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Need advice for a new machine


Nicholas Lorini

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I've just been hired to edit and color an 18 page short that will be shot on a RED. I am not sure which model the DP is bringing to set but I know the director will want him recording the in highest possible quality. I've been running tests on my current machine with some RED footage and it is not adequate for the job, so I'll need a new machine.

 

I plan to cut in Premiere and round trip through DaVinci for color. I will also be using this machine to cut and color a feature in August (also shot on RED) and another in November. Basically, I'll need something powerful. Having never dealt with RED footage I'm not totally clear on how much horsepower is necessary. Put in my position, with a $4000 budget, what sort of machine would you guys invest in?

 

Also, while I'm at it I'd like to get a calibrated monitor for the grading. If anyone has opinions in this field as well, please share!

 

Thanks!

 

Nick

 

P.S. Any books, articles or websites you guys could recommend for RED workflow would be much appreciated as well.

Edited by Nicholas Lorini
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Is this budget to be including the monitor? If not 4 grand will get you pretty far. I'll await your answer on that sub-question.

Also do you prefer Mac or Windows?

Edited by Macks Fiiod
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The budget is not including the monitor.

 

After having done some research I'm actually leaning toward the 6-core Mac Pro and stocking it with 64GB RAM. It seems to be more than adequate for just about any project. My only hold out is the possibility of a cheap yet comparable PC option but I am partial to the Apple interface. I also don't have the time to build my own machine or else I would.

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You can generally get more power for the money with anything but a Mac, particularly with Mac Pros, and particularly at the moment. Mac Pro right now is almost comically bad value for money.

 

I wrote a whole article on this and what the alternatives are. The comments are perhaps the most interesting part of it.

 

I build my systems. It isn't very difficult. I'd be happy to help support any such effort.

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  • 2 months later...

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