What are you editing on?

Jon Carlson · January 14th, 2008, 03:37 PM

Let us know what you end up purchasing, Daniel.

If I were in your shoes, I would spec out two or three different systems and see if you can get your hands on something similar at a dealership to play around with.

Daniel Alexander · January 14th, 2008, 05:20 PM

i will defo let you know, thanks for the support

Joel Brooks · January 14th, 2008, 07:59 PM

I would highly recommend the Macrosystem Smart Edit 7 Casablanca NLE. I have used this system since it was released in the mid 90's. Macrosystem has continued to be a cutting edge leader in dedicated stand alone video editing systems. They are a very stable reliable NLE. The interface makes the learning curve very minimal. You can edit in DV, or HDV, and with new models soon to be released, you will be able to edit AVCHD. Macrosystem will likely support solid state in the near future also. Contact me and I will forward more info on these great editing systems at: joel_brooks_113@hotmail.com.

Joel Brooks
Video Producer

Ray Bell · January 14th, 2008, 08:18 PM

Nothing being posted about Dell workstations????

They are pretty nice setups...

Dell is bringing out a couple new workstations that should be killers...

Syd Weinstein · January 14th, 2008, 09:12 PM

Ok, I'll bite..

Dell 690, waiting for 64 bit drivers for some hardware (yeah right) to go to 64 bit.

2 Xeon Quads
Nvidia 4500
4GB Ram (capable to go to 32, or at least 20 if I keep the current ram)
Adaptec 4805 SAS Raid Card
4x750 SATA Drives
Dual DVD-R
Dual 24" Dell Monitors
Matrox X.2 Card (ok, I'm just moving over to HD from SD, so its an SD card)
Cineform
CS3

And I'm comfortable with CS3. Matrox in SD is fast, it won't do the 1920x1080 HD of EX-1, but Cineform will, it will do the 1440x1080 of HD in SD mode.

Ray Bell · January 14th, 2008, 09:37 PM

Thanks Syd....

Sounds like you got a screamer there... :-)

Jamie Baughman · January 19th, 2008, 01:37 AM

Sorry if I missed this in an earlier forum, but do you have to have FCP 6 to work with the PMW footage? Or will 5.0.4 work with the footage?

Thanks!

Don Greening · January 19th, 2008, 02:24 AM

You need FCP v.6.0.2. No earlier version has the XDCAM EX codec.

- Don

Dennis Schmitz · January 19th, 2008, 05:03 AM

Avid Liquid 7.2 has no problems working with 35Mbit XDcam EX files.
No reencoding at all and there's even native support for 24p 1920x1080 mpg2, yay :D

regards Dennis

Dennis Schmitz · January 19th, 2008, 05:06 AM

double post

Bob Grant · January 19th, 2008, 06:15 AM

Vegas Pro 8 here, works a charm with my EX1, inc 1920x1080. Gives you smart render as well. So for cuts only edits no transcoding. You can trim clips and burn them to whatever or archive them in the native XDCAM codec. I also get the essence markers on the timeline. Playback performance is only limited by the speed of your hardware. Buy an OctoFlex if you want a real screamer with 8 cores.

Ray Bell · January 19th, 2008, 09:18 AM

Well I'm going to give Vegas Pro 8 a chance on my system next week...

Allways wanted to play with Vegas and B&H has the upgrade for $99....

and they have the Vegas 6.0 for $79... needed for the upgrade to work

So thats a pretty cheap experiment to get into Vegas 8..... :-)

Brian Cassar · January 19th, 2008, 12:20 PM

Yesterday I have seen an Axio LE with Premiere CS3 on a HP 9400. The system looks great with real time effects and real time slow mo (no rendering as long as you open a new project matching the video format that the footage was shot with).

However I'm slightly concerned on a technical issue. The Axio needs a PCI-X slot. Now I'm under the impression that PCI-X is an ageing system being replaced by PCI-Express. It also seems that most motherboards nowadays do not have a PCI-X slot. So what will happen if the motherboard decides to call it a day and needs to be replaced in a year's time? Will I be able to find a PCI-X motherboard? Or am I missing something?

