[Rj Miles]

IMHO, one area the 8-core shines is when you are tasking the computer with heavy compositing in FCP or AE.

Then you might consider if your work flow involves jumping around various programs, some of which might be rendering.

Then there is long form re-compression/transcoding, where you can pile up the cores to tackle the task faster.

Simple down & dirty capture & editing is not why you would consider the 8-core.

Heavy duty AE compositing will reap dividends very quickly with an 8-core load with ram and fast drives.

Happy shopping

[Rj Miles]

I 2nd the Mac Pro suggestion, even if you settle on a 2.0ghz or 2.66ghz model to save some $$$. 5 years is to long of a time to build on the PPC given the future advantages/requirements of software needing an Intel processor.

If you don’t want to buy used, shop the Apple refurbished site for deals.

I just picked up a refurb Mac Pro 8-core and it’s up & running no problems. It even came with a x1900 card instead of the 7300GTwhich was a pleasant surprise.

Happy shopping

[Rj Miles]

If you have no other reference to the new MBP expereince than moving up from a G5 Power Mac, the MBP is going to feel pretty good, especially if you are only going to be working in SD video.

However, once you start to tackle HD video or expose yourself to working on faster Mac Pro systems, the MBP will begin to feel like a minor, or in some cases a major step back. This observation may become even more evident as OS X and the programs themselves become more multi-core friendly.

However, the new MBP is certainly a new benchmark in the compromise of raw performance -vs- portability. Especially since Apple says they will continue to develop FCP to be as MBP friendly as possible.

AS far as what production challenges will test the limits of the MBP? IMHO it will be heavy compositing in AE, FCP & Motion of HD material, and probably the Maya work you mention. However, if render times will not be a problem, this will be a compromise you can accept for the portability.

At the end of the day, you may end up owning both the MBP and a faster Mac Pro, as do many other folks in the game. The question of which needs to come 1st is one only you can answer. However, if you will indeed end up owning both, you may be able to configure the MBP a little differently to save $$$. For instance, getting the 15″ MBP over the 17″ Hi-Res model. Or even looking for a great deal on a used 2.33ghz MBP for even less cabbage. Know what I mean?

I decided to build out the fastest Mac pro I could afford now, and jump on a MBP when needed in the future.

Good luck with your decision. It’s a tough one. 🙂

[Rj Miles]

I struggled with a similar decision process.

After reading up a bit on performance stats of the MBP 2.4 & 2.3 compared to other Macs rendering AE and FCP files, I gathered the new MBP would be about twice as fast as a G5 2.0ghz DP, but only 25-30% as fast a Mac Pro 8-core. I might also note, there could be times when the 8-core is even faster.

If you have to be mobile, and that is to say “notebook” mobile, the new MBP computers are very impressive. For more serious video work you will want a eSATA card and RAID, as well as a full 4GB of ram.

At the end of the day, I decided to go with the Mac Pro 8-core and 16GB of ram. If my location production needs develop, I will either consider a used MBP or see how easily I could make the Mac Pro road ready.

If your purchase window can wait, we should see faster MBP notebooks in the new year, perhaps sporting more than (2) cores.

Good luck with your purchase.

RJ

[Rj Miles]

I’d use AE.

Build a comp with the text entering/exiting from the bottom/top of the frame.

Place this comp inside another comp and use the corner-pin plug to adjust the look of the text tilt as desired. Corner-pin adjustment can be used to widen the base as well as narrow the top of the text comp.

[Rj Miles]

Perhaps the Mac Pro is similar to the G5 regarding racing fan observations.

Thermal recalibration of the processors, or sometimes the replacement of one or more of the processors, and even sometime the logic board, was required to solve the racing fans issue.

The trick is to run the hardware test, ideally the ASD test disc available to apple tech support folks. The standard hardware test that comes with the Mac does not usually provide the level of specificity required to identify the problem, but it’s worth a try.

