Sound recording options with the head
 

I'm thinking of buying only the head of the SI and would like to know what would be the best option to record sound, is there anyway to get sync sound using some external audio recorder (Tascam HD-P2) connected to the PC ?
Also I'm in between buying a Vaio VGN-AR21S or a MacBook Pro to use with the head, I'm having a hard time choosing. If I go with Sony I get better specs but I'll have to move from FCP to Premiere. Is the MBP fast enough to use with the camera ?

The new Core 2 Duo Macbooks look like they'll be pefect.

Get the fastest you can get (2.33Ghz), but don't get the 3GB of RAM option, just the 2GB, because we require dual-channel memory, and IIRC, you can't do dual-channel DDR2 over two differing sized sticks of memory. I could be wrong though, but that's my suspicion. 2GB of RAM is plenty to run the program anyways, and is our suggested size.

Sound sync is supported with USB audio devices, or anything that has WDM-compatible drivers and can be seen and used as a standard windows WAV device.

SONY Notebook
 

The SONY VGN-AR270 may be a better option with Intel GigE NIC!

So your software doesn't support ASIO or DirectSound? I have a Firewire 410 that I think has WDM drivers, but never used them.

Actually I just looked over the spec sheet for the Sony, and it only has 100BASE-T (not gigabit ethernet) . . . I'd highly recommend people to stay away from the Sony, the new Core 2 Duo Macbooks are a much better buy with their Marvell gig-e based NIC's and ATI X1600 graphics. If you go with the Sony, you will need another expresscard gig-e adapter, and that's not really the most reliable pathway.

Not right now, although that will change with future releases . . . the nice thing about our architecture is that it's an evolving platform, just like any other piece of software you buy. 2.x is always much better because it incorporates all the suggestions from the user-base. We've been packing so many features into the 1.0 release, and we figured that for the inital release, the WDM drivers will get people good quality audio that will work well in their productions. Remember, the AVI file format can't take 24/96 in multiple channels (not the VFW-compatible files), so adding the ASIO functionality right now is overkill until some upgrades are made at the codec level-WDM can do the 16/48 stuff just fine. So it's not that ASIO or DirectSound isn't coming, but just that it's not in for the 1.0 release, nor was it necessary for the functionality we have in the 1.0 release. But like I said, there are so many ground-breaking features in this 1.0 release that I think you'll be very pleased with what you'll be getting. And we're not like the camera firmware you're used to in the past with it's limited upgradeability-we're computer software with LOTS of flexibility to expand into the future as you expand (I don't care what they tell you, I've NEVER seen firmware upgrades that were as comprehensive as software upgrades).

Thanks... This helped alot, the mac is the best option and I can also run XP wih bootcamp if needed.

Memory Speed
 

Jason,

Thanks for the reality check on the SONY model. I also noticed it only has 533MHz memory. We want 667MHz.

The new Sony AR series laptops with Core 2 Duro and 667mhz front bus are what one would want for the SI if you are considering Sony. They also include HDMI out at up to 1080p resolution. Have Gigethernet and expresscard 54 slot. Expensive but nice.

Any tablet PC suggestion?

For a tablet pc I think the Toshiba has those notebook/tablet hybrids, like the M400 wich you can customize up to 2.33 GHz, 2Gb RAM, 100Gb HDD...

Toshiba M400
 

Melvin,

Although we have not tested this model specifically, this Toshiba looks like an excellent choice.

It HAS the PRO/1000 GigE built in and 2GB of 667MHz DDR2.

http://www.toshibadirect.com/td/b2c/...=PPM40U-1V700D

Although, the on-board GMA950 would not perfrom 3D-Lut color correction as well as a dedicated GPU.


On the SONY notebook side. The BX670 does have the PRO/1000 but only ships with 533MHz memory?

I'm going to go with the Mac Book Pro. For me it will be the best option since I will work with FCP and Shake and I already have an iBook and a G5.

Hi Ari,

That toshiba doesn't appear to support Merom . . . T7400 or above . . .

Again, it looks to me like the new Macbook Pro's are the best buy if you're looking for a laptop. They come with Marvell gig-e, DDR2 667 (get the 2GB option, not 3GB for dual channel memory), and the ATI X1600 GPU for pretty decent graphics performance, especially if you want to run dual monitors (the GMA950 will choke on that).

So, just my hardware recommendations.

Arri, my bad. I went back over to the Sony site and you're right. Holy cow, they offer a t7600 with 533. And very expensive.

I met a guy the other day who was buying dual dual Xeon macs because they were less expensive than equivalent Dells and had more features. He said the drivers were out that made Runnin XP easy. Who'd of thought!!!!????

The toshiba is useing older core duos. I thought they were not vista compatible (at least for 64bit computing).

They're Vista-compatible, but not suggested due to the processing requirements of doing CineForm at the highest-quality compression settings (can be quite a CPU resource consumer when combined with running the interface).

We suggest the fastest Merom you can get your hands on, and either the Marvell or the Intel-based NIC's (with Intel being ideal).

The Sony doesn't have gig-e, so it's not even in the running.

Not sure why the big push for the Macbook when there are so many options out there. I'd rather stick with the Adobe workflow which is far better integrated then anything else.

I suggest looking at something like this:

http://www.sagernotebook.com/pages/n...5760&SubType=V

You can customize it to the 2.33GHz if you'd like. If that doesn't fit your bill there are many others options out there. I would browse around Sager's sight to see all they offer.

The main reason I was looking at this camera was because of the Adobe/Premiere workflow but for some reason it seems like ther trying to push the Mac end of things. What gives?

Steve, When I was at the Abel Cine Tech demo of the SI-2k on Friday, Steve Nordhauser said that SI was going to strongly try to limit the number of platforms they officially support. Their applications right now are PC based, written in Microsoft C++, and the only -officially- recommended platform is the Dell M90.

Given the Mini properties, a tablet PC would have all the sense if and when the hardware will be available. More than the traditional notebook/keyboard setup. Because it is not so mini nor the best portable hardware setup.