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The new IMAC + external HD + capturing video
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The one and only G-Tech drive we purchased for a documentary died. G-Tech did replace the drive after losing it in their shipping department. Took a few weeks to get the replacement.
Have had good luck with the Iomega drives. The Iomega UltraMax Hard Drive, eSATA/FireWire 800/FireWire 400/USB 2.0, 1TB – 34166 is available at Amazon for $147.70. Have ten at the station and have yet to experience a failure. Even dropped one on location and it’s still working to this day.
Shawn Bockoven
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Hi,
A major education reading this thread!
I’m an older student at The Academy of Art University, studying film.
I’m looking at the new IMAC for editing; some of the work will be contract and some will be personal.
Would the new IMAC be a good choice?
Thanks,
Steven Adams
“Great spirits have always been hindered by mediocre minds” – Albert Einstein
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I see the new iMac has a 1 TB hard drive and an optional second internal hard drive for another 1 TB. So why not opt for the second internal drive and capture to that? I don’t see a 1 TB drive filling up that quickly if you use it exclusively for editing video. Finished projects can be copied to your FW 800 drives.
I’m thinking about selling my G5 Quad + 23′ Cinema Display (trade-in value 850 euro’s) and exchanging that for the 27′ Imac i7 quad core, 8 GB and two 1 TB drives. I shoot SD and HD; deliver SD and h.264 so connectivity is not too big an issue. The iMac i7 will be a huge powerleap forward compared to my current system, for only around 1200,- after trade in.
Only worries is not having a RAID system that protects me from a drive failure. I now edit with a LaCie RAID connected thru eSATA, setup as RAID 5 that gives me peace of mind I will never lose a project because of a faulty drive. I don’t know if I can organize such security with two internal drives. My LaCie RAID tower does have FW 800 ports so I can backup at the end of the day, but during editing..? Can I configure it to backup my FCP project every 5 minutes?
I also currently have a Matrox MXO I bought a few years ago for monitoring and color correcting HDV on a Dell 2407. Meanwhile I have purchased an EX1 and want to monitor XDCAM EX material as well, but for that I need an Intel machine. I’ll have to look into connecting the MXO thru the MiniDisplay port to DVI-cable..? I’m very curious to see EX material on that 27′ LED screen. -
[Alexander Wolf] “I see the new iMac has a 1 TB hard drive and an optional second internal hard drive for another 1 TB”
NOPE there is only ONE internal hard drive. You cannot have a second internal drive in an iMac.
There are no “technical solutions” to your “artistic problems”.
Don’t let technology get in the way of your creativity! -
Damn, you’re right! I misread the option to install a 2 TB drive as an option to install a second 1 TB drive… that changes everything…
Can you install the OS and FCS on a USB drive? -
I believe you need a FW port to boot up FC on an external drive .
Moto Guzzi rider
dog lover w/wife, Ex & 3 kids -
[Brad Kopp] “I believe you need a FW port to boot up FC on an external drive “
That was true on old PPC Macs but Intel Macs can boot from a USB drive also.
Ether way though booting from a USB or FireWire hard drive isn’t really going to solve the bigger issue it just shifts it around.
USB works in bursts of data so I would not to be running an OS off of it for extended periods of time. All instances I have ever seen of booting off a USB drive is for troubleshooting only. You will probably get poor overall system performance if you booted from USB all the time as USB works with bursts of data.
While running an OS from a FireWire drive would not have the same long term problems as USB would it still would not solve the overall problem of bogging down the firewire bus when capturing from a FireWire camera/deck.
In my opinion the only reasonable workflow with the iMac would be a tapeless workflow.
There are no “technical solutions” to your “artistic problems”.
Don’t let technology get in the way of your creativity! -
‘In my opinion the only reasonable workflow with the iMac would be a tapeless workflow.’
Do you also think it is the best value for the money if you shoot and edit XDCAM EX and deliver almost exclusively SD and h.264?
And is a RAID 5 system connected thru FW 800 fast enough for EX material?
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[Alexander Wolf] “Do you also think it is the best value for the money if you shoot and edit XDCAM EX and deliver almost exclusively SD and h.264? “
The MacPro is definitely a better value as it opens up so many more options. for any editing workflow. Video IN/OUT cards like the AJA or Black magic that let you properly monitor and color grade footage. Not to mention the advanced storage options that can be used with a MacPro.
[Alexander Wolf] “And is a RAID 5 system connected thru FW 800 fast enough for EX material?”
Your going to loose the speed advantages of a that type of raid when you go and connect it via FW800. It’s kinda like a 5 lane highway vs a 2 lane road.
There are no “technical solutions” to your “artistic problems”.
Don’t let technology get in the way of your creativity! -
[Alexander Wolf] “Do you also think it is the best value for the money if you shoot and edit XDCAM EX and deliver almost exclusively SD and h.264? ”
The MacPro is definitely a better value as it opens up so many more options. for any editing workflow. Video IN/OUT cards like the AJA or Black magic that let you properly monitor and color grade footage. Not to mention the advanced storage options that can be used with a MacPro.
I have a Matrox MXO that I can presumably hook up via minidisplay-port to DVI adapter.
[Alexander Wolf] “And is a RAID 5 system connected thru FW 800 fast enough for EX material?”
Your going to loose the speed advantages of a that type of raid when you go and connect it via FW800. It’s kinda like a 5 lane highway vs a 2 lane road.
Working with ProRes, FW800 is fine, I understand. I’ll keep the security of RAID 5. In what sense will the speed loss manifest itself?
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