[Sascha Engel]

Just go to the space you want to fill with the slug, and right mouse click: Click on “Fill with Slug”…And there you are.

Sascha

[Sascha Engel]

[Jeff Meyer] “If you’re looking for two years out of the iMac I’d say buy tomorrow and call it good.”

I don’t understand, what you mean with that sentence. Could you explain?

[Jeff Meyer] “My Mac Mini suggestion was based on thinking you want 4 or 5 years out of your big iron machine. I believe 16GB of RAM is the max, and I have no clue about the display capabilities.”

What do you mean by that? What you refer to with iron machine?
Sorry, for being dumb – maybe it’s also my English.

Why do you estimate a 2 year span for an iMac? I thought I could work with this system and Thunderbolt Raid at least 3-4 years then?

Thanx again for your time.

Greetings,

Sascha

[Sascha Engel]

How much can I pump up the RAM in the Mac Mini?
What is the max graphic card you can get it with?
Can you connect two screens – 27inch each to it?

Thanx.

Sascha

[Sascha Engel]

Hi Jeff,

thanx once more. I really appreciate your time to share your thoughts with me.
Today or tomorrow? Good question. I am planning to upgrade my system the past 2 years…but the pro unfriendly attitude of apple scared me off many a times. So I kept rocking away with my MacBook Pro, even editing two Feature Films on it, one of them I even onlined on the MBP.
But I get more work coming around and I just cannot handle it anymore on that system. It’s getting hideous. So, yes, I can wait another 1-2 months, since I am shooting now in NYC first anyway, but then…it’s really time.
Mac Mini is nice as well, but I need two displays and that is extra money as well. I thought with the iMac 27inch, Dell U2711, AJA T-Tap and Pegasus Raid, I can work at least the next 2 years and then when I wanna upgrade to a new Pro Mac Machine, I just have to sell the iMac…or keep it in my shop if it grew till then and the Raid, and Monitor I still can use on the Pro Model.
I just really do not want to invest in this MacPro..as you said, it’s a joke and the price here in Israel for it is unreal: 5,500.-Dollars only the naked machine with most simple specs.
It’s really a nutcracker this subject. I even thought of getting a Hackintosh at some point.

Sascha

[Sascha Engel]

Thanx Jeff for your POV.
What is your take on the fact, that many people say, Apple wants to let the line of Mac Pros run dead.
Of course, the MAcPro is faster, but as you mentioned, budget plays a role as well.
In Israel Mac is so much more expansive than in the States, it’s hard to pull off.
But I think, I should be able to handle RED with the iMac – I even edited 2K Red Footage on my MBP and it went well. Of course, some waiting times for rendering, but it was ok.

I also heard in the current iMacs you can pack 2GB of Video Card (2 Cards).
Wonder if that is possible as well with the new ones.
At least the new ones have NVidea Cards, so AE and PPro can benefit from that.

Sascha

[Sascha Engel]

Ad on: I was thinking as 2nd monitor the Dell UltraSharp U2711 and the 12TB Pegasus Thunderbolt RAID Station.
Any thoughts on this package? Or experiences from somebody using the same or similar set up?

Sascha

[Sascha Engel]

I don’t think, it’s the best budget, but I am very satisfied with the Western Digital Studio Edition ll – You have two HDs inside so you can set the RAID to Mirror and you back up all your projects right away.
They come in 2TB, 4TB or 6TB sizes (two times 1,2 or 3TB).
They are fast and reliable and when you have the Green Caviar WD Disks inside, they are also super silent.

Greetings,

Sascha

[Sascha Engel]

Just figured out, that you can tweak it a lot. And then it seems to be much more responsive.
You know, what are the best settings to push it? Sharpness & Quality push to Max?
Downside it’s a processor eating monster…will take ages to render.
Anybody has experience on Instant HD treated footage on a big screen?
Thanx.

Sascha

[Sascha Engel]

I have a friend who has Instant HD and I ran once some side by side tests: Upscaling with FCP and next to it a nested Seq upscaled with Instant HD. I love all the Red Giant products, but in this case, I can not see much of a difference between the two.

Sascha

[Sascha Engel]

One reason for down stepping to 720p I missed in all the feedback: If you only go for WEB and SD DVD, 720p timeline has a huge advantage: YOu can use your 1080p footage, and do Zooms, Pans and Tilts and even Vertigo Zooms without losing quality. It’s a nice extra gift.

Sascha