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TOPIC: 4k-Multicam with a MacMini? Why not ....!

4k-Multicam with a MacMini? Why not ....! 14 Jun 2014 11:37 #47825

From The Hobbyist Corner

Prefix:
This is just a silly sort-of proof-of-concept… or more like a stunt. Would I use this combo for ’professional’ film making, lets say as wedding-photographer? For sure not! But with offerings of UHD-TV at nearby supermarkets for under a 600€ and 4k-camcorders in my domain (the forthcoming FZ1000 will cost, rumored, <800€!), my idea was: Would it blend.. ehm, work? My hardware (don’t laugh!… ok, laugh, but not that loud!) is a MacMini, i5, 16GB Ram; and my working drive is made out of two 2.5“Toshibas, via discUtility set-up as Raid0, by usb3 …


macminiraid.jpeg



Yeah, THAT’s what I call a shoestring-budget … !!


So, I've stolen borrowed a 4k-clip from YouTube, imported it 4x into FCPX, optimized it …, first hurdle to go: this short 2:20min clips need about 15min to be imported and converted. But meanwhile, you can watch new tutorials at fcp.co, or search for new toys at amazon… or make a walk in fresh air.-


4ktesttrasncodedmedia.jpg



I know, video eats disk-space, these tiny clips, in proRes422 are now each 8Gigs heavy… phew!
My project (amateur: all set to auto) based upon the first clip: 4k, 30p …


4ktestprojectsettings.jpg



In FCPX, I selected my imports, Make New MC-clip - and presto!, here it is:


4ktestangleviewer.jpg



Based upon my experience with my ‚normal’ material, I knew: WITH the Angle Viewer it gets a bit bumpy; and it did (kinda 11fps playback…). cmd-shift-7, withOUT the viewer, the 4k-MC plays back and forth like silk.

Now, to get really crazy, I applied two effects, no rendering …


4ktest2effects.jpg



.., and my <1k€ ‚workstation‘ :woohoo: still works flawless.

Yepp, this is just a lil’, non-scientific test with lil’ material, proofing nothing, far from real life (but I did edit a 30min documentary with ~20h HDmaterial with this set-up!); what impresses me: The actual latest toys for amateur-4k can be handled on the cheapest hardware!

… and, no, no fans running.

The biggest fun:
In standard ‚benchmarks‘ my set-up performs … a lil’ above a pocket-calculator. Which proofs again: benchmark-tests measure performance of benchmark-tests… not mandatory real-life-usage of hard- and software made for each other.

Somewhere at Cupertino, someone loves even my tiny Tupperware™-box, and cares for it is somehow optimized…….. Awesome!

:lol:
Last Edit: 14 Jun 2014 11:56 by Karsten Schlüter.
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4k-Multicam with a MacMini? Why not ....! 08 Jul 2014 17:01 #49455

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I too have joined the 4K party with a GH4 and here is me editing video with my mini -

Even HD footage needs to be proxyed with multi cam.

The secret is a mini with the HD4000 graphics card, I had an i7 with a built in card (yes you could order a mini with an AMD card) but this didn't play back smoothly so now I'm slumming it with an i5. Also I would not try this without a speed SSD, maxed out RAM and a TB or USB drive. I am actually using USB now over TB as TB is just too expensive if you've got more than a couple of drives connected. Seems to work just was well.
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4k-Multicam with a MacMini? Why not ....! 07 Sep 2015 22:20 #68160

  • bernek
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Hello,

I'm the soon to be owner of a "beast" like this. It's an Mac Mini Late 2012 - i5 base model.
It will have the standard 4GB ram and 5400 RPM 500 GB HDD.

My plans for upgrading it are:

- 8 GB DDR3 1600MHz (2x4GB or 1x8GB+2GB from existing memory)
- 120 GB SSD KINGSTON V300 (cheap)

I edit small videos 10-15 minutes in length (1080p only) with a few transitions and effects and some minor color and audio adjustments.

I know if I use 1x8GB + 1x2GB for 10 GB ram total the memory wont run in dual channel mode. For the integrated graphics of the i5 (4000HD) I've read that dual channel memory can improve its performance from 5% to 30% in some cases. Is the FCPX one of these ? If not I will buy 1 stick SODDIM 1600 MHz 8GB capacity and use it along the 2GB existing one.

