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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

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

Torrey Loomis said:
Luis,

I just re-read that above. Yes--$1000 for 32 GB doesn't sound trustworthy, but then I don't know the source either.

Just priced 32 GB at Crucial at it was $3040. We go with them since they are the only RAM vendor that we've never suffered a crash with.

Torrey
Click to expand...

It's definitely not trustworthy. I bought the OWC 32GB RAM when it was around $1800 and one memory chip burnt out in the slot. The others had a bunch of ECC errors. I had 2 replacement modules and even those had ECC errors. Don't trust the 4GB memory modules from OWC. Its not worth the headache and fright of seeing so much problems.
 
Torrey Loomis said:
Carlos,

Until the 285 has better drivers, then yes--the 4870 for now.

Torrey
Click to expand...

Torrey, it seems there are updated drivers for the 285 included with Snow Leopard. It's working pretty good here after I upgraded this system yesterday. I haven't run the full barrage of tests on it just yet though.

I do recommend ordering a new Mac with the 4870 though. At least we know it WORKS. So far, the GTX285 has been pretty crappy.
 
Ok Jeff...

01. ordered them with 4870's. What about memory?? Back in the old days I would order from "memorytogo.com" but have had issue as of late. My gut says Crucial but macsales.com is cheaper overall??? Dre is chiming in with issues but I am going 16g via 2gig chips???

02. What are you using as a large client monitor??

Thanks,
Prio


Jeff Kilgroe said:
Torrey, it seems there are updated drivers for the 285 included with Snow Leopard. It's working pretty good here after I upgraded this system yesterday. I haven't run the full barrage of tests on it just yet though.

I do recommend ordering a new Mac with the 4870 though. At least we know it WORKS. So far, the GTX285 has been pretty crappy.
Click to expand...
 
need suggestions, too....

need suggestions, too....

We are going to build a system to make a 1~3hrs HD high quality DVD. We plan to use Mac Pro with FCP to deal Red One and some other files. Would you share experiences for us to do our job real-time? Thank you a lot!

1. CPU Two 2.26GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon
2. RAM 16GB (8*2GB)
3. Mac Pro RAID Card
4. 1*640GB 7200-rpm SATA 3Gb/s (for system)
5. 3*1TB 7200-rpm SATA 3Gb/s (for RAID)
6. ATI Radeon HD 4870 512MB

Besides, we hope to build a 8*1TB hard disks for RAID, but it seems that Mac Pro only allows 4 hard disks inside. Would you give any suggestion?

As to FCP, is there any suggestion about its version? Shall we update FCP to latest version?

forgive me to post so many basic questions :tongue:
 
Blair S. Paulsen said:
My suggestion is to contact Torrey at Silverado. They build custom Mac towers specifically for Red workflows and AFAIK they are the only authorized RED Rocket™ dealer besides Red itself. If they can ship you a MacPro with a tested and fully functioning RED Rocket™, or at least the promise to support that combo as it evolves they could save you a ton of headaches. The other good thing about a VAR that knows their stuff is that they know which 3rd party RAM is reliable.

just my 2 cents.

Full disclosure, I know the Silverado guys but I would just keep my trap shut if I didn't think they knew their tech.

Cheers - #19
Click to expand...



Yeah I agree, I would contact Torrey at Silverado. They built the first RED Rocket I have seen and then they built the Mobile RED Rocket (with enclosure) as well in the office. I have the laptop and the device drivers on my Macbook Pro to prove it.

Silverado Knows their stuff. (Ok , small disclaimer, I bought my first Red Camera from them as Silverado was my VAR - Value Added Reseller)
 
Andrew Hu said:
1. CPU Two 2.26GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon
2. RAM 16GB (8*2GB)
3. Mac Pro RAID Card
4. 1*640GB 7200-rpm SATA 3Gb/s (for system)
5. 3*1TB 7200-rpm SATA 3Gb/s (for RAID)
6. ATI Radeon HD 4870 512MB

Besides, we hope to build a 8*1TB hard disks for RAID, but it seems that Mac Pro only allows 4 hard disks inside. Would you give any suggestion?

As to FCP, is there any suggestion about its version? Shall we update FCP to latest version?

forgive me to post so many basic questions :tongue:
Click to expand...

Andrew,

The base system looks good--however you WILL want to get a Blu-ray burner to make HD-capable discs.

Change the three 1.0 TB drives to 2.0 TB drives. Apple doesn't do this, but we do. Also--we charge the same for 2.0 TB that Apple charges for their 1.0 TB.

Are you going to get a RED Rocket card, too?

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
 
Hi folks,

I am totally new to RED and also in the process of changing over from PC's to MAC's for editing.

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.

I don't need to have the final render going at a blitzing speed (I am used to having 20 minute DV films render in 8 hours on a PC with Premiere Pro!), but so long as there is a reasonable amount of performance for the final product, I am happy.

Does anyone have any thoughts or advice?

Thanks,

Jules
 
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.
 
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...ary-exclusive-of-six-core-gulftown-processor/
 
Julian Gerretsen said:
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?
Click to expand...

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
 
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
 
Carlos Prio said:
03. what do you guys do when you need 2 heads, BM or Aja, RR & Raid???
Click to expand...

Carlos,

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

http://ati.amd.com/products/radeonhd3800/macpc/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
 
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
 
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