[Alan Okey]

The CalDigit HDElement is a little over $1K, but you should really give it consideration. It will work with both laptop and desktop systems, and is a true hardware RAID solution.

Bob Zelin sums it up nicely in this post:

https://forums.creativecow.net/thread/228/686

[Alan Okey]

(duplicate post deleted)

[Alan Okey]

I found the thread that I was thinking of:

https://forums.creativecow.net/thread/98/869842#870285

The often eloquent and always entertaining Bob Zelin sets the record straight once again.

[Alan Okey]

According to what I’ve read on other Cow threads regarding component-SMPTE or component-Beta, Beta is what’s used 99.99% of the time. Sony BVM (and some PVM) CRT monitors have a corresponding menu setting for component input type, i.e. SMPTE or Beta.

As for 0 or 7.5 IRE black level, the rule is:

NTSC (USA) = 7.5 IRE

PAL and NTSC (Japan) = 0 IRE

[Alan Okey]

Simon,

In hindsight, perhaps I was too harsh with Travis. I respect his enthusiasm for the product, but with the current state of marketing it’s all too easy to find examples of companies paying people to write fake rave reviews of products, like the recent well-publicized example of a Belkin sales rep paying people to write favorable reviews for Amazon.com.

Apologies to Travis and FXHome if I overreacted.

Simon, does the muzzle flash application work with Autodesk Combustion? Combustion uses the After Effects plugin model, but not all AE plugins work in Combustion.

Please advise, thanks.

[Alan Okey]

The Kona is definitely more accurate than the DVCAM deck. The DSR-25 does not add NTSC setup (7.5 IRE) on its analog outputs – hence, the black level is too dark.

From Adam Wilt’s great DV FAQ site:

“Now, the Rest of Us may be using lower end gear: DSR-20s, DSR-11s, PD150s, even consumer gear. None of these low-end decks and camcorders have “add setup.”

So if you take a tape shot in a DV or DVCAM camcorder and play it back in one of these low-end decks, the analog output will NOT have setup. The playback will be fine in Asia, but it’ll be “too dark” in the Americas.”

https://www.adamwilt.com/DV-FAQ-tech.html#Setup

[Alan Okey]

[Ben Holmes] “There is no need for this card to be honest. The stock card is still the best performer for Motion, and the (crazy expensive) Quadro will be of no real benefit unless you plan to do 3d modelling of nuclear explosions on the weekend.”

Despite its price, the nVidia Quadro won’t perform as well in Motion and Color as the ATI Radeon HD 3870, available here:

https://eshop.macsales.com/item/ATI%20Technologies/100435928/

The ATI drivers are better optimized for Apple’s software:

https://www.barefeats.com/harper16.html

The 3870 is not the stock card, it’s an upgrade that must be purchased from a third party.

You’ll definitely want to budget for a good preview monitor or monitors. For SD, a Sony PVM or BVM is perfect. For HD, look at TVLogic, JVC, Panasonic and FSI (Flanders Scientific, Inc.).

For RAID storage, CalDigit or Maxx Digital offer great high-performance hardware RAID options that connect to a native PCIe host card in the Mac.

[Alan Okey]

Point trackers are so last century.

https://www.imagineersystems.com/products/mocha/

[Alan Okey]

Capturing video to the same volume as the OS is not a good idea, even if the OS is on a RAID.

Recommendations:

1. Get rid of the Apple RAID card and replace it with a CalDigit RAID card.

2. Use the bracket and cable included with the CalDigit RAID card to add a fifth internal hard drive to the Mac Pro – the fifth drive mounts in the second optical drive bay.

3. Set up a 4-drive hardware RAID-5 volume using the four original hard drives and the CalDigit RAID card. Use the RAID-5 only for video storage.

4. Set up the fifth drive as the system boot drive (OS and Applications).

The Apple RAID card is a joke. Overpriced and underperforming compared with the competition.

https://www.barefeats.com/hard105.html

[Alan Okey]

Alternately, you could use a third party freeware application like MPEG Streamclip.