanks guys.
 
Oh ok. Thank you. Another thing should I use the g-drive q with an esata connection, if so should I buy the esata card from g-technology?
 
What flavor of 1080 will you be using? ProRes, Uncompressed, DPX?

I agree with Curran. Remove the 2gb from Apple and put in all of the same pairs. I have 16gb in 8x2gb configuration. So far, so good.
 
Storage (I am not sure about this):
g drive q
Click to expand...

Ok storage is one of the most important thing.
with gdrive-Q you're not going anywhere.

Also using a single G-SPEED eS in direct connection configuration (DAS) you're not going anywhere
and if you think to use more (up to four G-SPEED eS 16HDD total ) connected using Port Multiplier configuration (PM) G-SPEED eS is not a smart solution.
with G-SPEED eS you're limited to 4 HDD per channel (because its chassis can host only 4 drives) while the Port multiplier can accept up 5 HDD per channel.

Here you can find a better solution

http://www.sonnettech.com/product/fusiond500p.html
 
Even the Sonnet is pushing it for uncompressed 10 bit HD or DPX. At this point, I think it's wise to invest in storage that can sustain 300MB/s or higher and can utilize various RAID configurations. Obviously, not everyone needs to work in uncompressed 10 bit, but for some of the higher end work, it's a much cleaner format to work with than ProRes. You can do this for about $3500 by building an SAS RAID which should get you in the ballpark of 350-400MB/s sustained.
 
stevesherrick said:
What flavor of 1080 will you be using? ProRes, Uncompressed, DPX?

I agree with Curran. Remove the 2gb from Apple and put in all of the same pairs. I have 16gb in 8x2gb configuration. So far, so good.
Click to expand...

It will most likely be ProRes.


And now I am look at the Burly 4 Bay SATA Hot Swap PM 1.2TB provided by x86box's link. I will need that and the CalDigit FASTA-4e PCIe SATAII Host Card, right?

What do you think Michele? Should go with Sonnet's?
 
I am going to get the Maxtor MX02 for on set. Should I get the AJA IO HD instead?

Will I need a Kona 3 card?
 
ProRes you should be just fine with Michele's suggestion of Sonnet. Or any drive that can sustain 80MB/s (for some headroom) or over.
 
I would recommend you look at CalDigit instead of G-Tech. Much better products and support, IMO.

And buy the minimum amount of RAM from Apple. Pick up RAM elsewhere, lots of threads on that subject here in this section with some good info.
 
I just put together a MacPro/FCP system and by far the hardest part was choosing the I/O card. But my research tells me that if you are inputting Red files only, editing, outputting and monitoring 1080P then I don't think you need to spend the big bucks on the Kona3.

Kona's LHe is cheaper at around $1600 or less. My problem is I wanted to monitor SDI but also input legacy SD Betacam as well as RED files, but like you my output would never be greater than 1080p unless Hollywood comes calling. Also, I needed all the up, down and cross converting I could get. But I didn't need the Full Monty Dual Link 4:4:4: that you get with the Kona3. Being new to both RED and MacPro/FCP made the whole process all that much harder.

There is the argument that the Kona3 is really an investment in the future but for me it was the lack of SD input and a cost/benefit analysis that steered me away from the 3. Better to put the savings elsewhere... like storage.

Still it took ALOT of research and asking questions here and over at Creative Cow to get me comfortable with what I finally decided on- the Blackmagic Multibridge Pro. It just seemed to be the one that could give me everything I wanted at the right price point. But to tell the truth I'm STILL not 100% sure I made the right decision.
 
Jeff Kilgroe said:
I would recommend you look at CalDigit instead of G-Tech. Much better products and support, IMO.

And buy the minimum amount of RAM from Apple. Pick up RAM elsewhere, lots of threads on that subject here in this section with some good info.
Click to expand...

Ok so this is what i am looking at for a nice little set up, right?


