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upgarding to HD. Help with options
Hi guys,
Have been asked by a client to research upgrading their current FCP system to handle High Def video. Here’s what they have:
Mac Quad G5 with standard NVIDIA Graphics card (I think it was acquired a year ago)
AJA IO
Final Cut Studio 5.1
Macgurus Hot Swappable burly rack SATA storage racks connected va PCI-X host cardThe plan is to maintain as much of what they have while upgrading to allow the ability to fully handle HDV and especially DVCPRO HD (50 & 100). I don’t think they will explore HDCam.
My thinking is they add an AJA Kona LS card with matching breakout box and increase the Hard drive space and maybe add a bit more computer Ram. Is my thinking at least close or even dead on? Should I recommend an upgrade of the internal graphics card as well?
Questions of concern?
what about the SATA Hard drives? Will data transfer be fast enough for DVCPRO HD 4:2:2 or will I have to upgrade to SCSI connection or even (gasp) recommend an Xserve?The Quad G5 does not have Intel chips I believe. Do they need to be?
Does the breakoutbox do anymore than provide convenience in plugging in decks and control?
Any advice on this would be great. Thanks again!!
Rick
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4 Replies
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You won’t need the Io – but you could use it as a SD converter box (SDI to composite, s-video, etc…)
The Kona card will work just fine. Plus it also does SD.
You could use FW drives for DVCPRO-HD or HDV. The throughput isn’t very high. Only when you get into uncompressed HD do you need mad speed.
Go with at least 2.5 gigs of RAM, but 4 would be great (FCP maxes at 2.5, and that’ll give you extra RAM for swapping applications).
The Nvidia card is totally fine.
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[Rick Neely] “what about the SATA Hard drives? Will data transfer be fast enough for DVCPRO HD 4:2:2 or will I have to upgrade to SCSI connection or even (gasp) recommend an Xserve?”
Your SATA drive array has all the throughput you need if the drives are striped.
DRW
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[Rick Neely] “Questions of concern?
what about the SATA Hard drives? Will data transfer be fast enough for DVCPRO HD 4:2:2 or will I have to upgrade to SCSI connection or even (gasp) recommend an Xserve?”You can cut DVCPro HD with FW800 drives.
[Rick Neely] “My thinking is they add an AJA Kona LS card with matching breakout box and increase the Hard drive space and maybe add a bit more computer Ram. Is my thinking at least close or even dead on? Should I recommend an upgrade of the internal graphics card as well?”
Kona LS is standard def only, you want a Kona LH or Kona 2 for your machine.
[Rick Neely] “The Quad G5 does not have Intel chips I believe. Do they need to be?”
Nope, but know that the Kona 2 and LH will NOT transfer into an Intel box in the future. Different architecture.
[Rick Neely] “Does the breakoutbox do anymore than provide convenience in plugging in decks and control?”
For $300 the breakout box is MUCH better than the long snake of cables you get with the card. Get the BOB.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
https://www.biscardicreative.com
HD Editorial & Animation for Food Network’s “Good Eats”
HD Editorial for “Assignment Earth”“I reject your reality and substitute my own!” – Adam Savage, Mythbusters
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I’m seconding Walter on the break out box. It will handle wear and tear better, deals with longer cable runs, and presents a more professional appearance. Everytime you don’t have to crawl under a desk with a flash light to make a cable swap, you will feel good about the purchase.
Tom
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