SSD or HHD for working on pro res

I'm using Final cut pro and my main disk is an SSD (256 GB). I was thinking about getting an external SSD and then dropping my pro-res files off onto that and then work off the External SSD. Would a SSD give me any benefits over say an external USB 3.0 (7200 rpm) drive?

I don't like to disagree with guys whose opinions I normally agree with, but I've been studying and dealing with this issue for a decade and concluded long ago that disk speed is absolutely a major component in encoding time.
My first data was from tests (circa 2004) with a G4 dualie where MPEG-2 encoding sped up approx. 25% when the output drive was changed from a FW400 external (≈ 30MB/s) to a small Ultra160 RAID 0 (≈ 80MB/s.) Since then I've seen the same scenario prove itself time and time again.
Without question the greatest determinant is processor speed, so Michael's comments on Qmaster are spot on. The greater the aggregate processor speed, the more likely the system is to become "I/O bound" particularly on the output side. Therefore, the degree of speed improvement will hinge on the relative speeds of the processor and disk (or more likely, disk array.) In the same light, if you are rendering on a network using Qmaster, the input disk needs to be on the system that is driving Qmaster to prevent Compressor from caching the entire source prior to beginning compression.
Another consideration is the nature of the encode/conversion. The above opinion is based largely on primarily on MPEG-2 encoding. Some codecs seem to have difficulty loading the processor array effectively and are less likely to I/O bind, so the entire conversion is slower and less likely to respond to faster target drives. Monitoring CPU usage in Activity Monitor will tell you if this is the case.
On small (non-Mac Pro) systems where the architecture is more restrictive, it's likely that a fast array on Thunderbolt would be the best solution. The question I don't have an answer to is: what speed best matches the CPU given the system bottlenecks prior to the T-bolt interface.
HTH

Similar Messages

Specs for cutting in Pro Res 422 HQ

What sort of system specs do I need to edit in Pro Res 422 HQ with decent non-nightmarish results? I'm getting a FW800 G-Raid drive loaded with a large (80 minute) Quicktime file in HD, Pro Res 422HQ. I'm running a 2.8ghz Quad Intel, with 8gb of memory. I also have a CalDigit S2VR Duo that I can move the footage over to if necessary. Any thoughts would be sincerely appreciated. Thanks

For having just thrown yourself off a bridge, your grammar, spelling, and punctuation are impeccable.
You are correct. A ProRes sequence will not go to HDV. You must place your ProRes sequence into a new HDV sequence, render/conform, and print that to HDV tape.
When you're going out via firewire, you pretty much have to match your sequence settings to your deck settings, DV>DV, HDV>HDV. Hardware capture cards/boxes by AJA & Blackmagic can up/down/cross convert on the fly, but not a direct firewire connection.
So, use your ProRes sequence to create the DVD, and create an HDV sequence to archive it to a tape.
And stop throwing yourself off bridges.

Ideas and Suggestions for Working with Low Res Video Files

Hi,
A client has asked me to take all of her low res videos she shot with her iPhone and put them on a DVD.
I've made her aware that the end result is not going to be a Hollywood production. I even did a test for her to show the difference between a low res clip and a HD clip. You can see these clips here:
http://designerandpublisher.com/hs/lowrestest.mp4
and
http://designerandpublisher.com/hs/hdtest.mp4
She understands and will fix her camera to shoot high-res next time. Anyway, the footage (330 minutes) I have looks like this when imported into Premiere Pro CS4:
I first just set up a 640x480 timeline and imported one of her clips. It doesn't look too bad. I'm not sure why that green bar is there:
Then I went into the timeline's properties to see if I can somehow enhance it once it goes onto a DVD via Encore:
But i'm not really sure if it's worth fiddling around with a customized timeline. I don't have my hopes up though but I'd appreciate it if anyone could tell me what they did in this type of situation. It seems like the 640x480 timeline, once brought into Encore and transcoded for the DVD, may work best.
Any ideas are appreciated. Thanks.
The Deaf Guy

I don't edit video from a cell phone, and you don't mention any particular problems loading/editing... but in case you do have general problems with any of the files, some reading to keep in mind
Iphone won't edit easily because it uses a variable frame rate - A fix in message #22 http://forums.adobe.com/thread/934466

