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taunouibo
taunouibo
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System for serious multicam work?

Jul 22, 2012 12:59 PM

Tags: #system #p2 #multicam #dnxhd

Hello everyone,

 

I am planning to build a new editing workstation for serious multicam work. I have read lots of discussions here, in Premiere hardware forums, but didn't find help. Sorry, if my research wasn't complete.

Serious multicam - it means in my case 8-10 camera footage (10-bit, 4:2:2), some of them are AVC-Intra100 (P2 cards) and others DNxHD (220Mb/s, recorded by BMD Hyperdeck Studio). Is it possible to build up a system, which can handle all this footage in multicam work (CS6), flawlessly, in real time, or is it just my wet dream for now...?

Planned budget for this system is 6-8k €.

 

PS! Currently I don't have BMD Hyperdeck Studio - I've heard, that DNxHD wrapped as MXF files are not supported in PPro (even CS6). Is it true?

 

Thanks!

633 Views   7 Replies   Latest reply: Harm Millaard, Aug 2, 2012 1:18 AM
 
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  • Harm Millaard
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    1. Harm Millaard,
    Jul 22, 2012 1:28 PM   in reply to taunouibo
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    For those kind of workflows, the budget is a bit tight IMO, but you may get by with something like I'm building now: Adobe Forums: Planning / building a new system. Part 1 but I would consider either an OC'ed 3960X or a dual E5-2690 in this case. Definitely have a serious look at my intended disk setup.

     
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  • taunouibo
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    2. taunouibo,
    Jul 23, 2012 4:54 AM   in reply to Harm Millaard
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    Thank you for your quick response, Harm! As far as I understand, it is not my wet dream and can be done right now if I raise the budget to... 10k €? Is it ok? That's good news!

    About the CPU - I planned to have 3960X, cause AVC-Intra100/DNxHD is cosidered as a "light codec", which is not very CPU-intensive. IMO the main bottleneck is disk setup performance - could you please explain what benefit the system gets if I use dual E5-2690 in that case?

     
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  • Harm Millaard
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    3. Harm Millaard,
    Jul 23, 2012 5:10 AM   in reply to taunouibo
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    With say 10 tracks in a multicam situation using AVC-Intra 100 and DNxHD, you are pumping around huge amounts of data. You are correct that the codec is an easy one, but the amount of data is really huge. So you need a very fast array to get to all those data and dual E5-2690's have the advantage of have much more cores (2 x 8 plus HT) but even more importantly, they have 2 x 20 MB L3 cache instead of only 15 MB L3 in the 3960X. However, the lack of overclockability and the enormous price difference, including a much more expensive mobo, can well be a stopping factor.

     

    With my intended disk setup, I hope I can manage to remain in a € 6 - 7 K range, but that is based on the 3930K. OK, my case is extremely expensive, so that increases my costs significantly, but still...

     
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  • ECBowen
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    4. ECBowen,
    Jul 23, 2012 1:47 PM   in reply to taunouibo
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    The Dual Xeon 8 Core cpu's give you a far higher performance ceiling than the single 6 Core systems. That means you can handle far more layers/cameras with effects with the Dual Xeon system versus the Workstation. That is the main difference in selecting between the 2. Your workflow and editing format essentially decides which one will best suit your needs. Both will handle those codecs fine.

     

    Eric

    ADK

     
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  • taunouibo
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    5. taunouibo,
    Jul 24, 2012 9:05 AM   in reply to ECBowen
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    This is a very hard decision...

    As I am quite new in this forum, maybe you can help me to find some forum users with their high-end workstations, who can make a real world test, how hard is 8-10 camera (4:2:2, 10-bit) multicam project without effects (maybe some few color corrections, which should be handled by GPU) compared to single 6 core and Dual Xeon systems? Or should I make a new thread to make a call...?

     

    Anyway, I tried to build my own (dream) system, considering opinions in this great forum.

     

    Case: Cooler Master COSMOS II FULL TOWER 350
    MB: ASUS Z9PE-D8 Dual LGA 2011 Intel500
    CPU: 2x Intel Xeon E5-26903950
    GPU: Palit GeForce 600 Series GTX 680 4GB JetStream600
    RAID: Areca 1882IX-12800
    PSU: Enermax G1600-MA 1600W850
    RAM: Corsair X79 Memory Vengeance Jet Black 64GB DDR3 1600 MHz500
    OS: 1x Intel SSD 240GB 520 SATA 6Gb/s300
    HDD setup in RAID3 configuration: 8x Seagate Constellation ES ST1000NM0011 1TB 7200rpm 64MB SATA 6Gb/s1000
    Total

    8850€

     

    Prices are estimated.

    So what do you think? Is it good enough to handle my future multicam projects?

     

    Thanks in advance!

     
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  • taunouibo
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    6. taunouibo,
    Aug 1, 2012 11:47 PM   in reply to taunouibo
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    So what do you think about this configuration? What could be different?

    Thanks in advance!

     
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  • Harm Millaard
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    7. Harm Millaard,
    Aug 2, 2012 1:18 AM   in reply to taunouibo
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    Looks very good, but I would suggest you look at an extra Constellation ES disk as a hot-spare, that gives you more security against disk failure. Have you foreseen in the use of hot-swappable drive cages for the Constellations, like I have in my new system?

     

    Which SSD do you have in mind? For me, this is the sequence I would look at: Corsair Performance Pro, Samsung 830, Crucial M4, Intel 520, ... , and at the end of the list Corsair Force and OCZ.

     
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