Redcode and Macbook Pro?

[Alexis Hanawalt]

What are the minimum specs for the redcode application these days? I haven't made the transition to intel yet, and I'm looking to trade in my Powerbook and Dual G5 for a top-notch Macbook Pro... will I be able to handle redcode media with this, or do I need a Mac Pro? If the Macbook Pro works, are there limitations?

Sorry if this is a redundant post, but most of the info I found on the forums seems like it might have changed.

[J. Bernard Vallon]

I'm in the same boat. The specs on Redcine haven't been released yet, neither have the system requirements. I'm waiting till the last minute, in case apple releases an upgraded macbook pro. For extra storage, i'm thinking of building a 4 drive raid

http://www.macgurus.com/productpages/sata/satakits.php

or maybe the same thing but by mini-G with firewire 800.

I figure on a macbook pro, read/write times will slow me down more than anything else. Also, if im on the road, i have no way to process footage without some quick storage.

[Alexis Hanawalt]

Hmm...

I guess waiting to see what Apple unveils at NAB would be smart.

I've been working with a G-RAID pro (5 drives, RAID-3) with HDV footage and it's been great... the pricing is very competitive.

[Joel Kaye]

Hmm...

I guess waiting to see what Apple unveils at NAB would be smart.

I've been working with a G-RAID pro (5 drives, RAID-3) with HDV footage and it's been great... the pricing is very competitive.

Yeah, the LAST thing I'm going to buy is a new computer so I get the latest thing. Or build a render farm of older computers if that makes more sense. Heck - I might offline for a while and edit in 720p or SD. Visual Effects at 4k is a pretty frightening thought.

[Jeff Kilgroe]

Hmm...

I guess waiting to see what Apple unveils at NAB would be smart.

I've been working with a G-RAID pro (5 drives, RAID-3) with HDV footage and it's been great... the pricing is very competitive.

Apple should have new Macbook Pro models sometime late spring or early summer. Intel's new mobile chipset will be shipping to integrators in the next month or so and it will allow for some of the upcoming newer CPU options as well as more RAM as it will finally move beyond the 32bit memory addressing that plagues current mobile Intel platforms, including the current Macbook [Pro] and iMac system.

So, I would definitely wait for the new models if you can -- I predict a May/June Macbook Pro update.

Based on previous comments from Stuart / Graeme, a significant amount of CPU power is going to be needed. So doing regular editing on a mobile platform like the MBP may be a little cumbersome. But I know a lot of us will have to do it sometimes. I'll have my C2D Macbook Pro as my field system and will have some more powerful workstations back at home and the office. I don't plan to update my notebook as I just bought this one last October, but I plan to buy a new 8-core Mac Pro (maybe 2 of them) later this summer/fall.

We should find out what the requirements are at NAB. Nothing has been said just yet about what kind of systems we will need.

[Alexis Hanawalt]

I'll have my C2D Macbook Pro as my field system and will have some more powerful workstations back at home and the office.

This is what I'm hoping is possible... If a laptop can be used to at least ingest the media, maybe down-convert for offline overnight, then it can be dealt with on another system for finishing later.

I have had my eyes on the rumors sites regarding the possibility of hardware accelerated editing for FCP 6 aka "extreme" with the PS3 cell chips, hardware h.264 encoding, etc... all of which would make any work with 4k or 2k much more feasible.

[Rob Lohman]

At least wait until after NAB would be my advice to see if new products arrive. You'll also have a chance to first hand see the workflow there. We're also constantly working on optimizations to get things faster, so no specs yet. They will be out before full production model camera's start shipping, but probably not before. Obviously it will also depend on what kind of resolution and framerate you shoot.