Buying a G5 for DVCPRO HD

B

Brian_Broz

Active member
Hi,
I am finally going to upgrade to a g5 from my dual g4 1.25.
Does anyone have experience with editing DVCPROHD on a DP 2.0 G5?
I'm asking because my dual g4 hasn't slowed me down with DV, but I would like to get into motion and of course editing HVX200 footage. I'm tempted to spend the $$ on a quad, but I think a Dual Core 2.0 would be enough for me. Especially at several thousand less than the price of a loaded quad.
I'd like something that is more than sufficient for DVCPROHD editing (at 1080P) but could be "acceptable" for compositing etc. (as I just plan to learn motion/AFX). I plan on getting a few GB of ram and an SATA raid.
Anyone have any suggestions? Again, my background is I get paid for shooting, not editing (yet).
Thanks for any input and suggestions...I'm trying not to overbuy.

Brian Broz
 
I am in the market to replace the same tower. I was just thinking the 2.3 is a better price point due to a much better video card, and a faster frontside bus. the video card and the processor make it 500 well spent. Quad would be nice, but now we are talking another 800.
 
I am currently working on a project that was shot on a Varicam. I am working in 720P 24fps... I have a quad and it will handle a couple streams no probs. HOWEVER... what you will find is the DVCproHD is not great for CC, etc... My plan is to cut in DVCproHD then recompose in uncompressed... I am a shooter by trade... this is my first stab at HD editing, it has been smoother than I expected but the DVCproHD codec seems to fall apart once you start messing with it...



ash =o)
 
I am no expert but the codec does not seem good for post work, especially when adding effects, CC, etc. I am sure others can chime in with more technical info but once you start manipulating the images and recompressing, they start to get noisy, exhibiting more artifacts, etc. I am a shooter by trade but talking to some bigger editors they recommend doing an online in uncompressed and CC there....



ash =o)
 
AshG said:
I am no expert but the codec does not seem good for post work, especially when adding effects, CC, etc. I am sure others can chime in with more technical info but once you start manipulating the images and recompressing, they start to get noisy, exhibiting more artifacts, etc. I am a shooter by trade but talking to some bigger editors they recommend doing an online in uncompressed and CC there....



ash =o)
Click to expand...
when doing cg....try doing with alpha channels, then overlay over footage.
For instance, in motion, use the video background layer for reference, but turn it off before the render. then bring motion project into FCP, and overlay the video clip.
Usually I'll render out cg uncompressed with alpha, then drop it in. That way everything looks great.
 
AshG said:
I am no expert but the codec does not seem good for post work, especially when adding effects, CC, etc. I am sure others can chime in with more technical info but once you start manipulating the images and recompressing, they start to get noisy, exhibiting more artifacts, etc. I am a shooter by trade but talking to some bigger editors they recommend doing an online in uncompressed and CC there....



ash =o)
Click to expand...

I have to disagree, FCP makes HD and HDV editing as smooth and as simple as SD I have never had any trouble editing DVCPRO. check your settings mabye but no trouble for me.
 
I have a Dual G5 with 4gb of ram.

I have a Dual G5 with 4gb of ram.

I have a Dual G5 with 4gb of ram, a 250 and 300 gb internal hard drive and one 250 external. It is in no way overkill for SD and I doubt if you would be happy at all doing HD. You budget will have to make the call. Bought mine last summer. 2.7 was the max speed then, I didn't want to have fast processors with no ram. (512mg was all they came with) So I tried to get a well rounded/equipped machine. I would go quad if I had the money now that it is available. Especialy if it was for HD.
 
My settings are fine and I have no trouble editing, I am just not happy with anything but the raw edited DVCproHD files... It was suggested I recapture uncompressed and do CC to the uncompressed files... the results are much better. In another forum I found a more technical discussion...



ash =o)



DVCproHD is better than HDV, but it's still NOT GOOD ENOUGH for production work and decent colour correcting, and indeed, it's worse than DV in that regards.


Graeme, isn't DVCPRO HD fairly close to SD DV for post-production? I've seen 6.7:1 vs 5:1 for compression...

Well 6.7:1 is a lot worse than 5:1, and remember, DV being 4:1:1 means that the luma is much less compressed than the chroma. If the data is distributed equally between chroma and luma, DV has 2:1 (one luma compared to two chromas with 1/4 rez, so that's 1 to 1/2 or 2:1), whereas for 4:1:1, it's 1:1, so you sacrifice quite a lot of luma data for the codec by going to 4:2:2. Just try some colour correction on DVCproHD, or see the artifacts you get in the shadows and you'll see.

Graeme
 
AshG said:
DVCproHD is better than HDV, but it's still NOT GOOD ENOUGH for production work and decent colour correcting, and indeed, it's worse than DV in that regards.
Click to expand...

I'd have to disagree. We use DVCproHD material all the time for major network packages and content. Of course uncompressed is the ideal workflow, but dvcprohd if handled properly will still net good results. Comparing it to dv isn't even realistic. It's far better, the bandwidth is higher, etc. Color correcting on any compressed format can bring in noise, artifacting, etc. You just have to be selective and conservative when working like this. If at all possible, capture uncompressed through SDI.
 
It was Graeme Nattress who said that, not me. I have noticed what he is talking about in some scenes...


ash =o)
 
Hi,
im new with DVCPro HD and i would like to know if a G5 2.7 Ghz, with 2.5 GB Ram will be enough, for FCP, Motion, and After Effects. Is this enough??
Thanks,
MMR.
 
Wich system is better to edit DVCPro HD PC or MAC ? if both is "fully" loaded??.
Thanks,
MMR.:(
 
wait a few days for MacWorld SF on Jan 9th.

New hardware coming out. I also expect that intel-based powermacs and FCP 6 for intel will be out in the next few months. I'd wait and buy a Intel Powermac.
 
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