• Media 100

  Choosing a Mac Pro & Card for a 4k-ready v2.1 install

  Posted by Maxwell Federman on September 26, 2011 at 7:58 pm

  Hi and thanks for reading…

  I am in the process of setting up a new system to take advantage of the limited time offer on v2.1.

  My goal is to create a “4k-ready” (or at least capable) system.

  One question is about the card. I see that the Kona 3G card supports 4k playout; which I do not nessicarily need at this point in time. But on the other hand this model does not accept analog sources; which clients often bring me. I can go thru the hassle of using SDI converter devices and into the card -BUT- if the card isn’t actually providing any RED acceleration and the computer is doing all of the De-Bayer work than I could get by using the older card that accepts analog sources (at least I would guess so).

  So this is perhaps a good question to direct towards anyone using 4k material in their m100. I saw the webinar done by Floh Peters (perhaps you are reading this Floh) and I remember at one point he mentioned that his system was not the world’s fastest– so perhaps a computer with the “reccomemded” system config is all I need(?)

  Also, a friend has offered to provide me with an 8-core computer w/ 10GB ram– hopefully this will do. I can find out the processor specs also.

  Anyhow, thank you in advance for anyone who takes the time to respond– I’m l

  Maxwell Federman
  Owner

  Capitol City Media
  Austin, TX USA

  http://www.capitolcitymedia.com

  Gregg Michaels replied 14 years, 5 months ago 3 Members · 6 Replies
• 6 Replies

• 

  Floh Peters

  September 27, 2011 at 1:13 pm

  Regarding 4k output: right now there are not many devices that support 4k inputs; personally I think when 4k devices will be cheap enough to be used in a wide range, there probably will be a new connector or way to hook them up (like HDMI+ or something like that). So if you don´t need 4k output now, I probably would go with a card that supports your analog input options.

  You can work with 4k material in a Media 100 4k timeline and get a HD output through e.g. a Kona3 card, though, which makes it easy to work with 4k timelines now.

  An 8core MacPro is pretty fast for that, since playback uses a lower res decode anyway. Rendering will be speeded up by the number of CPUs you have, of course, unless you put a RedRocket card into your MacPro. The RedRocket card is the only one that will do acceleration for Red material debayer & decoding right now.
• 

  Maxwell Federman

  November 13, 2011 at 7:36 pm

  Hi Floh–

  I have another question–

  So far your REDCODE tutorials have been very helpful in securing investors in my upcoming RED cameras venture…

  …I’m wondering what type of Mac Pro you used to do the edits demonstrated in your video; in terms of 8 or 12 core, chip GHz, and the amount of RAM ect.

  I was able to find a used 8-core 2.8GHz with 10 GB RAM from a local seller for only $1,300 USD and so far I am very very happy with the productivity increase– just wondering if from your experience you may know if the REDCODE editing will be ok on this system or if I may be setting myself up for embarrassment when I import the clips in a few weeks(?)

  Thanks again man!

  Maxwell Federman
  Owner

  Capitol City Media
  Austin, TX USA

  http://www.capitolcitymedia.com
• 

  Floh Peters

  November 14, 2011 at 10:21 am

  The tutorials were done on a newest Generation MacPro with 8 cores+HyperThreading, with 8GB of RAM at the time of the recording. But I also have edited Red footage on my MacBook Pro (last generation), which actually worked nicely, as well as on a 3 year old MacPro. Of course the newer the system the quicker the rendering times for conversions; but depending on your project and the way you tell a story you don´t need too much rendering at all, especially since you can start editing with the Red files immediately.

  Of course if you do complex sequences with many layers you will get into rendering, and depending on your needs probably a RedRocket card would be a good investment then. But if you don´t need to render much during your “regular” editing, this will not change much with Red footage (until you finish your movie/export it/master it to tape or whatever)

  I would suggest that you search for some R3D clips on the web and give it a try for yourself to get an idea how well this works.
• 

  Gregg Michaels

  November 23, 2011 at 3:37 pm

  Hi Floh. I’m embarking on a RedOne 4K project, and I’m getting all kinds of Media100 errors when I try to render a 4K clip inside a 1080Psf program. You mentioned using the Kona3 to output a 4K program in high def, I was wondering how you do that in M100. I can see the program via the Kona3 in its low res form, but I don’t have an option to render it to full quality when I’m in a 4K timeline.

  GM
• 

  Floh Peters

  November 24, 2011 at 4:19 pm

  What kind of errors do you get when you place the 4k clip in a 1080 timeline? It works fine for me…
  If you want to deliver HD, you should start with a 1080 timeline and drop your 4k clips into it. This way you should be able to get good realtime performance and full quality HD output once rendered.
• 

  Gregg Michaels

  November 28, 2011 at 11:17 pm

  Hi Floh. I have the render errors cleared up, with a bad preference and project file.

  I was using a 1080 timeline with my 4K footage, while rendering, that’s when I would experience the errors.

  I was questioning your comment earlier in this thread referring to possibly using the Kona3 to output to 1080. You mentioned using a 4K timeline to output in High Def. I thought perhaps there was a hardware based downconvert that I wasn’t aware of. I think that I misunderstood your comment.

  Thanks for the response.

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