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Can this AVID system handle 1 hour effect heavy HD project?
I am supposed to work on a 1 hour effect heavy 1080HD project next month. I am supposed to choose between AVID and FCP. I worked on the same show last year with FCP and had a good working experience. But this year, I am considering to cut on AVID. But I am not sure the AVID system the client has can handle the project.
It is AVID SYMPHONY v3.0.5
Windows XP SP2
HP W8600
CPU Xenon 3GH
3.25GB RAM
RAID drive with fibre channel (I don’t know the detail but I am not worried about external harddrive situation)BCC 5 installed and planning to rent Sapphire.
With another client, I have been editing 10 min. SD (yes, SD) segment on Newscutter with pretty much same machine environment except the harddrive (media is stored in server). Usually, toward the ending of editing stage with multiple layers with effects, the memory usage easily goes over 50% -60% and have to relaunch AVID several times a day. I think this is due to the fact the AVID is running on XP with limited RAM capacity. But it may be because it is newscutter? I don’t know.
Anyway, I am skeptical about editing my next HD project with the setup I mentioned above.
it is HD and longer format. I know I can work by segments and do video mixdown at the end and composite them together. but I dont want to do that if possible.
any opinion will be appreciated.
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6 Replies
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erm…aren’t symphonies still sold solely as turnkey systems?
If by “handle it” you’re talking about responsiveness, reliable performance, you’re fine.
Unless something’s broken — Why are you not sure about this client’s system? Heard something?
“effect heavy HD project” — any editor on any system has a threshold. Beyond it they take the effects into After Effects, Motion, or the graphics department down the hall.
Your efficiency/speed with FCP’s effects versus Symphony’s might be the deciding factor. Symphony effects go far, but there’s a learning curve. -
Hi William,
thank you for your response. I was not sure because of my experience with AVID Newscutter. Like I mentioned in the previous post, AVID Newscutter on Windows XP system can only handle 10-15 minutes of sequence (at least where I work). What I mean by “can’t handle” is that the the memory usage goes up quickly to 50-60% and I started getting lots of error message and had to relaunch the program to clear the memory maybe every 1 hour depending on what you are doing.
Based on your response, I guess this is unique problem to Newscutter then.
any other thoughts?
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I do that type of work on Symphony, but I left XP years ago. Get to windows 7 pro 64 and add another 4 gigs of RAM. This will allow Symphony to at least get the maximum RAM it can in a 32 bit build.
And believe me, you WILL need that RAM. I was running out of RAM all the time on XP, and there were even sequences I had to break apart to work on which doesn’t help when using source side color correction.
Terence Curren
http://www.alphadogs.tv
http://www.digitalservicestation.com
Burbank,Ca -
Yes, I remember when I switched from FCP to AVID, I was surprise how AVID gives me so much problem because of RAM issue considering AVID being industry standard system. I was cutting long format show like 2 hours project on FCP flawlessly and when I am cutting even on short piece on AVIDs, it tends to give me lot of memory issue. I am not sure if it is the issue of AVID or Windows XP. (Someone told me AVID on mac works better) But FCP was running on 32bit then either and still had no problem.
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Mac is 64 bit so you already get the same advantage that going to Windows 7 will give you. The color corrector is not as fluid in Mac Symphony, and there seems to be a lot more crashing in the Mac version. At least, that is my experience.
Terence Curren
http://www.alphadogs.tv
http://www.digitalservicestation.com
Burbank,Ca -
I’m doing HD 1080P (and some 1080i) finishing on Symphony Nitris 1.7 on Windows XP (32-bit), and my system might show some strain but does not bog down with effects-heavy sequences. Expert render is your best friend when dealing with multiple layers of effects. That function renders only what is necessary to play back the sequence correctly. In most cases, rendering every layer is unnecessary and a waste of time and system resources.
I believe most, if not all, of the BCC effects do need to be rendered, where the Avid effects have much more real-time capability. Of course, that depends on how many and what type you have stacked together in one place.
FWIW, I am upgrading my system to Symphony Nitris DX 5.5 when it is installed in our new facility. We always want to go faster and that new 12-core CPU with Windows 7 64-bit will help.
Bill Stephan
Senior Editor/DVD Author
USA Studios
New York City
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