SSD Blade Drive for "Classic" Mac Pro

Repost of earlier thread.
PCIe-SSD which surpass SATA III speeds can mean a lot, and for a 1,1 is the only way to boot from PCIe (whether SATA III or not).
http://www.macintouch.com/readerreports/harddrives/index.html#d17feb2015
Samsung XP941 256GB PCIe 2.0 x4 M.2 SSD MZHPU256HCGL
M.2 Interface: PCIe Gen2 5Gb/s, up to 4 lanes
512MB LPDDR2 DRAM Buffer Memory
Support TRIM Command
Sequential Read: 1080MB/s, Sequential Write: 800 MB/s,
Random Read (QD=32): 120K IOPS, Random Write (QD=32): 60K IOPS
Works with (all) Mac Pro. Not compatible with the MacBook Air or Retina MacBook Pro
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-XP941-256GB-PCIe-MZHPU256HCGL/dp/B00J9V53M6/
A smaller XP941 128GB that 'only' gets 450MB/sec writes instead of the 800-900MB/sec
http://www.amazon.com/NGFF-PCI-Express-SATA-Adapter/dp/B00M8HC5JC/
Lycom DT-120 M.2 PCIe to PCIe 3.0 x4 Adapter (Support M.2 PCIe 2280, 2260, 2242)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MYCQP38/
http://barefeats.com/hard183.html
SATA Express meets the ( '09 ) MacPro - Bootable NGFF PCIE SSD
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1685821
http://www.engadget.com/2015/01/08/samsung-sm941-pcie-ssd/
Next generation from Samsung:
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150106006600/en/Samsung-Electronics-Mass -Producing-Extremely-Fast-Low-powered#.VOO5NoI5CUk

RAM City http://www.ramcity.com.au
Provides support and adapters for use with various M.2 blade SSD drives
Samsung XP941 512GB M.2 PCIe x4 80mm SSD
Quote:
When combined with a M.2 to PCIe adapter, the Samsung XP941 provides class-leading storage performance in desktop machines and is also fully bootable in all cMP Mac Pro models (2006-2012, excluding the 'tube' model). See the table at the bottom of this page for approximate throughput figures.
* * * W A R N I N G * * * *
Do not run Parted Magic's secure erase on this drive. It will render it useless and void the warranty.
Secure Erase will brick the XP941.
https://www.ramcity.com.au/blog/how-to-install-windows-8.1-on-the-samsung-xp941- ss/138296
To use this SSD in a desktop machine or cMP Mac Pro (all 2006-2012 models prior to the current cylindrical shaped one), you will need a free PCIe slot, and an M.2 to PCIe adapter. Booting is supported in the Mac Pro.
Note, system boot on Windows desktop PC's is only supported on certain Z97 and X99 chipset-based motherboards with built-in M.2 sockets. Booting with the XP941 is not currently supported in a Windows PC with the XP941 drive in conjunction with the adapter , but it works perfectly without drivers as a storage drive.
Review our M.2 SSD compatibility list blog post if you are not sure if this drive is compatible in your machine.
You might also need....
A M.2 (NGFF) to PCIe adapter card - so you can install this drive in a standard desktop case or Mac Pro tower computer.
A PCIE M.2 SSD to USB 3.0 external enclosure - so you can clone, copy, or retrieve data from this drive or an existing one already in your system.
* To achieve maximum throughput in the 2008 Mac Pro, one or two of the PCIe 2.0 x16 slots must be used. These models have two x16 PCIe 2.0 slots and two x4 PCIe 1.0 slots. The latter PCIe 1.0 slots will only allow up to 585-753MB/s data transfer rates.
Data Throughput Rates
Throughput rates are provided in the table below. See the performance notes regarding slower PCIe 2.0 x2 and PCIe 1.0 slots
** From the review at barefeats.com: "Using the 'Expansion Slot Utility' in the System/Library/CoreServices folder, we reconfigured the PCIe slot speeds to various combinations of 4, 8, and 16 lane slots to benchmark the XP941. The transfer speeds above were achieved using the 4 lane slots. The 8 lane and 16 lane slots did not produce any faster transfer speeds. On other other hand, if you use a 1 lane slot, the transfer speeds drop to 200MB/s READ and 170MB/s WRITE. We tested with both OS X Leopard and Snow Leopard. OS X Tiger kernel panicked at startup. Though we didn't try it, it should also work with OS X Lion, the last Mac OS to be officially supported on the 2006 Mac Pro."
https://www.ramcity.com.au/buy/samsung-xp941-512gb-m.2-pcie-x4-80mm-ssd/MZHPU512 HCGL-00000
"How to Clone an existing drive to a new SSD" Windows but there were some good tips like this:
Samsung XP941 512GB M.2 PCIe x4 80mm SSD
https://www.ramcity.com.au/blog/how-to-clone-an-existing-drive-to-a-new-ssd/1382 97
https://www.ramcity.com.au/blog/how-to-clone-an-existing-drive-to-a-new-ssd/1382 97

Does anybody have experiences with a Samsung SSD 840 Evo for a MacBook Pro?

