Powermac g5 dual 2.7 + 4 gb ram- enough for smooth HDV + Motion? at DVinfo.net

Sergio Perez · June 6th, 2005, 08:14 PM

I'm going to invest on a new home based editing solution. I do comercials, event coverage and short films (I do a lot of progressive 25 p shooting- PAL here)

Can someone tell me if this is the way to go, or should I head "the PC way"? I do not have a problem with windows, but also like the stability of Mac. I have a P4 2ghz with Pinnacle dv500 plus 1 ghz RAM at home, and it has been great for dv for over 3 years... UI have, however, a g4 1.67 powerbook with 2 ghz RAM, even tough slow, is very stable and I LOVE the flexibility of conversion in FCP.

Any suggestions from the experts out there? I posted here on the Mac forum because I do want the opinion of someone who has the experience of actually working in "both worlds"like I do...

Boyd Ostroff · June 6th, 2005, 08:25 PM

I can't provide a perspective of someone who's used both systems, because all my experience is on the Mac. But if you're used to a 1.67ghz G4 I can tell you to expect a speed increase between 2x to 3x with the dual 2.7 G5 (based on my experience with a 1.25 G4 single and 2.5 dual G5).

Of course Motion is a piece of software which will easily eat up as much CPU and GPU as you can throw at it. And (obviously) it doesn't even run on the PC.

Bryan Suthard · June 6th, 2005, 08:32 PM

Sergio,

I am no Pro but I dabble with the FX1 and FCP5. The performance of my 2002 vintage Dual 1G G4 Powermac (1.5 G ram) blows away the peformance of my 2005 Powerbook 1.5G G4 (1 G ram).

I would love to have the power of a Dual 2.7 G5 and you probably would need it if you do a lot of post processing like you are talking about, but for simple cuts and transitions, even my aged Dual 1 G4 gets by pretty well. In fact the release of FCP5 has basically retooled it and made it usable again for me.

Unless you have AspectHD/ConnectHD from Cineform on the PC platform, you may struggle in the PC world with HDV edits.

Bryan

Bryan Suthard · June 6th, 2005, 08:38 PM

Forgot to mention that I use Vegas also with a P4 3.0 Ghz. Editing native captures from HDV is really a struggle for the machine. This where the Cineform ConnectHD product which pre-processes the HDV stream into a fast editing format comes into play. I do not own it, but check out HDV Editing Solutions forum for more info about it if you choose to stick with a PC.

Chuck Grieves · June 11th, 2005, 09:14 PM

Sergio, I use FCP 4.5 HD on a G5 dual 2.5 with an nVidia 6800 Ultra and 4.5 gb ram. Editing in FCP is great but more ram will help. My system slows noticebly while using Motion though, specifically if several types of effects are used. It's enough to make me feel that 6 to 8gb of ram would make the system fly. Hope this helps ya decide.
Chuck

Zack Birlew · June 12th, 2005, 11:24 AM

Ok, easy question. Right now you, my friend Sergio, only have two choices for your line of work. One, AVID Xpress Pro HD. Two, Final Cut Pro HD. That's it. The bottom line is that these two apps are the top of the line and they are the only ones that work perfectly with HD right now. But from everything I've been reading for the past three years, Final Cut Pro is the way to go. AVID apparently has a ton of bugs that still haven't been ironed out yet and it's a freak thing too, some people experience bugs and some never have a crash at all. AVID would be nice since it works on both platforms, but why would you do that if you could get Final Cut Pro instead? I say that going Final Cut Pro is your best bet since I hear nothing but good things about it. Keep in mind that you should get as much RAM as possible and do try for the Geforce 6800 Ultra graphics card, it will help.

Mark Ross · June 12th, 2005, 05:11 PM

FWIW: I am right at this moment edting HDV in FCP 5 with the same machine you describe, except I only have 2GB of RAM. So far, so good in FCP, although admittedly all I've done is short work, 3.5 minute sequences, but the native HDV looks good and runs well. Have only opened Motion to play but as Boyd suggests, it will take all you can give it and run better with more of everything.

Sergio Perez · June 12th, 2005, 10:01 PM

Thanks everybody. I really have to say that this online community here is really helpful, and this is the reference site for everything concerning videography. Thank you all. I decided to go with the powermac, then. By the way, just did a commercial for a motocross event here in Macau, done on a PC- with very intensive After Effects work... I know I should start another thread for this, but since I never used motion... How does it compare with AE? Can I do animations, keys and, you know, "after effects" with motion? Will it make me "divorce" after effects and marry motion?

Liam Dempsey · June 15th, 2005, 11:08 PM

In fact, you will not have to divorce AfterEffects at all. Motion integrates fairly well with AfterEffects and can even be launched from within AfterEffects. See

http://www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/...eoverview.html

for more info. Additionally , the dual 2.7 G5 will run FCP smoothly and should do very well with Motion. Like Chuck Grieves said, more memory will do wonders for FCP and Motion

June 18th, 2005, 11:55 AM

I'd head in the direction of the Mac. I've been very happy with how my dual 2.5 and now dual 2.7 have worked with FCP and Motion. The dual 2.5 had 2 gig ram, but recently I got the dual 2.7 and opted for 6.5 gig RAM (I think, if not it's 5.5 gig RAM). Everything is just plug and play (or edit, capture, etc.). In the rare case, when a problem does occur, it's usually a pretty simple fix. Hope this helps.

