Thinking of Moving on from AVID

[Luke Maslen]

Hi,

Yes, you planned system sounds great with one possible exception. There are several different models of the G5 Dual 1.8 and you need one with PCI-X slots as the ones that only have PCI are not currently compatible with DeckLink cards. This problem has existed for over a year now and so I am not sure if Apple are going to be able to address the speed of the PCI slots. However any of the models with PCI-X are fine and you can find more details about the G5/1.8 in the technical note No video output from PowerMac G5 (PCI). I’ll let others speak to the quality but you will be happy 🙂

Regards,

Luke Maslen
Blackmagic Design

[Paul Provost]

yeah, I would echo Luke’s reservations on the 1.8ghz G5. I’d get the the new dual 2.3ghz with pci x or a used dual 2.0ghz. faster render times always help too.
The picture quality on the decklink SD cards is stellar, none better IMHO and it is a very mature product by now.
what you might find more than a bit disconcerting is the offline/online workflow in FCP compared to Avid. There are major problems in what Apple calls “media manager” / uprezzing, etc – (search the posts here and in the FCP forum)
This is FinalCut’s weak link in what otherwise is a very powerful, cost effective, and versatile product.
However these problems are generally confined to reconforming more complex edits with speed changes, flopped shots, reversed shots etc.
Just one of the drawbacks of trying to create one product that will not only satisfy a hobby-type user, but also someone editing an HD feature for studio release…

[Roddy Jamieson]

Many thanks for your replies. My G5 is PCI-X so no problem there. I tend not to offline often. I will probably eventually change and increase my storage to Medea or similar when I can afford it.

[Adrian Tecson]

You might also consider getting a PC based decklink system, especially if you incorporate a lot of 3D animation in your projects. Both platforms have their own advantages and disadvantages. I like the PC platform cause of the real time TGA seq feature and the ability to digitize and play DV quality based clips along with uncompressed footage(I think FCP also has this feature). The real time effects are also great witht he new drivers. This makes doing an offline and reconforming an online easy. Also, PrePro 1.5 is great compared to Premiere 6.5. Many new features like EDL import/export, AAF export, multiple timelines/sequences, plus great interoperability with AFX 6.5(the cut and paste of clips between the timelines of both applications is a GREAT timesaver).

[Adrian Tecson]

I forgot to add that a JBOD of SATA drives(even just a 2-way stripe) works well for SD in my dual XEON setup. This makes adding storage extremely cheap and flexible.

[Roddy Jamieson]

Adrian

Sorry I can’t abide PCs. Been a MAC man for nearly 20 years and an AVID user for 10. One of my reasons for changing to FCP is to speed up workflow with DVDSP and Motion / After effects. At present my Avid is on a seperate G4 and exporting over network is slow for encoding etc. AVID are annoying and expensive at the moment, they also don’t have the same features for MAC at this time.

Thanks for the advice anyway.

Roddy Jamieson

[Olivier Jean]

HI,

you’ll love FCP 5/Decklink Combo,
you’ll love it, for your Ul4d card
stick to Atto.

Regards
Olivier Jean
Powermedia Systems
Sydney Australia

[Rupert Watson]

I would counsel sticking to Panther/FCP 4.5/QT 6.5.2 for the moment if you can. There are a few issues with the performance and colour fidelity in Tiger/FCP 5.02/QT 7.01 that need addressing before you’d want to be a Pro operating on that platform. YMMV

[Luke Maslen]

Hi,

Given you have PCI-X in your G5, it will be fine. You can capture to a range of compressed formats including DV, DV50 and PhotoJPEG for offline work in addition to uncompressed 8 and 10-bit formats. One of the quickest ways of transcoding your Avid files would be to play them out of your Avid system and capture them with the DeckLink Extreme. If your Avid system is also SDI, then the quality should be perfect as it will be a digital to digital connection without the introduction of any analog noise.

Regards,

Luke Maslen
Blackmagic Design

[Luke Maslen]

Hi Paul,

Thanks for your great information and also your comments regarding the picture quality of DeckLink SD cards. It’s always great to hear when people are happy with the quality 🙂

Regards,

Luke Maslen
Blackmagic Design