used G5 advice

Bought a used G5:

Dual 2 Ghz PowerPC G5
2.5 GB DDR SDRAM

i installed my FCP studio but only after i upgraded the OS to 10.4.6

Question is this: Do I need a Kona card? I have not come across a lot jobs where I would need to use digibeta or hd formats. And is that all the card does is talk to decks? Do I need a video card?

Friend of mine has Kona card for $1500.00, and is that friend prices or market value?

Hard drive is partitioned three ways as well with, 30gb, 30gb, and 40gb. I seem to remember that HD guy from Zoitrope saying that you should run the FC app from a partition by itself. I have it on one of them and thats all thats on that drive, seems a waste of space but I reckon its better.

thoughts?

<Hard drive is partitioned three ways as well with, 30gb, 30gb, and 40gb

Video work requires use of a second HD . One for system OS. The other HD will contain video media.

You are asking for problems and a verrrrry slow computer with only one HD.

Bj

For media I have Lacie 500GB and lacie 80. a firelite 160 for as well.

so it's slow? what would I need to do to make it faster?

You need a Kona card (or Decklink) if you will be working with formats OTHER than DV, HDV and DVCPRO HD...and XDCAM. Those are all capturable via firewire. The Kona LS is a Standard Def card that works only in that realm, while the Kona 2, Kona LH and Kona 3 work with both HD and SD formats. And again, there are Decklink models available as well. What Kona card is he offering for $1500?

You don't need a video card as your computer comes with one. However, if you want to use Motion with any real speed, get a better card. The video card really does nothing for FCP. Except for the NEW plugins that were ported over from Motion that are available with FCP 5.1.2. Those are graphics card based.

Partitioning hard drives is no longer needed. And while FCP 2 was finicky enough to require it's own system partition separate from a system with all your other apps, the current version works fine on the system with other applications.

And yes, you will need a secondary or multiple drives to store your media on. Storing media on the main system drive (even partitioned) is a no-no.


www.shanerosseditor.com

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Yeah have external drives for media.

I believe it's the Kona 2, he said i would need if I got to work in HD. Although, if that ever happend I would more than likely work from a facility with the proper set-up.

regarding the vid card, any suggestions as to which one? I am getting into After Effects via QT instruction and am fired up about it. I assuming (which you should never do) that same applies, I need a better vid card.

sorry about the spelling and sentence assembly, still waking up.

youre fine with those externals (well, kinda fine - there is WIDE debate about the overall performance of firewire and those brand drives dont exactly top the most reliable list).

personally, ive used firewire drives for years without much if any problems. but some folks have nightmares. helps a lot to get a good reputable brand - as i mentioned though, the ones you listed above dont fall into the favorite list...

but you NEED to reformat your boot drive with NO partitions. partitioning is not needed and even bad news with osx. and 3 partitions is just coocoo!

I use the Blackmagic 4:4:4 HD card with both FCS & AE and its rock solid. I also use the Kona 2 and 3 at various post houses I work at so it's down to you which you can A. Afford B. Want

They both work very well.

As for Speeding up AE... the BM or Kona cards won't do that. They will however let you output uncompressed and/or SD/HD uncompressed video from AE & FCS to a pro deck & Broadcast monitor.

If you want a speed boost you may find investing in a new GFX card like an ATi X800 will help certain renders especially in Motion and AE or if you use GPU accelerated plugins for FCP such as Magic Bullet.

US$1500 for a used Kona2? I think the lowest price for a new one is about US$2,099

For the DeckLink HD Pro PCI-X? US$1,495

My feeling is that you'd be better off buying a new BM card rather than a used AJA one...

There really isn't much different in the two cards except price check the comparisons here:

[www.bhphotovideo.com]

[www.blackmagic-design.com]

Although I have heard of some problems with the Kona2 on AE I haven't experienced them myself and so the choice is still 50/50.0

Please note you would need to get a card with a PCI-X buss - NOT a PCIe (PCI Express) version.


Ben



For instant answers to more than one hundred common FCP questions, check out the LAFCPUG FAQ Wiki here : [www.lafcpug.org]

Oh yeah

but you NEED to reformat your boot drive with NO partitions. partitioning is not needed and even

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bad news with osx. and 3 partitions is just coocoo!

Totally agree - reformat the system HDD as one and reinstall.

Also...

And this is VERY important...

Save up and buy some G-Tech or Promax HDDs for video work...

DO NOT rely on your lacie drives as in my experience (along with many others) they WILL let you down as you will discover if you search Lacie on these or any other Video forums.

Ben



For instant answers to more than one hundred common FCP questions, check out the LAFCPUG FAQ Wiki here : [www.lafcpug.org]

a Dual 2 Ghz G5 with 2.5 G ram is FINE!

until about 2 months ago, id been producing very heavy work with that exact machine (with promax external firewire drives and a secondary internal seagate sata drive) for over 2 years and never missed a beat

Great, thanks guys!

yes, i've heard of the problems with the Lacie drives, will take your advice for sure.

clearly gonna need to work a bit and save to finish up my home system.

This group has helped me a lot, going to the meetings and all. I try to absorb all the info and i am slowly getting it.

I fell backwards into editing, never had formal training or an apprenticeship or anything like that. I was thrown into the ocean at Vh1 off-air promos (i was a producer before i started cutting my projects) and have been treading water, but without a group like this I would not be anywhere close to what I know now.

Still sometimes feel like I need a degree in broadcast engineering in order to edit, but if you can't get the edit out of your machine, what good is the edit. i get that.

thanks again!

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Still sometimes feel like I need a degree in broadcast engineering in order to edit, but if you can't get the edit out of your machine, what good is the edit. i get that.

You are not alone there Mark. Those of us who spend a lot of time on these forums often don't understand a lot of what we read here. I'm one of them. Many of the kind and generous people who post answers here take great pain in crafting their answers so they are understandable to all, but some of us will just not get past much of the language. I know I do and admit it freely. But then all you really NEED to know is how to craft a story, how to use the tool in the most effective way that suits YOUR needs, and what to do when something goes wrong. That's pretty much it. Part of that is talent and the other part is work.

There is such a thing as too much information and that plagues everyone who has internet access. At some point you just make a decision and go with it and damn everyone and hope it works out.

And it usually does.


Michael Horton
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thanks Mike, I totally appreciate your and everyone's feedback. It's nice to know I am not alone in that sentiment.

thanks again!