Mobile Rocket performance test

[Lewis-M Soucy]

Just got my Mobile Rocket (bought it used from a Reduser) and can't wait to try it...

So I gave it a try last night, and debayered a 1 minute clip (4K R3D to 2K QT444) with my MBpro 17" (2,4Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo + 4Gb Ram)...

-With Red Rocket (Mobile Rocket) ON = 3m22s
-With Red Rocket (Mobile Rocket) OFF* = 2m48s
-Without Red Rocket (Mobile Rocket) = 45m+

Awesome! Basically, an hour of conversion would be around 3 hours of percolating instead of around 2 days! Yay! :hurray:

* Funny thing happened though, when I wanted to run the test without the Rocket, I just switched the Mobile Rocket off (instead of removing it completely), and I got a faster result than when it was switched on??? Weird! Maybe it uses the power of the MB and still deliver the performance of the RR card? Anyone can comment on this?

In any case, it's an amazing improvement on performances (around 15x faster)...

Sure will be awesome for those 48hr film contests! No fear of using the Red One for those quick jobs anymore... :thumbsup:

Anyone else can comment on their MR performances?

[Andrae Palmer]

How did you turn the Mobile Rocket off? did you unplug the power supply or just hit the power button?

[Lewis-M Soucy]

It was still plugged in, I just switched the power button off...

[Matthew Yaeger]

Did RCX still have the Rocket button lit up? If the button for Rocket on the RCX viewer is lit up it is still using it. You will have to go into RCX preferences to disable the Rocket and restart the App.

[Lewis-M Soucy]

Yes, I remember RCX had the Rocket button still up (which I thought was odd), but the Mobile Rocket was switched off... And even more odd, the performances were better than when the Mobile Rocket was switched on!?...

[Jordan Livingston]

My Mobile Rocket won't physically turn off - regardless of if I press the power button or not - once it's connected to the computer and booted up. In other words, the only way to turn it off is a full shutdown (or pull the power cord).

My guess is that your Rocket was indeed on, and the reason why the 2nd transcode went faster is because that particular file was already 'buffered' in your system. In either case, I'd love to get to the bottom of this... Anyone know for sure?

Best,

- Jordan

[Lewis-M Soucy]

My Mobile Rocket won't physically turn off - regardless of if I press the power button or not - once it's connected to the computer and booted up. In other words, the only way to turn it off is a full shutdown (or pull the power cord).

That's good to know, how's that? Weird...


My guess is that your Rocket was indeed on, and the reason why the 2nd transcode went faster is because that particular file was already 'buffered' in your system.

That's a pretty good explanation...

[Ron Amborn]

That's good to know, how's that? Weird...



That's a pretty good explanation...

I will have Devon Cook get back to you both for any further questions. His email is devon@maxxdigital.com. Happy Holidays.

[Eric Santiago]

Does the Mobile Rocket take advantage of transcoding (speed)?
Its been posted at REDUSER that this product does not speed up transcoding.
Now stupid question is, I thought Debayer (this posts topic) was transcoding?
Or is it just for playback?

[Lewis-M Soucy]

The RR completely speeds up the transcoding (debayering) like 15x faster (on my MB pro anyway), and playback as well of course. I wouldn't go back to transcoding without it now that I have it... It's just plain crazy to not have it if you can afford it! I remember that it used to take about 3 days to transcode a days' dailies, and I remember a commercial we did, 10 days shoot it was, it took nearly a month and a half to transcode everything to HD to edit... Insane! :cry:

[Jeremy Torrie]

Is anyone using any other external PCI box aside from Maxx Digital to house their Rocket in a MBP setup? Like Magma for example?

[Jordan Livingston]

Is anyone using any other external PCI box aside from Maxx Digital to house their Rocket in a MBP setup? Like Magma for example?

I'm currently using the Cyclone 2707, but this is connected to a MacPro tower.

- Jordan

[Robert Frank]

Is anyone using any other external PCI box aside from Maxx Digital to house their Rocket in a MBP setup? Like Magma for example?

Curious here too. I used Magma expansion chassis quite a bit back in the days when I was using very expanded Pro Tools III TDM system.

It seemed to be the preferred chassis at the time, but now that there are more options it would be great to hear about them.

[Jeremy Torrie]

My Mac reseller thinks it should work but I don't want to pull the trigger until I hear whether it's got the right optimization.

Maxx Digital told me theirs is over a month on back order. It just doesn't seem like it should be complicated to get an external box to run the RR for transcodes (I know -I've read the other posts that say it's not supposed to be for that) in the field.

[Jordan Livingston]

I know that Maxx Digital's Mobile Rocket enclosure is the only enclosure currently on the market that was developed with RED specifically for the REDRocket. Although other products do work, this is the only product that RED supports directly, and I must say, support has generally been very good from both Maxx Digital and from RED directly. I think that is worth the premium and the wait right there.

I also remember Maxx Digital telling me that the cooling in the Mobile Rocket is designed to keep the REDRocket operating at optimum tolerances. Other enclosures tend to overhead, or so I've been told.

Best,

- Jordan