2013 MacPro Davinci Resolve Edit Suite Build Advice

DaVinci Resolve

2013 MacPro Davinci Resolve Edit Suite Build Advice

Posted by Kelly Chen on March 29, 2014 at 11:59 pm

Hi All,

I am looking for some advice on my 2013 MacPro Resolve 4K Edit Suite build.
I have been using Resolve now for the past 2 years on a 2010 MacPro and Dell 30″ Ultrasharp monitor with keyboard & mouse. I am now looking to upgrade my suite with the following:

2013 MacPro
3.0GHz 8-core
64GB
1TB PCIe-based flash storage
Dual AMD FirePro D700 GPUs

Grading Monitor
Flanders Scientific Inc CM250 24.5″ OLED

GUI
Dell 30″ U3011 Ultrasharp Monitor

Capture and Playback
UltraStudio 4K

Monitoring
SmartScope Duo 4K

Audio Monitoring
Blackmagic Audio Monitor
Fostex PM0.5n Powered Studio Monitors

Control Surface
Tangent Element

Storage
24TB Pegasus Promise Thunderbolt 2

Some Questions
Q1. Do I need to purchase the Blackmagic Audio Monitor or can monitor sound through the Ultrastudio 4K box?

Q2. Do I need to purchase the Blackmagic Smartscope Duo 4K or can I have another monitor and display the scopes from Resolve? I’ve read that using Resolves scope will slow down the machine.

I have been shooting and working with Sony F65 Raw files and looking to working with new Red Epic Dragon footage in the future. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Kelly Chen replied 12 years ago 5 Members · 7 Replies
7 Replies

Paul Provost
March 30, 2014 at 3:11 am

Get the 12 core Mac for sure, you’ll need it for r3d footage. Get the 512gb drive to save money.
Ultrastudio 4k has audio
You can use resolve scopes on a second monitor. Won’t slow this thing down.
Wait til after nab before you do anything. It’s only a week away.

http://www.filmandtvcolor.com | colorist | Los Angeles, CA

Twitter: @4kfinish
Joseph Owens
March 30, 2014 at 6:29 pm

Why would this thread not be posted in DaVinci Resolve Basics and Configuration?

jPo

“I always pass on free advice — its never of any use to me” Oscar Wilde.
Ola Haldor voll
April 2, 2014 at 7:13 am

If you can spend some extra cash on it, I’d recommend you get a Mac Mini (or a laptop if you could need one) with either a UltraStudio on USB3 or Thunderbolt to get video input, and use ScopeBox. It’s incredibly fluid and responsive. I feel naked without it.

The connection route would be
Mac Pro -> FSI videomonitor -> SDI loop-through to -> Mac Mini with ScopeBox.

Whatever goes in to the monitor is sent directly to ScopeBox.
Read about, see and get ScopeBox at https://www.divergentmedia.com/scopebox
Cyra Emery
April 2, 2014 at 9:53 pm

I would recommend a 12-core MP as well since DaVinci will make full use of those cores while rendering and you are not skimping on any other portion of your budget. 1TB SSD seems like overkill, if you care.

(this is self-promotion) Purchasing a 2.7GHz 12-core Hackintosh with superior GPU power and expandability would be ~$4,000 less than going with Apple.
Kelly Chen
April 10, 2014 at 6:40 am

Hi Paul,

Definitely the 12 core is a better buy. I came across this on bare feats

https://www.barefeats.com/tube14.html

Thanks for the tip!
Kelly Chen
April 10, 2014 at 6:45 am

Hi Cyra,
I’m thinking long term and if OWC doesn’t come up with an aftermartket SSD upgrade better to go with 1TB boot drive space.

Haha Hackintosh. Too many problems that can go wrong and can’t afford for the machine to go down while I’m working on a project.

Thanks
Kelly
Kelly Chen
April 10, 2014 at 6:54 am

Hi Paul,

I’ve been working on a Windows configured recommended by BlackMagic Supermicro Computer with 4 GTX Titan cards and even then I am experiencing lag with the scopes. Will do some more investigations on it.

Thanks
Kelly

Windows 8.1 and Resolve v10

Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up

Creative Communities of the World Forums