[Bernhard G.]

Hello,

yes, give Smoke2013 a try. Choose the Lanczos filter.
Smoke has the very best software scaling I’ve seen so far.

Best regards,
Bernhard

[Bernhard G.]

Yes,

and it would also be good if every filter and effect that could fit
into FCP-X would be found in it. And filters/effects that won’t
fit could be summed up as ‘Motion’ or ‘Logic’ effect.

(Motion’s Masks are something that won’t ‘naturally’ fit but
nevertheless I would like to have directly inside FCP-X,
as well as advanced keyframe editing.)

So when round tripping, some filters/effects are preserved and editable 1:1,
while others are summed up in a placeholder-effect and require to open
the other app.

Best regards,
Bernhard

[Bernhard G.]

Hello,

I would also like to see a consolidation of all postpro-steps ‘into’ FCP-X.

The question is how it is realized. Looking at Smoke, different functions
were available from a kind of desktop, thought this changed in Smoke2013.

So consolidation doesn’t necessarily mean to put ALL functionality into a single app.

Since Apple either way needs to do something in regard to network storage and sharing projects, I could imagine well that e.g. Motion, LogicPro-X, Compressor could access FCP-X Events and Projects directly.
Mixed with a kind of access management,
this app-compound would behave like a single app but access a single database.

Best regards,
Bernhard

[Bernhard G.]

When You say You are editing 3D,
I assume you mean stereoscopic 3D.

When I told about 3D I meant 3D apps
like CADs or Cinema4D, Modo, Maya, 3DSMAX, XSI, Houdini, etc.

If You are editing HD, not 4K, and need CUDA,
an EVGA GTX570 with 2.5GB is very fast.

It is supported natively by OSX 10.8 !!!
At the moment, OpenCL doesn’t work without hack.
(tipp: get a modified board from MacVidCards on eBay)

Best regards,
Bernhard

[Bernhard G.]

If You are in the CAD business or do 3D VFX,
the the Quadro card is justified also in a 2009 MacPro.
Quadros are optimized for processing huge amounts
of 3D geometry data. This is what they are built for.

A common misconception is that Quadros have necessarily
‘faster’ GPUs than GeForces.
What is ‘fast’ depends on the architecture and how well a task uses it.

A complex task could be faster on a GPU with slower cores but a wider
pipeline, than on a GPU with faster cores but a tighter pipeline – and vice versa.
So a GeForce could in fact be faster than a Quadro.
For Mercury acceleration I wouldn’t be surprised to get this result.

The best would be to wait for benchmarks. There are some testers at the
Resolve forum. Don’t find the link now.

Hope this helps.

Best regards,
Bernhard

[Bernhard G.]

If You want to be at the save side, get the card from MacVidCards on eBay.
These are EVGA cards but with a modified firmware (for the OSX ‘BIOS’).

Off-the-shelf cards plug and play; but You will not see the boot screen.
You’ll only need to install CUDA and I recommend OSX 10.8.

I don’t know what You intend to to with the card;
For CUDA you could keep Your current card, get an external
PCI-E expander box and get a GTX580 with 3GB.
Or You wait for a K5000.

An official Quadro4000 would have a similar performance to a GTX570
but is also more expansive.

Best regards,
Bernhard

[Bernhard G.]

If price doesn’t matter, it will be the upcoming
Nvidia Quadro K5000.

If price really doesn’t matter:
Two Nvidia Quadro K5000 in one machine.

If price does matter, then the EVGA GTX570 with 2.5GB is a good choice.
But be aware: my tests have shown that openGL (GL, not CL)
has a lower performance than with the old ATI Radeon 4870.

So if 3D is Yours, than GTX570 is not the best choice.
And Apple at the moment deactivates openCL for GFX boards with
more than 2Gigs. Might change if K5000 is available with it’s 4GB.

Best regards,
Bernhard

[Bernhard G.]

Only want to add that I find it astonishing that our cheap
consumer TV-sets (super resolution, noise reduction, de-interlacing, etc.)
have better image processing algorithms than we professionals have in our NLEs!

Does anyone have a theory why?

Best regards,
Bernhard

[Bernhard G.]

Hello,

for upscaling, the gold standard is a technology called Super Resolution.
This means, that details from surrounding frames are collected to increase details on the HD image.
If there is no motion in the image, You will gain nothing through it; therefor the basic scaler needs
to be good as well; e.g. Lanczos.

Teranex does use Super Resolution.

At the software side:
– Compressor does SR as well,
– but I found Video Purifier from Innobits to gain more details, but be aware: it only processes at 8bit RGB !!!
– the InstantHD Advanced plugin also had SR, unfortunately only in the Advanced which had been discontinued.
– if you use Media100, you could scale with BorisRed which has the UpRez filter.

For a comparison of upscaling solutions, see here:
https://www.infognition.com/articles/video_upsize_methods_comparison.html

The bad thing:
every really good plugin has been discontinued. There are few free implementations of SR; but 8bit only, 4:2:0, and so on…
And: ALL NLEs are absolutely bad at scaling.

(The only exception is Autodesk Smoke2013. But this is a finishing app. Very best scaling I saw in a software so far!)

Best regards,
Bernhard

[Bernhard G.]

Very hard to say. It appears to me Smoke is still searching it’s destiny on the market.

If you are a quality junkie 🙂 then Smoke is simply the fulfillment of your dreams!
Scaling, de-interlacing, noise reduction, tracking… all of the finest and adjustable.
Editing and Compositing well integrated into one app. Currently no Color Grading! (Hope this one changes.) Currently restricted to AJA hardware (Kona3G, IoXT).

But if you are searching for a NLE primary for, well, EDITING,
I would suggest you test it yourself if it fulfills your demands.
Smoke2013 is currently in open beta status and so long it is for free.

Best regards,
Bernhard