June 6th, 2005, 08:14 PM	#1
Sergio Perez Major Player Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Macau Posts: 331	Powermac g5 dual 2.7 + 4 gb ram- enough for smooth HDV + Motion? I'm going to invest on a new home based editing solution. I do comercials, event coverage and short films (I do a lot of progressive 25 p shooting- PAL here) Can someone tell me if this is the way to go, or should I head "the PC way"? I do not have a problem with windows, but also like the stability of Mac. I have a P4 2ghz with Pinnacle dv500 plus 1 ghz RAM at home, and it has been great for dv for over 3 years... UI have, however, a g4 1.67 powerbook with 2 ghz RAM, even tough slow, is very stable and I LOVE the flexibility of conversion in FCP. Any suggestions from the experts out there? I posted here on the Mac forum because I do want the opinion of someone who has the experience of actually working in "both worlds"like I do... __________________ If you don't believe in your film, no one else will.

June 11th, 2005, 09:14 PM	#5
Chuck Grieves Tourist Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Derry, New Hamsphire Posts: 4	Get more Ram.... Sergio, I use FCP 4.5 HD on a G5 dual 2.5 with an nVidia 6800 Ultra and 4.5 gb ram. Editing in FCP is great but more ram will help. My system slows noticebly while using Motion though, specifically if several types of effects are used. It's enough to make me feel that 6 to 8gb of ram would make the system fly. Hope this helps ya decide. Chuck

June 12th, 2005, 11:24 AM	#6
Zack Birlew Major Player Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Las Vegas, NV Posts: 613	Ok, easy question. Right now you, my friend Sergio, only have two choices for your line of work. One, AVID Xpress Pro HD. Two, Final Cut Pro HD. That's it. The bottom line is that these two apps are the top of the line and they are the only ones that work perfectly with HD right now. But from everything I've been reading for the past three years, Final Cut Pro is the way to go. AVID apparently has a ton of bugs that still haven't been ironed out yet and it's a freak thing too, some people experience bugs and some never have a crash at all. AVID would be nice since it works on both platforms, but why would you do that if you could get Final Cut Pro instead? I say that going Final Cut Pro is your best bet since I hear nothing but good things about it. Keep in mind that you should get as much RAM as possible and do try for the Geforce 6800 Ultra graphics card, it will help. __________________ "Babs Do or Babs Do not, there is no try." - Zack Birlew www.BabsDoProductions.com

June 12th, 2005, 10:01 PM	#8
Sergio Perez Major Player Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Macau Posts: 331	Thanks everybody. I really have to say that this online community here is really helpful, and this is the reference site for everything concerning videography. Thank you all. I decided to go with the powermac, then. By the way, just did a commercial for a motocross event here in Macau, done on a PC- with very intensive After Effects work... I know I should start another thread for this, but since I never used motion... How does it compare with AE? Can I do animations, keys and, you know, "after effects" with motion? Will it make me "divorce" after effects and marry motion? __________________ If you don't believe in your film, no one else will.

June 18th, 2005, 11:55 AM	#10
Guest Posts: n/a	I maybe partial here, but... I'd head in the direction of the Mac. I've been very happy with how my dual 2.5 and now dual 2.7 have worked with FCP and Motion. The dual 2.5 had 2 gig ram, but recently I got the dual 2.7 and opted for 6.5 gig RAM (I think, if not it's 5.5 gig RAM). Everything is just plug and play (or edit, capture, etc.). In the rare case, when a problem does occur, it's usually a pretty simple fix. Hope this helps.

June 6th, 2005, 08:25 PM	#2
Boyd Ostroff Wrangler Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Mays Landing, NJ Posts: 11,802	I can't provide a perspective of someone who's used both systems, because all my experience is on the Mac. But if you're used to a 1.67ghz G4 I can tell you to expect a speed increase between 2x to 3x with the dual 2.7 G5 (based on my experience with a 1.25 G4 single and 2.5 dual G5). Of course Motion is a piece of software which will easily eat up as much CPU and GPU as you can throw at it. And (obviously) it doesn't even run on the PC.

June 6th, 2005, 08:32 PM	#3
Bryan Suthard Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Tampa, FL United States Posts: 135	Sergio, I am no Pro but I dabble with the FX1 and FCP5. The performance of my 2002 vintage Dual 1G G4 Powermac (1.5 G ram) blows away the peformance of my 2005 Powerbook 1.5G G4 (1 G ram). I would love to have the power of a Dual 2.7 G5 and you probably would need it if you do a lot of post processing like you are talking about, but for simple cuts and transitions, even my aged Dual 1 G4 gets by pretty well. In fact the release of FCP5 has basically retooled it and made it usable again for me. Unless you have AspectHD/ConnectHD from Cineform on the PC platform, you may struggle in the PC world with HDV edits. Bryan

June 6th, 2005, 08:38 PM	#4
Bryan Suthard Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Tampa, FL United States Posts: 135	Forgot to mention that I use Vegas also with a P4 3.0 Ghz. Editing native captures from HDV is really a struggle for the machine. This where the Cineform ConnectHD product which pre-processes the HDV stream into a fast editing format comes into play. I do not own it, but check out HDV Editing Solutions forum for more info about it if you choose to stick with a PC.

June 12th, 2005, 05:11 PM	#7
Mark Ross Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Bozeman, MT Posts: 79	FWIW: I am right at this moment edting HDV in FCP 5 with the same machine you describe, except I only have 2GB of RAM. So far, so good in FCP, although admittedly all I've done is short work, 3.5 minute sequences, but the native HDV looks good and runs well. Have only opened Motion to play but as Boyd suggests, it will take all you can give it and run better with more of everything.

June 15th, 2005, 11:08 PM	#9
Liam Dempsey New Boot Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Santa Clara, CA Posts: 8	In fact, you will not have to divorce AfterEffects at all. Motion integrates fairly well with AfterEffects and can even be launched from within AfterEffects. See http://www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/...eoverview.html for more info. Additionally , the dual 2.7 G5 will run FCP smoothly and should do very well with Motion. Like Chuck Grieves said, more memory will do wonders for FCP and Motion