Which Mac Pro for my video needs?

[dcpmark]

I've seen the threads dabbling in this issue, but I only have specific machines to choose from.

I need a new Mac Pro for amateur video work....converting old DV video, iMovie editing, ripping and burning DVDs, encoding and decoding with MacTheRipper, Visual Hub, Handbrake, etc. I want to do the job as fast as possible, but my only choices are the 2.66 quad, the 2.26 octo, or waiting for their equivalents in the Gulftowns.

Any thoughts?

TIA

 

[VirtualRain]

I've seen the threads dabbling in this issue, but I only have specific machines to choose from.

I need a new Mac Pro for amateur video work....converting old DV video, iMovie editing, ripping and burning DVDs, encoding and decoding with MacTheRipper, Visual Hub, Handbrake, etc. I want to do the job as fast as possible, but my only choices are the 2.66 quad, the 2.26 octo, or waiting for their equivalents in the Gulftowns.

Any thoughts?

TIA

Either of those machines will be fine... But you may want to check out the new quad core iMac's as well. They are a relative bargain in comparison.

 

[gugucom]

I think you will transcode and handbrake faster with the octad. That will also give you upgrade options later when CPUs have come down in price.

 

[dcpmark]

I wasn't sure if clock speed or cores were more important to programs like MacTheRipper, Visual Hub, Handbrake, etc. I figured the latest iMovie might be optimized for more cores, but you never know!

 

[dcpmark]

Either of those machines will be fine... But you may want to check out the new quad core iMac's as well. They are a relative bargain in comparison.

I liked the sound of the 2.8GHz Core i7 iMac available in November, but I don't want 27" screen, and upgradeability is always nice.

 

[KeriJane]

Lots of Suggestions!

Hi dcpmark

Any Mac Pro does great at Video work. Even my lowly MP1.1.

Here's my suggestions:

Plenty of Ram arranged so as to take advantage of the triple or six channel memory. (depending on Quad or Octo Nehalem) 6GB should be OK but 12 is better.... 8 or 16 for the older quad channel memory systems.

Any of the video cards they have now are OK. Faster or higher bit bus is better.

A fast System hard drive like a Caviar Black (or better) and at least one capture and scratch disk. RAID Array and/or Card optional.

At least one Firewire 800 external drive / enclosure. I like the LaCie 2big Triple/Quadra best though G-tech makes good ones too. I use a 2TB 2BigTriple in RAID0 for Time Machine and a 1TB Quadra for moving or storing captures.

A really nice, color-accurate large monitor. Like an Apple Cinema Display.
Or a LaCie.

Some kind of rotary knob thing for scrolling through frames without using the mouse or keyboard. A Griffin PowerMate does OK as do dedicated Jog/Shuttle wheels.

If you do ANY analog tape work, either import from or export to, a Canopus/Grass Valley ADVC300 is hard to beat. Absolutely NO O.O.S. Audio.

Have Fun,
Keri

PS. I'm thinking about going from Premiere Pro to Final Cut. Any thoughts?

 

[tri3limited]

Final Cut is used more in the actual industry but essentially they're the same.

As for the Mac Pro, get any one you like but have enough money spare for a Matrox MAX card. Can render and compress to H.264 faster than even a virtual cluster on an 8-core. If you're capturing please ignore the canopus... Go with something like an MXO2 MAX (which has the Matrox MAX card inside it.

Future-proofed with the I/O and can compress and render faster than realtime.

 

[jjkuhnle]

New iMAC 27"

I'm planning to buy the new iMAC 27" and a video converter as well for analog video capture using FCS. Unfortunately my budget lets me buy as far as a Canopus ADVC110. I was doing some research and found that the device does not support FW800 connectors. Does that has to do with Fire wire compatibility? I mean, could I capture analog video to FCS through this device using a 4 pin to 9 pin fire wire cable? Or using a FW400 to FW800 adapter, since the new iMAC has only a FW800 port?
Thanks!

 

[tri3limited]

4 to 9 pin is fine.

Your other option is an adaptor for your current fw cable. 4-9 pin or 6-9 pin adaptors can be found everywhere.

Make sure you setup your project using Easy Setup in the FCP menu.

 

[KeriJane]

I'm planning to buy the new iMAC 27" and a video converter as well for analog video capture using FCS. Unfortunately my budget lets me buy as far as a Canopus ADVC110. I was doing some research and found that the device does not support FW800 connectors. Does that has to do with Fire wire compatibility? I mean, could I capture analog video to FCS through this device using a 4 pin to 9 pin fire wire cable? Or using a FW400 to FW800 adapter, since the new iMAC has only a FW800 port?
Thanks!

Yes, any way you work it, FW800 works fine with FW400 devices like Canopus products.
The ADVC110 is a great little converter if all you do is import Analog to Digital or output Digital to Analog. It's a lot like the ADVC300 without the advanced signal cleaning features. It does have the all-important "Locked Audio" feature that prevents Out Of Sync Audio on long captures.

Get the optional ADVCPSU5V AC adaptor if it doesn't come with one. You will need this if using a 4-wire connector. Normally, the ADVC110 powers from a 6-wire FW400 port, but it's best to use the optional AC adaptor especially if you're using any FW adaptors.

Have Fun,
Keri

 

[dcpmark]

Of course the iMac is faster in single threaded applications, but I gees no one who buys an octad Pro uses single threaded apps most of the time.

From another thread, but I'm still confused as to which OSX apps are single threaded and which are multithreaded? Is there one place to look it up for multiple apps, or would I have to research it for each app? These are the apps I use:

HandBrake
Visual Hub
MacTheRipper
Video Converter for Mac
iMovie
iDVD

So, better to have a higher clock speed or multicores?

 

[Transporteur]

Handbrake and VisualHub are definitely multithreaded apps.

Nevertheless, Handbrake is programmed not to use more than 70% of the CPU power, therefore levels off at 800-1000% on an octad MacPro.
You can use the full 1600% when running two instances of Handbrake and encoding two videos at the same time.

I highly doubt that Apples iLife programs are fitted for multicores, yet.
Therefore a higher clock speed is better with that apps.

So it really depends on which programs you use the most.

 

[Tesselator]

I wasn't sure if clock speed or cores were more important to programs like MacTheRipper, Visual Hub, Handbrake, etc. I figured the latest iMovie might be optimized for more cores, but you never know!

I dunno the others but for handbrake it like cores more than clock speed. It's interesting that my 8-core x5355 2.66 from 2006 encodes (rips DVD video) at exactly the same speed as a 2.93 8-core 2009 machine. I haven't looked into the reasons for this but it may mean that clocks (after about 1.8 GHz) are not needed at all and may be irrelevant.

 

[CaptainChunk]

PS. I'm thinking about going from Premiere Pro to Final Cut. Any thoughts?

They're different tools that do essentially the same job. It's not a bad idea to be familiar with Final Cut (and even Avid MC) from the standpoint that it makes it easier to collaborate with other editors on projects. But again, all of these products will produce the same result.