hardware setup suggestions

mudsmith wrote on 12/31/2009, 1:56 PM
Although I have been working in pro audio for 35 years, and have been project manager on many a video project, I am only recently embarking on an adjunct career in some video editing, largely because I like the GUI, sensibilities and functions of Vegas so much.

I do not expect that I will ever become a facile, quick cuts kind of editor, but I will certainly be working almost entirely in hi def on documentary and concert video productions for broadcast, BluRay and downconversions to normal DVD. At least one major project is already coming down the pike.

I would love to have input from the more experienced Vegas cutters on this forum as I set up my new system. Feel free to be brutally frank about any misconceptions I am laboring under.

I will be using 9C, and I assume I will be using the Pioneer BR burner....probably in an external enclosure. I have recently purchased a refurb HP 8 core with 8gigs of RAM running Vista......a couple of firewire ports (400, I assume), 6 USB 2 ports, video card with dual DVI......2 or 3 slots available in the frame.

I thought when I bought this computer that it also had an HDMI port, but it does not seem to have one.........I intend to use LCD monitors all around for preview and program viewing, with some LCD HDTVs for preview and comparison monitoring, most likely........I have a full digital audio secondary rig on top of my normal audio control room, so audio monitoring, mixing, etc. should not involve any learning curves or purchases.

My main questions are these:

1. Are there specific accelerator type cards or interfaces that are known to work with Vegas?.....I am talking mostly about the groups of cards or external boxes that offer "faster than real time encoding to H.264 for BluRay".....as this seems to be the primary bottleneck that I will encounter initially.

2.Do folks think I will need a specific I/O interface, either for viewing or capture? Which cards or boxes are working well with Vegas 9? My initial capture will be largely from Sony decks and cameras that have firewire.

3. Does anyone see any value in using up a slot for installation of firewire 800 capability? When overseeing an FCP editor early this year, it seemed as if the drives hooked to 800 ports were making life and rendering a lot easier, and all my external drives have 800 ports.

4.Will DVI to HDMI conversion from one of my display ports be a way to achieve viewing that will be an efficient work methodology?......Will I need both monitor ports to edit effectively without using one for viewing only?

......answers to these basic setup questions will help me a lot over the next week or so. I think I am familiar enough with most of the multiple drive issues, etc., to not need much direction there, but fire away if you think it will be helpful.

Thanks in advance.

jim

Comments

musicvid10 wrote on 12/31/2009, 3:14 PM
I'll try to give some general answers to your questions:

1) No. Vegas does not access the GPU. Whether it will in the future is anyone's guess.

2) Unless you will be working with high-end proprietary capture solutions, firewire is what you need to get you going.

3) If you will be editing and transferring HD to/from FW800-enabled drives, the extra 800 card may give you some added throughput. But if that is your concern, why not eSata?

4) Depends on what you are going "from" and "to," and also what you want to accomplish with your monitoring setup. A more specific plan would get you some answers from those using multiple monitors.
mudsmith wrote on 12/31/2009, 3:43 PM
3)This computer I am building does not seem to have external eSATA ports, though the laptop I will occasionally use for video does, which had occurred to me as a potentially usable port. Can I assume that your comments implie: a)eSATA is faster than Firewire 800 and/or b) You are recommending using an eSATA card instead of a Firewire 800 card?

1)Is GPU a general acronym for card-based add on processor units?.....and Vegas does not currently access any of these that are available?
musicvid10 wrote on 12/31/2009, 3:56 PM
4) These numbers are theoretical:
* USB 1.1 – 15 Mbps
* FireWire (1394a) – 400 Mbps
* USB 2.0 – 480 Mbps
* FireWire 800 (1394b) – 800 Mpbs
* SATA 1.5 – 1.5 Gbps
* SATA 3.0 – 3.0 Gbps

All except USB 1 are capable of handling captures, rendering, and playback. For file transfers and simultaneous I/O the faster the better. My FW 400 sometimes gets a bit sluggish during heavy editing.