I heard that the Samsung SSDs 840 Basic and Pro have problems with MacBook Pros and die after a few weeks. I bought my MacBook Pro 13 in April 2011 and want to upgrade it with a SSD now.

Partitioning makes no sense. You have a drawer full of stuff. Split it into two smaller drawers and you have two smaller drawers full of stuff.
Decide what you can store on external storage - your iPhoto/Aperture/Lightroom libraries can all be stored on externals, as can your iTunes Libraries and so on. Do you need to carry 30 gigs of movies with you all the time? You can get portable drives the size of an iPhone these days.

Optimum FCP settings - Pro Res

Hi folks,
I had a mini catastrophe yesterday with a project and in trying to fix things I trashed the prefs and have lost all the settings I had for working with Pro Res. A project I'm working on now seems to be dropping frames and generally going rather slow, and I was wondering if anyone out there working with Pro Res files could share their settings with me which they feel runs most smoothly and most effectively on FCP.
On the RT tab I have the following checked:
- Unlimited RT
- Scrub High Quality
- Playback Video Quality - Dynamic
- Playback Frame Rate - Dynamic
And the video processing tab in the sequence settings I have it set to:
- Render all YUV material in high precision YUV
- Process Maximum White as: White
- Motion Filtering Quality - Normal
If anyone has any pearls of wisdom of best settings with any options I've mentioned or any others that could help, I would be most grateful.
Thanks kindly in advance,
Matty

Download and install the Aja System Test:
http://www.aja.com/ajashare/AJASystemTest.zip
Run the default test with an 8GB file size on that LaCie volume and report the test results back to this thread.

Issue with Pro Res sources when encoding in Media Encoder.

There seems to be a big issue with Pro Res sources in Media Encoder. I've noticed that when exporting using the 'software only' mode my graphics and titles look horrible, they are pixelated around the edges and the compression looks bad. This issue only happens when it's being made from a Pro Res source, if I make the exact same file Uncompressed this issue is resolved. If I use the 'Cuda' option (which I already know is the better option) this issue is resolved. The thing is, in a work environment not all of our systems are Cuda enabled and I would like to use Media Encoder as a exporting option overall. I love Media Encoder, it's fast and easy to use but this Pro Res issue is huge because the majority of the time we are working in Pro Res. I also did a test out of Avid Media Composer to Media Encoder, I sent a reference file referencing the Avid MXF material and the issue is gone, this seems to my knowledge to be a Pro Res only issue. The settings I am exporting to is 960 x 540 h.264 and also .mp4. This is coming from a 1080p source and yes I do have the 'maximum render quality' checked for best scaling. I understand that Software only vs Cuda and Open CL use different algorithms when scaling but this seems crazy to me that it would look this much worse.
Anyways if somebody can please look into this that would be great, this seems to be an issue where I can't continue at this moment to use Media Encoder. Making my source files Uncompressed every time to do an export is just not a real workflow I want to do.
On a side note I've also recently noticed on a clip that had text over a grey background that there are lines going all down the screen evenly when exporting to even a non scaled 1080p .mp4. Once again, this issue goes away with any format but Pro Res. The weird part is this happens even with Cuda enabled. This is why I am thinking Media Encoder is having some sort of issue with the Pro Res codec.
I am on a current new 27'' fully loaded iMac with the latest Adobe CC updates.
Has anyone else experienced this?
thank you

No, it is why advance users do not use the wizard.
Have a look at OpenOffice.org and its form creation. Once you add your fields in OpenOffice.org, just export to PDF and the form fields will be named just like you named in them in OpenOffice.org and the drop down values carry over.

Pro Res 4444 to Pro Res 422

I have Pro Res 4444 footage that I want to edit in FCS for the web. My understanding is that it would be better to work in Pro Res 422 (easier to work with etc). Would it make sense to import the Pro Res 4444 in FC and used compressor to export it to a Pro Res 422 format? Or is there a better way?
Thanks in advance for your help.

Take the footage directly into Compressor and convert to 422. No reason to go to FCP first. OR...better yet. With the footage in FCP, use the media Manager to RECOMPRESS to PR422.

