-
SSD and FCP speed.
-
You need new software to really take advantage of the new hardware. FCPX will scream on that machine.
Jason Jenkins
Flowmotion Media
Video production… with style! -
Testing I’ve done with DiskWorrior has show zero benefit in terms of FCP7 performance. It’s a handy tool to recover files but it doesn’t do anything for FCP7??
Depends on the SATA controller, but typically you want to point the scratch disk to some other fast SATA drive, but in your case if you only have one SSD then I’m assuming it’s the faster of your drives so I’d point the scratch disk to your SSD even if it’s your main boot HD.
But test it out for yourself, easy enough to change the path of the scratch files. But I think you’ll find it doesn’t make much difference in terms of rendering in FCP7.
But just so ya know, the 3.4Ghz Intel i7 processors (in the iMac) do video encoding considerably faster than 2.93 Ghz MacPro Xeon processors. Things apple probably don’t want you to know, 4 core i7 iMac will render a lot faster than a 12 core MacPro (in FCP sequence). If you run compressor and setup Qmaster then the 12 core will be faster, but in FCP the i7 processor is considerably faster in almost ALL cases (especially sequence rendering).
What you don’t get with i7 is ECC memory … but with current RAM technology, ECC is becoming less and less of an issue … in fact pretty much just non-existant problem these days with DDR3.
Now toss in two Thunderbolt ports in the iMac and you have a very competent FCP base and lots of room to expand.
My hunch is the MacPro line will die and evolve into an iMacPro … just makes sense IMHO.
Rob
-
Thanks for all the information guys. I appreciate your time.
~Dylan Haley
-
[Rob Ainscough] “Testing I’ve done with DiskWorrior has show zero benefit in terms of FCP7 performance. It’s a handy tool to recover files but it doesn’t do anything for FCP7??”
With all my respect, that is bull shit.
DW do not recover any file and improves everything.
I’m working with it since 2005 and is the only piece of software I carry every where i go with my laptop.
Just run the AJA System test in any HD before and after running DW and you will see if its speed up or not write/read times.
The rest is blah-blah.[Jason Jenkins] “You need new software to really take advantage of the new hardware. FCPX will scream on that machine.”
Yes. And in tree or four years he will be able to edit something with FCPX.
Rafael -
Rafael,
Dial it back, no need for that language.
Maybe you are thinking of a different product, but this is the product I’ve used called “DiskWarrior” by Alsoft … Link Here As you can see, it’s primary purpose is to repair disk problems.
Perhaps if you could provide some real world tests of FCP7 sequence render times before and after you used “DW” and not some generic information that “it’s faster”. Note: we’re talking about FCP7 sequence render times, not Export times, not Compressor times.
Rob
-
You should always keep media files on dedicated media drives. The faster the better, and keep all apps on that startup disk. In FCP 7, the project files should also be kept on the startup disk.
Jerry
Apple Certified Trainer, Producer, Writer, Director Editor, Gun for Hire and other things. I ski. My Blog: https://blogs.creativecow.net/Jerry-Hofmann
Current DVD:
https://store.creativecow.net/p/81/jerry_hofmanns_final_cut_system_setup8-Core 3.0 Intel Mac Pro, Dual 2 gig G5, AJA Kona SD, AJA Kona 2, Huge Systems Array UL3D, AJA Io HD, 17″ MBP, Matrox MXO2 with MAX – Cinema Displays I have a 22″ that I paid 4k for still working. G4 with Kona SD card, and SCSI card.
-
[Rob Ainscough] “Dial it back, no need for that language.”
Sorry. I have no formal education in English s some time I may use unapropriated expressions.[Rob Ainscough] ”
Maybe you are thinking of a different product, but this is the product I’ve used called “DiskWarrior” by Alsoft … Link Here As you can see, it’s primary purpose is to repair disk problems.”
Right, and the most usual disk problem are messed directories and wrong “File finders Info”.