For the SSD the Kingston V300 120GB is the cheapest variant for me. (I'm using a couple in my PCs and they are working for a few years without a problem)

When I will gather some more funds maybe I will buy an additional sata cable to add the 500GB (original HDD) to the MINI so I can create a fusion drive.

My bottom question is: Would I be able to edit my videos with this little guy ? (before and after the upgrade)

Thank you !
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4k-Multicam with a MacMini? Why not ....! 10 Sep 2015 09:54 #68278

You've read my reply at ASC … 
Would I be able to edit my videos with this little guy ? (before and after the upgrade)

Yes, you would. … if you divide OS, app, cache, project and sources/Event smart accross a few drives. The professionals here at fcp.co will smile about such an 'underpowered' set-up, but for a start, for smaller projects, to get familiar with FCPX the Tubberware®-Box is suprisingly good.
Last Edit: 10 Sep 2015 09:58 by Karsten Schlüter.
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4k-Multicam with a MacMini? Why not ....! 10 Sep 2015 15:20 #68291

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Thanks for the reply !

I'm looking forward to "play" with the Mini and I've decided that I will go for 16GB RAM and 120GB SSD for media and the 500 GB one for OS.

It will arrive soon and I will post back with my results.

Thank you !
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4k-Multicam with a MacMini? Why not ....! 10 Sep 2015 15:27 #68292

  • MarkNelsonMovies
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I edit on a late 2014 mac mini, dual core 2.8 i5, 8GB RAM, 1T fusion drive, iris 1536MB.
FCPX libraries are stored on an external USB3 Drive. I am able to edit 3 streams of AVCHD 1080 60p without proxy, the bottleneck appears to be hard drive speed, A TB raid or SSD would probably significantly improve performance, the intel iris graphics card seems to give it a significant edge over earlier models for playback and effects, however, the dual core means it is slower for optical flow/stabilization analysis and MPEG-2 export (DVD). I don't have anything that shoots 4k so I haven't really tested it for that, it has 4K HDMI out. I did test with some 100 Mbs 4K 24p pro-res, it was able to play it back at 4x speed and color grade in real time w/o rendering. Seems to work well for 1080, I don't usually feel like i'm waiting for the computer except when stabilizing or doing extensive compositing, export times seem reasonable, on the whole its a lot better than the 2010 mini I was using. FCPX also seems to be substantially faster than Premier elements or Resolve 11 on both machines.

Hope you find this useful,
-Mark
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4k-Multicam with a MacMini? Why not ....! 10 Sep 2015 16:36 #68299

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I'd get 16GB of Ram, not much more and beware, the newer machines don't have upgradable RAM. Also if you max out the ram you'll get more GPU memory 1024GB my mini is reporting now and this is crucial I think for 4K footage, my i7 mini could not edit 4K (256mb graphics card) but my i5 with integrated GPU can. I also ditched the i7 due to it's age and not having USB3, as thunderbolt drive, at last the interface as stupidly expensive.

I edit 4k with this machine and it works great, 4k from the GH4. I edit off a thunderbolt drive not SSD although i do have an internal SSD. I also have loaded clip libraries of 1000+ clips! If you wait 3 weeks you will be able to install El Capitan and I believe that due to something call METAL we'll see some nice performance bumps too. Even so, as of now my little Mini rocks for simple stuff. Of course when you do a multi cam shoot you should use proxy.
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4k-Multicam with a MacMini? Why not ....! 11 Sep 2015 11:46 #68318

<smile> I knew, I'm not the only one, using FCPX on such a matchox .... we're close for a sub-User-Group "The FCPXMiniUserGroup" :.....

FCPXMUG.jpg


… or is it a MiniFCPXUserGroup? … things getting complicated..... :silly:
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4k-Multicam with a MacMini? Why not ....! 12 Sep 2015 01:25 #68338

  • BenB
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I wanna run FCPX on a iPad Pro! What would that group be called?
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4k-Multicam with a MacMini? Why not ....! 12 Sep 2015 04:26 #68343

BenB wrote:
I wanna run FCPX on a iPad Pro! What would that group be called?


trekpad.jpg


Trekkies?
SCNR :... :woohoo:
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4k-Multicam with a MacMini? Why not ....! 12 Sep 2015 12:45 #68364

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Good one, Karsten! HA! Love it!
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