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1. Re: Performance Issues - Hardware Related?
jasonvp Jul 1, 2014 10:11 AM (in response to RyanShepard)RyanShepard wrote:
We shoot exclusively in AVCHD 1080i 60fps or 1080p 30fps using Panasonic HMC-150 cameras.
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My major questions are 1) are my issues 100% hardware related or could there be something else causing the performance issues and 2) is it worth looking into upgrading these units or should they just be replaced? Is there something I can upgrade that may cost only a few hundred dollars versus whole new units for thousands of dollars?
AVCHD can be very taxing on the CPU to play in real time at 100% resolution. And the systems you're using aren't the hottest things available. You're asking a 6 year old Mac Pro and a 4 year old iMac to keep up with today's software and hardware; it's not going to happen.
The only real upgrade you can do for the iMac is possibly add some more memory to it. iMacs are basically large laptops where everything's all-in-one. They're not ideal for video editing with heavy duty footage like AVCHD. And the Mac Pro, while upgradeable from a memory and video card perspective, is really not worth the effort.
I'd turn the Mac Pro into a nice little server, sell the iMacs, and put that money into a new Mac Pro if you want to stay in the OS X environment (which I'm a huge proponent of). Or make the inexpensive migration to PCs for your editing (bleah!)
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2. Re: Performance Issues - Hardware Related?
RyanShepard Jul 1, 2014 11:39 AM (in response to jasonvp)I figured it was hardware. These Macs were bought before I began working on this company and I was shocked to see how old the Mac Pro was.
Are there any workflows you are aware of that would take the AVCHD and transcode it to a less taxing format so we can work a little more fluidly while we purchase new equipment?
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3. Re: Performance Issues - Hardware Related?
BobanskyBh Jul 3, 2014 12:30 AM (in response to RyanShepard)Hi,
first, try to convert all AVCHD footage to Prores in Adobe Media Encoder...that is the best way.
It might help if your company does not want to invest into new computers, to check which new GPU works on your MACPRO, so you can possibly add some Nvidia 580/780 or some Quadro card...
Also, 10 Gb Ram is not enough on 8 core machine (I was struggling on new 6coe mac pro with 16 GB!!!!) , so try upgrading the ram at least to 32 Gb.....
On IMac, add more Ram, that is the only thing you can do...
CHeers!

