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MC edit station
From a quick look on Avid?s site, there are certain workstations certified to work with Media Composer. Now, I’ve been around for quite some time to know that editing workstations are hardware-configurated to work flawlessly, but I just have to ask: considering someone has the knowledge to built up a PC or a Mac, would it work on a software-only basis? For example, if I set up a double Dual Core or a Quad Core, with 4 GBs of RAM, a good motherboard and a quick graphics card (and, of course, appropriate disk space) would it work OK with Media Composer?
Thanks a lot in advance
Themis
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7 Replies
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It might. Or it might not. 🙂
Seriously, Avid works well with lots of build-it-yourself systems. The video card does seem to be critical for compatability, however. But this is what I don’t understand…why would you spend your time trying to build a system instead of buying an approved one? Just how much money do you think you can save? Wouldn’t you make up the savings on a couple of projects, not have to tinker under the hood too often and have the benefit of Avid support for your machine?
I like enjoy building project computers just like I enjoy working on and building vintage cars, but I don’t want to trust my livelihood to the unknown, unforeseen problems that will likely occur on out of spec computers when a project deadline looms.
Your mileage may vary, of course, but if editing is your main income, why not work day-to-day on an approved Avid workstation and build and tweak a separate system for your own knowledge, understanding and entertainment? Then you can report back what works well and what doesn’t. It could be very valuable information for those of us looking for a reliable second, third or fourth system. Most of the editors on this list don’t seem to have time to do this research.
Regards,
Joe Womble
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[Joe Womble] “The video card does seem to be critical for compatability,”
So. what’s an approved card for an Avid system?
[Joe Womble] “why would you spend your time trying to build a system instead of buying an approved one?”
Simply because the price difference is tremendous. A Dual Core or a Quad Core PC may cost about 1,500 euros (at least in Greece) when a an approved HP workstation may reach up to 4.000 euros. Isn’t that a reason to at least try builting your own?
[Joe Womble] “Wouldn’t you make up the savings on a couple of projects, not have to tinker under the hood too often and have the benefit of Avid support for your machine?”
Well, in Greece I am sorry to say Avid support sucks. I know many colleagues and even enterprises that pray to God their system doesn’t malfunction. There’s practically only one company that sets and supports Avid systems and it’s reputation is not so good…
[Joe Womble] “Most of the editors on this list don’t seem to have time to do this research.
“I can’t say I do have the time, either, but at some point it’s worth a try, don’t you think? 🙂
Thanks to all for your replies
Themis
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[Joe Womble] “The video card does seem to be critical for compatability,”
So. what’s an approved card for an Avid system?
[Joe Womble] “why would you spend your time trying to build a system instead of buying an approved one?”
Simply because the price difference is tremendous. A Dual Core or a Quad Core PC may cost about 1,500 euros (at least in Greece) when a an approved HP workstation may reach up to 4.000 euros. Isn’t that a reason to at least try builting your own?
[Joe Womble] “Wouldn’t you make up the savings on a couple of projects, not have to tinker under the hood too often and have the benefit of Avid support for your machine?”
Well, in Greece I am sorry to say Avid support sucks. I know many colleagues and even enterprises that pray to God their system doesn’t malfunction. There’s practically only one company that sets and supports Avid systems and it’s reputation is not so good…
[Joe Womble] “Most of the editors on this list don’t seem to have time to do this research.
“I can’t say I do have the time, either, but at some point it’s worth a try, don’t you think? 🙂
Thanks to all for your replies
Themis
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There are other considerations, for example, PCI Bus segmentation, which is why often in addition to listing their approved stations, they list the proper slots to install cards onto to avoid issues. DNAs require the full bandwidth of their respective busses, and sometimes manufacturers aren’t great making that information clear. It’s less of an issue with modern motherboards though. The other issue is, Avid won’t take advantage of the quad core processor (at least as far as I know) so while they may in the near future, right now you’ll see no advantage to using a quad core PC.
As far as approved video cards, they list them on their website, but I use a PNY Quadro FX 1300 in my xpress system, but the PNY Quadro FX 1500 is a popular one for MC or Xpress.
Richard Sanchez
North Hollywood, CA“We are the facilitators of our own creative evolution.” – Bill Hicks
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OK, here’s the deal: Recently, I came across the professional catalogue from a big computers chainstore in my country. Among its products was a server that they called “Video edit”. Its main features are listed below and its price, with a second processor, is around 2,300 euros (that is approximately $ 2,900 US). Is it worth buying to install and work with Media Composer? Any known issues with any of the following hardware?
Case: Supermicro SC743T-650
Power: 650 W Redundant
CPU: Intel Xeon Dual Core 5130 2GHz (support for 2nd processor)
Motherboard: Supermicro Server Board X7DA3
RAM: 2x 1GB 533Mhz DDR2 FB ECC CL4
Hard disks: 2x 500GB SATA II – 16 MB Cache (supported up to 8 SAS / 6 SATA II)
Graphics card: Matrox Parhellia APVe 128MB
Other features: Host RAID 0, 1, & 10 supportAny reply would be greatly appreciated
Thanks a lot in advance
Themis
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Well, the processor is a Dual Core 2GHz and Avid recommends at least 2 x Dual Core 2.66GHz for Media Composer (although 1 dual core 2.66GHz will probably work until you try to edit HD or get graphics intensive). So the processor isn’t fast enough. It might work, but it might not.
The graphics card probably won’t work. You really need to go with an nVidia Quadro card–the 1500 or the 3500.
Do you plan on using a Mojo or Adrenaline box? If so, and you have external storage, you’ll need seperate bus segments for the I/O box (Mojo or Adrenaline) and your storage or you’ll get video overrun/underrun errors and you won’t be able to capture. I have no idea if this system has seperate bus segments so it’s kind of a risk to try it, unless you can get really detailed motherboard specs.
I understand there’s a big price difference between an Avid approved system and a build it yourself, but have you checked out HP or Dell’s refurbished workstations? If they ship to your country you can always check there. You can get a system up to Avid spec for about $2,400 US, which would be even less in Euros. I have no idea if they ship internationally, but it’s worth looking into.
Just go to http://www.hp.com or http://www.dell.com and type Outlet in to the search box of both homepages and you can find their refurb inventory pretty easily.
Michael.
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[MHancock] “Do you plan on using a Mojo or Adrenaline box?”
Well, Michael, considering I already have a Matrox RT.x 2 workstation with Adobe PPro, I wouldn’t even think about spending money (and you know we’re talking about a lot of money) on a Mojo or Adrenaline box. My thought was for a software-only system with Media Composer, that would capture both HD and SD material via firewire. I thought it would be worth a try, since the new system’s main job would be to get me to know Avid rather than host my main editing work. For that, I already have a system that works just fine. I’ve just seen on the web that there are laptops who work fine with MC and I guessed a good desktop PC (or a Mac Pro) would serve well. But if you say otherwise, you certainly know better.
Any way thanks for your quick response and all your info. I’ll check the HP and Dell sites, too and let you know what I came up with.
Themis
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