[Jerry Miles]

UPDATE: Just got word from BlackMagic – they will have new drivers available shortly and Mom got her iMac back. Moving a machine back to Tiger allowed for routing of video.

Jerry Miles
SANtech
http://www.santech.tv
Storage Area Network Specialists

[Jerry Miles]

You will make more money keeping them both working. If you must get rid of one – axe the QUAD, Take a breath and move on – embrace the fact that hardware and software will continue to evolve and improve (it really does most of the time) Bob is a tad bit dramatic… Don’t you set aside funds for therapy? Knowing an upgrade could present itself at any corner. How will I cope? Will it really be Real-Time this time? Just a little humor to keep my sanity.

AJA Io uses Apple Core OS technologies so it worked with my MacBook Pro and Express34/SATA port multiplier card with 10 drives attached in two cabinets and only 2 cables. The drives scream like a mo fo but the bus is only 1 lane PCIe so just a little bottleneck there. Just move the drives to your main system once the drivers are done of course. The drivers will come in time. Just requires some North Bridge knowledge and this fun thing called Expansion Slot Utility insight. There are plenty of really smart people trying to make all this stuff work so they can move on to the next big thing. Watching LOST or Cheeta Girls Two if you have young children like me.

Best regards,

Jerry Miles
ProMax Systems, Inc.

[Jerry Miles]

Convert all mp3’s to aiff first then import into FCP.

Jerry

[Jerry Miles]

When this computer was first setup did you just add the KONA2 card to an existing OS install or did you perform a completely clean install. Trying to diagnose demons is a waste of time. It doens’t take that long to perform a clean install on an external firewire drive of just the basic FCP and KONA drivers to see how the card performs then. Just a thought.

Other ideas:

RT Extreme in FCP5 supports uncompressed HD at 8 bit so make sure your RT Extreme settings are set to High (Quality) and Full (Frame Rate). If this isn’t correct it will cause viewing quality issues.

On the FW500 HDCAM deck what is the system frequency set to? 29.97 PsF or 29.97 Interlaced?

The all to familiar – Trash your FCP preferences. FCP Rescue – on Apple software page is a great utility to keep around.

Hope this helps,

Jerry Miles
Mac Products Manager
ProMax Systems, Inc.

[Jerry Miles]

Hey Darth,

G4 machines have 33MHz PCI slots
G5’s with 4 RAM slots have 33MHz PCI slots
G5’s with 8 RAM slots have PCI-X slots
Slot 4 = 133MHz PCI-X
Slot 2 and 3 are 100MHz PCI-X

The import thing to remember is slots 2 and 3 share a controller and if you put a 33MHz card in Slot 2 that will drop Slot 3 to 33MHz too. This is where you run into issues. Most Firewire cards are 33MHz PCI and some sounds cards so just beware of those situations where you might combine cards in those slots.

The KONA products just ROCK!

Jerry Miles
Mac Products Manager
ProMax Systems, Inc.

[Jerry Miles]

I have been running the HighPoint PCIe since the Mac driver was released and I have not experienced any dropping of the RAID volume. Will you clarify your setup and the drives your using?

Thanks!

[Jerry Miles]

I tend to enjoy my consciousness more when I choose to keep the veil over my psyche. – Jerry Miles

Hi Jandro,

There are so many things to consider I hope the following helps your understanding.

Some definitions first:

DVCPRO HD over firewire = compressed format (contains digital algorithm that presents itself as a blocky artifact if messed with to much in post production) Walter witnessed this phenomenon and chose to go uncompressed for final color corrections.

DVCPRO HD over HD-SDI = the deck has removed (decompressed that algorithm) and is sending out raw data that can be placed into an uncompressed file format which can be either 8 bit = 256 levels of stepping or 10 bit = 1024 levels of stepping. Choosing between these levels depends on content and how much space in hard drives you can afford. It could also depend on how much the client is willing to pay you for those additional in the future projects you wrote about.

The firewire acquired footage involves that digital grid that for most basic editing purposes will be fine. Of course this to will depend on content and the discerning technical eye.

Editing = cuts, dissolves and basic transitions. I know it involves far more so please don’t bust my ….s. =)

Compositing = placing images and/or parts of images over other images that may or may not be of the same resolution and attempt to make them seamless or as one.

Color Correction = functional correction for wrong white balance or could = forcing the color that was acquired to a different value to invoke a style or feel. It could also help the story move you to a place where you might feel safe to unveil your psyche. =) don’t laugh. I dare you…

STORAGE needs:

DVCPRO HD = 5.6MB/sec to 14MB/sec depending on resolution and frame rate. Hour of compressed at highest data rate = 50GB give or take for lack of scientific calculator at my deck.

Uncompressed file format:

8 bit = 120MB/sec give or take a few MB for additional audio tracks. 432GB for an hour.
10 bit = 160MB/sec give or take a few MB for additional audio tracks. 576GB for an hour.

So…

If your passionate about your project and you have spent countless and endless hours of time setting up your shots and waiting for that perfect moment in time to capture that special glow of light. Or maybe you have mastered the ability to create your own reality with blue and green screen shooting and will composite later you probably don’t want to finish in a compressed format. You will want and desire the ability to at some point in your workflow pull all your selects into the computer in their uncompressed glory for final manipulation and output. If this is your goal ProMax will help you achieve it.

We offer many storage solutions from Fibre Channel to our SATAMAX line of storage products. Please keep in mind these additional storage notes that need clarification: RAID 0 products are less expensive and provide incredible performance but should be used with Timecode and proper workflow guidelines. RAID 3 and RAID 5 solutions are more expensive but provide an additional level of protection from a single hard-drive failure. NONE of these products protects you from a crash that causes the Operating System to scramble the directory structure of your drives. RAID 3 and RAID 5 are NOT backup solutions!! PLEASE remember to always make backup copies of all your project files and other important data that can’t be easily re-digitized via time-code.

As you can see Jandro this is pretty involved and it appears we probably need to talk on the phone and get to the bottom of your specific needs which is how ProMax Systems, Inc. came to be so successful over the years. We cater to your custom needs and want you to be successful.

Thanks for reading and I will contact you tomorrow or feel free to call me at your leisure.

Jerry Miles
Macintosh Products Manager
ProMax Systems, Inc.
The Leader in Digital Video Pre-Configured Systems Since 1994
16 Technology Drive #106 https://www.promax.com
Irvine, CA. 92618
800-977-6629 x119 949-727-3977 949-727-3546 (fax)
jerry@promax.com