Brian Bledsoe · January 19th, 2008, 03:49 PM

PCI-X is the 64-bit, high speed version of the common 32-bit PCI bus. Only server motherboards and perhaps a few specialized, high-end workstations offered PCI-X slots. The last version of PCI-X could transfer up to 4.3 GigaByte/second, but those cards and motherboards were not widely adopted due to the arrival of PCI-Express.

PCI-Express is indeed the new hotness and capable of transfer rates up to 16 GigaBytes/second at the present time.

So you are correct that PCI-X is an investment in a dead technology. I would NOT buy a PCI-X card, especially if it costs around $4K. Contact Matrox to find out if they plan to release a more portable PCI-Express version of their products. If they want to stay in business, they also better add support for 64-bit versions of Windows XP and Vista.

I noticed that the Matrox video editing solutions force you to use only computers on an approved list. This tells me that even if you find a replacement motherboard offering PCI-X slots, the Matrox cards may not be compatible.

As we type, the PC industry is experiencing a big technology revolution. Intel is presently releasing new motherboard chipsets to support some awesome quad-core and eight-core CPUs arriving late in 2008. It's a certainty that these faster computers will NOT support PCI-X. Video production will strongly benefit from these faster computers, so you don't want to be tied to old technology.

Of course, PCI-Express also gets faster each year. In fact, there's a new PCIe 3.0 standard being finalized that boasts impressive 32 GB/s transfer rates. The good news is that all PCIe versions are backwards compatible.

Graeme Fullick · January 19th, 2008, 05:28 PM

Also using Avid Liquid 7.2. Edits native XDCAM files - and works flawlessly. I guess Liquid has an advantage in that it was designed as an MPEG editor from the ground up - which is why it works so well.

January 14th, 2008, 07:59 PM	#33
Joel Brooks Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Weatherford, Texas Posts: 79	Danial, I would highly recommend the Macrosystem Smart Edit 7 Casablanca NLE. I have used this system since it was released in the mid 90's. Macrosystem has continued to be a cutting edge leader in dedicated stand alone video editing systems. They are a very stable reliable NLE. The interface makes the learning curve very minimal. You can edit in DV, or HDV, and with new models soon to be released, you will be able to edit AVCHD. Macrosystem will likely support solid state in the near future also. Contact me and I will forward more info on these great editing systems at: joel_brooks_113@hotmail.com. Joel Brooks Video Producer

January 14th, 2008, 09:12 PM	#35
Syd Weinstein New Boot Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: HV, PA Posts: 7	Dell Workstation Ok, I'll bite.. Dell 690, waiting for 64 bit drivers for some hardware (yeah right) to go to 64 bit. 2 Xeon Quads Nvidia 4500 4GB Ram (capable to go to 32, or at least 20 if I keep the current ram) Adaptec 4805 SAS Raid Card 4x750 SATA Drives Dual DVD-R Dual 24" Dell Monitors Matrox X.2 Card (ok, I'm just moving over to HD from SD, so its an SD card) Cineform CS3 And I'm comfortable with CS3. Matrox in SD is fast, it won't do the 1920x1080 HD of EX-1, but Cineform will, it will do the 1440x1080 of HD in SD mode.

January 19th, 2008, 01:37 AM	#37
Jamie Baughman Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: San Francisco, CA Posts: 180	Sorry if I missed this in an earlier forum, but do you have to have FCP 6 to work with the PMW footage? Or will 5.0.4 work with the footage? Thanks! __________________ Jamie Baughman

January 19th, 2008, 12:20 PM	#43
Brian Cassar Major Player Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Malta Posts: 306	Concern on Axio LE Yesterday I have seen an Axio LE with Premiere CS3 on a HP 9400. The system looks great with real time effects and real time slow mo (no rendering as long as you open a new project matching the video format that the footage was shot with). However I'm slightly concerned on a technical issue. The Axio needs a PCI-X slot. Now I'm under the impression that PCI-X is an ageing system being replaced by PCI-Express. It also seems that most motherboards nowadays do not have a PCI-X slot. So what will happen if the motherboard decides to call it a day and needs to be replaced in a year's time? Will I be able to find a PCI-X motherboard? Or am I missing something?

