Is this drive fast/good enough to edit a project with multi timelines in real time? How many timelimes can it handle at the same time in real time? Or do I need a a dedicated HDD like the ones from G-technology (like the G-raid3) ?? Or does it not depend on the HDD at all how many timelines you can edit simultaneous REAL TIME. Does anyone have any experience. I am planning to edit AVC-I-100 and DVCproHD mainly.
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Apple 1TB/7200 HDD in the Mac pro
- Thread starter mutsaers-vr.nl
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I think you mean to say, multiple video layers in real time. That's a good question. I'm not sure, and can't say without knowing what bitrate you're shooting or how many video layers, but I'll bet you'll be able to get maybe 2 simultaneously, but if you want more you need to install more drives. I suggest installing more internal drives in your mac pro and striping them together in a RAID0 configuration for more speed.
Thanks, yes that is waht I ment. Does apple supply all the hardware to make such RAID0 configuration, if so what do I need (as you can see I am a newby). I also see that you have the 4870 Graphics card. Is it faster that the GT120 and what are the other advantages. Is it possible with either of these cards to connect 2 ACD 24" and having on one screen FCP interface and on the other the result of the editting work?
You don't need hardware to make a striped raid. All you need is the hard drives installed, and then you use Disk Utility (in the Utilities folder) to make a RAID array in software.
The 4870 is faster than the GT120, but if you have to ask, you don't need a 4870. It won't really help you edit faster yet. Now, as to the cards, you can only connect one 24" ACD per card, as they use Mini Displayport, and there's only one MDP port per card. So you'll need another card to run two of them. You can spread out the windows and video in FCP between monitors however you want.
Hope that helps.
The 4870 is faster than the GT120, but if you have to ask, you don't need a 4870. It won't really help you edit faster yet. Now, as to the cards, you can only connect one 24" ACD per card, as they use Mini Displayport, and there's only one MDP port per card. So you'll need another card to run two of them. You can spread out the windows and video in FCP between monitors however you want.
Hope that helps.
You can use Apple software RAID - all one needs is more then one hard disc and a MacPro. It should be configurable under disc utility, I haven't set up a software RAID myself.
Yes, I would think the 4870 is faster. Furthermore, its VRAM uses up less electricity per unit VRAM (GDDR5 vs. GDDR3, IIRC? Correct me if I am wrong). Furthermore, methinks one can flash a 1GB card, and thusly the 4870 would have more VRAM then the GT120.
Nope. One must buy multiple cards for multiple MDP ports. In essence (in another thread), refurb NECs which beat out Apple's monitor are selling for less @ Tech for Less.
EDIT - Apologies for redundancy.
In what case do you need the 4870 card. I thought edittingis very demanding for the video card. This is the main reason why I decided not go for the MBP 17inch because the tests I performed in the apple shop gave a little stuttering movement (yes the 9600 card was working). The MP gave much smoother movements.
Just pick up a WesternDigital 1GB Black edition. This will be more than fast enough and should be easier on the wallet. 
The 4870 will be more useful in the future, as OpenCL and GCD are used more frequently, but in the meantime it's far more useful in Motion and Color than it is in Final Cut Pro, because Final Cut does not use the graphics card for very much. Now, the Mac Pro has faster processors, more of them, faster RAM, and faster hard drives - all of these things will make it faster than the MBP. As of right now, though again, I expect this to change in the future, these factors are more important than your GPU.
When I said FCP i meant FCS3 so the 2 times a 4870 will be better than the 2 times a GT120 and I want to be future prove if possible at all in these fast times. I want a nice editting rig and I can only afford it once so no compromises this time ))
))