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Apple, R3D, and Premiere Pro CS5.5
We are about to begin shooting with and editing footage from a Red Scarlet. At present we have one i7 PC and a 2009 iMac9,1 (3.06GHz Core 2 Duo, GeForce GT 130 w/512MB, 8GB RAM). Both have PPCS5.5 on them. Making any necessary upgrades to the PC is well within my grasp but my question is since further upgrading the iMac beyond the RAM I’ve installed is … less than an ideal proposition, is it reasonable to believe the R3D files for potentially feature-length products could be effectively shot and edited in a commercially acceptable fashion with the existing OS X system (10.7.3) or do we need to get into a Mac Pro – and what would be considered the minimum requirements to do so on OS X?
One thing which concerns us a little bit is if both a fully-loaded Mac Pro with Westmere or Nehalem processors and a Red Rocket are considered absolutely necessary to be able to do what we need, as that can effectively nearly double the investment required!
Thank you for your time and information,
Steve
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9 Replies
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Hi Steve,
it all boils down to your workflow. Are you transcoding to an intermediary codec for both offline and online like cineform or dnxHD? If this is the case then your machine would be able to handle it.
If not, and you would be primarily working with RAW r3d files, then a macpro or a high end windows desktop is a must – a red rocket is a requirement as well. RAID storage is need given the size of r3d files, and to fully take advantage of your workflow with Adobe CS5.5, an nvidia quadro card is also worth considering.
I have a 12 core macpro, with a red rocket and a quadro 4000. For RAID access storage – I am using Caldigit’s 8 terabyte HD Element drive.
regards,
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Ramil,
Thank you. I suppose it’s best to be aware of the investment and take the necessaries beforehand! I haven’t even factored in the monitor(s?).
Thank you for your help!
Steve
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Steve, what Ramil says is not entirely correct. On my system (see below) I am able to play Red files natively with real time playback. I do not have a Red Rocket card. By setting the Program Monitor to 1/2 resolution (which for Red is still 2000k) I have no problems. And I can even do a one light in the Source mode of the clip. Yes, memory, CUDA graphics card, and high speed disk arrays add to the Mercury Playback Engines abilities. But a Red Rocket card doesn’t necessarily need to be purchased.
Tom Daigon
Avid DS / PrP / After Effects Editor
http://www.hdshotsandcuts.com
Mac Pro 3,1
8 core
10.6.8
Nvidia Quadro 4000
24 gigs ram
Maxx Digital / Areca 8tb. raid
Kona 3 -
So you, too, are running with the Quadro 4000. Does it have major advantages over the 5870 for this purpose?
Thanks again!
Steve -
Im not familiar with the 5870, but the CUDA does help with certain specific functions.
Tom Daigon
Avid DS / PrP / After Effects Editor
http://www.hdshotsandcuts.com
Mac Pro 3,1
8 core
10.6.8
Nvidia Quadro 4000
24 gigs ram
Maxx Digital / Areca 8tb. raid
Kona 3 -
Yes, I didn’t get in to edit fast enough – the CUDA/Mercury Playback are only supported on the Nvidia card. I’ve actually seen a rating where the Quadro 4000 is installed as a “slave” to the ATI card and there are further improvements to Adobe products (though beyond 4 cores seems to have only a slight improvement in PhotoShop, followed by a decrease in performance as you head north to 12 cores – odd).
So if someone else out there has installed both cards in a late 2010 Mac Pro, I’d love to hear about your experience?
Thank you again, everyone!
Steve
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Thanks Tom for that insight. I guess you could probably do away with the Red Rocket card. Red Rocket has become part of my workflow for the longest time. Especially when I have to do Online Color Grading using Da Vinci Resolve. I was probably thinking along that line.
A red rocket card on my macpro allows me full resolution and premium debayer quality of up to 2K files.
Steve, if you are really tight on the budget, I suggest you could take Tom’s route and just edit at 1/2 resolution, you might also try looking into Cineform.
regards,
Ramil
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The last time I checked Cineform on the Mac was kind of broken when trying to export from PrP, AE or AME. I master to DNxHD these days since crApples Prores is beginning to fade in many professional circles. Blame FCP XXX.
Tom Daigon
Avid DS / PrP / After Effects Editor
http://www.hdshotsandcuts.com
Mac Pro 3,1
8 core
10.6.8
Nvidia Quadro 4000
24 gigs ram
Maxx Digital / Areca 8tb. raid
Kona 3 -
Yeah, I second that!
Cineform is still ok with me. I Have Cineform Neo 3D. And am doing a 6 minute stereoscopic project to be shown on a Museum here in the Philippines. Purely using Cineform Codec. (Live materials shot on RED ONE on a side by side rig, converting all CG Materials to Stereo using Nuke.)
I can’t wait for NAB 2012, looking forward to how Adobe integrates IRIDAS in their workflow. 🙂
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