[Eric Jurgenson]

Thanks, Alex. Yes, Bridge ALMOST does it for me. I wish they had a standalone version to install on computers which don’t need the entire suite (view stations). Also, I think i need some kind of automatic proxy generation, although the new AME in CS4 might suffice.

I’m also looking at Synergistics IRIS AMS, Media Filer, Telescope (North Plains Software), Cat DV (Squarebox), Virage, and Expression Studio (Microsoft), in addition to Final Cut Server. And I don’t think I’m even scratching the surface yet.

[Eric Jurgenson]

I’ve had this system for about a year now. It has the Intel DP965LT MOBO, an ATI 1950 Pro 512, 4 GB ram, and an Intel Core2Quad processor. I don’t run antivirus software,even though the system is online (personal choice. So far, no issues).

I do typically edit from a single SATA video drive, which can pretty easily handle 2-3 DV/HDV video streams (depending on graphics and audio). I downsize my large stills. The disk system could be easily configured as a two disk stripe set for higher performance (if desired), since it has two SATA video drives on removable sleds (The set of individual drives could be swapped out for a stripe set). The boot drive is internal.

I also launch Premiere before launching any other applications. If other applications are open, I close them before launching Premiere. After bootup, I wait until all the taskbar applets load before launching Premiere. Anal? Perhaps, but it seems to work for me.

[Eric Jurgenson]

Hi, John,

I’d say you have a problem, because this is absolutely counter to my experiences with the RTX2. We use our system on a daily basis, and the stability is great.

One thing you must be careful of is large stills. The problem here is that the RTX2 can handle large stills, but the disk systems typically used with RTX2 systems simply do not match the power of the hardware. So if you were in Premiere alone you would have to render, but the RTX2 card makes Premiere think it can handle the stills in real time. If the disk system can’t handle the throuput (if it is a single SATA drive, for example), Premiere will crash.

Solution: Scale your stills down to something reasonable (in Photoshop), like 1400×1000 if you are animating or zooming in on them, or 720×480 if they are OK as is.

Or buy a RAID array with at least four drives.

[Eric Jurgenson]

I use the AJA HI-5 HDSDI-HDMI converter. A bit expensive, but it works great. With this setup, I can simultaneously view HD and SD on different monitors – very important because of the typically poor quality of SD on an HD flat screen monitor (I’m using my old Sony CRT pro monitor for SD). If there is any delay, it is not evident. The quality is noticeably better than the analog component output.

[Eric Jurgenson]

The Axio CS4 drivers are supposed to be out by January. It is my understanding that they were held up a bit by a technical issue in the CS4 initial release that Adobe will address with a point update sometime in the Nov.-Dec. timeframe.

Another nice feature Axio offers: audio input metering.

[Eric Jurgenson]

I would say the major deciding factor is whether you are willing to pay a bit more money for a faster system. The Axio’s main advantage over the I/O cards are extended multi-track real time playback capabilities, it’s excellent real time effects package (which work in After Effects as well), and accelerated rendering & export.

The Matrox real time chroma key is easy to use, gets great results, and is miles beyond the stock Premiere chroma key. If you do a lot of chroma keying, the Axio is a no-brainer for this feature alone.

Also, the Matrox unified external monitor support for After Effects, Bridge, and Photoshop, Autodesk Combustion and 3ds Max, eyeon Fusion, NewTek LightWave 3D, and Windows Media Player is very useful. I’m not sure if all (or any of) the I/O cards support this feature to the extent that Matrox does.

Other nice features are support for video in the capture window when capturing HDV, and realtime playback of 32-bit compressed and uncompressed AVI with alpha (both HD and SD).

[Eric Jurgenson]

What version of Premiere do you have? What is your hard drive setup? What are your computer spec’s?

If you had the latest version of Premiere and a quad core processor, and a single SATA video drive, I would suggest XDCAM HD (35 Mb) or HDV (25 Mb).

Older computers and older versions of Premiere could have issues editing HD.

[Eric Jurgenson]

I work at a small production facility. We have two seats of PSP CS3; one with an Axio LE card, and one with an RTX2 card. Both systems are in constant use on various projects. Both systems are very stable (and very fast).

We do run into stability issues on larger HD jobs when Premiere starts running low on memory. This is a known issue that hopefully will be delt with in CS4.

Also, large still images can choke Premiere. Sizing them down in Photoshop before importing into Premiere fixes this.

At my facility, we run very clean systems with a minimum of additional software, and no anti-virus. As far as I know, we have never had a problem with a virus on our editing systems. As a precaution, we regularly back up our system drives.

I always make sure to launch Premiere first before launching any other applications. I also wait until all the TSR applets load before launching Premiere. This may just be suspicion, but I think the system is more stable that way.

You can choke CS3 with too many applications open – again I hope that 64-bit support in CS4 fixes this issue.

[Eric Jurgenson]

For reasonably sized files you could use the Quicktime DV codec, especially if your source material is DV. If that is the case, be sure to uncheck the recompress box in the settings (for maximum quality).

[Eric Jurgenson]

Unfortunately Apple doesn’t support the DVCPRO50 or the DVCPRO HD codec for Quicktime in Windows. But DVCPRO(25) Quicktimes should work (you’ll still have to render). I’d suggest biting the bullet, and converting the DVCPRO50 material to DVCPRO.