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Interesting Blog post From Walter Biscardi
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[Michael Garber] “Hopefully Thunderbolt can make it’s way to PCs in the near future.”
MSI already has a Z77 mobo in the channel with Thunderbolt built in. They are coming.
Best,
Andy -
[Andrew Richards] “So since FCP7 never had any GPU accelerated goodness, they don’t care if they don’t get it in PPro? That smells like rationalization to me.”
GPU acceleration may not be relevant in their workflows. With heavy iron hero machines for finishing, there may be no need for GPU-accelerated effects in the offline.
Software-only MPE is still pretty nice, and if you’re doing largely cuts and dissolves instead of repos and effects, you won’t see much benefit from hardware MPE anyway.
Walter Soyka
Principal & Designer at Keen Live
Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
RenderBreak Blog – What I’m thinking when my workstation’s thinking
Creative Cow Forum Host: Live & Stage Events -
[Walter Soyka] “Software-only MPE is still pretty nice, and if you’re doing largely cuts and dissolves instead of repos and effects, you won’t see much benefit from hardware MPE anyway.”
He does make that point as well, mostly doc and reality stuff that doesn’t rely on many VFX.
[Walter Biscardi] “For the most part we’re doing documentaries and very soon, reality programming. Projects that are storyteller driven, not fx or even transition heavy. So for my situation and with the amount of machines I need to upgrade, do I really need to have all powerful systems in every single edit suite? Based on the performance of my 2 year old iMac, that answer appears to be ‘no.’ “
Best,
Andy -
[Andrew Richards] “That smells like rationalization to me.”
It smells like rationalization to pay for extra GPU CUDA acceleration that I don’t need? Where does a documentary need CUDA acceleration during the one year it takes to Post?
Where does a reality show need CUDA acceleration during the 8 weeks it takes to cut the story?
My point in that article is that I’m spending the money where I really need to. I’m going to need up to 24 edit workstations before the year is out. Of that maybe 4 are going to need all the bells and whistles to go really really fast while the rest will be excellent for cutting stories.
The iMac is a tried and true machine we’ve used for years and it’s really really fast for cutting. There is my rationalization.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Editor, Colorist, Director, Writer, Consultant, Author, Chef.
HD Post and Production
Biscardi Creative Media“This American Land” – our new PBS Series.
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Walter, can I assume grading and finishing will be on PC grunt boxes? Are you swayed by Speedgrade say over da Vinci or is Smoke more likely as your primary grade/finish tool?
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[walter biscardi] “My point in that article is that I’m spending the money where I really need to. I’m going to need up to 24 edit workstations before the year is out. Of that maybe 4 are going to need all the bells and whistles to go really really fast while the rest will be excellent for cutting stories.”
Perfectly reasonable, but am I right surmising that OS X might also be factoring into your calculus? Maybe it’s easier for your staff to transition to, maybe it is more familiar to support, maybe there are just fewer variables in a big facility expansion like you are planning? Were those factors?
If it is just about cost, there are equally capable mid-range PC towers that would allow you to use your existing displays, your existing I/O cards, and your existing shop cabling. Why not consider a lesser PC tower if OS X is not driving the decision (because your NLEs are cross platform)?
By the way- congrats on needing to add so many seats! That’s a big expansion!
Best,
Andy -
We did an experiment with an iMac 3 months ago. After you get the big Promise Pegasus you’re looking at about 5k. We got all the big upgrades except for the SSD, which just seems overpriced for me. It’s a great machine and has been very robust with everything I’ve thrown at it. Very curious how the 6750M card is going to play with the new CS6 suite.
I would say that if you’re considering this, try to wait. There’s a new iMac update soon, potentially without the glossy screen. That would be a nice update.
John Davidson | President / Creative Director | Magic Feather Inc.
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[Andrew Richards] “If it is just about cost, there are equally capable mid-range PC towers that would allow you to use your existing displays, your existing I/O cards, and your existing shop cabling. Why not consider a lesser PC tower if OS X is not driving the decision (because your NLEs are cross platform)?”
If the OS is a consideration and since he intends to use MC or other non-Cuda soft then the iMac is a viable option. If the OS is not relevant other options may make more sense from a cost/performance point of view plus potential upgradability to Cuda if necessary in the future:
iMac: 1.999,-
10 Gig Ethernet Nic for Mac: 1.000,- (assuming he is using 10GIG to connect to his San, I think he does).
Magma Thunderbolt Chasis: 1.000,-
Aja ioXT: 1.495,-
= 5.495,-HP z210 (Avid Certified): 1.600,-
Intel 10 Gig Ethernet Nic: 600,-
Decklink SDI 280,-
= 2.380,-——
“You also agree that you will not use these products for… the development, design, manufacture or production of nuclear, missiles, or chemical or biological weapons.”
iTunes End User Licence Agreement -
This blog post comes at a useful time for me. I’ve been waiting until after NAB to pull the trigger on a maxed-out big imac for general home use and small side projects. My current imac is 13 years old, the “Luxo Jr.” model 🙂 The new one will run a used copy of FCS 3 and FCP-X, Premiere perhaps a year later. Gotta save up.
I’m tormented by persistent rumors of an imac refresh coming from “the phone company” about this month, but there’s no firm info. I have pre-purchase buyer’s remorse, in that I *could* afford to wait another month to see if the upgraded imac has something new(er) I need, or to see it made somehow worse, or to see it drive down the price of the current model I’ve spec’d for purchase. When I buy stuff it’s for a decade, I know I’ll love what I’ve spec’d now, but that grass is always greener….
How long should I wait?
Second part of the question: The performance stats between the two high end processor and graphcis card choices don’t seem all that different to me, so how important is it to buy the more expensive of the two, assuming I have maximum RAM and HD space?
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[Frank Gothmann] “10 Gig Ethernet Nic for Mac: 1.000,- (assuming he is using 10GIG to connect to his San, I think he does).”
He uses good ol’ Gig-E, and noted in his post that the 2011 iMacs once again have jumbo frame support for best results with his Small Tree system.
But as an aside, ATTO has a pair of 10Gb-E Thunderbolt boxes coming soon.
[Frank Gothmann] “Decklink SDI 280,-“
He’s doing HD work, and has a collection of Kona 3 cards already.
[Frank Gothmann] “If the OS is not relevant other options may make more sense from a cost/performance point of view plus potential upgradability to Cuda is necessary in the future:”
As OpenCL matures and developers fold it into their products more, the gulf between NVIDIA and AMD cards may diminish significantly in that same future. Adobe already has limited support for OpenCL in CS6 and said they will be adding more as they go (I’d link to the post if I could find it).
I’m not saying the iMac is a bad choice or wouldn’t be great for the work he has planned for it, just that not comparing the iMac to its market peers is an incomplete analysis of his options for outfitting his shop. Heck, I’d buy the iMacs too, but I’m an admitted OS X partisan and I’ll go out of my way to avoid Windows if I can manage it.
Best,
Andy
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