turnkey or assemble system-benefits of each?

[Graeme Nattress]

I think you can use a basic powermac G5, second internal drive for media, and a DV deck for use of getting your tapes in, and viewing your DV on your external monitor. I don’t think you need a mixer, just a nice pair of powered monitors to connect to your deck’s audio out. Again, unless you’re going out to broadcast, a hardware waveform is not really needed.

Hope that helps,

Graeme

– http://www.nattress.com – Film Effects and Standards Conversion for FCP

[Rob Katz]

graeme-

thanks for your thoughts.

dual 2? 2.3? 2.5?

pci-x?

4 ram slots vs 8 rams slots?

just how much ram is “enough”? (too fast, too thin, too rich, too much ram…i know…but real world experience? 3gig? 4gig?

how large an internal 250gig sata? 500gig sata? (do these drives need to be partitioned?

as to decks, i’ve just sold my dvx100a and will be hopefully impressed w/the hvx200 to purchase. (at this point, i’m looking at the camera as a sd acquisition tool with the potential to grow into hd). i’m using a cheap pannie consumer camcorder as my “deck”.

since i’m still learning fcp, (i’m going to the weekly fcp class at the local/nyc apple store. will hopefully be enrolling in a course once i have a system set-up), is fcp a 2 monitor system (ala avid)? if so, i was going to use an older 20″ toshiba crt monitor or a 17″ viewsonic crt that was used a few years back w/my then current mac system. do u think dvi is critical for my production needs? if fcp does utilize 2 monitors any thoughts as to a small-ish studio monitor which can double as a portable production monitor?

thank u in advance for any additional thoughts.

u good folks who share on the creative cow/calf forums are a wonderful community.

a big shout out to u all!

be well

rob katz
harvest film company

[Todd Gillespie]

Hi Rob,
[rob katz] “dual 2? 2.3? 2.5?”
As you know with computers, the faster the better-since it will be out dated in 6 months. There’s a 2.7 that’s a quad processor. That’s the one that only has PCI express slots. AJA and Blackmagic both make a PCI card for FCP, so as far as PCI-it doesn’t matter, it’s only the processor speed that is a factor.

[rob katz] “how large an internal 250gig sata? 500gig sata? (do these drives need to be partitioned?”
DO NOT PARTITION! DO not pass go, do not collect $200. THat’s old school. If you get a couple internal drives, then you’d get a SATA card that would create a single ‘hardware’ partiion.
How much? How much to you edit? how long to you keep project on your drives? Etc. It all depend, 500gigs could be OK, or you could be out of space in a week. I difinatly wouldn’t get less than 500gigs.

[rob katz] “do u think dvi is critical for my production needs?”
no

[rob katz] “if fcp does utilize 2 monitors any thoughts as to a small-ish studio monitor which can double as a portable production monitor?”
I’m a little confused by this…yes FCP works best with 2 or more monitors. A production or NTSC monitor is different than a computer monitor. If you want to get a monitor that can double as a field monitor then more power to you. Most companies have phased out NTSC CRT ‘field’ monitors. Everyone seems to be moving to LCD monitors for field work. But you can probably pick up a good deal on a used Sony or Panisonic or Ikegami CRT field monitor. YOu probably don’t want it over 13″ or it will be to big to go out with you. BUt the NTSC monitor is critial!! Otherwise you will have no idea how things will look when played by on a normal TV set.

Good Luck,

Todd at UCSB
Television Production

[Rob Katz]

todd-

thanks for kicking in some of your experience

as for the monitors, i’ve not felt comfortable in the field w/a lcd monitor that represents the image as well as a crt. perhaps i haven’t seen the hi-end 16×9 monitors but for the moment, i’ll go crt.

how small can this field monitor be useable as my fcp ntsc monitor? is a 9″ sony/jvc/ikegami too small for real world fcp application?

am i being penny foolish-pound wise by thinking of having this ntsc monitor double as a portable field monitor?