I would schedule an appointment at your local Apple store so they can run the better hardware test disc.

Please keep us posted.

I would also like to know what firmware upgrade you are talking about. How old was your Mac Pro? I assume anything come from Apple would be the latest firmware, although maybe not. 🙂

Good luck and keep us posted.

RJ…

PS… you might try installing and running SMCFanControl to see if that takes control of your fans. We run it on our 8-core to dial in minimum fan speeds of 1200rpm, to keep the Mac pro running cool 24/7.

[Rj Miles]

I might add mpeg stream clip also comes in handy when trying to work with video files which are not on DVD.

I had a client supply me with some mpeg footage with wierd cadence issues, and it was able to adaptively deiterlace the source to a very clean an usable progressive clip.

The only problem I have not been able to overcome with stream clip, is getting the program to bring the DVD audio along while it’s working on the video. I have been demuxing the audio as a separate step.

I also have DVDxDV Pro, which is also very handy, but does not do very well with 24fps DVD material with pulldown applied.

[Rj Miles]

Thanks Dave…

I tried and have had great success removing pull down from the edited clips with mixed cadences, using Cleaner 6.5.1, which also gives me the tools to change codecs, tweak gamma, crop 468 to 480, so I can proceed with DVCPro 50 format files.

Cleaner 6 also did pretty good, except there might be an occassional semi interlaced frame between edited clips of different cadence.

I still have some inspecting to do, but I think I have found a work around until I can coax my client to stick with 30 or 24 frames thru the project work flow.

[Rj Miles]

Thanks for being gentle on me. 🙂

We work in SD 29.97. We produce projects on severals systems at once, namely an AVID Adrenaline and my AE/FCP station. So this work flow comes with some challenges, as well as fading memories regarding how we have worked thru challenges in the past. Unfortunately, often the project is beyond the point of no return by the time I notice something that impedes my AE/FCP production flow. I simply have to adapt, hence my interest in a quick fix.

On some projects, I have have complete control of the edit, EFX and finishing. On other projects, the edit begins on the AVID, then comes over to me for EFX, and I will either finish or send back elements for finishing on the AVID. This has been where the fun begins. 🙂

As we have moved away from laying off to tape, as a means of moving elements between stations, the issue of 3:2 cadences has become the issue. Well, also since the client started shooting with the Panasonic 24p mode. I spent a few hours with the camera man, demonstrating the challenges of trying to shoot with anything other than 29.97, and how it affected the cross platform work flow with 3:2 cadence errors. Particularly when source footage is edited on the AVID and then passed off to me as new clips with cadence changes at nearly every edit point. I’m not sure why the latest commercial was shot 24p again.

The client likes the look of 24p and I don’t blame him. However, trying to work cross platform in 29.97 with the 24p material has been the problem. I have pushed for keeping the edit timebase at 29.97 (including the camera) or 24p until final output.

Thanks for the responses as well as helping fill in some blanks in my own understanding of moving 24p/3:2 cadence material around a 29.97 edit world.

RJ
…

PS… when I have a 24p/3:2 cadence clip that has been digitized into an AVID, can FCP guess or be manually adjusted to properly interpert the clip? I understand something like FieldsKit might add the capability, including manual adjustments for edits within the clips which have created cadence changes. But I wondered about any built in capability.

[Rj Miles]

I am pretty sure “he” is using 24p rather than the 24p advanced. We had spent time running thru all of the camera frame rate options with the work flow, and narrowed down the best in camera rate at 29.97.

I might note, some of the project work is being done on an AVID Adrenaline. The AVID is able to properly flag the source footage so that it plays back in the editor and out to tape properly. However, exporting the footage as a file passes along the 3:2 cadence. I have wondered if there is a setting among the AVID’s output options that removes the 3:2 cadence rather than restoring it and passing it along. This would also be a solution for some of the project.

Thanks for the tip about DV Film.