AVCHD-Pro res LT question/

I have recorded footage in AVCHD 1920 X 1080 25fps and I must edit the material andI MUST submit it in Pro Res 1920x1080 HQ.
It seemed to make sense to edit in 1920x1080, so I've used Toast 10 to encode the AVCHD stuff to Pro Res 1920x1080 LT. I noticed however there were two unchecked boxes, one saying "Interlaced" and the other saying "Gamma correction for 4:2:2 source" (I think) Both I left unchecked.
Does anyone see anything wrong with my workflow so far? (Please don't comment on the submission format, I have no choice in this matter)
Should I have checked either of the boxes and/or should I have encoded for editing, to Pro res LT 1440X1080 and then encoded up to 1920 for the final submission?

It works fine with my Panasonic camera. Works fine with a lot of Panasonic cameras I've worked with in classes. Don't know what camera you're using but if it's AVCHD and your computer hardware and software supports it, it should work fine. You do need the folder structure and not just the ,mts files. ClipWrap will transcode it without problem.
HD is upper. Again, I don't know how Toast works, but I think it does a file conversion.

Uncompressed vs Pro Res 422 (LT) as archival codec and as editing codec

Hi -
I'm working on a project where we will be capturing 600 hours of footage from Hi8 tapes. The tapes are in somewhat iffy condition so we're only going to get one pass with them and that's it.
We've agreed with the owner of the tapes to digitize all of them for archival purposes, after which we will make a backup copy for us to edit with. We want to use Pro Res 422 (LT) as our editing codec, but there's some question about what codec we should use for archival purposes -- Pro Res 422 (LT) or uncompressed 10-bit 4:2:2.
Basically, the debate is, given that the Hi8 format retains a relatively small amount of data, is there a benefit in terms of quality if we archive the tapes in uncompressed, or will the quality be just as good if we deliver in Pro Res LT to the archive?
Thanks!

Because while we would prefer Pro Res as our editing codec, the people to whom we will deliver an archival set of the material may insist on uncompressed.
Please -- no more questions about why I'm asking this question.
What I am hoping for here is a brief, to-the-point comparison of the pros and cons in terms of video quality of the two codecs (but something a little more informative than 'filet mignon' and 'hamburger').
I'm aware of the white papers, but I'd like to get the opinion of people with experience and knowledge who don't work for Apple who could boil it down --
Is Pro Res a good codec for archiving material, and how much if anything would be lost if we delivered to the archival house on Pro Res rather than uncompressed?
What argument, if any, can we make to an archival house that is leaning toward uncompressed that Pro Res will work as well for them? At the risk of answering my own question, would we be correct in saying that the image quality would be effectively as good with either codec (given that we're digitizing from Hi-8 tapes) and that delivering in Pro Res would save them a great deal of storage space?
As a reminder, we're talking about 600 hours of Hi-8 footage here. Thanks.

Pro Res ?

Now that FCS 2 is out there and installed - are any of you guys working with Pro Res but finishing on tape for broadcast delivery ?
Or - has anyone tried, discovered some inadvertent pitfall, then reverted back to their usual methods ?
Very interested here - maybe a bit too soon to be asking this for those working with long form ... but inquiring minds want to know ( well, this one does).

You'll need a compatible capture card. I know the AJA I/O HD, due out in July, has a hardware ProRes 422 encoder on board, so it can do it. Reputed that the Kona 3 can do this, and I intend to see if the Kona LH can do it. But I am limied by the fact that I don't have an Intel mac, and I think that is vital for this upgrade...especially in dealing with the ProRes codec and capturing into that codec.
Shane

How do i export to pro res?

Hi All,
I'm a complete novice with FCPX and have basically just figured it out as i go along. I honestly don't understand all this transcoding / compression stuff. I import media optimized and go from there.
I usually just use the share to vimeo button or share master file.
Anyway, i had to make a bunch of videos for someone last week and i've delevered all the .mov files. They have now asked for them in pro res for higher quality.
I can't figure out how to do this, and i've read a ton of threads / forums and watched some videos but they're all about compression/transcoding.
I'm on a real time crunch so kind of losing my mind about this.
Is it even possible to export as pro res? Does that even exist as an action?
If so, can anyone please talk me through in idiot terms how to make this happen?
Thank you so much in advance!!
Storme

You should be prepared, depending on the resolution and lenght of the original media, for files that might challenge any storage transfer device other than a disk drive.
Ernie

Pro RES in M2TS container

We have very large Pro Res files that we would like to break into manageable chunks. M2TS seems the best container for such a scenario. Is there a spec for putting Apple Pro RES video into an M2TS container?

