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CalDigit HD and ext monitoring for MacBook Pro
Hello to all,
I did a search and found a something on this topic back in Jan of this year. But not that answered my thoughts in full.
I am in the market for a 1-1.5TB drive for my MacBook Pro (I know I am already handicapping myself, Walter hadn’t came out with his Blog yet, and I got a laptop and know am maxed out until my business grows for me to get a Mac Pro)
Anyway, so I have been looking at CalDigit. I just called and the guy said that since I mostly shoot/cut DVCProHD 720, that I should go with the Firewire VR over the S2VR Duo and save some money. But, that I would not be able to use an ext monitor with firewire. He also said that the S2VR wouldn’t help me out that much since I’m on a MBP anyway.
So I guess my question is that if I go with the firewire VR, is there any other way to configure an external monitor for editing? Not too concerned with Color, b/c I know that I’m up the creak without I paddle with the laptop anyway.
Or, should I go with the S2VR Duo to use the express card slot on my MBP, and monitor out with firewire? I looked on the Matrox website, but it is undercontruction. And I’m assuming the AJAs IoHD is only firewire?
Of course I am trying to learn how to be a professional editor and grow a business at one time and doing things the proper way (ie, Mac Pro, AJA LHe, eCinema, scopes, etc) and I am growing as I grow.
BTW, my MBP’s specs are:
2.4GHz Inter Core 2 Duo
4GB ramGeForce 8600M GT:
Chipset Model: GeForce 8600M GT
Vendor: NVIDIA (0x10de)I read on the former post that the Matrox was not compatible with the NVIDIA cards. I’m not at all an expert, but even though my Chipset is GeForce 8600M GT, I’m guessing that since the vendor is NVIDIA, I’m out of luck?
Thanks for reading this novel. If you have any thoughts I would love to hear them. The COW has been the greatest thing for me since I started my business, WOW, almost a year ago!!
Best,
Beau Brotherton
Macbook Pro 2.4GHz, Intel Core 2Duo, 4GB
FCP6
HVX200 -
4 Replies
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[Beau Brotherton] “But, that I would not be able to use an ext monitor with firewire. He also said that the S2VR wouldn’t help me out that much since I’m on a MBP anyway.”
Really? Even if you hook up the drive via FW800? I’ve not heard of that one before.
[Beau Brotherton] “And I’m assuming the AJAs IoHD is only firewire?”
Yes, FW800.
An eSATA solution would certainly be a faster solution for any laptop, especially since it’s your main editing workstation. We did use my MacBook Pro for an Io HD capture session while also using a FW400 drive to capture with and didn’t have any issues. We were capturing DV50 material through SDI.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Biscardi Creative Media
HD and SD Production for Broadcast and Independent Productions.STOP STARING AND START GRADING WITH APPLE COLOR Apple Color Training DVD available now!
Read my Blog!
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[Beau Brotherton] “I read on the former post that the Matrox was not compatible with the NVIDIA cards. I’m not at all an expert, but even though my Chipset is GeForce 8600M GT, I’m guessing that since the vendor is NVIDIA, I’m out of luck?”
If I’m not mistaken I believe Matrox finally did solve that with the mxo driver just a few weeks ago.
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Thanks Chris and Walter for your quick responses.
Chris, cool about Matrox fixing that problem, I’ll certainly look into that.
And yeah Walter, I was surprised that the guy said that as well. It wasn’t John who is on the CalDigit Forum here at the COW, some other guy. What he said was that if I worked on DVCProHD 1080, then yes, I would need to go eSata. But since all I ever shoot is 720p (HVX200 720pn24) that I would not see that much difference. Also, that I would be out more of my pocket, less storage, and then when I eventually upgrade to a Mac Pro, that I would have to buy another card. And my thought is, probably be another year or so until I will have the funds to start buying more equipment (want to pay off some of this business loan and, well, getting married in Nov will cost some $$ 🙂
But I definitely appreciate the help, if you have any other suggestions I would love to hear them.
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FYI, I use a MacBook Pro with Firewire 800 1TB and 1.5 TB G-Raids and I’ve cut a feature length project in 1080 24p with 900GB worth of source clips. No problem unless you’re piling on the effects and video streams. 720 projects are no sweat at all.
A 2nd Firewire bus (less than a hundred bucks) in the express slot allows for 2 G-Raids at once, or a G-Raid plus a Firewire camera-to-monitor. I also monitor sometimes with a 23″ Cinema Display, especially when more than one person needs to watch something for review.
eSata would be great and a Matrox is the solution for monitoring seriously from the MacBook. But in the meantime, you can make do with Firewire and save your pennies for a Mac Pro and whatever magic hardware will be available when you’re ready.
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