Older Catalyst and HD

[efxmaster]

Richard,

You said the AIC codec.

That is the Apple Intermediate Codec right?

Thanks

[samsc]

Thanks everyone for the help. I went ahead and ordered a newer Mac. Here is what I ordered.

2 3.0GHz Quad-Core
2GB of Ram
1 320GB 7200 for System
NVIDIA GeForce 8800GT 512 Video Card

I am going to buy the Triple Head 2 Go and a SSD hard drive. What is the best place in the US to buy those?

Also, anyone know how hard it is to transfer the Catalyst software and everything over to the new mac. I have a decklink card that came with it that I would still like to use. Is that hard to move over?

Thanks for the help.

the decklink card wont work- the new macs use a different pci architecture ( unless you have a very late g5 - some of the last ones used pci-express )

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with regard to triple head- they only work at certain resolutions- what resolution do you need?

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in the usa
www.dvnation.com

im sure there are others now.

[NevBull]

The software can do it - can your hardware?? Catalyst software can output pretty much any resolution up to the quicktime limitation - the question should be 'can my hardware run this content?' And thats something only you can answer by testing.

I don't think that anyone on this forum can categorically say what your system is capable of. You need to test these scenarios on your machine with your content. As Richard said, there are too many variables in hardware, OS, software etc.

Personally, I would let an old G5 system deal with SD and lower and would only use a MacPRO with high spec graphics card and SSD drive for anything more than that.

Let us all know how you get on.

Nev.

[efxmaster]

Richard,

You said that the Phoenix card was still in testing. Do you know where in the US I could get one? I would be willing to do some testing for you. I have access to a building that has HD cameras and equipment that I could bring my Catalyst to and run some test with it. I can set it up to run under show conditions without actually having it run a show.

Let me know because I would be glad to help.

Thanks

[SourceChild]

A couple of notes, not that I wish to dispute other experts but I have a few results of my own.
They do know what they are talking about and I support them. However, I have tested a few of the scenarios.

A G5 can run a TH2G. I had a client doing this every week. Doesn't make it a good idea. Use a Mac Pro.

A G5 can run 3 layers of 1920x1080 but not on 3 different outputs. The memory size must be increased and you must use an SSD. Basically better to use a Mac Pro.

It is possible to run three screens can run 1920x1200 on a single Mac Pro. I do this now in my studio at home using a Matrox device on one of the outputs.
This is not a setup I would use for a show.

Something else very important to be aware of...
Multiple Catalyst machines can be synchronized to play together. If you do this, be aware that the more you tax one machine, the more likely you will begin to notice a frame delay between the master and the slaves. You won't notice it as much on discretely different screens but if you edge blend, it will be noticeable if there is a frame lag.

[efxmaster]

Thanks for the help. Does anyone know if the Decklink Extreme HD card works with the Catalyst? I would really like to try and get an HD input card seeing as the SD-SDI Decklink card for Mac Pros is only $100 less the the HD version.

Thanks

[efxmaster]

Here is another question, if the Decklink Extreme HD works, is there anyway to use the HD-SDI output on it as a mix out in the catalyst? I have a show that is going to be using the catalyst and they will record everything and they asked if I could send them the content. I can just use one of the outs on the TH2G, but then I have to convert it to SDI because that is the only input the switcher has on it. So it would be great if I could just bypass the converter and use the SDI out on the card.

Thanks

[SourceChild]

Does anyone know if the Decklink Extreme HD card works with the Catalyst?

The decklink extreme will work in new Mc Pro machines. Don't try it in old G5s though because processing HD-SDI is a little much for those.

[Peter]

A G5 can run a TH2G. I have run 800x600@60Hz and 1024x768@75Hz.
Doing this I can run six layers of SD. I have a client that does this now and has been doing 5 shows a week with it for close to 2 years now. All the content is AIC@25fps 2816x768.

Which G5 will be needed to playback max 1 movie SD (3 mix outputs)? Which graphic card, X1900 G5 or can it be less?

And what in the case of 3 movies SD?

[samsc]

Which G5 will be needed to playback max 1 movie SD (3 mix outputs)? Which graphic card, X1900 G5 or can it be less?

And what in the case of 3 movies SD?

this posted information is very very misleading-

x1900 only worked on pci-e g5's -which was only the last revision from Oct 2005 - almost noone has these.
everyone refers to 'g5' as older pci or pcix macs.

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