January 19th, 2008, 05:28 PM	#45
Graeme Fullick Major Player Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Newcastle, Australia Posts: 337	Also using Avid Liquid 7.2. Edits native XDCAM files - and works flawlessly. I guess Liquid has an advantage in that it was designed as an MPEG editor from the ground up - which is why it works so well. __________________ Graeme

January 14th, 2008, 03:37 PM	#31
Jon Carlson Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Reading, PA USA Posts: 61	Let us know what you end up purchasing, Daniel. If I were in your shoes, I would spec out two or three different systems and see if you can get your hands on something similar at a dealership to play around with.

January 14th, 2008, 05:20 PM	#32
Daniel Alexander Major Player Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: West Midlands, UK Posts: 320	i will defo let you know, thanks for the support

January 14th, 2008, 08:18 PM	#34
Ray Bell Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 1,414	Nothing being posted about Dell workstations???? They are pretty nice setups... Dell is bringing out a couple new workstations that should be killers...

January 14th, 2008, 09:37 PM	#36
Ray Bell Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 1,414	Thanks Syd.... Sounds like you got a screamer there... :-)

January 19th, 2008, 02:24 AM	#38
Don Greening Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Port Coquitlam BC Canada Posts: 179	You need FCP v.6.0.2. No earlier version has the XDCAM EX codec. - Don

January 19th, 2008, 05:03 AM	#39
Dennis Schmitz Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Viersen, Germany Posts: 120	Avid Liquid 7.2 has no problems working with 35Mbit XDcam EX files. No reencoding at all and there's even native support for 24p 1920x1080 mpg2, yay :D regards Dennis

January 19th, 2008, 05:06 AM	#40
Dennis Schmitz Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Viersen, Germany Posts: 120	double post

January 19th, 2008, 06:15 AM	#41
Bob Grant Trustee Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Sydney Australia Posts: 1,570	Vegas Pro 8 here, works a charm with my EX1, inc 1920x1080. Gives you smart render as well. So for cuts only edits no transcoding. You can trim clips and burn them to whatever or archive them in the native XDCAM codec. I also get the essence markers on the timeline. Playback performance is only limited by the speed of your hardware. Buy an OctoFlex if you want a real screamer with 8 cores.

January 19th, 2008, 09:18 AM	#42
Ray Bell Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 1,414	Well I'm going to give Vegas Pro 8 a chance on my system next week... Allways wanted to play with Vegas and B&H has the upgrade for $99.... and they have the Vegas 6.0 for $79... needed for the upgrade to work So thats a pretty cheap experiment to get into Vegas 8..... :-)

January 19th, 2008, 03:49 PM	#44
Brian Bledsoe Tourist Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Huntsville, AL Posts: 2	PCI-X is the 64-bit, high speed version of the common 32-bit PCI bus. Only server motherboards and perhaps a few specialized, high-end workstations offered PCI-X slots. The last version of PCI-X could transfer up to 4.3 GigaByte/second, but those cards and motherboards were not widely adopted due to the arrival of PCI-Express. PCI-Express is indeed the new hotness and capable of transfer rates up to 16 GigaBytes/second at the present time. So you are correct that PCI-X is an investment in a dead technology. I would NOT buy a PCI-X card, especially if it costs around $4K. Contact Matrox to find out if they plan to release a more portable PCI-Express version of their products. If they want to stay in business, they also better add support for 64-bit versions of Windows XP and Vista. I noticed that the Matrox video editing solutions force you to use only computers on an approved list. This tells me that even if you find a replacement motherboard offering PCI-X slots, the Matrox cards may not be compatible. As we type, the PC industry is experiencing a big technology revolution. Intel is presently releasing new motherboard chipsets to support some awesome quad-core and eight-core CPUs arriving late in 2008. It's a certainty that these faster computers will NOT support PCI-X. Video production will strongly benefit from these faster computers, so you don't want to be tied to old technology. Of course, PCI-Express also gets faster each year. In fact, there's a new PCIe 3.0 standard being finalized that boasts impressive 32 GB/s transfer rates. The good news is that all PCIe versions are backwards compatible.