Ben Holmes
Forum Replies Created
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[Joe Murray] “I never referred to Mac Pros specifically”
That’s a shame, because that was the original question. And my answer is not based on ‘should’ it’s based on a good deal of actual evidence. Still, enough already? I don’t think we’re helping much 😉
Ben
Editec Broadcast Editing Ltd
EVS & FCP specialists for live OB operations.
New HD edit/slomo truck on the road this month. Dual FCP systems/6 slomo positions.
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Joe
These chips require exactly the same internal configuration as the Dual core one, and were tested independently some months ago when they were first released for heat and compatability.
Under these circumstances there is no reason to fear any ‘early adopter’ problems – the hardware is unaltered and already substantially subjected to real world stress, and indeed has run cooler than G5 Macs since its introduction. What problems with Mac Pros are you referring to? The Quad core chips have been used in many other systems since late last year – their introduction to the Mac Pros is late in the day and frankly cannot come too soon.
So – I stand by all my comments too. I guess we’ll have to agree to disagree, but I do think your comments are dogmatic rather than a relfection of this specific situation. I myself waited for the newer MBPs when they switched to intel etc. The same reasoning just doesn’t apply here.
Ben
Editec Broadcast Editing Ltd
EVS & FCP specialists for live OB operations.
New HD edit/slomo truck on the road this month. Dual FCP systems/6 slomo positions.
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[Joe Murray] “If you don’t have a problem being an unofficial beta tester for Apple, then jump right into the deep end with the octopus”
Sorry – realise this thread is long dead in all likelihood, but that’s just not the case. All you are getting with the 8-core is a different quad-core chip, tested for server use by Intel. What do you think you are beta testing, the chip? Think these components are not tested to destruction? When was the last time you heard of a faulty chip? None of this has anything to do with the Mac Pro or Apple rev’s or beta testing.
That’s just bad advice.
Ben
Editec Broadcast Editing Ltd
EVS & FCP specialists for live OB operations.
New HD edit/slomo truck on the road this month. Dual FCP systems/6 slomo positions.
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If you are using a monitor (as you should) for video output, why would you worry about the response time of the monitor? Can’t see the problem – and assuredly the Mac displays will get a performance upgrade soon anyway. Many people here swear by the Dells.
Of course, the Cow knows if I’m wrong…
Ben
Editec Broadcast Editing Ltd
EVS & FCP specialists for live OB operations.
New HD edit/slomo truck on the road this month. Dual FCP systems/6 slomo positions.
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[Don Greening] “As it stands right now the barefeats test is coming in at roughly 40% faster for the 8 core over the 4 core”
That’s not really an accurate reflection of the Barefeats tests. To quote directly:
Barefeats.com: “In this test session, we constructed a “multi-processing” scenario where four different MP “aware” applications were simultaneously “crunching” and fighting for CPU cycles. That included….
> iDVD 6 encoding menu and HD video assets
> Motion 2 rendering a RAM preview of a 1000 frame 1440×1080 project
> Final Cut Pro 5 rendering a 20 second HD clip
> Photoshop CS3 taking a 100MB test file and running 3 lens flares and 3 radial blurs (with the aid of an action file).Normally the CS3 action file consumes as many cores as you have to give. We saw 796% usage on the 8-core when Photoshop was the only busy application. This action file normally takes only 37 seconds to complete on *BOTH* the 8-core and 4-core Mac Pro. In other words, it’s a tie if Photoshop is the only active application.
But if three other CPU hungry apps are fighting it for CPU cycles, we see a whole different picture…”
Then, you see the 39% gain you refer to. Not only is that NOT a FCP render result, the gain is only there when you are running intensive operations on a few apps.
