Gabe Strong
Forum Replies Created
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[Bill Davis] “Really? I never met anyone that can go significantly FASTER on a bike with training wheels…
Somebody should tell all those guys on the Tour de France.
This could be transformative!”Well, that’s your experience. Mine is different. Now FCP 7 doesn’t handle
some of the newer codecs or use all the available RAM so of course it is slower.
But that has nothing to do with tracks. A track based ‘modern’ editor ( being
that it handles newer codecs and uses available RAM and GPU) is a different story.
So, for example, despite spending the last two years learning to use FCP X, I still go
significantly FASTER in CS6. Yup, you read that right. Faster on the track based editor.
Maybe, just maybe….both track and trackless NLE’s are bikes, neither have training
wheels, and the speed they go depends very much on their ‘riders’. That’s something
you could tell all those guys on the Tour de France. And you’d get a big fat ‘DUH’ from
them. 🙂Gabe Strong
G-Force Productions
http://www.gforcevideo.com -
Funny because I see the FCPX timeline as the one ‘with training wheels’.
Gabe Strong
G-Force Productions
http://www.gforcevideo.com -
Ha, or you could be like me and think tracks are awesome
but subscriptions suck even worse than not having tracks
so you use a little FCP X, a little Premiere CS 6 and a little
FCP 7, depending on the project. And you think Resolve XII
looks just like throwing those 3 NLE’s in a pot and mixing….
so it should be perfect for me……lol.Gabe Strong
G-Force Productions
http://www.gforcevideo.com -
Andrew,
You are lucky in that you have a 2009. The 2009 Mac Pros are basically
identical to the 2010-2012 Mac Pro’s…..the newer ones just have different
firmware. After you ‘flash’ the firmware as detailed in my blog, you not only
can install CPU’s that the 2010-2012 Mac Pros use, but also use the faster
1333Mhz RAM instead of 1066Mhz RAM. Unfortunately, the same isn’t
true for 2008 and earlier Mac Pro’s.Gabe Strong
G-Force Productions
http://www.gforcevideo.com -
[Tim Wilson] “Not to be defensive, but I don’t see how you can say that. We have 300,000 members, and average nearly 2 million visitors a month. Over the course of the year, from nearly 200 countries and territories. I can’t imagine that anybody has a broader slice of the market to pull data from than we do.
And I’m not just talking about the ways that people visit the COW. I’m talking about how THEY talk about the computers they use for their jobs.
One reason I sometimes don’t post for a while is that I read every post that goes up in the COW. Somebody has to, and it’s me.
Most days, it’s a couple thousand. On a day like the release of FCPX, it was a good many tens of thousands. It took me weeks to catch up that month. “
Well, I’m hoping you understand me here but….you are almost making my point. 300,000 members and 2 million visitors per month.
So how many of these people are ‘only doing work in the field’? I’m just guessing here, but I think my guess is probably pretty
educated. And my guess would be that a large number of the people that visit the COW are editors. Taking huge numbers,
from ‘a broad slice of the market’ and trying to apply that ‘broad data’ to a very narrow segment can cause….let’s just say
‘mis-observations’. I remember in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s when I had all kinds of IT people trying to convince me
that NO ONE in the video industry used Mac’s. The basis for this assertion? The fact that they had seen statistics that
Macs had less than 5% of the total computer desktop share. Never mind that 98% of those statistics were related to people
working in the business world that wouldn’t know a a L cut from a paper cut.In other words, I’m not saying Macs ARE the predominant DIT laptop. I’m saying that you can’t infer they MUST NOT BE,
because of statistics based on tens of thousands of people (many of whom are not DIT people) who frequent this website.
It is quite possible you have access to statistics about what people on this site use their computers for that I don’t, so
if that is the case I would take your word for it. But I don’t even see a section on COW for DIT folks….I’m looking through
the forum right now and see nothing even close……which leads me to believe that again, you are taking anecdotal posts,
comments, and other things you hear to reach your conclusions. And your conclusion may be right.My totally random observation was only that I personally notice most productions and production people ‘in the field’ (because lets
be honest, when productions shoot in Alaska they are definitely ‘in the field’ mode) are using Macs….and
I have an inkling that Mac laptops are much more popular than are their desktops. In other words, I’d almost expect
to see more windows machines when it comes to the actual work in edit bays. But that’s not anything I would make a
statistical bet on either…..because I don’t have access to any actual numbers just again anecdotal stuff I see.Maybe a better way to get the message across would have been for the teacher to tell the film student….
