[Ola Haldor voll]

Agreed. Selling your machine and get the mid 2010 would be a good choice, if you can’t utilize it in some other way, or you need the cash flow to handle the investment.

I thought of selling mine too, but then I thought I’d use it as a render farm as a multi-purpose machine..
Render node for LightWave 3D, capture device for mastering from DaVinci playback (if it can’t save back to files), and for general use like Illustrator and InDesign for designing covers and disc prints etc.

[Ola Haldor voll]

OK, here we go.. Page 99 in the Resolve manual (available at the DaVinci website at BMD)
– Resolve now supports the ability to add unlimited external mattes within a clip.

And from there it goes on a little bit with text and images how to use it.

[Ola Haldor voll]

There are no drivers from nVidia to enable CUDA cores on the 8800GT as far as I know. At least there’s no mention of it at nVidias website.

I have the early 2008 with 8800GT myself, and will be ordering the GTX and GT 120 asap. Last thing I heard, there’s a 3 week delivery time from AppleStore to Norway.

[Ola Haldor voll]

Oh, and I read somewhere that it supports external mattes.. That’s also a VERY good point. Roto in Shake, Nuke, After Effects, you name it, and use the matte for the grading in DaVinci..

[Ola Haldor voll]

I’m in no way near any “big budget” projects. I started with Apple Color when it was released, say 4 years ago? I’ve done loads of amateur short films, some music videos and commercials to go on the big screen. I started doing it for free just to get something REAL to work on instead of running around in the garden. As I progress, I’ve been charging more. I spend less time to reach a fair result than before. Frankly, I’m barely charging enough to take care of the bills at the office and at home..

I don’t need, and I don’t see myself doing 4K 3D stereoscoping projects. I don’t have the clients who needs it, nor do I want it at this moment.

For my sake, it’s getting the GPUs and the software license, and then a control panel. Next after that, a new Mac Pro, hopefully a 2010 model.. Still a pretty low investment to get into it and still actually work for a nice price so clients will continue to use your facilities.

[Ola Haldor voll]

I see your point. Absolutely. May I ask what kind of system you’re running Color on as of today? Is it THAT much of an investment to get DaVinci and an additional GPU ? I just gotta ask..

And yes indeed, the true power lies in the hands of the operator. And if I may quote one very talented guy over at Pixar.. ‘Art challenges the technology, and technology inspires the art’. A painter who only paints with his fingers can make nice images, but give him a brush… You get the idea?

I’m not saying that DaVinci itself will do the magic, but with the right use (and don’t forget the REAL-TIME playback of images and sound) will greatly enhance the experience – both for you, and for the client.

I can’t say “trust me”, cause I haven’t seen DaVinci up close myself. But I can imagine it, and boy does my imagination go over the hills of joy.. I’ve been asked quite a few times “can you play that?” during a grading session with the DOP or whatever. “Well, sorry, I’ll need to render it first”. Not very impressing and leaves me looking like a douche.

[Ola Haldor voll]

Well.. that depends entirely on your situation. Even if you were to buy Final Cut Studio and build a simple Color suite from scratch, it would be more or less the same price tag. The only major difference is two GPUs instead of one.

And I wouldn’t say it’s a “trick” by BMD. You’re not required to buy some kick ass super expensive equipment, except the software itself. And it’s not like BMD is running away with your money with a big grin on their face. If you consider the price of the software vs. the possibilities, I wouldn’t complain about the “extra costs” it will be to get up to spec with either an upgraded or new Mac Pro and a 3rd party or the Resolve panel.

But then again, I might be what’s known as a “fanboy” and a “geek”. Even though I have no clue how to use it, I just gotta have one.

[Ola Haldor voll]

“Are we there yet” ? Just waiting for a nice thing to appear in my mailbox, but no word from the distributor whether it will be sooner or later. I feel like I’m 6 again and waiting for my parents to come home from their business trip with some fancy new Lego set.

[Ola Haldor voll]

Nope, I didn’t. But looking at it now, I’m thinking.. wow.. That’s quite a bit. But it’s still an interesting path to ‘get there’.

[Ola Haldor voll]

Good news! Macrumors has uncovered GeForce GTX 480 drivers. This means 480 CUDA cores vs. the 240 cores the GTX 285 and Quadro 4800 with 192 cores.

As it seems, the GTX 480 will have 1,5GB ram, just like the Quadro.

Let’s wait and see if Apple will release a Mac Pro any time soon. Getting my hopes up..