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Setting up an online suite. Thoughts?
Hi everyone.
Long time reader, first post.
I’ve been working in the business for quite some time now and after working for others for 10 years, I set up my own shop last spring. Given the economic climate, I was labelled nuts! But thankfully, I’ve been really busy, shooting and editing TV series as well as doing post-production for TV spots. I work alot with the Final Cut suite, and I’m a pretty slick After Effects guy.
Feel free to check out my site, I’ve got a couple of examples there (https://www.trickshot.is/synishorn/showcase.html).
So now I want to upgrade my facilities. Gone are the days of blowing cash on high-end (or overpriced) solutions. Last time around, we had a setup using Apple Xserve RAIDs, Kona LHe hooked up to a Panasonic monitor as standard.
This time around I’m looking to go for good buys. Here’s my idea of how I could set up my suite and I’d love some feedback.
My Mac Pro currently has a couple of 23″ Cinema Displays. I’m pretty much fine with them, but I’d like to add an HP DreamColor as a grade monitor. To get the best signal, I’m looking at the Kona LHe and using either the Gefen or AJA HD-SDI to HDMI converter. I understand that for the extra bucks, the Gefen converter will do interlaced material, and I still work on occasional standard def stuff (and generally finish alot of HD projects in SD as well for broadcast) so I think that’s the way to go.
I’m pretty sweet on the Euphonix controllers. I’ve fiddled with the MC Control before, and I’d love to have one of those as well as the MC Color. I’ve tried the Tangent and think they’re pretty good, but if the Color is as good as the Control, I think it’s gonna be pretty sweet.
For audio monitoring I’m currently using an M-Audio set which was originally supposed to be temporary, but I was pleasantly surprised by them, and don’t really have any plans to swap, unless it’s really worth it.
Finally, I’ve been looking at lighting and desks. I’ve found some “daylight lamps” which I’ve used before and I think I’ll have a few of those around. Sadly, there is no way to find decent desks. I’ve found some nice designs and I’m thinking of making them from MDF myself. I’d love advice on the desk layouts, too.
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3 Replies
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I’d also love to hear good ideas on what media drives to use. I work with all formats, from SD to uncompressed HD and RED, so I’d love some pointers.
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My thoughts right now are:
Could I use a Kona LHi instead of the LHe with the HDP2 converter over to the Dreamcolor display (Or should I look at something else altogether? I’ve used the AJA before and I’ve always been happy with it.
What drives should I be looking at?
Some might point to other monitors than the HP, but the fact is that it’s by far the best buy I can get (especially considering shipping to Iceland), and another facility here has been using it and getting very positive feedback. Using items the clients already like is always a plus.
Thanks again and I look forward to hearing from you guys…
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[Bjarki Gudjonsson] “I’d also love to hear good ideas on what media drives to use. I work with all formats, from SD to uncompressed HD and RED, so I’d love some pointers.”
Don’t skimp on storage. Get yourself a big, fast RAID-5 array from a reputable company that specializes in video storage such as:
CalDigit (HDPro, HDOne)
Dulce Systems (Pro DQ, Pro RX)
Maxx Digital (Evo 2K Expando, Evo 4K Expando)
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