To install RRocket in this Mac Pro(?)...specs and terminology unclear

[Steffen Vala]

I've done as much reading and researching as I can without the timeline becoming a little nerve-racking so I figured I'd ask y'all for guidance.
Here's my situation:

Shooting in Bangkok next week.
Asked production to hire a Mac tower that I can install our REDRocket in (can't afford Mobile Rocket yet).

I get sent this spec list:
------
"below r the spec of G5 we can rent here. Let me know if they r ok n also more info needed below from u.

[...]: G5 Detail

Here is detail about G5 Mac
ntel Xeon , 2.66GHz Dual-core
- HD 250GB ,Ram 4GB DDR2 ECC 667MHz
- NVIDIA GeForce 7300 LE with 256MB of GDDR SDRAM,
-Super Drive(DVD+R DL/DVD±RW /CD-RW)
- Keyboard /Mighty Mouse USB
-20-inch Cinema Display LCD"
-----

1) I'm assuming this isn't actually a G5 but the first gen Mac Pro because of the ntel Xeon presence. Is it the Dual Core Xeon 5150?
1.b) I should be able install the Rocket and run REDCine-X software on this machine, correct?
2) Which PCI slot would be best to use here?
3) Would there be an advantage to move the NVIDIA card to another slot if it is using one that the RR would benefit from being installed in?
4) Is there a visual difference between 16 lane and 8 and 4 lanes so I know where to insert the card (when written, is "x16", "x8" the way to identify how many lanes a PCI slot is)?

I know its a lot of questions but any help from those of you who have installed the REDRocket would be great (especially on older machines).

Any other advice for DIT'ing a few days in different locations in Bangkok would be super helpful too(both, camera and computer workflow-wise). I've never been there and haven't been in the RED world for all that long.

Thanks in advance,
Steffen

 

[Steffen Vala]

whelp, I'm on set and things aren't so great. I'm still hoping that someone here will reach out and guide me.

I got the card installed in Slot 2 (selected in the Expansion Slot Utility to calibrate it at 4x, because 8x wasn't an option for that slot) and it transcoded at 1:1 in REDcine-X (b104)! Then today, 1st shoot day(not indoors), it has been transcoding extremely slow. In fact, slower than my MBP.

I switched slots, ended up with slot 4 and was able to call it a 8x lane and for the first clip it transcoded at 1:1, then the remainder of the clips it just dragged out to slower than on the laptop.

I'm running the specs as above, and have a caldigit 2.7 TB hard drive connect with FW800. I've tried using same source and destination and also changing destination disk to the other external drive, and also tried writing the prores 1/8th debayered .movs to the desktop. Nothing helped. I've tried placing it in the other slots and re-installing the RED software.

Now I'm not even getting a decent file out of REDcine-x and don't know how to get Rocketcine-x to export either. For example, the .mov will have a single frame of multicolored noise/striping (sorry don't know the technical term) and then the rest of the .mov is black. I was however getting some sound put into the .movs.

By the way its 38 degrees here, but I was doing my best to keep the set up in the shade.

Is the Rocket fried? Or what am I missing here? I'm sitting here transcoding one file at a time through Red Alert! and be up all night to make sure the onset editor has something to do tomorrow.

 

[Jay Gannon]

I really wouldn't be doing these things on set for the first time, kinda insane IMO.
Try and find a local DIT to bail you out, or at least a Mac guy.

 

[Mike Prevette]

Did you install the redrocket driver? in redcine-x is the little rocket icon orange/yellow?

 

[Steffen Vala]

Yep..kinda insane. Two local DITs on set, neither have answers. Other than "we never bring out our tower on location...transcode at the rental...etc"

Drivers are installed and the icon is lit, as well as the check next to "Use Rocket" or the like.

Firmware is up to date as the card had been alright back home in our own Mac Pro.

 

[Jay Gannon]

I'd contact the Bomb Squad and get two new DITs.

 

[Dane Brehm]

ITs not about who you know but the DIT you know.

You need a Data DIT not a Traditional DIT. Don't confuse DIT with Digital Loader either.

I always ask new DITs this. IF you were shooting a Bright Red Car on a F23 how would you make it Green? See what they say.

If there Red Guys only then they'll say fix it post. I would say show me

DIT is thrown around way to much.

I would always put the RR in a 16x slot because a 4x slot is good enough for RAID/esata cards.

goodluck,

 

[Mike Prevette]

What res are the files your transcoding to?

 

[Deanan]

Yep..kinda insane. Two local DITs on set, neither have answers. Other than "we never bring out our tower on location...transcode at the rental...etc"

Drivers are installed and the icon is lit, as well as the check next to "Use Rocket" or the like.

Firmware is up to date as the card had been alright back home in our own Mac Pro.

Most likely this could be due to moving the card around too much or damage in moving it. Quite often people don't properly ground themselves when handling the cards.

It's a bare board and should be handle with care.

 

[Jay Gannon]

In addition to a DIT and /or a loader I really think you need someone technically expert in the gear, a Digital Acquisition Supervisor shall we call it, for situations like this. Leave the tech and gear to the tech guys and then the DIT's can do the work they love.

 

[Johnny Friday]

ITs not about who you know but the DIT you know.

You need a Data DIT not a Traditional DIT. Don't confuse DIT with Digital Loader either.

I always ask new DITs this. IF you were shooting a Bright Red Car on a F23 how would you make it Green? See what they say.

If there Red Guys only then they'll say fix it post. I would say show me

DIT is thrown around way to much.

I would always put the RR in a 16x slot because a 4x slot is good enough for RAID/esata cards.

goodluck,

Dane,
How would you install it in a 16x slot....say for example....as i know a vast audience of folks use Radeon HD 4870 card---How would you accomplish this? The 4870 is so fat that it takes up s slots, then you are left with a 8x slot for the Red Rocket card--the 3rd slot up from the bottom.

I guess what i am asking is how do you accomplish utilizing a 16x slot for your RR card ? Or then what is your display video card that allows you to utilize the 16x slot ?

....I'm truly intrigued and would really like to know. Additionally, what DID or HAS RED recommended? I don't recall much with the white paper when i installed mine, BUT...if I'm missing out on ANY performance because I should have installed the RR card in a 16x slot---let the world know PLEASE!!

Thanks in advance and sorry for the de-railment of this thread for a moment.