HVX G5 Compatibility ?

twocik23

twocik23

Veteran
Looking to get a HVX200 or 200a, but wasn't sure if my 2nd gen G5 mac would run it. Here are some of my specs


Processor - Dual 2 GHz PowerPC G5

Memory - 6.5 GB DDR SDRAM



Graphics Card

ATI Radeon X800 XT:

Chipset Model: ATY,R420
Type: Display
Bus: AGP
Slot: SLOT-1
VRAM (Total): 256 MB
Vendor: ATI (0x1002)
Device ID: 0x4a48
Revision ID: 0x0000
ROM Revision: 113-A35801-104
Displays:
Cinema Display:
Display Type: LCD
Resolution: 1680 x 1050
Depth: 32-bit Color
Core Image: Supported
Main Display: Yes
Mirror: Off
Online: Yes
Quartz Extreme: Supported
Cinema Display:
Display Type: LCD
Resolution: 1680 x 1050
Depth: 32-bit Color
Core Image: Supported
Mirror: Off
Online: Yes
Quartz Extreme: Supported
 
I've got a dual 2GHz G5 and have no trouble editing stuff I've shot on my HVX200. If you get Raylight, you don't even have to log and transfer...
 
You are fine with editing, I have the dual 2.3 Ghz G5 with the Aja Kona 3 but forget ProRes. You need an Intel box to do ProRes. So if you are not graphic heavy or picky, DVCProHD looks pretty good but if I were doing a heavy graphics show, I would want the ProRes.

Dan
 
"If you get Raylight, you don't even have to log and transfer..."

Hmm how does that work ?




What other things do I need that I should know ?



I'm guessing I probably would need to update my FCP software (4.5) as well ?



.
 
For general use you're way fine. I can run FCS 2 just fine for basic tasks on my 1.67 GHz Powerbook G4 (although Color won't run, and it probably won't on your G5 either). But for P2 transfers and quick edits...no problem.

On the other hand, for heavy rendering tasks I don't think you can come anywhere close to having too much power even on the fastest of 8-core MacPros, so everything's still on a sliding scale of relative ok-ness.
 
I edited two History Channel shows using my Dual 2.0 Ghz G5 dealing with footage from the varicam (tape) and the HVX-200. Zero issues. Imported fine, cut fast. Really easy.
 
i'd like some clarification here although its seems by the response that using a PPC G5 and FCP 6.0 with HVX works well together. I have a PPC G5 Tower still running FCP 5.something... OSX 10.3.somthing. I'm certain its the last version before 10.4. Are you guys runing OSX 10.4 with FCPS2? Is it even compatible with the PPC G5? Also what QT version are you using with this set up? Are you able to use the latest Compressor with no issues? I read that the new version of compressor stalls when compressing. It seems to stall near the end of the render.

Thanks in advance.
 
Ted Spencer said:
For general use you're way fine. I can run FCS 2 just fine for basic tasks on my 1.67 GHz Powerbook G4
....
Click to expand...

Ted is spot on.

I've even cut 720p from the HVX200 on a Titanium PowerBook.

That said, even though I'm openly a proponent of the PowerBook, recently a combo update has left FCP 's Log & Transfer window almost useless with a PowerBook. Bummer. Now, it takes at least a Dual Processor G5 and 4GB ram to Log footage.

-Andrew
 
twocik23 said:
What other things do I need that I should know ?
.
Click to expand...

This is not so much about "things you need" as "things you need to know", but maybe I should point out more clearly the importance of processor speed in rendering, and in particular transcoding to something like a DVD, generally through Compressor. While as I mentioned before, my PB G4 is indeed fine for basic tasks like P2 card import and playback, rough edits on the timeline and even simple cross-dissolves in real time, when it comes to transcoding in Compressor it's painfully slow. *Really* painfully slow.

I've got three systems now set up with FCS2: the Powerbook, a G5 dual 2.7 and an 8-core 2.8 GHz MacPro. What the MacPro can transcode via Compressor in four hours (an FCP timeline for a 2 hour feature, for example) takes about 12 hours on the G5 and, while I haven't actually tried this (for obvious reasons), presumably about 40 hours on the PB G4. So this type of operation is all but a non-starter on the G4.

Considering that the MacPro cost me under three grand brand new including 8 GB of additional memory and 2 TB of added drive space, I think that's a very nice return on the hours of my life it will give me back compared to the G5. Food for thought...
 
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