admin

The Need for Speed

,

After extensive research and testing the edit suite is now faster and more powerful then ever.

I’ve fitted a new high end graphics card – the 280x. Which is now rendering four times faster than the old card in Final Cut Pro X. I put my benchmark results on the fcp.co forum which put me near the top of the list, just under the very latest, top of the line MacPro.

I also took the time to install a new 6TB RAID array. I’ve been waiting for the new generation of Western Digital 2TB drives with an improved platter layout and IO. So now this three drive system gives me over 400MB/sec read and write which is crazy. I’m using an external 6TB eSata RAID for automated incremental backups of the entire editing RAID while I work so there’s always a recent working backup should the unlikely happen and a hard drive fails. Now that FCPX uses the GPU for exports and the fact that RAID is so fast, this makes the mundane tasks at the end of an edit so much quicker.

I’ve improved the edit suite room with acoustic treatment tiles, moved out lots of kit and bought myself a new FCPX specialist keyboard. But most importantly I’ve moved both mainframes into the room next door, so now it is completely silent and much cooler. That’s not something I’ve seen in any edit suite, anywhere for over a decade. They are normally very noisy, stuffy rooms with poor lighting and little space.

GeekBench_2014 Luxmark_2014

/by
admin

A finger on the pulse

, ,

Pulsar_BTS

Pulsar Instruments plc have been manufacturing noise measurement equipment for 45 years. They asked me to produce a brief product demo video, which would be presented by the Managing Director of the company. The product is the new Nova range, a unique modular system which uses an OLED screen.
I hired a product turntable and travelled to their HQ in Filey on the Yorkshire coast for the shoot.

The client hired a small theatre next to their offices, and when filming on the stage with the main tabs (curtains) closed it acted as a decent studio for filming. I helped coach Sarah through her presentation and offered advice on the script as we went along.

Back in the edit suite I made an animation of the Pulsar logo and cut the video. I added a few finishing touches like luma-keying the black background to pure black, and including a music track. Here you go:

/by