[David Roth weiss]

[Walter Soyka] “I don’t think most people here actually need turnkey video workstations anymore. Look at the number of people completely happy with a COTS 5K iMac for editorial.
“

I do think Macs come closer to being ready to go right out of the box, and Macs are definitely easier to work with on a DIY basis (DIY=do it yourself), but for the basis of this conversation, trust me, there are more people here that should be purchasing turnkey systems from “real” integrators who aren’t, than the other way around, and until you work on the other side (sales/support) you’ll never really know.

Keep in mind, hardware companies ONLY fix their hardware, they don’t fix software and they don’t fix peripherals. And, most issues are NOT typically with the computer hardware itself, but rather with integration of software and peripherals. So, when getting all warm and fuzzy about HP, Dell, or Apple replacing motherboards and such, that’s a very tiny, tiny part of the support necessary for most post professionals.

David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor/Colorist
David Weiss Productions

David is a Creative COW contributing editor and a forum host of the Apple Final Cut Pro forum.

[David Roth weiss]

[Walter Soyka] “I think it’s worth paying a company like Apple or Dell or HP in my case to do what they do.
“

Walter, I’m surprised to hear this from you – the companies above are NOT in the business of building purpose-built “turnkey” video workstations, they are in the business of building workstations for business, medical, government, and military use, which are then repurposed for video applications.

No one who elects to purchase a professionally built edit station should assume that means purchasing direct from the manufacturer – manufacturers simply don’t know enough about the demands of video – this is why VARs (value added resellers) who specialize in building and maintaining video systems exist.

When Tim suggests HP has a department that specializes in video support etc., I don’t believe he is speaking from personal experience, but rather from HP’s marketing materials. HP will fix your workstation, but if there’s anything else wrong, drivers, add on peripherals, networking, etc., their technicians will not touch it.

As someone who has sold many HP workstations, including a special line-up of supposedly purpose-built turnkey RED workstations, I can tell you, there is no such thing as a true “turnkey video workstation” sold direct from HP or any other of the big three. So, anyone reading this who wants a real turnkey solution should contact a reseller who sells turnkey solution – manufacturers are NOT in that business, period, end of story.

David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor/Colorist
David Weiss Productions

David is a Creative COW contributing editor and a forum host of the Apple Final Cut Pro forum.

[David Roth weiss]

That’s a bit like asking how fast are cars? Of course, we all know there are many types of cars and many types of roads, right?

Well, the answer to your question is not so simple… If the video you’re editing is light weight, highly compressed, not many layers, and thus does not exceed the demands of Thunderbolt 1 throughput, you’ll be fine with T-bolt 1. However, if you’re working with more demanding video, or cutting many layers, the increased throughout of T-bolt 2 will prove to be a necessity.

As I often say, disk speed calculations are not rocket science, but they are science nonetheless, and every editor should know how to use the free AJA Disk Speed Test app to fully understand what throughout their hard drive sub-systems are actually delivering.

David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor/Colorist
David Weiss Productions

David is a Creative COW contributing editor and a forum host of the Apple Final Cut Pro forum.

[David Roth weiss]

Hey Oliver,

Having converted many Mac users to Windows in the last few years in my positions in sales and consulting, I’ve seen Dell make such attempts before. As you may recall, Mr. Biscardi wrote a review about a Dell workstation he was given a few years ago when FCP X left him underwhelmed with Apple and its software and hardware.

In a nutshell, Dell makes good workstations, however, the company is very large, and because they are business centric and not at all video centric, they can prove to be very difficult for post pros to deal with from a support standpoint.

FYI, one could easily argue that Apple and HP also suffer from the same issues, and that video professionals who don’t buy through an integrator are all left on their own, because all manufacturers are basically ignorant of the needs of those in the video biz. And, they would be correct – this is precisely why value added resellers exist, and why many facilities are willing to pay a bit extra for the value of that support.

Now, back to Dell specifically, if you know Windows inside and out, or if you have a dedicated IT team at your facility who do, then Dell machines are as good as any other, but short of that, I’d say buyer be beware, unless you have loads of time to wait in Dell’s support cue, which ultimately still may not pay off.

David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor/Colorist
David Weiss Productions

David is a Creative COW contributing editor and a forum host of the Apple Final Cut Pro forum.

[David Roth weiss]

While that seems like a logical workflow, and there probably is a way to do it, that’s not typically how that job is done. Usually, most will make adjustments to one edited clip, then copy and paste to all other like clips in the timeline at one time using the search function to select the matching clips.

David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor/Colorist
David Weiss Productions

David is a Creative COW contributing editor and a forum host of the Apple Final Cut Pro forum.

[David Roth weiss]

Well, given that you’re on a Mac you should have Pro Res available. However, the Avid DNX codecs are free on the Avid site. Once you download and install them, I think the one to
choose is DNXHD 185 (or a number close to 185).

David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor/Colorist
David Weiss Productions

David is a Creative COW contributing editor and a forum host of the Apple Final Cut Pro forum.

[David Roth weiss]

DVCProHD is NOT a good choice – it’s an old, outdated, codec that is very soft when compared side by side with more modern codecs such as ProRes and DNX. You should use either ProRes 422 or HQ.

The rest of your questions are pretty much things only you can work out… However, be certain you are not viewing at 1/4 or 1/2 resolution, and, though rendering is not necessary when editing normal video, it certainly helps when animating/compositing, so you can see exactly how the moves and transitions will appear.

David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor/Colorist
David Weiss Productions

David is a Creative COW contributing editor and a forum host of the Apple Final Cut Pro forum.

[David Roth weiss]

Thanks for pointing that out… That’s a very useful feature.

David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor/Colorist
David Weiss Productions

David is a Creative COW contributing editor and a forum host of the Apple Final Cut Pro forum.

[David Roth weiss]

Mike,

How much free space do you have on that SSD drive? What you’re describing sounds like a drive that does not have enough free space (10 to 20% suggested).

David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor/Colorist
David Weiss Productions

David is a Creative COW contributing editor and a forum host of the Apple Final Cut Pro forum.

[David Roth weiss]

Agreed Chris… I’ve always wondered what false HD looks like…

David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor/Colorist
David Weiss Productions

David is a Creative COW contributing editor and a forum host of the Apple Final Cut Pro forum.