“You should probably learn to use a Mac as well as a PC. Because in the video world, unlike the wider business world,
Macs are actually used in something at least approximating equal numbers to Windows machines…especially when
you are talking about laptops!”Gabe Strong
G-Force Productions
http://www.gforcevideo.com -
[Tim Wilson] “Not even vaguely the case, even in Hollywood. It certainly WAS true, but it’s simply not anymore. In much of Europe and Asia, it far skews toward Windows.
I say this having worked for two different companies selling both Mac and Windows software and hardware into markets around the world, including very heavily into Hollywood, and could see the numbers myself.
Here in the COW, the mix is about 60% Windows, 40% Mac. If anything, I would think that the Mac number skews high, because of the number of people who WORK on Windows, but SURF on Mac. I can’t imagine that the there are many people working on Macs and surfing on Windows. :-)”
So maybe a little bit of misunderstanding here? The rest of his quote that you responded too was
“This was for field work, not desk top editing in post”.
Now seeing that, I’m not sure how statistics about the mix of windows and mac users on the COW or elsewhere
means a lot? It sounds like this person was talking about one very specific use of a computer….primarily mobile
computing in the field. I would presume for use in DIT type duties? In my (admittedly limited) experience, I have
never seen a windows computer used as a DIT station. These are not big hollywood projects I worked on….
stuff like Alaska Bush People and Survivor Alaska and American Eagle Outfitters. Of course, I’m sure windows laptops
are used….however…..this point made me wonder about something. I’m now wondering if the fact that Apple seems
to be so focused on laptops and ‘mobile computers’ to the point where many feel they are almost abandoning the mac pro
has anything to do with this perception? Might many places use an Apple laptop for ‘in the field’ DIT work but then back in the
edit bay, work on a windows box for the actual editing?Gabe Strong
G-Force Productions
http://www.gforcevideo.com -
[Andrew Kimery] “OWC’s CPU upgrade program has the 3.33GHz Quad-core Nehalem CPU as the fastest offered. If you have a 2010/2012 MP you can go up to the 3.46GHz 6-core Westmere chips.”
You can totally 100% use that 3.46GHz 6-core Westmere in the 2009 Mac Pro. As a matter
of fact, that’s what I am running in my 2009 Mac Pro that I am typing this on. It took me
almost 10 whole minutes to switch out the stock quad core 2.66ghz for the hex core 3.46 ghz.
If you are interested you can read about it in my blog here:
https://www.alaskacameradude.blogspot.com/2015/07/macgyver-pro-upgrade.htmlIf you have the 2009 ‘dual’ quad core Mac Pro, you can upgrade to dual hex cores.
It’s a little harder as the 2009 Mac Pro ‘duals’ used ‘lidless’ CPU’s and the 2009 Mac Pro
‘singles’ used off the shelf CPU’s. I personally would not try to remove the lids on the CPU’s.
However if you are interested, Erik Naso posted about upgrading his 2009 ‘dual’ quad core Mac Pro
and how he did it (with a kit from a reseller) here:
https://eriknaso.com/2015/03/21/upgrading-the-processors-on-my-early-2009-mac-pro-at-a-bargain-price/And finally, if any of you are serious about upgrading an older Mac Pro and would like
to be able to get advice on CPU’s, GPU’s, SSD’s, other upgrade options from people who
are actually doing it, you should look into joining this group….some very knowledgable people
posting about stuff like the above mentioned Titan 12Gig GPU’s and USB 3 cards that work,
as well as different ways to install SSD drives here and even how to remove the lids on the CPU’s
for the 2009 ‘dual’ quad core Mac Pro’s:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/Mac.Pro.Upgrade/Yes, you only have the expansion options that
are in the Mac Pro (4 slots), but you can do more with these machines than many people
realize.Gabe Strong
G-Force Productions
http://www.gforcevideo.com -
[David Mathis] “Windows belong on a house, not a computer! ;-)”
Unless you want run a machine with two CPUs as well as multiple GPUs.. 🙂
Shawn
You can do that with a 2009 Mac Pro
Gabe Strong
G-Force Productions
http://www.gforcevideo.com -
Walter,
Thanks for the reply. Sp I am guessing it would be safe to say you
are pretty decent with AE? And that your company does work beyond
video? Those seem like pretty good reasons to use CC to me.