Now – I don’t disagree with going for the octo-core, we just ordered two. Why? 1) It’s always worth the small amount extra to go for the fastest system, as it will inevitably pay itself back many times over in extra system life (we tend to upgrade every 2 years or so). and 2) I believe that we will see better gains under Leopard and future FCS releases. I also note from Apple’s own white paper that ProRes 422 renders are designed to multi-thread, in other words more cores=faster renders. The truth and specifics of that are yet to be proved, but it’s a good enough reason to make the leap.
Finally, I just don’t agree that going for the 8-core machine somehow involves a risk in terms of Rev A hardware (ie it’s new tech, therefore unstable). The 8-cores are identical in all but CPU. The risk will be in using FCP6 etc initially – but all recent releases of FCP have been VERY stable in my experience, and we will keep our Dual 2.7’s up and running on FCP 5.1 for as long as we need a back-up.
Just my opinions – as usual.
Ben
Editec Broadcast Editing Ltd
EVS & FCP specialists for live OB operations.
New HD edit/slomo truck on the road this month. Dual FCP systems/6 slomo positions.
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That release is pretty stable from recollection. Do you have the problem with other projects? Try opening and messing with some older ones.
Certain behaviours, such as ‘out of memory’ messages often point to a corrupted project, render or media file. See if trashing prefs and deleting render files helps. Failing that, consider a clean reinstall of the OS and FCP. Sometimes it’s worth the couple of hours work to do it.
Ben
Editec Broadcast Editing Ltd
EVS & FCP specialists for live OB operations.
New HD edit/slomo truck on the road this month. Dual FCP systems/6 slomo positions.
-
If your requirements are DV only, why can’t you get them to look at iMacs as a viable upgrade. The performance gains you would get in day to day rendering etc. would more than justify the expense – and the ability to actually use tools like Motion in FCS, which you are just NOT going to get any use out of on those old systems. Really, much of FCS, particularly Motion and DVD Studio Pro will barely run on those G4s…
They make money out of these systems, right? I can’t comprehend how little they must make to flog old systems that hard, and I think it’s short-sighted, since the extra impact a quicker system allows you to make in creative terms more than pays for the hardware. Sorry if I overestimate the decisions they have to make, and I certainly don’t mean to belittle your efforts – but it has to be time to upgrade.
Ben
Editec Broadcast Editing Ltd
EVS & FCP specialists for live OB operations.
New HD edit/slomo truck on the road this month. Dual FCP systems/6 slomo positions.
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I don’t know how important/valuable this data was, but have you considered using a professional data recovery company?
Sorry for vague response, but thought this may be an avenue you have not considered.
Ben
Editec Broadcast Editing Ltd
EVS & FCP specialists for live OB operations.
New HD edit/slomo truck on the road this month. Dual FCP systems/6 slomo positions.
-
[mr_gfx] “can FCP not handle those?
“Clearly, in this case, not. There are many types of video file, and many that are not what they claim to be in any case. If Quick Time Pro cannot open it, FCP cannot either. I would suggest you try a universal player like VLC player from http://www.videolan.org to see if it can play and identify the file type, then try converting it.
You may want to try downloading a QT plugin called Perian (google it) which enable playback of various web-based codecs. This may allow you to open the file within QT player, then export it as a ‘proper’ quicktime for use in FCP.
If you’re using FCP to work with downloaded clips, I’m afraid you need to expect some of these issues. FCP is primarily designed to work with all major video formats, not compressed web video.
Ben
Editec Broadcast Editing Ltd
EVS & FCP specialists for live OB operations.
New HD edit/slomo truck on the road this month. Dual FCP systems/6 slomo positions.
-
Most likely the bad video causes the DV stream to unlock, so the audio is affected too.
I would suggest exporting the offending section as a quicktime movie off the timeline, so it creates a new file with the bad picture data in effect ‘burnt in’. Then you can replace the bad section on the timeline with the new file, and voila.
At least, that’s the theory. No idea if it will actually work.
Ben
Editec Broadcast Editing Ltd
EVS & FCP specialists for live OB operations.
New HD edit/slomo truck on the road this month. Dual FCP systems/6 slomo positions.