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Multibridge Pro + Mac Pro + Premiere Pro + is this a go?
Sorry, for the lame title/subject/ 😉
We are looking for anyone that has used a Mac Pro (Dual 2.66GHz – Dual-Core, 4GB RAM, etc.,) system with the Multibridge Pro (here comes the catch)… but as a dual boot system between XP Pro with the Adobe Pro Suite edting in Premiere Pro 2… as well as the OSX-10 and Final Cut on the Mac side of the food chain.
We own the Mac Pro and are currently doing 2 of 3 mentioned (XP & Tiger dual boot from unique boot drives, not partitions) and it has been working without fail for 3+ weeks in our production. In fact for our needs and maximum falexability the Mac Pro saved us the cost of two separate systems. Before you say “he’s lost it” (this is a given) but this solution for us has worked very ****** well! I’m not a Mac guy, nor a PC guy, I’m an editor first and foremost, everything else is simply can and cannot(s). OS wars are a bore.
Now we want to add the Multibridge Pro to the mix so that we can capture through component from our JVC HD100 during our green screen shoots from either OS/NLE. From everything I have read on the Multibridge Pro it also gains us a few other useful features, so it’s where I would like to start if I can.
Have you done this… can it even be done? If so then what down sides have you found? What works & what doesn’t? Do you capture and edit regular on a Mac Pro with The Multibridge Pro & Final Cut, how about Premiere Pro 2? I’m not so much looking for an answer to every question specific, it’s a forum, I’m looking for sharing of ideas and experiences. I would like to try this, and if it works it’s well worth $1600… again if it would work. Ideas?
Although speculation and guesswork is good stuff to chew on, even a good argument as to why it can’t be done I’m open to. But simply saying it’s a bad idea with no supporting experience or documentation is a poor excuse, if the solution fits a need. I’m even more so interested in those who have tried and either succeeded… or failed. I get mixed reactions from the dealer channel (I understand… they can’t try everything) and I got the impression from the Blackmagic techs (super nice guys by the way) that they may see my idea as a little too “left” in thinking. But it is what it is, and it works or it does not. 😉
Thanks in advance and Peace!
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2 Replies
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Hi Daniel,
Before I get in to some technicalities, I would say that if you have the choice of using Final Cut Pro or Premiere Pro as your NLE on a Mac Pro, it really makes sense to use Final Cut Pro which has features designed to take advantage of the Mac hardware, eg Digital Cinema Desktop, and includes some very useful codecs such as DVCPRO HD and HDV which are available system-wide with your other Mac video applications. However if there is some reason why you must use the Mac Pro as a Windows PC, then the following notes might help.
Official version: Bootcamp is beta software and The Mac Pro is not currently listed as a supported configuration on the support notes on our web site:
https://www.blackmagic-design.com/support/detail.asp?techID=47
https://www.blackmagic-design.com/support/detail.asp?techID=152
We are continuing to test the new builds of Bootcamp as they are released and are interested in Windows compatibility for our hardware on the Mac Pro.
We do not recommend the use of the Windows environment on the Mac Pro with our hardware for production purposes at this time.Unofficial version: When the Mac Pro was released, there were a lot of issues that prevented our products working with it on Windows XP. There have now been updates to both Bootcamp and our drivers and most of the problems have been overcome. We do know of power users using Multibridge Extreme and After Effects every day on the Windows platform and it is working just fine. However our other hardware has not been tested on the most recent updates and so I don’t know how well it will work. The users of which I am aware were switching back to Mac OS X to use Final Cut Pro rather than using Premiere Pro.
I don’t know what slot configuration is set in the Windows environment and therefore which slot(s) would be best for DeckLink and Multibridge hardware. The PCIe slot profiles can be configured on the Mac platform but we don’t know what is assumed in the Windows environment. I’m trying to find that out now but it might take a little while.
If you do try this, I would certainly recommend the latest Bootcamp, Windows XPSP2 and Mac OS X updates along with our latest DeckLink Windows 5.7 drivers. I would also recommend the “Mac Pro (mid 2006) EFI Firmware Update 1.0” which can be downloaded from:
https://www.apple.com/support/downloads/macpromid2006efifirmwareupdate10.html
This Apple update helps with Bootcamp.
In Mac OS X, we have 64-bit support and so can use as much RAM as you like in the Mac Pro.
However Bootcamp requires that you run Windows XPSP2 which is 32-bit and so you cannot run more that 3 GB of RAM in the Mac Pro when working in this environment. 2 GB of RAM is the mininum that we would recommend for Windows.I have heard a report from a DeckLink HD Pro PCIe user who found it worked fine in the Mac environment but encountered problems capturing stable video in the Windows environment on a Mac Pro. The Multibridge Pro shares a similar architecture to the DeckLink HD Pro PCIe and so it is possible you will encounter problems too. Testing would be well-advised and we will also be looking at this soon.
I would also be interested to hear from other DeckLink and Multibridge users who have tested the Windows environment on a Mac Pro, and to learn what’s working and what is not working so far. That should help us focus our testing and support in this area.
Regards,
Luke Maslen
Blackmagic Design -
So far it works fine in one of the two OS’s, loaded, drivers and all, but I still need to make it talk to the camera. One thing at a time with my current schedule.
I would still love to talk with others who are doing the dual boot from the Mac Pro and multlink.
Peace!
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