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Full quality playback on new Mac Pro vs. old G5
Having some issues with playback. On our new Mac Pro computers, we are having to render things we don’t have to render on our older Quad G5 computers.
For instance, on the Mac Pro computer, I have a standard 720×480 DV timeline. I place 2 clips on the timeline. The clips are standard DV clips. If I place a Page Peel transition between the clips, the render status bar for the effect area is bright green. It will play back in real time, but not full quality.
However, if I do this exact same thing on our G5 computers, or even my Intel iMac, using the same effect & same exact clips, it shows a dark green render bar, and will play back full quality. What’s going on here? I don’t understand why a newer, more powerful computer performs worse than a less powerful computer. On both systems, the timeline is set to Safe RT, although if I change it to Unlimited RT, it doesn’t make a difference.
Here’s the specs for our computers:
Mac Pro
2×3 Ghz Quad Core Intel Xeon
6 GB RAM
NVIDEA GeForce 8800 GTG5
4 x 2.5 Ghz PowerPC G5
3 GB RAM
GeForce 6600Both systems are running Final Cut Pro 6.0.4. (The latest). The G5 is running OS 10.4.11. I have tried on two different Mac Pro computers, one with 10.4.11 and one with 10.5.4, and for both I see the bright green render status for the effect.
Any help would be greatly appreciated! I’ll be disappointed to say the least if this upgrade results in more rendering, not less. Yes the rendering is fast, but I’m not getting why I now need to render at all. I thought maybe it’s an Intel vs. G5 thing, but my Intel iMac can hack it just fine. Is there some other setting I’m missing?
thanks!
Mike -
2 Replies
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where is the media playing back from on each system?
Colin McQuillan
Van. B.C. -
The Mac Pro has 3 internal SATA drives. One drive contains the OS and applications, system files, etc. The other two internal SATA drives are striped together RAID level 0. The media lives on the RAID.
On the G5, the media is stored on an external G-SATA drive.
On my Intel iMac, the media is on the internal drive, same place as the OS and Apps. (I normally don’t work this way, but was just doing this as a test to see if it’s an Intel vs. G5 thing.)
These are just standard DV files I’m trying to playback, and not filtered or anything. We’re talking only two streams of DV video here, so I’m 99.99% sure my drives are adequate!
thanks
Mike
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