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Mac Pro 2008, Final Cut, and Judging color
Hi All, First time posting here on the COW.
I am looking for some advice on a color accurate 1080p tv/monitor to use to judge color for the production that I am working on. First I should say this is a low budget production, and my fx budget is even lower. Up until now I have been reviewing on my production monitors- 2 Samsung SyncMaster 245bw, driven by an nvidia 8800GT card in an 8 core Mac 2008. I run Maya 2008, Shake, Final Cut Studio, and After Effects on a daily basis.
My production plates originate as 1080p 24fps Quicktime movie files with the Apple ProResHQ codec. Final production output, whether film, digital cinema, or blue ray has not been determined yet, but I have been asked to make my final deliveries using the same proRes compression. Due to the limits of this particular production, I need to judge my final color based on the Final Cut color environment at 24fps.
I am looking for a reasonably reliable monitor/display card combo in the $5000 or less range. I’ve heard good things about the JVC DTV24L1DU and the Pioneer Kuno line. Is the Apple Cinema Display good enough? I’ve looked at the Kona 3 card and also the Matrox MX02 display cards as well. The Kona looks like overkill to me, as I already have hardware acceleration on the nvidia 8800gt, but it says it supports proRes HQ, but doesn’t make it clear if it is hardware accelerating the proResHQ.
I read through the postings from a few months ago regarding the HD monitor for color correction, but I guess I wanted to throw the question out there again based upon my specifics.
I am open to ideas and advice from all. Thanks!