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Building a first FCP suite advice
Hello,
I’m looking to build an FCP editing suite that would be as future proof as possible (need to be able to edit HD/SD from various sources including HDCAM and tapeless formats, not budgeting for RED). So far, I’m looking at:
Mac Pro (8 core, 12GB ram, 1TB HDD, Radeon HD 5870)
3x 2TB HDD (RAID 0)
Matrox MX02 capture cardI have 2 monitors I could use to begin with so would just need to add a reference monitor (any recommendation on this?)
I already have a set of stereo monitor speakers so don’t need to budget for these
As a backup system, I’d probably go with a G-Raid 2TB and backup projects etc nightly (again, any recommendation on alternatives?)
Is a mixer absolutely necessary to begin with?I want to be able to add to the system over time (waveform monitor, HD grading monitor etc) but for the meantime I just want to get the basics in place. Budget for this (including software and cabling) is c. £7000.
Is there anything I’m missing here or would anybody recommend that I stay away from anything I’ve mentioned?
Thanks,
Kyle
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3 Replies
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Hi Kyle,
If you do a search, I’m sure you’ll find lots of recommendations for edit suites.
As to what would be the best choices for you, depends a lot of the type of work and gear you’ll need to digitize from. Depending on which Maxtrox you would get, it should support the i/o you’d need for most decks. A lot of people recommend AJA over Maxtrox, I personally have a Motu V4 box that costs about the same as a Maxtrox Rack, but the Motu have much greater functionality.
You should try to have double the RAM per core, so for the 8 core, you’d want 16gb RAM. You should think about configuring the media HD for RAID 5 or 3. You’d want a mixer to monitor and control the levels if you have multiple decks.
You really can’t afford a HD monitor with £7000, but with the right capture/ i/o device you can monitor SD/HD (downcoverted) through it. Unfortunately CRT monitors still look better for SD.
Good Luck,
Todd at UCSB
Television Production -
Thanks Todd, very useful response there! I’ve looked at the Kona series and they seem to be a fair amount more expensive for similar features. How much of a difference is there in them over anything else that’s available? I was recommended the Matrox by somebody so that’s why I’m leaning towards that at the moment. Will look into the Motu V4 though as that sounds like a possibility.
Your suggestion on RAM is interesting. I’ve read in a lot of places that the recommendation is to keep it in multiples of 3 (ie 6x modules over 8x). Been thinking about the RAID setup quite a lot and would definitely consider a RAID 3/5 setup. Will probably only have 1 deck connected at any time so not sure how necessary a mixer is going to be to start with.
HD monitor would be very nice but the budget just wouldn’t stretch for now! An SD CRT is a possibility though and great to know that I could get away with that if even temporarily. Would probably opt to have a small one as a 2nd reference monitor which could work nicely.
Thanks again for your response.
Kyle
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Be sure to check out Jerry’s DVD
https://store.creativecow.net/p/81/jerry_hofmanns_final_cut_system_setup
Richard M. Harrington, PMP
Author: From Still to Motion, Video Made on a Mac, Photoshop for Video, Understanding Adobe Photoshop, Final Cut Studio On the Spot and Motion Graphics with Adobe Creative Suite 5 Studio Techniques
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