for our information, not yours, these conflicting Internet definition and help posts:
M2TS is Sony high definition video file type. M2TS files are raw AVCHD videos recorded using Sony's camcorders, such as the HDR-SR1 and HDR-SR5 models. Panasonic, Canon and other brands of AVCHD camcorders also record in M2TS format.
Currently, M2TS files can be played using the Picture Motion Browser, which is an application video player provided with Sony AVCHD camcorders. M2TS files can also be played with Mplayer, Windows Media Player and other media players if there is a codec for DVD playing installed. But the file type M2TS is not always automatically associated with the player, so it may be necessary to open it from the player. That's to say, it's not convenient to play and enjoy your M2TS video.
*File extension M2TS description:*
*BDAV MPEG-2 transport stream used by Blu-Ray discs.*
*BDAV refers to either the transport stream format used for all Blu-ray content, or the plain format intended for home video with no interactivity.*
*The BDAV Container format is based on the standard MPEG-2 TS (transport stream) Both Blu-ray and HD DVD use transport streams, compared to DVD's program streams, to store video, audio, and other streams. This allows multiple video programs to be stored in the same file so they can be played back simultaneously, giving a Picture In Picture effect.*
*The BDAV disc format is the consumer oriented alternative to the BDMV discs made by professional Authoring houses for movie releases. Although early Blu-ray players were released with Firmware allowing playback of non-AACS encrypted content on BDMV discs, current Blu-ray specifications will result in that feature being removed, and BDAV discs being the only unencrypted Blu-ray format supported on players.*
*BDAV was designed in part to provide compatibility between AVCHD digital camcorders and Blu-ray players. It's comparable to the DVD formats used for standalone DVD recorders, DVD+VR and DVD-VR because it's designed primarily for authoring simple Video/Audio content with no menus.*
and a conversion utility:
http://www.iskysoft.com/article/m2ts-converter.html
bogiesan

Air or Pro for work? Using 8-9 hours everyday

Hi, I need to purchase a laptop for work but torn between a Macbook Air and Macbook Pro.
I'll be using it for 8-9 hours everyday, which is a lot of use. I mostly use it for emails, word processing, Powerpoint/Excel stuff, web browsing, and streaming videos.
I'm thinking the Air sounds good, but I'm just worried that because I'll be using it so much that it might not last as long as the Pro.
Would appreciate any advice!
Thanks.

It is not possible to change anything on the Retina models once they are purchased. Everything but the SSD/Flash storage is soldered onto the logic board (That is the main system board better known as the Motherboard). The SSD/Flash storage module is of a proprietary design and shape and although there are some companies offering replacement units for the older, original, Retina display models I don't know if those same companies will make one for the newer models. Only time will tell. But if you do repplace it for a bigger, more storage capacity, unit that voids the Apple warranty.
I also suggest you factor in the cost of the Applecare extended warranty because to fix any Mac computer once the warranty is over it is very expensive. So much so it is almost better to buy a new system. This is even more so for the Retina models because of all the component soldered to the main system board.

Duplicating a portion of Pro Res media for use in another project

I'm working on a compilation video which is drawing from many different interviews.   I need to duplicate certain sections of 1080p 29.97 Pro Res timelines and then bring them into a new FCP 7.0.3 project.
The clips will be pulled from many different external drives. And I can't connect all these drives together at the same time.
So my question is...when I am on the FCP timeline of one of these older projects, how do I best copy a section of it while keeping it in Pro Res and hopefully not having to recompress it?   I don't want to go back to the AVCHD camera files that it was generated from.
Would I "Send to Compressor" right off the timeline and use one of the Pro Res settings? Same as source settings, etc.
Or would I "Export as a Quicktime" movie off the timeline? Settings info?
I am trying to preserve the image quality but at the same time this will not be for broadcast.   It's for a non-profit's website.
Any advice on this would be very much appreciated...
Thanks,
John

If you are trying to Media Manage selections from a sequence that span multiple clips, then create a new sequence and copy and paste all the selected parts into the new sequence so that it contains only the selected sections of content you want to copy and consolidate.
Then, with that new sequence selected, open the Media Manager and make sure that Include Master Clips outside selection and Include Affiliate Clips outside selection are unchecked, and the Delete Unused Media from Duplicated Items is checked.
Unless you are leaving room for handles in your selection process, check Use Handles and dial in a duration, so that your clips have some padding.
MtD

SSD or HHD for working on pro res

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