CalDigit 1 TB S2VR Duo External Hard Drive Array
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/449820-REG/CalDigit_S2VR2B1000E_1_TB_S2VR_Duo.html

CalDigit FASTA-4e 4-Port PCI Express eSATA 3Gb/s Host Adapter
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/447614-REG/CalDigit_FASTA_4E_FASTA_4e_4_Port_PCI_Express.html
 
That should work fine.

In regards to the Kona 3, you should only buy what you need and can afford. However, I did not have the greatest experience with Black Magic tech support, so I'd be cautious about going that route. The Kona LHe is a great card and might be just the ticket for what you are doing. If you are only doing monitoring of your HD footage, then perhaps one of the Matrox products could be implemented instead.
 
Michael Grugal said:
Ok so this is what i am looking at for a nice little set up, right?


CalDigit 1 TB S2VR Duo External Hard Drive Array
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/449820-REG/CalDigit_S2VR2B1000E_1_TB_S2VR_Duo.html

CalDigit FASTA-4e 4-Port PCI Express eSATA 3Gb/s Host Adapter
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/447614-REG/CalDigit_FASTA_4E_FASTA_4e_4_Port_PCI_Express.html
Click to expand...

The S2VR Duo includes the controller card, you don't need to buy it separate. It is a wonderful little RAID unit for a 2-drive box. If that fits your needs, then great. I use my S2VR as my on-set offload storage. I run it in RAID-1 (mirror) mode so I offload to it and then have two identical copies of my data on HDD at the end of the day.

For performance they have bigger units. Their Element box is a really nice 4-drive option and a nice step up from the S2VR if you want to look for something a bit faster / bigger.
 
Jan of this year i ordered:
MAC PRO 2.8 8CX/2X1G/320/2600XT - MA970LL/A
[im using two older 21 dell CRTs and a older production mon]

-I have a boot drive in the second optical bay

-I used the 4 drive bays + the 2 internal sata ports
to create a 3TB raid 0 volume with 415 MB/s read\write

- redcine and redalert will play 4k realtime no frame dropping

- i can play one stream of 1080p30 uncompressed RGB

- can also play 5 streams of 1080p30 ProRes 422 HQ

i've opted not to upgrade RAM
but will order 2 more 500Gb drives and a
Addonics ADSA3GPX8-4E, 4 Port eSATA RAID5/JBOD
to gain about 500+ MB/s read\write

im looking into Astro-Systems' 4k display to
use with RedRay and scarlet. I'm trying to wait
for a cost effective 4k monitoring solution before
leaning towards a Multibridge Eclipse or
KONA setup
 
For those considering Kona 3, go for it... Version 6 of the software for Kona 3 will support Red natively... If that means if I can put a 2k proxy into FCP and play it out to a monitor Realtime! Hot damn! Nothing can do that, even in a Pro res Seq you have to render... Or it will drop frames, or it wont be full quality. (Let me re-phrase, nothing in a Mac world...)

Kona 3 can do SD, done it many times I love that card! Unless there was something I'm missing about your comparisons, I used the Kona in the last few weeks to pull in Digibeta, HDCAM, and HDCAM SR, as DV offline and then I Online using uncompressed 8 bit 1080, as per their delivery.

I used two 5 bay Burly boxes to get 10 Striped Drives, around 350MB/s, They are not bad at all.
 
x86box said:
For those considering Kona 3, go for it... Version 6 of the software for Kona 3 will support Red natively...
Click to expand...

Unfortunately that's not what it means... Version 6 will have expanded support for RED frame sizes, not support for REDCODE or acceleration of R3D material. There are ways to accelerate ProRes though, if that is your workflow.

Personally, I would recommend NOT BUYING a Kona3 or similar card unless you actually have a need for it as it exists right now. Because I think once RED releases that SDK in the coming months and more open support is announced for other platforms, we will see companies like AJA step up with more solutions. And existing products like the Kona3 may not be the right solution.
 
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