Video Edit System Components for MAC Pro

[Matt Townley]

Don’t overlook the boring but practical stuff…..where is it all going to go? Do you need a rack with shelves? Are you cables long enough to get where they need to go? How is it all being powered? Plan to include a good UPS in your budget to keep it all running smoothly. And the only other thing I didn’t see in your list was any kind of measurement tool. I added a BMD SmartScope Duo 4K into my setup last year and can’t imagine not having it now. I keep it directly below my monitors so as I’m cutting or color correcting I can see real waveforms and vectorscopes without having to take up screen real estate or wait for the lag of software. It has made my speed of color correcting increase substantially.

[David Bispham]

All good suggestions, thank-you.
The new equipment will replace the existing set-up.
I have a rack & UPS.
I think I will add the BMD SmartScope, good idea.
Hopefully Adobe SpeedGrade will send the signal to the scope without issue.
Cable length is a big factor.
Do I spend the money for a long ThunderBolt cable and move the Promise Raid to a rack shelf(in another room) or is this Raid quiet enough to be in my edit room near the MACpro? Guess I should ask Promise.
Thanks again for your input Matt.

[Matt Townley]

I have the input to my Duo Scope fed from the switched output of my Panasonic production monitor via HD-SDI. This way whatever I’m monitoring I can also see scopes for. I don’t use SpeedGrade right now (still using Colorista directly in Premiere) but so long as Speed Grade plays with the Ultra Studio you should have no problem using the scopes with it. It just takes an HD-SDI signal. It can also display straight video signal and overlay audio meters, etc. When I am working on a project that has to be laid off to tape (yep, still get those) I turn off the vector and just keep the waveform and make one side the return of the deck for confidence. Very handy little display/scope unit.

[David Bispham]

Yes, the BM SmartScope looks like a nice addition and I will check with BM to be sure it works with my proposed setup. Thanks again for your input.

I got info from Promise tech support concerning the noise level of their Pegasus2 R8. Here it is –

The Pegasus2 is very quiet.

Pegasus2 R4, Pegasus2 R6 and Pegasus2 R8 share the same noise level characteristics.

Test Conditions:
Bandwidth: 100Hz~20KHz
Environmental correction K2A=-0.1dB
Measurement duration: 30 seconds
The acoustic noise test condition refers to ISO 7779(SPL)

Results:
Idle mode: Less than 27 dB
Operation mode: Less than 32 dB

[Jason Jenkins]

[David Bispham] ” got info from Promise tech support concerning the noise level of their Pegasus2 R8. Here it is –
The Pegasus2 is very quiet.
Pegasus2 R4, Pegasus2 R6 and Pegasus2 R8 share the same noise level characteristics.”

Mmmm. Unless they’ve dramatically changed something, I don’t believe it. My Pegasus1 R6 was supposed to be ‘very quiet’ too. It is way louder than my old Mac Pro tower was. If I were you I would definitely get the long TB cable and put it at a distance.

Jason Jenkins
Flowmotion Media
Video production… with style!

Check out my Mormon.org profile.

[David Bispham]

Good idea Jason. I think I will get a 3 meter TB cable. That will put the raid on the other side of a wall. Seems like I can only find the 1,2,& 3 meter lengths. Then they jump up to 10 meters but cost over $300.00.