Just out of curiosity, what kind of ‘problems’ do you solve with AE
that you couldn’t solve with Motion? Of course in my position as
ecitor, I often have to scold my unskilled shooter for giving me
problem footage…..o wait a sec. 🙂Gabe Strong
G-Force Productions
http://www.gforcevideo.com -
[Andrew Kimery] “I kinda didn’t complete my thought either. With paying a little more for the whole bundle I am getting a lot of apps I’ll never use, but I’m also getting apps that might be useful but I never would have given the time of day before. SpeedGrade, for example, I doubt I’d ever pay for a standalone version, but SG comes with the bundle (and has integration w/PPro that I find interesting) so I’m like, “Why not dig into i? I’ve already paid for it.”
Oddly enough, going back to the cable analogy, after being a cord cutter for many years I recently went back to cable and I watch a much wider variety of shows now than I did before. I’m more willing to give different shows chances because it’s already paid for. When I ponied up $2-3 per episode on Amazon I only did it for shows that I knew I really wanted to watch and I felt like were worth the cost. For example, I watch a lot of “How it’s Made” on cable, but I would never pay $2-3 per episode for it.”
Yeah, that makes sense. Prelude and Speed Grade are both apps that I probably normally would not
use but if I had already paid for them and actually had any spare time to play around with…..oops
so much for that idea 🙂 But I totally can see where a person might learn how to use them since they
already paid for them. I used to dabble with Color a little bit in my Final Cut Studio 7 days, but again
I really didn’t have the time to learn it properly so I just stood at the edge, dipped my toe in, and learned
to do a couple ‘tricks’ with it.As for cable, I ‘cut the cord’ at least 6 years ago) and have never regretted it a bit. I will
never pay for cable TV again….never. Of course I’m also that strange person who works
creating ‘moving images’ but never watches TV. Give me a basketball and a court any
day of the week over a show on TV.[Andrew Kimery] “What do you mean, yer just up the coast! We are at least in the same Time Zone. ;)”
Ha! A common misconception. Unless of course LA changed from Pacific Time to Alaska Time 🙂
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaska_Time_Zone
I did drive from Alaska to LA once time and spent 6 months or so there hanging out, working cheap
Craigslist gigs for cash and making locals gasp when I jumped in the ocean in November (OMG isn’t it COLD?)
It sure did seem like a long drive…..couple thousand miles anyways. But if you were in a boat you might be
able to cut a few of those miles off 🙂[Andrew Kimery] “A buddy of mine had the opening titles for his indie film done in India. Yeah, I know globalization can be a touchy subject but it’s a thing so… If you want to keep it American made you could put up a posting for students looking for some beer money. Might not be applicable now, but just something to keep in the back of your head incase it becomes applicable down the road since things like GFX are pretty easy to do remotely. “
Yeah, the internet has opened up all sorts of possibilities. I hire remote VO artists (many from LA) on a
semi regular basis. I buy music from all manner of great sites. I’m sure I could get a graphics person.
I just don’t have enough work to need that as I’m in a town of 30,000 that is basically an island town.
(Technically we are on the mainland. But since glaciers and ocean keep us from having any roads into or
out of town, a person must fly or take a boat to get here.) To be honest, I can usually keep up with everything myself,
but when I need someone it’s usually an extra camera op or lighting assistant to help me with the production end.
But it is pretty neat that a person could find extra post help out there on ‘the web’. Although I would guess that you’d
have to be careful out there. I’d probably tend to stay with someone, once I found a good person because there’s all
kinds of scammers out there.[Andrew Kimery] “It is, and it’s one reason it’s so exciting to be in the industry right now. There are so many different facets to it and we can all get on the Internet and disagree with each other, er, I mean share information with each other! 😉
“Totally agreed. But this is a tame disagreement if that. We MUST up the ‘drama’ to increase the viewership.
That’s something I learned from working on the ‘Anything but Reality’ shows.Gabe Strong
G-Force Productions
http://www.gforcevideo.com