Workstation/Desk

[Piero Sgarbi]

Hey, so I am planning to get a dedicated workstation/desk just for DavinciResolve.

I actually found a desk for Avid that suited my needs.

Now all I need is a PC and Monitors, any suggestions? Should I get the RedRocket?

 

[Robert Kurhajetz]

Piero; not sure if this is what you are looking for but we use some of these desks in our work suites....http://www.biomorphdesk.com/

 

[Eric Santiago]

Most are avoiding a ROCKET if they are working in DRAGON.

Unless your churning out dailies not sure if a ROCKET X makes financial sense.

 

[Piero Sgarbi]

Piero; not sure if this is what you are looking for but we use some of these desks in our work suites....http://www.biomorphdesk.com/

I actually went with one of those desks: http://www.argosyconsole.com/html_internal/argosy_studiofurniture_avidartist.html

Now all I am missing is the workstation itself (computer) and the monitors. Not really sure what kind of monitors should I use, not very familiar with the color grading ones.

As for the computer, we have Apple, so probably going to get the trashcan.

Unless a 5k imac (maxed out) + a redrocket would do the trick.

 

[Piero Sgarbi]

Most are avoiding a ROCKET if they are working in DRAGON.

Unless your churning out dailies not sure if a ROCKET X makes financial sense.

What do you mean by that? If that would speed up the whole process..well then I must consider buying it.

Right now we are using the same Mac Pro for editing and color grading (6 Core, 32GB of ram and dual D700) but it hardly plays back dragon footage.

 

[Robert Kurhajetz]

Wow - Piero; that is quite the console - very impressive!

 

[Piero Sgarbi]

Wow - Piero; that is quite the console - very impressive!

Thanks Robert,

By the way we decided to build a custom PC for the Color Grading and VFX, probably will go for a HP Z840 workstation with a Red Rocket in it.

 

[Eric Santiago]

What do you mean by that? If that would speed up the whole process..well then I must consider buying it.

Right now we are using the same Mac Pro for editing and color grading (6 Core, 32GB of ram and dual D700) but it hardly plays back dragon footage.

Dragon files will not work on a regular ROCKET. Im sure you know that.
As far as ROCKET X not making financial sense, folks here are beefing up HPs/MacPros and opting out of the ROCKET X since it can handle it in decent form.
I have no idea how they are doing since I only have ROCKET and Scarlet.
Again some folks not all.

 

[PatrickFaith]

Thanks Robert,

By the way we decided to build a custom PC for the Color Grading and VFX, probably will go for a HP Z840 workstation with a Red Rocket in it.

I went with the z840 for grading, just doing the tests now (using the m6000 card). I couldn't find the rocket-x power in watts, but the z840 even with the bigger power supply doesn't have a lot of watt headroom, so could be a bit iffy putting that in depending on your configuration (i went with dual 3.1 ghz 10core and a ton of ram). I btw really like the z840 as a "normal" pc, it's not really that huge and is fairly quite (i was worried it was going to be one of these power pc beasts that was really noisy and blew around heat).

 

[Shiblon Wixom]

The Rocket-X uses a 6pin GPU power cable, or a cable adapter of two molex to a GPU 6pin, so the power draw isn't that much.

While my Hackintosh, MBPR, or iMac can transcode 6k dragon clips at around 10-15 fps, with a Rocket-X in a TB2 chassis they all transcodes around 45-50 fps, which makes a big difference for onset transcode work. So you can easily work without a Rocket-X, as long as time isn't a big factor. That being said, the Rocket-X is a printed card, much like modern GPUs, so it is far more robust than the previous Red-Rocket and should last for years, especially with a 3yr warranty.

 

[Piero Sgarbi]

I went with the z840 for grading, just doing the tests now (using the m6000 card). I couldn't find the rocket-x power in watts, but the z840 even with the bigger power supply doesn't have a lot of watt headroom, so could be a bit iffy putting that in depending on your configuration (i went with dual 3.1 ghz 10core and a ton of ram). I btw really like the z840 as a "normal" pc, it's not really that huge and is fairly quite (i was worried it was going to be one of these power pc beasts that was really noisy and blew around heat).

Hey share with us your results whenever you can!

The Rocket-X uses a 6pin GPU power cable, or a cable adapter of two molex to a GPU 6pin, so the power draw isn't that much.

While my Hackintosh, MBPR, or iMac can transcode 6k dragon clips at around 10-15 fps, with a Rocket-X in a TB2 chassis they all transcodes around 45-50 fps, which makes a big difference for onset transcode work. So you can easily work without a Rocket-X, as long as time isn't a big factor. That being said, the Rocket-X is a printed card, much like modern GPUs, so it is far more robust than the previous Red-Rocket and should last for years, especially with a 3yr warranty.

Time could be a factor sometimes, plus I'd like to be able perhaps to color grade in real time on set, bringing the red rocket along with me!