Considering G5 for HVX?

[soarprod]

Hi All,
I am looking at solutions to edit DVCproHD from the Panasonic HVX200 camera and I am aware that FCP 5 does a pretty good job of it.

I am debating between what type of system to get for this application - G5 Dual 2.3 or G5 Quad 2.5. I also saw on the AJA website that the Kona LHe accelerates DVCproHD footage on FCP. What would you get? 2.3 + Kona LHe or Quad G5 with the potential of getting the Kona LHe down the road. Is the 2.3 pretty close in speed or does the quad offer a lot?

I would like this system to last me a good 3 years of editing and I know the Intel macs are coming but it seems like they are a year away from getting stable and probably wouldnt offer anything over the quad for 1.5 to 2 years.

In terms of output, I would do h264 or Quicktime ref for film outs so I dont necessarily need the In/Out capability of the Kona card.

What would you do?

[CineAlta]

That's a loaded question. There are several factors to consider.

1) Does the software you will be using, take advantage of all 4 cores on the quad? Or will it only access 2? (FCP, Motion, Shake, Magic Bullet etc)

2) Will you be doing mostly editing? Or motion graphics, rendering and DVD writing also? Most any Mac (even G4) should be sufficient for just editing. Motion graphics depends a lot on your graphics card throughput. Rendering should involve the CPU, graphics card and RAM altogether.

3) Do you need to monitor real-time effects or can you wait for rendering?

4) If your software takes advantage of all 4 processors, the Quad should stay productive well into the future (3 yrs at least).

Just some things to think about. I'm not sure about all the capabilities the AJA Kona, Blackmagic Decklink afford you. Depends on your workflow and specific needs.

[soarprod]

Thanks Cine, I agree that the 4 cores probably are not necessary for FCP, but apple claims much faster rendering with the quad. Rendering is a big factor for me and I want something that will last a lot longer than 2 years. $500 difference between the 2.3 dual and the quad I am figuring out what might be worth it.

The Kona's benefits may outweigh the quad improvement which is why I am asking for any opinons from people that have used it.