PC laptop for on-set DIT / data management work?

[Thor Wixom]

First off, buying a Mac is out of the question. I'm not going to list the reasons why, so please don't list the reasons why I should.

I'm looking for useful experience about on-set DIT work, data management, and verifying clips on a PC laptop or desktop replacement.

One question I specifically have is if anyone has been able to get R3D files to play back in real time in Redcine (or at least near realtime) on a PC laptop or desktop replacement.

I know it's early in the game, but ANY success stories would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

-Thor

 

[donatello b]

with RED 103 on set ....
i've seen Mac laptops used to transfer the data to external hard drives ...
they work ... i have not seen a 15/17" mac laptop play back 1/4, 1/2 resoultion in RT... perhaps it's something to do with external hard drive speed ???
basically they are making 2 copies ...CF card to drive 1 ...then CF card to drive 2 ...

most are using the 1/4 setting at medium in Redcine ... on a 24 iMac i use the 1/4 Hi setting -no RT playback ( not in med either) for fast viewing ... 1/2 hi to really look at image ...

i've have viewed clips on Mac 15/17" laptops and they looked OK -then only to discover days later when viewing on a 24" monitor problems that nobody saw on the 17" = if it was a real shoot they would need to reshoot a few scenes !!!
today, i would NOT make a quality assesment on that size screen .. i would only tell a director/producer that the image appears to be OK on the Laptop ...
today , if i was the DIT responsible to give the thumbs up after viewing recorded data then nothing less then 24" monitor ...
things could change next week ...

 

[Thor Wixom]

Donatello,

I am assessing what it will take to be a full service DIT, so thank you for the info. It is very helpful.

-Thor

 

[Dylan Reeve]

It's an interesting expectation that is sudden arising from this workflow - in a filmset or even many video-based production, people wouldn't expect to be able to have instant review of recorded footage. The best they would expect would be vidsplit, which is often lower-res, normally fed composite and often not even that great for instant review.

Are people still running a traditional vidsplit with RED? Taking the monitor feed in to a portable recorder or something? Or are they wait for the offload and checking the recorded files?

Personally I wouldn't have expected realtime playback of R3D files in the field would be an expectation that people would have - at least initially.

 

[donatello b]

the camera can play back the files ...

what i'm seeing is the director/producer are going to the data persons and asking to view some shots between set up's or at lunch ... they are asking to see some shots back to back (very rough edited )- which FCP can do right now using the proxy's ...
IMO bring all the PC's you want but i'd also have one Mac on set with FCP on it ...

 

[Dylan Reeve]

That is quite a departure from what people do traditionally (although vidsplit into a laptop editor isn't that uncommon I guess).

Yeah, at the moment that will be an FCP box if you want to make that happen. Once RED lock off their format and support is wider that could probably also be a PC with Premiere, Avid, Edius, Vega, or whatever else...

 

[Alex Carr]

Pc's run Leopard like a champ, why buy a Mac? Or have a real Mac on set? If You have a PC Laptop with a Core2duo then you have a mac book Pro. Just buy a copy of Leopard if anyone questions you.

 

[Dylan Reeve]

There are a lot of hoops to jump through normally - and technically it may not be legal to run OS X on non-Mac hardware...

 

[Alex Carr]

Well I dont think its very honest of apple to overcharge the prices on cheap generic computer parts... I dont think a heavy Aluminum G5 case is worth $2000... Or a $200 apple sticker on $25 RAM...

All i have to do to run OSX is stick the disc in and walk away... its so normal

We are Professionals, When the Hardware is cheaper, more dependable, and readily available, This becomes a revolution, apple cannot be a monopoly for their operating system anymore. Especially when post production is getting extremely demanding with Red one. They are becoming just like HP Dell and Acer, they build cases to put generic PC parts in... Why cant I do it myself? i can modify my Volkswagon to run Bio-diesel... Why cant i modify my computer?

 

[Dane Brehm]

Alienware are great PC laptops for On-set playback and fast. They have a 19' that amazingly fast with a 512mb graphics card.

I have been playing back 1/4 res files on my Macbook 2.4ghz,7200rpm internal as well as my esata segate I use on set.

Just Last week we used Donatello's Nexto DI for onset capture and had no issues with data. I personally like having something simple like that.

I feel that having a 24inch Ecinema or Cinetel is a must for on-set data capture.

A RED knowledgable DAS working hand in hand with a DIT it a must for a smooth production.

 

[Thor Wixom]

Thanks for all the info. It has been very helpful.

-Thor