1) GPU = Graphics Processing Unit. As stated, Vegas does not currently use the graphics accelerator for rendering. If you will tell us which external units you are referring to someone will be able to give you more detailed information.
mudsmith wrote on 12/31/2009, 3:57 PM
And to clarify about the monitoring question:

I am simply asking for some input from those who have been using the program heavily about whether they think that using dual monitors for the program viewing itself has any major value .....as opposed to using one monitor for program operation and another striclty for preview/picture monitor.

I am assuming that I will want, both for myself and clients, to have a moniotr available most of the time for full frame, high quality preview. Given that, I am asking what experienced Vegas editors think about giving up a dual monitor setup to achieve that.

In audio editing programs, many folks like to spread the workspace across dual monitors to give them a continuous handle on more aspects of the program. Vegas does seem like it is pretty well setup with docking, etc., to use a single monitor and still be fairly transparent. I don't know, however, if that will hold up so well when I get into really complex, heavily tracked projects with loads of audio, but It is a question I want to pose as I prepare my initial setup.

Monitors, either as TVs or dedicated computer monitors, are fairly cheap, but I don't know how most folks are feeding them.
rmack350 wrote on 12/31/2009, 3:58 PM
MV gave answers, mine are similar:

1: Vegas doesn't use acceleration but other applications might. Do you also use AfterEffects? External encoders?

2: Kona and Black Magic Design sell IO cards hat work with Vegas. The cheapest option is BMD's Intensity line which gives you HDMI in and out. This would at least give you monitoring via HDMI on a card that is meant for video work.

3: Sure, get a card that supports 1394b. You have drives that support it, the throughput is greater, and the connector is a lot more robust. Yes, eSATA is faster, but the cost of adding a 1394b card isn't much so I don't see any reason not to do it.

4: See item number 2. An IO card will support a preview monitor at the very least. You'd be better off driving preview off a card designed to provide video playback. Also, you'll be much happier using two computer monitors for Vegas and a third for playback monitoring. The more screen space you have the happier you'll be.

Rob Mack

PerroneFord wrote on 12/31/2009, 3:59 PM
eSata is a high speed transfer mechanism that is generally popular with hard drives and RAID arrays. It is used in some other instances, but connecting to cameras and the like is not one of them.

I am not aware of any cameras using Firewire 800 at this point, though they may come along later. HD cameras typically do not use firewire (HDV is an exception) so emphasis on this is beginning to wane.

The "GPU" is short for Graphics Processing Unit. This is the unit on the video card that is tasked with processing complex video operations. They come in many different speeds. However, Vegas makes no use of this hardware. Most other NLEs do to varying degrees. The NLEs that make extensive use of the GPU offer great reward if you choose to spend money on a fast card. The rewards range from accelerated encoding, to realtime playback of several layers of HD, to real time play back of complex sequences with titles, graphics, 3d effects, HD material, etc.
musicvid10 wrote on 12/31/2009, 4:06 PM
To clarify, I was talking about theoretical throughput to drives connected by various means, in response to the question, and not about means for connecting cameras. Sorry for not stating the obvious.
mudsmith wrote on 12/31/2009, 4:11 PM
-I was only interested in the eSATA, as you suggest, for external drive usage, and understood that it would have no place in acquisition of material from decks or cameras. I am assuming that a lot of my material will be accessed from external drives.

-As far as using GPU/accelerator cards, I had run across the Matrox KompressHD and a similar card from GrassValley that did not seem to indicate particular aversion to Vegas, but had not been able to get in touch with any vendors today to find out more. While producing a BluRay disc early this year (still not midnight here, BTW), I was pretty alarmed by the lengthy encode time for a fairly short disc with the editor's FCP and Adobe combo rig (FCP was not doing BluRay in January)........I am looking for anyway I can find to bring this time down for hidef projects of any sort.
PerroneFord wrote on 12/31/2009, 4:26 PM
There are numerous accelerators available. Just not for Vegas. I would strongly suggest that you make a good appraisal of your true needs, and pick your tools based around those needs, and not based on what GUI you like. You'll be much happier in the long run.