Basically fix bad files organization and small corruptions that avoid fast files retrieving which normally leads to slowing things down, but sometimes the applications can’t fallow the proper path to files.
The website also says “recover files”. Yes, can do that when the files have disappeared due to one of the problems mentioned before. Is not the kind of application able to recover deleted files or when the media fails (like DataRescue, File Salvage, etc).[Rob Ainscough] “Perhaps if you could provide some real world tests of FCP7 sequence render times before and after you used “DW” and not some generic information that “it’s faster”. Note: we’re talking about FCP7 sequence render times, not Export times, not Compressor times.”
There is nothing to test when the system is working well. When FC is performing OK you won’t see no difference in render time.
You use DW when applications start to make glitches or slow in normal processes, when FC sequences takes longer to open than they should, when your computer takes time to close down, etc.
Or better than to wait things like that to happen, you run DW on all your HDs to prevent those things to happen.Rob, I live 500 miles away (and an international border to cross) from the nearest Apple service so is to me to keep my system in good shape, and I get it thanks to DW.
I bough a G5 in 2005 and I had a Kernell Panic every 5 minutes. I sent the computer to Singapore and back home (400$$ shipping) kept crashing. Somebody told me of DW and since then I haven’t had no problems any more with any of the 4 Macs I have at home.
I’ll keep saying that is the best investment in software I’ve ever done. 89 bucks paid 6 years ago (all the updates free till the last version) and a tone of peace of mind in exchange.
Diskwarrior or TechTools, that works the same.And sorry again for my language.
rafael -
Rafael,
I don’t disagree it can help fix problems on a Mac … it has helped out your G5 and I’m not saying DW is a bad product.
What I am saying and have tested with and without DW use, is that DW will NOT speed up FCP7 sequence renders — the ONLY thing that seems to improve FCP7 sequence renders is a faster CPU (just one CPU since that’s all FCP7 will use during a sequence render).
FCPX is a different product, it’s listed as being able to use all available CPUs and even GPUs to help render sequences faster. Jerry said FCPX is 2X faster renders than FCP7 — this has me puzzled for Jerry’s 8 core setup … I would have expected 6-7X faster, not 2X.
But either way, DW will not speed up FCP7 sequence renders.
Cheers, Rob.
-
[Rob Ainscough] “What I am saying and have tested with and without DW use, is that DW will NOT speed up FCP7 sequence renders — the ONLY thing that seems to improve FCP7 sequence renders is a faster CPU (just one CPU since that’s all FCP7 will use during a sequence render).”
That’s clear.
DW neither other application can add power to a system
rafael -
Dylan, always use an external drive for media. Problem then is, if your external drive is optical, you won’t see the performance boost that SSD provides. Your still then rendering to optical drives and relying on disk speed.
With Mac Pro’s and MBP (17″ model only via Express 34 slot), you can use eSata cards and connect external drives via eSata. This is, theoretically, as fast as your system drives internal connection (as far as optical drives are concerned) and can handle full 1080p HD ProRes files. Thunderbolt is even faster still, but more expensive. FW 800 will most likely be gone soon but adapters are available for Thunderbolt ports for legacy drives with FW and/or eSata.
Your iMac should be screaming fast for what your doing. I’ve seen people using Mac Book Airs to edit full HD and even 2k material. Now with help from a Red Rocket card, but still, a MB Air. That’s insane. So I would take Rafael’s advice and run Disk Warrior. Use FCP’s Render Manager to remove old files, trash preferences and any other clean you can do to help. Also, with your external drive, stick to the 80-20 rule. Once your drive reaches 80% full, it will begin to slow down. Back things up and delete old jobs.
Hope this helps and sorry for the rambling. I this is 4 months old, but how did you make out with the iMac performance?
OS 10.6.7, Mac Pro 2 x 3 ghz quad-core intel xenon, 4 gb ram and AJA IoHD
Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up