Re: Hardware Recommendations


"Charlie S." <CharlieStam@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
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"nappy" <n@xxx> wrote in message
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"Charlie S." <CharlieStam@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
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I apologize in advance if this is the wrong place to post. If so,
please
redirect. Thanks!

Finally broke down and ordered a MacPro and a 23 monitor with FC 2
Studio. Yes, I know Mac's are way over-priced etc. But, all my
friends are Mac people and I have some experience with this system.
So, that is why I went that route.

With the ability to use Windows on a Mac now.. there are fewer reasons
not to make a Mac a home computer.

I thought of running XP off this computer, but bitter memories of
windows simulated software in the 90's keeps me on a dual path. I know
they are not the same animal, but that was a total nightmare. Plus, I
ran into a problem trying use a PC Excel spread*** file to a Mac a
couple months ago. I'm not going there again.


It isn't simulated. Its just Windows running on mac hardware. I don't run
OSX on any of my macs but very rarely. They're all XP machines.

Does XP come already installed? How about Anti-virus software.... does
that mess things up at all?

no.. you simply install it.


Can you use Windows MS Office and IE rather than Firefox? If so, any
conflicts?

Its windows. You can use anything you want.



Do you save your PC files on a separate drive from your Mac stuff?

yes. I setup an extra 250G on each mac for the XP OS. And extra drives on
some of them for data.

On the only machine that runs OSX, occasionally, I have a large array which
is available under OSX.

Comparing the two OS's is EASY now since they both run on the same machine.
XP is faster, slicker and far more capable than OSX. That's just the way it
is. I have also been able to confirm what I have been saying since 2000.
Premiere is faster than FCP. period. FCP Studio 2 is still a pain in the
ass..













Bought it at the spur of the moment and didn't consult with anyone in
the video business before making the purchase.

I'm basically an amateur in making videos, but would like to find out
if this is really for me.

Here is what I bought
Processor: Two 2.8 Quad Core Intel Xenon
4 GB memory
1 320 GB 7200 drive
1 500 GB 7200 drive
NVIDIA GeForce 8800 512 MB (Two Dual Link DVI)
1 Apple Cinema 23" Display
2 !6 x Superdrives
1 Airport extreme card (Wi-Fi)
Apple Mighty mouse
Apple keyboard + Mac OS X
Apple Care protection

I probably wouldn't even be posting, but out of curiosity I did some
web browsing on Mac systems and came up with the site of a company
that pre-configures Macs for digital editing.
http://www.promax.com/Landing/Apple/good_better_best_macpro.html

A couple items stood out on their better systems that I most likely
won't have on mine. Would like to know if they would be useful or
would be a waste of money.

1. Firewire: On their better systems they had a. Firewire based
DVCPRO HD inputs/outputs or
b. Firewire based XDCAM inputs/outputs

yes, you will want at least one FW connection. I'm pretty sure your Mac
has FW800 (firewire 800 aka 1394b) connections. Even better.
FW800 interfaces are twice as fast as normal FW400 (firewire 400 aka
1394) interfaces.

I hope the cable comes with the computer.


2. Compressed storage: a. 4 hours of 1080i Compressed HD storage or
27 hours of 35Mbit 1080i Compressed HD storage

Gonna depend on content and type as to how many drives and if you
stripe them.

I'm going to have someone help me here. Will either write back when it
comes in or get someone to help me.

It is best to not keep your video footage and elements on the same
drive as your operating system and programs.
This is probably less important now with fast SATA3g drives etc.. but
still a good practice.

Good idea. Probably will use the 320 GB hard drive for booting up and
elements and the 2nd drive for video footage. Also, already have one
external drive for back up.



3. Audio Mixer and Speakers for sound monitoring. (I know I didn't
get an audio mixer, I guess that is something I could buy later. I
didn't ask about the speakers. I imagine they come with either the
display or separately.)

Do NOT use your display speakers or any 'PC' speakers to moitor your
audio if you can avoid it.
Get a nice(decent) pair of powered monitors to listen and a small
mixing board to feed.
Plug the output of your Mac directly into the powered speakers, and
feed the output of your mixing board into the input of the Mac.
examples:
http://tinyurl.com/2mxovo

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/426134-REG/Tapco_By_Mackie_MIX_100_MIX100_10_Channel_Mixer.html


Then you can plug in mics, cd players, tape decks, phonographs, etc
into your mixer, send it to the audio inputs of your machine and record
away.

Thanks for that info. I feel sound might prove to be my biggest
challenge. I'm a bit hearing impaired and not all that sophisticated
regarding mixing sound with video.



On a separate note:

4. I bought one 23 " display. Is there a real benefit to having two
monitors? If so, should they be the same size? If I call back now
and add it to the order, then it would come under the 3 year
warrantee.

If you are only going with one monitor, get at least a 24" (and if
getting more than one, try to make at least one a 24").
Not a must, especially if you are only doing stand. def editing, but a
24" monitor is a s small as you can get and still view 1920x1080, the
current holy grail of HD editing. Future proof
They do not have to be the same size, no.

The display I ordered is the Apple 23 " Cinema HD display. It's not
24". It's an inch smaller. Would that still do the trick? Or, would I
be better off with the 30 in display? I could get both the 24" and 30".

At the local cable company they also run an inexpensive 15 " monitor for
transferring info from the tape deck to the computer. Might that be a
good idea too? (Just realized I have a couple 15: monitors already.)

Anything else I might have missed?

I didn't order any software like MS Office. I use a PC in the real
world.

Mac doesn't have Blueray yet. Probably would replace one with Blueray
in the future.









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