Avid and Dual Core

[R. Hewitt]

Mike,

Whenever building an Avid system from scratch, always, always check with Avid’s qualified systems to ensure you don’t make an expensive mistake.

[Mike Moncrief]

Hello,

Thanks for responding.. When i look at their website.. it seems they do not keep it updated.. For instance some of the laptop models they list are no longer available..

Mike

[Wes Plate]

There is someone on Avid-L who, against all advice (including from an Avid engineer who posted) upgraded to a Dual Core machine, and it isn’t working.

— Wes Plate
Automatic Duck

[R. Hewitt]

The Avid site may appear to be out of date but as anyone who’s been on an Avid course or know any of the Avid support guys, they’ll tell you, if it isn’t on the website it isn’t supported.

True, some of the laptops are no longer available – DELL M60 for instance. But unless Avid issue an update to the list soon you’re taking a big risk financially.

[Gary Bettan]

I posted the following on Avid’s forums and I think it applies here:

As a computer geek/ tech enthusiast I understand the desire to get the most advanced computer you can for video editing. You hear all the time about how the latest versions deliver more performance / features with faster computers. This is very well and good – as long as you don’t plan on stressing the system and using it for mission critical projects.

STOP! DO NOT PASS GO! DO NOT COLLECT $200!!

Video Editing is the MOST stressful and mission critical application you will ever run on your computer. Not only do you have to move large amounts of data, every filter and effect requires complex computations. So does all the encoding and decoding. Then there is the big kicker –

We (video editors) expect our 1 hour finished video to play back perfectly in exactly 3,600 seconds. Not a second more or a second less! There is ZERO tolerance for error. A single stutter or audio glitch and the whole project needs to be re-done.

The moral of this story is simple:. Avid builds Xpress for you – the most demanding customer in the industry. You expect – no you demand – perfect performance. One of the things Avid has to do to give you what you want is to wait for new technologies to mature and become rock solid & stable.

I’m a big fan of dual-core, 64 bit computing – it is going to have a remarkable impact on our industry – DOWN THE ROAD. Today it is a potential mine field of issues that is best left to those brave souls willing to constantly fix / patch / repair / update their system to get it right. If you are one of those guys – good for you! I’ll be here following your trials and tribulations, offering help, and taking notes. But you need to plan on spending as much time tinkering with your system as you do editing.

Gary
Videoguys.com

[Danny Ortega]

I’m running avid Xpress pro 4.6 on a amd dual 3800+ with a Gigabyte mother board. So far things have been smooth as silk. I’ve edited several projects with no crashes or problems. It works great for me so far, but I haven’t done much with fx or titling.

-Good luck