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2012 Mac Pro – How well can it handle Avid?
So I started a new job last September with a company that uses CS6. I’ve always had stability issues with every version of Premiere. This one being no exception.
I think I’ve convinced my superiors of the value in moving our editing platform away from Premiere CS6. Over the years I’ve had a fair amount of experience with Avid and always enjoyed the speed and stability vs FCP or Premiere. I’m not an Avid guru by any means, but the platform was always stable for standard documentary and corporate work.
So I’m wondering if Avid Media Composer 7 can run on my current system? If so, how well?
Here are the specs:
(mid) 2012 Mac Pro
3.33 GHz 6-core Intel Xeon Processor
32 GB 1333 MHz DDR3 RAM
ATI Radeon HD 5870 1GB Video CardWe’ll also be considering a networked storage solution at some point in the next year or two. Probably a RAID stack of some kind. I’m pretty far from being a NLE networked storage expert. Can MC7 link easily to something like this? Any suggestions on what equipment might work well. We would be using the RAID to store and archive most of our footage as well as network it for editing on 2, maybe 3 mac systems at once.
Any input is highly appreciated. Thanks! – Andrew
Director of Photography | Narrative View Pictures | looking for a northern Colorado video production company? Just click on the link.
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3 Replies
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[Andrew Warren] “So I’m wondering if Avid Media Composer 7 can run on my current system? If so, how well? “
Yes….and define “How well?” I use it daily. I don’t crash, unless I try something crazy with Moving Picture plugin. I work with offline footage, HD footage encoded to DV anamorphic. At home I have a lesser machine and cut C300 native. Both systems have AJA IO devices. The one at home cuts faster, but mainly because I’m not on an ISIS. That will slow the system somewhat. But mainly it’s the size of the bins and the sheer volume of footage I have to deal with that slows things down. Talking 2-3 seasons of footage for a documentary TV show…that’s a lot.
[Andrew Warren] “We’ll also be considering a networked storage solution at some point in the next year or two. Probably a RAID stack of some kind. “
For multiple machines to share the storage, or do you want project sharing in the future? If project sharing, you will need very specific storage that is compatible with Avid project sharing. And you’ll need someone very familiar with Avid project sharing and IT management to deal with this. It’s more complex than using Shared Storage with FCP.
[Andrew Warren] “We would be using the RAID to store and archive most of our footage as well as network it for editing on 2, maybe 3 mac systems at once. “
Shared project? Or just sharing the storage? Sharing the storage, most anything that you can get to show up on the desktop will work. Shared project? ISIS, Facilis Terrablock, Editshare…
Shane
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I would check out the Avid Compatibility Matrix for exact specifics, but at first blush, your system will be fine>
https://avid.force.com/pkb/articles/en_US/compatibility/en267087
As far as shared storage, be sure that the manufacturer has tested or serviced multi-Avid editor environments – the most common SAN offerings would be from EditShare and Facilis but there are others that have been used by others on this forum. In addition to just shared storage, do they offer the shared projects and bins capability when on that SAN.
Michael
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Thank you for the responses guys!
If by shared project, you mean simultaneously editing from multiple machines; I don’t think we would need that level of functionality.
We would only need to be able to store footage there and be able to access each project from all machines (not simultaneously accessing or editing projects though). I hope that explanation makes sense.
Director of Photography | Narrative View Pictures | looking for a northern Colorado video production company? Just click on the link.
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