Question for Mike regarding his edit station

[allupons]

Hey. I loved the segment with a look into the behind the scenes action on TRS. I was particularly curious for some added details on your edit station though. I am nearing a purchase myself for my own mac based (FCS) edit station and I was simply wondering what hardware you use to edit the show(tower, monitors, audio monitoring, etc).

Any information on this would be greatly appreciated in helping me to decide on what to get in the very near future. Also, any other advise on building your own edit station (hardware, software, whatever) would be totally rad.

[techknology]

I would like to know this as well... Just because the setup looked AWESOME!!

[allupons]

Does anyone know if he reads this forum or not?

[siraim]

Yep.. he participates in the conversations:

http://revision3.com/forum/member.php?find=lastposter&t=30993

[snoopmikey]

Sure thing - here's my Edit Master Control Super Station:

Main Computer:
3GHz 8-core Mac Pro, 17GB of RAM
2TB Media RAID
(2) 30-inch cinema displays
Logitech speakers (I think they're the X530s...?) -- cheap but GREAT
After Effects, Motion, Final Cut Pro, etc.
Wacom Intuos4 tablet
Apple Magic Mouse

I also have a "hackintosh" that I like to call FrankenMac. I use it mainly for graphics like the lower thirds and credits. It's main purpose is to help render out the 6 different camera angles using Qmaster Distributive Processing - basically linking the Mac Pro and the FrankenMac to utilize 12 cores (!)

Specs on FrankenMac:
EFi-X v1 - to allow Mac OSX install
GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD4P motherboard, Intel i7-920 2.66Ghz, 6GB RAM

Also have an old Macbook Pro I use when we shoot and for odds and ends.

And soon, the 32GB wifi iPad will be in that mix!

Hope that helps!

[allupons]

Based on your experiences with the hackintosh, would you go that route in the future to save the money or would you shell out for the legit mac pro?

[lavahot]

Sure thing - here's my Edit Master Control Super Station:

Main Computer:
3GHz 8-core Mac Pro, 17GB of RAM
2TB Media RAID
(2) 30-inch cinema displays
Logitech speakers (I think they're the X530s...?) -- cheap but GREAT
After Effects, Motion, Final Cut Pro, etc.
Wacom Intuos4 tablet
Apple Magic Mouse

I also have a "hackintosh" that I like to call FrankenMac. I use it mainly for graphics like the lower thirds and credits. It's main purpose is to help render out the 6 different camera angles using Qmaster Distributive Processing - basically linking the Mac Pro and the FrankenMac to utilize 12 cores (!)

Specs on FrankenMac:
EFi-X v1 - to allow Mac OSX install
GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD4P motherboard, Intel i7-920 2.66Ghz, 6GB RAM

Also have an old Macbook Pro I use when we shoot and for odds and ends.

And soon, the 32GB wifi iPad will be in that mix!

Hope that helps!

So much saliva just poured out of my mouth that someone has just burst down the door to administer intravenous fluids.

Side note: Don't buy EFi-X, they're entirely unnecessary and they have been known to steal code from Chameleon without attribution. (Google for Tom's Hardware article.) I have a HP Elite running on iAtkos v5i (someone told me I could run native with a little elbow grease, but I decided not), which I assembled and edited your montage on and it works flawlessly. (Only 4GB of RAM though. :( )

[snoopmikey]

Based on your experiences with the hackintosh, would you go that route in the future to save the money or would you shell out for the legit mac pro?

It really depends... if I could build a solid hackintosh that never breaks, etc. it'd be a great alternative. Problem with FrankenMac is I'm really afraid to do any updates - could render it useless. With a legit mac, at least I know I have top-notch quality and always have the support. It's a tradeoff... hard choice.

Side note: Don't buy EFi-X, they're entirely unnecessary and they have been known to steal code from Chameleon without attribution.

Totally agree - after doing more research, there are many free alternatives. It's not as easy to set up as the EFi-X (which is basically just plug-and-play), but with a little digging and searching, you don't have to spend the money.

[az0madman]

Holy cow, super station indeed. I can only imagine how smooth that editing must be.

[deathsquad]

Sure thing - here's my Edit Master Control Super Station:

3GHz 8-core Mac Pro, 17GB of RAM

Damn, that's a lot of RAM!?