Question on RAM for Compressor

I am sorry to ask such a elementary question but need the answer anyway. I have a large amount of PAL footage I want to transfer to NTSC via Compressor but it is taking so long it will cause me to miss the projects deadline.

I have a very small amount of RAM at only 768 MB. Will maxing out at the 2 Gigs RAM make Compressor transcode these files faster?

I am saving for a Quad core so I don't want to keep upgrading the G4 but I am in a bind and don't know what to do. I won't be able to afford the quad for a few months but I have 2 big projects to do in the meantime.

Another thought I have had is upgrading to Tiger on my Powerbook so I can set up qmaster on both computers and transcode using a cluster. It's a 1.5 Ghz power book.

I don't know what to do and I am pretty alone in Idaho as far as finding people to ask about my mac questions. Thanks in advance.

No, Extra ram won't help much. Compressor is slow on a top end quad too. It's just slow full stop. You really just need to take the tapes to a place with a tape to tape converter and get it done in real time.

Graeme



[www.nattress.com] - Plugins for FCP-X

Most people can't tell the difference between Compressor and Nattress's G-Convert (a contributer to this forum). We have used G-Convert for several projects with good results. It's light-years faster than Compressor.

One of the heavy techie persons who analyzed Compressor claimed that it only uses one of your computer's two processors and that's a prime reason it's so slow.

But yes, trying to do any video work with less than 2G of memory is not likely to be successful. You will Retire to Arizona waiting for Final Cut or Compressor to finish jobs.

Koz

I just bought G Convertor. I will try it out and post again.

Also and embarassing side note... I have been around this computer since it was new. I worked for a extreme sports film company and then a couple years ago bought the company and the computers and cameras came with it.

I made our first 3 movies with the stock 256 MB RAM and then bought another 512 stick after that. Since then I have made 4 more of these movies on this old Mirror drive door. I have never had any formal training in the film film profession or any computer classes. Although I am somewhat proud to be successful and self taught, i realize that I only posses a fraction of the knowledge i should have.

Anyway, thank you both for your help.

<<<i realize that I only posses a fraction of the knowledge i should have.>>>

Hang around.

There's quite an impressive list of people who post here including, on occason, PfA (Paul from Apple).

All time zones represented. We rarely miss. No Flames. Wipe your feet as you come in.

You understand that if we help you, you are required to post help for someone else right? It's not always the same three people trying to help everybody.

Koz

Yes I hope to be able to return the favor by helping some one else sometime. Thank you guys for your help.

I just did a bunch of different trials in the time line with G Convertor, Compressor, and Atlantis DV. Atlantis DV was quite disapointing. I am suprised I used it so much in the past and was ok with the results.

G Convertor was very fast and simple to use. It took 3 minutes to convert a clip Compressor took about 75 minutes to convert. While the compressor clip was a bit more clear in the hi speed motion, the quickness and ease of G Convertor is AWESOME. G Convertor is worth $100 without a doubt. It has just become my standards convertor of choice... especially when time is of the essance.

Thanks again,

Josh

Thanks Josh. That's most appreciated. That time saving is about right compared to my tests. You can make it even slower too if you set the quality in Compressor higher. I do like the quality you can get from compressor, but it really is too slow to be usable in any kind of production environment unless that clip is really short.....

Graeme



[www.nattress.com] - Plugins for FCP-X

<<<While the compressor clip was a bit more clear in the hi speed motion>>>

Right. G-Convert doesn't have Motion Prediction like Compressor does, so if there's going to be an error, that's where to look.

However, as I'm sure you noticed, if you don't compare it to anything else, you're usually good to go--far faster than Compressor can deliver.

Koz