[Adam Taylor]

well i’m just hoping that after the launch and all the hype has died down, my current copy of FCP running on my 2year old MacPro, and my 4month old MBP will continue to run.

I’m pretty sure that Steve hasn’t had some malicious code installed in my kit that will cause a cataclysmic meltdown on wednesday morning

Just because Apple have an update, doesn’t automatically mean that everything i currently do will become obsolete and unworkable overnight.

My job will remain the same for the foreseeable, and until i can see if there is a value to me upgrading, then i’m happy to continue as as i am.

If FCP was as bad as many complain, then why the heck are they still using it?

I wonder how many of those panicking about the upgrade also rushed out on release day to buy an iPhone, then a newer iPhone, then an iPod Touch then an iPad?

Just because its new and from Apple doesn’t mean you have to have it now, and when you do get it, does it really change your life, or just let you check your twit account that little bit faster?

get a grip, people. sheesh!

Adam Taylor
Video Editor/Audio Mixer/ Compositor/Motion GFX/Barista
Character Options Ltd
Oldham, UK

http://www.sculptedbliss.co.uk

[Adam Taylor]

The chair is your most important consideration…i love my Hermann Miller Mirra (I had an Aeron before but this is so much more comfortable).

Desk – have one made to measure, it will work out cheaper than buying off the peg, and you can have it custom made to your own preferences.

My desk is around 8’x4′ with a standalone rack on top. Its 3u high, with 3 bays and gently curves around to point at the operator. I can stack some of the kit i need on the desk within the rack, and my monitors all sit on top. Putting them at the ideal height for me. I find the “approved” positioning for monitors to be wrong for me. I prefer to look straight ahead as this gives me less neck ache.
https://www.finalcutters.com/content/highly-productive-rig

Decide what kit you need to have within reach then work out how much space you need for your desktop. Try 1:1 scale paper cutouts if it helps visualise things.

Don’t put your desk up against the wall – 2 reasons…

its easier to get behind to add kit/swap cables etc.
You need to be able to look past your screens to help avoid eye strain & fatigue.

Lighting is important – although i would recommend you avoid those awful BBC downlighters. If you are sat in the wrong position, you will find an uncomfortable glare causing your irises to shut down, making the room appear darker and your screens harder to see, all without any obvious reason.

You may find you need to start wearing a baseball cap whilst editing – i did!

Put all your noisy equipment in a separate air-conditioned room. And ensure the builders install decent cable ducting with plenty of room for expansion. It amazing how much space is needed for wires.

Try get a room with some space. Its good for the acoustics and its also good for your sense of claustrophobia.

Working in an ad agency i would imagine you have lots of clients in the room. So make it comfortable for them. If you dont want them breathing down your neck, have a client monitor installed near the comfy sofa and maybe even a wireless web router they can access the internet from.

Keep it clean and professional looking, but not too opulent. You dont want the clients thinking all their money is being spent on keeping you in luxury.

Have fun – but think through every possible angle before you start building.

adam

Adam Taylor
Video Editor/Audio Mixer/ Compositor/Motion GFX/Barista
Character Options Ltd
Oldham, UK

http://www.sculptedbliss.co.uk

[Adam Taylor]

i’m with Spike Milligan on golf – “A good walk spoiled!”

adam

Adam Taylor
Video Editor/Audio Mixer/ Compositor/Motion GFX/Barista
Character Options Ltd
Oldham, UK

http://www.sculptedbliss.co.uk

[Adam Taylor]

I’m not a fan of the iMac, as they always seem limited in terms of expansion.
I prefer to use a full MacPro, with various video, graphic and fibre channel cards.

if thats overkill for your needs, you could always consider a more portable option.

A 17″ MacbookPro, with Matrox MX02LE, connected via Expresscard34, and a raid harddrive connected via FW800 is a very nifty and flexible setup. I use mine when shooting abroad on location.

Don’t forget the newer laptops will also have Thunderbolt, so even faster connections will be possible once the hardware becomes available.

The new lappies also have 4 cores, so are very fast. However, if you want pure processing speed (a good thing for the tasks you mentioned) then there really is no better option than a tricked-out MacPro with its 12 cores and masses of space for ram.

You have probably got more options now than ever before…you just need to decide exactly how you want to use the system, and what you need to get out of it.

Don’t start with a solution and try fit it to the tasks. Define the tasks first and then seek the most appropriate solution.

good luck
adam

Adam Taylor
Video Editor/Audio Mixer/ Compositor/Motion GFX/Barista
Character Options Ltd
Oldham, UK

http://www.sculptedbliss.co.uk

[Adam Taylor]

am i reading your post correctly? ….you have ONE drive which you have partitioned and then you are trying to Raid the two partitions together?

