[David Eaks]

[Christian Schumacher] “The nVidia / FCPX article is old, I’m guessing…”

Ahh, I think I still needed to take a closer look at that article, but that saves me from bothering.

[Christian Schumacher] “AMD 3Gb offering that you also linked to. So, regarding FCPX-Motion performance, anybody with a MacPro capable of upgrading should have it as the best choice for now.”

The Sapphire Radeon 7950? From reading other threads it does seem like it would be the best for FCP X in Legacy Mac Pros. Any particular real-world FCPX comparisons with this card that I should check out? Wondering if it’s cost to benefit ratio will be worth it for me.

[Christian Schumacher] “The truth is the Mac Pro in its current form is still viable for running standartized components such as PCIe SSd, GPU cards and general expansion”

My thoughts exactly. I plan to keep it around for some time, easing the transition to the new Mac Pro and all of its extra costs of Thunderbolt devices and adapters.

[David Eaks]

Yes, well, both internal and external. There are two mini sas connections, one inside and one outside. Upgrading the internal bays (not bootable, no bootcamp) to SATA iii and also allowing for 4 external esata iii ( sata iii only on Mac Pro 3,1 and above) connections with the fan out cable. It would replace the Sonnet Tempo card (in my case LaCie 4x esata ii card, almost all of my external devices are esata: RAIDs, dual bare-drive dock, Blu-ray burners etc. otherwise the built in FW and USB are fine for me). My thought was also to have an internal 4-drive Hardware RAID-5 Media Drive, will that take advantage of sata iii speeds?

What graphics card do you have installed?

Also the accelsior e2 (bootable, no bootcamp) has two more external esata iii ports, which could reduce the demand on the mini sas card. Also looks like good reviews, tech support and upgradeable storage cards.

The intensity pro card should be fine on any pci slot, right? (in my case Matrox MXO2 host card).

The question I have about all these potential upgrades is, will there be a noticeable improvement in performance in FCPX/Motion/Compressor and if so, what part the workflow is the improvement seen?

[David Eaks]

Thanks James, I’m really looking forward to upgrading!

[David Eaks]

I’d been thinking a lot about upgrading my 2008 Mac Pro (8-core 2.8, 16gb, 5770) for FCPX performance as well, of course the anticipation of “something great later in 2013” had halted any major purchases for me. While I’m really looking forward to the new Mac Pro, assuming it blows away other Macs in FCPX/Motion/Compressor performance and stays in line with “Legacy Mac Pro” pricing, its perfect for me, but no matter what my current system will stay in use and am still interested in upgrading it.

I’ve been using Crucial M4 and Samsung 830 SSDs in both MP and MBP, being able to get away with 128GB for the system drive means its only about $100 each (plus adapter). As others, I’d recommend an SSD for your system drive, at a minimum for any upgrading.

Seeing your post I’ve revisited a note I’ve been taking on my ipad, here’s a copy/paste-

Mac Pro upgrades-

Internal sata iii hardware raid-
MAXPower RAID mini-SAS 6G-1e1i (which slot?) Link-
https://eshop.macsales.com/item/NewerTech/MXPRMS6G1E1I/

Mini sas to 4x esata fan out-
https://eshop.macsales.com/item/Micro%20Accessories/SAS480001M/

Media Drive- internal
Four WD Black 2TB or RED 3TB HDDs in Hardware RAID 1/0/5//10/50/JBOD/SPAN Link- max power…

System Drive- Either

—->PCIe Solid State, accelsior plus 2 esata iii
https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/SSDPHWE2R120/

or

SSD in 2nd optical bay with OWC Multi-mount 2,5″ (x2) to 3.5″ to 5.25 bracket and cable set Link-

or

Cheap PCIe SSD adapter
https://www.ebay.com/itm/SSD-Superspeed-Upgrade-Kit-for-Apple-Mac-Pro-2008-2009-2010-/130830674778?pt=US_Computer_Disk_Controllers_RAID_Cards&hash=item1e761dab5a

Upgrade from Radeon 5770-

7950-
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202027&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleAdwords&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-_-pla-_-Desktop+Graphics+Cards-_-N82E16814202027&gclid=CLTkz7ny6rcCFeuDQgod4i0A7Q

Hmm????
https://www.fcp.co/final-cut-pro/tutorials/948-get-fcpx-running-faster-by-installing-a-pc-nvidia-geforce-gtx570-graphics-card-in-a-macpro

— end /paste—

I’d be I really interested in hearing anyone’s thoughts on any of the upgrades listed above.

[David Eaks]

Nice work John, I really like seeing things like this. The more recognition FCPX gets, the more likely it may be for others to adopt it, which might give Apple more incentive to update and add features. Which in the end trickles right down to my little family owned/operated business. Every little bit counts, so keep it coming!

[David Eaks]

Nice find, one of my favorite parts of that video starts about 43:20…. “We didn’t know what it looked like either” and so on. LOL

Its a pretty good watch all around though.

[David Eaks]

It’s happened to me a couple times in the past.

Most likely, if you find the point that the ghost audio starts (or ends) there will be a one frame clip in between the clips at that point. If you select the one frame and expand its audio, it will extend way out revealing the ghost.

Or

There is a clip with audio that is essentially a giant J or L cut extending its audio throughout your edit. Since the audio is collapsed, you can’t see it.

Either way the timeline index may be handy for narrowing down to just the clips you want to expand audio on, while on the ghost hunt.

[David Eaks]

Could you possibly have hit the V key, disabling the clip? Disabled clips are dark grey, but the audio would be disabled too unless it is detached or there is another track besides the clips own audio.

Are you working in an actual project timeline, or in a “compound clips as projects” method timeline? Or maybe in the original clips “open clip in timeline”, um, timeline?

Just trying to brainstorm, not quite sure what’s going on here.. Maybe post a screenshot?

FWIW I work with Prores from a KiPro in FCPX just about everyday.

[David Eaks]

We don’t know how much the new Mac Pro will be. I definitely would not buy an iMac right now, especially if based on the assumption that $4500 won’t buy the new Mac Pro.

While you wait for more info on the new MP so you can make an informed decision, start saving up to increase the budget just in case. ; )

BTW I’m also running a 2008 MP 3,1 2.8ghz eight core, but with 16GB RAM and a Radeon 5770. I’m anxious to update my 5 year old workhorse too, but after all this time waiting… and the new Mac Pro announced… Well, I couldn’t bear to jump the gun and buy an iMac right now.

[David Eaks]

There sure is, some top results from a Google search for “thunderbolt to USB 3.0”

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Echo15?utm_source=Google&utm_medium=PPC&utm_campaign=none&device=t&network=g&matchtype=&gclid=CI_NxouF4bcCFUFyQgodIEMAeA

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=&sku=897993&Q=&is=REG&A=details

https://techcrunch.com/2013/05/03/belkin-thunderbolt-express-dock-review/

https://www.caldigit.com/ThunderboltStation/