if dvi is not necessary for my modest needs, any recommendation as to decent crt ntsc monitors? are the studio lcd monitors color accurate? more affordable?

right know i’m thinking a 2.0 or 2.3 dualie would be fine. do i need a sata card w/ the internal hard drive that comes w/the dual and a 2nd 500gig internal drive which would hold the media? my thoughts are that this mac would be totally dedicated to fcp.

lastly, any opinions as to how much ram?

which computer? check.
configuration of dualie? still learning.
ram?
which monitors? still in question.

it may not seem so, but i’m getting closer.

thanks to all who care to share

be well

rob katz
harvest film company

[Enzo Tedeschi]

[rob katz] “is a 9″ sony/jvc/ikegami too small for real world fcp application?”

Personally, I would say yes. Cutting with a 9″ monitor would drive me batty. I find it difficult with anything less than a 14″. Besides, if you ever need to screen anything for someone like a client, do you really want them squinting at the details on a 9″ monitor? It also becomes difficult to check things like supers (whether you’re having edging issues etc…)

[rob katz] “if dvi is not necessary for my modest needs, any recommendation as to decent crt ntsc monitors? are the studio lcd monitors color accurate? more affordable?”

I’m confused as to wether you are talking monitors for your Mac or for your DV video signal here…

[rob katz] “do i need a sata card w/ the internal hard drive that comes w/the dual and a 2nd 500gig internal drive which would hold the media?”

You only need an additional card if you want to start raiding multiple drives. You can only fit the system drive and an additional in the G5 as is, if you want to start raiding, you’ll need to go external anyway. RAID’s a bit of overkill if you’re just working in DV, but a must if you start thinking of uncompressed SD or HD.

[rob katz] “lastly, any opinions as to how much ram?”

The only answer to this question is how much can you afford? The more the merrier when it comes to RAM, especially if you start doing stuff in say, Motion. I would recommend at least 2 Gb at a bare minimum.

e.

[Gunleik Groven]

Just a quick clarification.

The 2.7 Ghz machine is PCIX, but has 2 processors. It is now end-of-lifed, but I guess some Apple resellers still have them in stock.

the new 2.5 has 2 dualcore processors.

What seems to be an option is to ose Decklinks HD-Link with a cinema or maybe prefferrebly Dell 24 display for monitoring.

I haven’t tested, but I am planning to go this route withthe multibridge studio box.

The studiodisplay connected directly to the Mac is just another computer monitor. A nice one, though.

RAM

As much as you can afford, but buy big sticks whatever configuration, so you do not have to throw away the old ones when you’re upgrading.

Do not mix ecc and non-ecc RAM

Gunleik

[Todd Gillespie]

hi rob,
I echo Enzo’s post. 9″ would be a little small for editing and 13-14″ would be a little big for field production. LOL
Don’t ya love it!
But seriously, it’s true. If you don’t mind carrying a 13-14″ out in the field, more power to you.
I’ve found Sony’s NTSC monitors to be the best for new pricing. I have a 13″ Sony L2(i think) that I got for under a $1000. Used, it’s anyones bet.

It’s looks like your trying to keep the price down, but I would seriously consider getting the fastest Mac you can buy!! Apple writes each new FCP version and updates to take advantage of the speed of the processors to perform more in realtime, on top of other speed inprovements. I’d get a used NTSC monitor (instead of new) and put more for the G5! The same goes for RAM memory, with running LiveType , Motion, soundtrack, etc. 2 gigs are the minuim.

If you’re only getting one internal, then you don’t need a card. There’s a company that sells a kit that shoves 4(?) internal drive into the G5!!
If you need more drive space I prefer G-Tech’s external drives anyway.

[rob katz] “if dvi is not necessary for my modest needs, any recommendation as to decent crt ntsc monitors? are the studio lcd monitors color accurate? more affordable?”
No, good LCDs are going to cost you more. Don’t stress CRT’s, since you’re not going to spend a lot of money for the monitors, then the monitors will all perform about the same.

Good Luck,

Todd at UCSB
Television Production