As far as I am aware that should not work.

The point of a raid is that it uses multiple drive read/write heads and discs to increase the speed at which data is written.
Raiding partitions on a single drive will have the opposite effect because the one read/write head will be trying to simultaneously write to two different partitions.

My apologies if i have misunderstood your post.
I’m with Jeremy – leave the journalling on.

adam

Adam Taylor
Video Editor/Audio Mixer/ Compositor/Motion GFX/Barista
Character Options Ltd
Oldham, UK

http://www.sculptedbliss.co.uk

[Adam Taylor]

i often tried to sync some action or motion within the shot to a specific element of the music, such as a rain drop falling on the beat, but the cut happening at some other point.
Almost the opposite to what you mention about cutting on the beat – i was cutting off beat so the visual focus happened on beat.

adam

Adam Taylor
Video Editor/Audio Mixer/ Compositor/Motion GFX/Barista
Character Options Ltd
Oldham, UK

http://www.sculptedbliss.co.uk

[Adam Taylor]

i see no petals falling – only shadows produced by palm fronds on the studio backdrop.

You could easily recreate falling petals or palm fronds or iced buns using Trapcode Particular in After Effects (assuming you wanted to create an animated version with petals falling).

regards
Adam

Adam Taylor
Video Editor/Audio Mixer/ Compositor/Motion GFX/Barista
Character Options Ltd
Oldham, UK

http://www.sculptedbliss.co.uk

[Adam Taylor]

interesting listening, thanks Glenn.

Still – i’m not going to be the first to jump in to the new technology. The old still works and i’d rather let the impatient ones iron out any potential bugs before i feel the need to leap.

Also – how much work will be done with the new kit should play a part in deciding when to buy – if you don’t see the immediate benefits of an emerging technology and feel its a year or two away before it becomes a vital part of your system, would you be better waiting? Spending the money on something thats a little cheaper but that will ultimately keep earning you money and upgrading once the technology has been perfected?

Or are the other little improvements enough to tempt you?

I’ll be honest – It would be nice to have the quad chipped laptop (Thunderpants has still not inflamed my curiosity even after listen to the Terence&Philip show), but then when i got this one four months ago it was because my previous one could no longer run the software i needed. And it runs it really well, so i’m still very happy.

adam

Adam Taylor
Video Editor/Audio Mixer/ Compositor/Motion GFX/Barista
Character Options Ltd
Oldham, UK

http://www.sculptedbliss.co.uk

[Adam Taylor]

“…still life video” – isn’t that a photograph?

Adam Taylor
Video Editor/Audio Mixer/ Compositor/Motion GFX/Barista
Character Options Ltd
Oldham, UK

http://www.sculptedbliss.co.uk

[Adam Taylor]

You would still be wise to buy the 17″ Macbook Pro, as it is still the only one to have an expresscard 34 slot – which is very useful for adding extras.
Also – avoid the glossy screen as the glare and reflection make working so much more difficult. The anti glare screen is worth paying the extra for.

Max out the ram – mine has 8 gb and it really flies!

I have the recently superceded macbook pro and recently treated myself to a Matrox MX02 LE and a GRaid Mini firewire800/esata raid.

The Matrox connects to the Macbook via the expresscard slot – making it vital to have the 17″ model. If i’m not using the matrox, then i have other expresscard that let me use esata or firewire400 (without an adapter as the newer macbooks only have fw800 slots)

With these three devices i can digitize and edit full Prores422HQ from virtually any source all on a portable laptop. I can even connect to a LCD screen via HDMI and calibrate it using the matrox software, so i can use it for accurate colour work.

Personally, the hype about Thunderpants or whatever its called has not infected me yet. OK its gonna be fast, but i my desktop mac is connected to my raids via fibre channel, so i have the speed i need. On the road, i have speed and flexibility – and i’m not having to install a whole new bunch of kit to use the new technology.

Depends on what you cut as to whether you feel its worth the wait. If it were me, i’d try get hold of the previous model at a much reduced price. The Core i7 2.8 ghz chip in my mac seems pretty darned fast still. Its not a quad but its works!

rgds
Adam

Adam Taylor
Video Editor/Audio Mixer/ Compositor/Motion GFX/Barista
Character Options Ltd
Oldham, UK

http://www.sculptedbliss.co.uk