Tim,

That information will likely prove useful, ... Thanks.

I would like to hear what people with more than two monitors are doing and how they have arranged their layouts. How to save various layout templates and how to restore them.

In a perfect world, I would like 2 mons for timeline/menus/toolbars ... two more for trim and preview windows (or other active working mons) ... another mon (or two) just for bins and project resource references ... and an output to a large "NTSC WYSIWYG" program output monitor.

Obviously, that is not going to happen this year, or next, but it is an ideal goal which I hope to achieve while I yet live and am able to edit. (I'm 50 yrs old).

So much for fantasies. What is going on, in the real world, at the "Home Project Studio" level ??? (rather than in the expensive "Industrial Broadcast" environment) ??

Just FYI ... I am currently working with HDV@24Mb/sec and do not expect to exceed 50Mb/sec any time soon. I WILL be doing AVCHD and most web-oriented H.264 as well as Mpeg2 (up to 27Mb/sec) and DV-25(SD), not to mention crates of analog footage in various SD formats (Hi8/VHS/SVHS etc.)

My eyes are not so good and I am getting too "burned-out" in my middle age to be constantly adjusting current layout, to the current task/project.

Please help me in any way you can ! I have many years of archives to process and many were shot with a high degree of artistic processing, in mind. I'll be doing lot's of montages and slo-mo and advanced, multi-trak audio.

I own several DV25 cameras and am currently limping along with a CANON VIXIA HV-30 (Until I choose a better $1300-$5000 AVCHD rig ... this yr).

I can wait as late as july, to do the computer build, if new products are pending (in the channel).

= That's about it =

I Use 3 monitors, but they are computer monitors TVs are not ideal for day to day work the res is not high enough I think it tops out at 1366Xsomthing in Cmputer mode? I could be wrong about that though. but multiple monitors are great and once you have edited that way it is very hard to go back.

Some say that one 30" is better, I have never tried that either but it could have its advantages.

My config is a mis-mash consisting of a 22" LCD for the main a 17" for secondary (I dock my toolbars there) and a 19" CRT for Full screen preview. it seems to work great for me and gives me plenty of room to work.



Also your question about saving layouts, they are GREAT and very easy to do.
First arrange you windows the way that you want them (on any monitor) and then goto to View > Windows Layout > Save Layout give it a name and Walaa you have a seved layout you can have up to 9 and can switch at any time to a different one even during a project and of you get tired of any of them you can reearange them and do a Save As to save the changes. I hope that is what you were asking for and that I explained myself OK.
Good Luck

Paul B

I use two 1080P 32" TV's as monitors set at 1080 x 1920 with HDMI feeds from the video card from 3 computers. The online computer is set to 1360 x 768 in the PC input slot. The tvs have white balance, gamma and the red/green/blue adjusts. The contrast on the still pictures will be less when printing them so you have to make adjustments. Don't screw around with the small monitors squinting and leaning forward in your chair to see details..
JJK

> Walaa

I think you mean "Voilà".

Thanks for so much, so soon ...

Right NOW, I am attempting to put together a PC Build for VEGAS-Pro.

What I need to know MOST is:

**************************************************************************

"Which PCIe/GPU (video) cards can be used to run 3 active working monitors with identical resolutions of (at least 1920x1080P/60fps)" ? ? ?

ALSO:

* How many cards, of what type ?
* How much memory (GDDR) required (total &/or per card) ?
* Are SLI or Crossfire configurations appropriate or in use ?

***********************************************************************************
... All other factors are (relatively) superfluous, at this moment.

Forget what exact type (HDTV or PC-Mon) ... Whatever I end up with, it will be a 16:9 1080P/60-120Hz or just slightly larger.

I currently own a 52" LG5250 (120Hz HDTV) and a 22" Viewsonic 1080P(2ms refresh) ... FWIW.

I intend to purchase TWO (matched) monitors for my Main Timeline workspace for media apps (in general). I would like to use HDTVs so that I have the extra utility of HDTV tuners, remote controls, and input switching but if there is any compelling reason to go with a DVI/LCD @~1920x1156 or so, I could do that. I want 16:9 or 2:1 aspect sized from 26" to 36" with an ideal size of 27"-32" (diagonal).

Anyhooo, the monitors are not that important, right now, I just need to know what types (models/specs/market-segment,etc.) will be required to enable this capability for VEGAS-Pro and other general professional audio and video production tools.

=thanks!= Please keep it coming ! I am here and watching (lurking). I will return frequently, in the coming days to see if an expedient and practical solution is forthcoming.

Some of the newer ATI 5000 series graphics cards support up to 3 monitors attached to a single card, and yes you can have 2 cards working.
http://www.amd.com/us/products/desktop/graphics/ati-radeon-hd-5000/Pages/ati-radeon-hd-5000.aspx

But for actual video preview, an AJA or BMD capture/display card attached to a professional monitor will be best for color accurate work.
The more expensive ATI Firepro or Nvidia QuadroFX cards support true 10bit color output via their display port outputs, hooked up to something like a HP DreamColor display.

Hope this helps.

Can't go wrong with a Dell monitor they just put a new one on the market the UltraSharp U2711 27-inch Widescreen Flat Panel Monitor
and also the UltraSharp U2410 24-inch Widescreen Flat Panel Monitor

they are both GREAT my friend has the 24 incher and loves it.

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/category.aspx?c=us&category_id=4009&cs=19&l=en&navla=177~0~174493&nf=177~0~174493&s=dhs&~ck=anav

I have 4 monitors on 2 PCIe cards, all Samsung 22 inch.

Honestly, 3 is generally all I use, with the 4th becoming a place for Windows Explorer if I am looking at tons of pictures, for instance, and only bring them into the project as I use them. I find it more convenient to stack onto the 1st or 3rd monitor with the 2nd being the main editor.

Years ago when beta testing Windows (98 or ME) I chatted with the MS programmer doing the multi monitors. He said there is no limit to the number, just a practical physical limit on number of cards. Using an outboard chassis he had gotten up to 9 working fine, he told me.

David