Pros and cons of 2 different HW setups for Premiere Pro

[Tim Kolb]

Well, a non-proprietary system is always the most future-proof in my mind. A general-use DeckLink card isn’t only cheaper, but also is very versatile.

The Axio would give someone who was doing a lot of editing some serious speed advantages, but the file format is proprietary…moving the media files to another computer entails conversion.

If you do go with the Decklink card, you can invest more into the computer itself…processors, serious video card, etc….which affects your After Effects work, which would be useful 90% of the time according to your post…the Axio accelerates the 10%.

I don’t have much to say on pricing…it’s all over the place depending on where you buy, etc., but it seems to me from what you’re saying that the Decklink/general purpose configuration would be best for you.

…my opinion.

TimK,

Kolb Syverson Communications,
Creative Cow Host,
2004-2005 NAB Post Production Conference
Premiere Pro Technical Chair,
Author, “The Easy Guide to Premiere Pro” http://www.focalpress.com
“Premiere Pro Fast Track DVD Series” http://www.classondemand.net

[Larry Sherwood]

Well, a non-proprietary system is always the most future-proof in my mind. A general-use DeckLink card isn’t only cheaper, but also is very versatile.
Axio has what is called “Scaleable Performance”. At NAB I was able to demo 2 streams of Uncompressed HD Video with 2 streams of Graphics, all with effects on them.
At IBC, I was able to demo 4 streams of Uncompressed HD video with 4 streams of graphics, with effects. At NAB we used Dual Xeon HP 9300’s At IBC we used Dual Core HP 9300’s. S oas the CPU’s become more powerful, Axio will automatically give you more power and performance. A VERY valuable asset of hardware making it “Future Friendly”

The Axio would give someone who was doing a lot of editing some serious speed advantages, but the file format is proprietary…moving the media files to another computer entails conversion.
Not sure what you mean by this, I use my Axio files in AE all the time and there is no file conversion. AFAIK, using the Matrox codecs to render in AE will have accelerating rendering via the Axio hardware.

If you do go with the Decklink card, you can invest more into the computer itself…processors, serious video card, etc….which affects your After Effects work, which would be useful 90% of the time according to your post…the Axio accelerates the 10%.
As I said above, the more you spend on your computer power, the more you will get with Axio.

I don’t have much to say on pricing…it’s all over the place depending on where you buy, etc., but it seems to me from what you’re saying that the Decklink/general purpose configuration would be best for you.

…my opinion.

I think you get what you pay for, if he chose to work on an RT 100 system he obviously found some advantage in having hardware acceleration on his system. Axio also now has an attractive offer with HD editing capabilities on the SD system.
…also just my opinion.

LS

Larry Sherwood
Sherwood Post Production
Austin, Texas
512 219-8721
larry@sherwoodpost.com

[Tim Kolb]

[Larry Sherwood] “The Axio would give someone who was doing a lot of editing some serious speed advantages, but the file format is proprietary…moving the media files to another computer entails conversion.
Not sure what you mean by this, I use my Axio files in AE all the time and there is no file conversion. AFAIK, using the Matrox codecs to render in AE will have accelerating rendering via the Axio hardware.”

Hi Larry,

I have no doubt that what you say is true, but what I wrote was…”moving files to a different computer.”

I’m sure that AE works with Axio media files on the system, but are they universal? AE work is often collaborative and multiple artists can trade files back and forth, so unless anyone he works with has an Axio, I’m saying that taking the Axio media to another computer without an Axio will most likely require a change of filetype…right?

…also I’d be curious about the AE render help the Axio supplies…is it competitive with high end cards from nVidia for instance? My point was trading the $8K spent on the Axio for bigger processors and a high end graphics card would probably have a bigger impact on his self-noted 90% of his work…which is AE.

I have no Axio to “grind”…(eeeewwwww….sorry…couldn’t resist). I’m just looking at it as an After Effects user and thinking optimization for that use. If he needed serious RT uncompressed editing for 90% of his work, I’d say Axio was a great choice.

TimK,

Kolb Syverson Communications,
Creative Cow Host,
2004-2005 NAB Post Production Conference
Premiere Pro Technical Chair,
Author, “The Easy Guide to Premiere Pro” http://www.focalpress.com
“Premiere Pro Fast Track DVD Series” http://www.classondemand.net

[Eric Steinberg]

Thanks for your inputs! I do agree that for what I do, the Decklink might be a better choice, especially since it would be quite a bit cheaper. I have one question though: One of the features of my RT.X100 that I absolutely love and use a lot, is the ability to do real-time capture or export to mpeg-2 for DVDs. I have many clients who want the finished piece on a DVD.. no menus, no chapters, just a DVD that plays when you pop it in. So in these cases I either do a real-time mpeg-2 capture, or a real-time mpeg export from the Premiere timeline, and use a simple program like DVDit! (instead of Encore) to burn the DVD. It’s the fastest way I have found to make simple DVDs. I’m assuming the Axio would also have this feature. If I had a Decklink card, could I do realtime export to mpeg-2 for DVDs? Maybe there’s a third-party app I would need to use..?

Kind regards,
Eric

[Tim Kolb]

Realtime anything with MPEG2 will be the domain of hardware for a while…the Matrox system would almost certainly do that in real-time (if not quite a bit faster).

PPro does have a direct Export>DVD function from the timeline where you simply do the straight burn with no menu, but it’s not RT, though the faster the system, the faster it would be…

Lately I’ve been using the little consumer software from Ulead, called Movie Factory. I’ve had excellent playability luck wth DVD+Rs. I think you can download it for 35 bucks. Again, not real-time in the respect that you watch it happen on a monitor, but fast enough to get most short jobs done for client proofs very quickly.

TimK,

Kolb Syverson Communications,
Creative Cow Host,
2004-2005 NAB Post Production Conference
Premiere Pro Technical Chair,
Author, “The Easy Guide to Premiere Pro” http://www.focalpress.com
“Premiere Pro Fast Track DVD Series” http://www.classondemand.net