7 HD's inside a mac pro

[GideonKiers]

Absolutely yes, each of the 4 projectors does 1/4th of the whole image.

I'm thinking of doing 768x576 photojpeg files, not 1024x768.

The advantage of doing 4 projectors from one machine is that you're working on the whole 'canvas' from one machine, therefore moving a mask around the whole canvas is much easier than if we would do it on two machines.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding you, but I don't really see why 4 layers of DV playback needs a 4 x Raptor RAID though ? I have an old 3.2 catalyst system here that plays 4 dv layers from one 7200 scsi disk without really any problems on a dual 2.5 ppc.

I find it a bit hard to believe that there's no other solution to my harddrive speed problems then buying the xserve raid ...
How about the Fujitsu MAU3147NP (Ultra 320) and an Atto PCI UL5D pci-e card. Would that be sufficient (theoretically) to drive 4 layers of either DV-PAL or 768x576 photjpeg ?

Yes but you use one part of the same image do you not? That is how Watchout and other systems work. all you are seeing is a different section of the same image or clip.

When you use the new panorama functions you are essentially doing this. Your mask for instance would be a single file across 4 screens not 4 separate files.

I have a 4 x Raptor RAID that can give me 4 layers of DV but not 1024 x 768 Photo Jpeg without some dropped frames. As Richard says, you really have to try it. I have an Xserve RAID but I still have to check every combination I come up with.

Cheers

Toby