Poor GeForce 8800 GT Pro App performance

BareFeats has some benchmarks of the new Nvidia 8800 GT in Motion 3. The interesting thing is how badly the two Nvidia cards (8800 GT and Quadro FX 5600) perform compared to the ATI cards, causing many people to cancel their orders.

The Nvidia 8800 GT is meant to be considerably more powerful than the ATI Radeon 2600 XT but it beats it in all of the tests except gaming, which isn't much help to readers of this blog.

Then add the fact that Color doesn't work well on Nvidia cards as they only offer a limited set of working bit depths, and there is a serious problem for owners of the new Mac Pros. They do not have a high-end ATI graphics card option, and it seems like all pro apps are optimized for ATI.

Their only solution is to go back to the ATI X1900 XT, which is a great card, but it is old tech. You also need to jump through a few hoops in order to get it working. I think the ATI buyout by AMD has complicated the situation for Apple and Intel, which is unfortunate. Let's hope Apple will release some new drivers soon to at least reduce the performance issues.

NewsFire now completely free

I just heard that the developer of NewsFire is now offering the popular Mac feed reader for free. I recommended this even when it cost money (I am a paid user) so I recommend it even more now that it is free.

So what is it and why do you need it? Well, those little orange buttons you see on web pages are links to RSS feeds. An RSS feed is a tiny file containing textual information such as posts from a blog or software updates. If you have a favorite site or blog, you can be notified of updates without having to visit the site every day. Obviously this saves a lot of time and bandwidth.

I didn't think I needed one until I tried it, and the time I saved was tremendous. If you see a new site you like the look of, put it in your feed reader and forget about it until the next update. Visiting a site to check for updates that don't exist is very inefficient.

NewsFire is a great program because, as the developer himself says: "Unlike other readers, NewsFire is designed with a deliberately minimal interface. The news is what matters and it takes center stage." And now it's free, so try it out.

We have several feeds on this site, listed here. We also have an appcast feed that tells you when one of our applications is updated.

[via TUAW]

FCS Remover 1.0.3 released

We've just released version 1.0.3 of FCS Remover. This doesn't offer any new features - it's just a small release to chase up some Final Cut Studio files that were not deleted in previous versions.

For those that don't know, FCS Remover is a freeware utility to remove the entire Final Cut Studio. Why would you want to do this? Well, it's a good thing to do if you are upgrading from a previous version of Final Cut Studio or Final Cut Pro. Sometimes upgrade installations do not work very well so an installation from scratch is recommended. The best way of doing this is to completely wipe your hard disk, but we understand that not everyone wants to do this. FCS Remover fills the gap by removing Final Cut Studio and leaving the operating system and your other files intact, allowing you to install a new version.

Other people use it for reinstalling an unstable installation of FCS, while others use it to downgrade to a previous version in order to save Final Cut Pro projects to an earlier format for compatibility reasons.

FCS Remover can be downloaded here for free. Also keep an eye on our appcast or this blog for updates and new releases.

New Macbooks and MacBook Pros

Apple just refreshed its MacBook and MacBook Pro lines to support Intel's new Penryn chipset. Here are the specs:

MacBook

	2.1 GHz model	2.4 GHz models
CPU (Core 2 Duo)	2.1 GHz with 3 MB cache	2.4 GHz with 3 MB cache
RAM	1 GB	2 GB
FSB	800 MHz	800 MHz
Hard disk	120 GB 5400 RPM 160 or 250 GB 5400 RPM	160 or 250 GB 5400 RPM
Display	Glossy TFT	Glossy TFT
Graphics	Intel GMA X3100 144 MB MB shared	Intel GMA X3100 144 MB MB shared
Battery Life	4.5 hours	4.5 hours
Trackpad	Two-finger standard	Two-finger standard

More details here.

MacBook Pro

	15" model	17" model
CPU (Core 2 Duo)	2.4 GHz with 3 MB cache 2.5 or 2.6 GHz with 6 MB cache	2.5 or 2.6 GHz with 6 MB cache
RAM	2 GB	2 GB
FSB	800 MHz	800 MHz
Hard disk	200 or 250 GB 5400 RPM 200 GB 7200 RPM	250 GB 5400 RPM 200 GB 7200 RPM 300 GB 4200 RPM
Display	LED backlit Optional glossy display	Anti-glare TFT Optional LED-backlit display Optional glossy screen
Graphics	Nvidia GeForce 8600M GT: 256 MB with 2.4 GHz CPU 512 MB with 2.5 or 2.6 GHz CPU	Nvidia GeForce 8600M GT with 512 MB RAM
Battery Life	5 hours	4.5 hours 5 hours with LED display
Trackpad	Multi-touch	Multi-touch

More details here.

If you are buying an editing machine, you will want to choose a non-glossy display (preferably LED) with as fast a processor as you can afford. Buy the minimum amount of RAM and get it somewhere else for much less. Apple's memory is notoriously expensive compared to other retailers, even though it is identical. You are paying a premium for Apple's assurance that it will work, but I have never run into problems with third-party memory.

The biggest difference between the two is the fact that the MacBook Pro has dedicated graphics, which means that you will experience much better performance in applications like Motion. Color will not start up at all on a MacBook because of this reason.

The MacBook Pro also has the advantage of FireWire 800 ports for faster data transfers to external hard disks - essential for HDV editing.

So a MacBook Pro is recommended but you can get by with a MacBook if you are only editing SD footage and you will not be using Motion or Color.

Update 2/29/08: Engadget has some benchmarks showing that the speed is slightly faster between the new MacBook Pro and the old one but the heat output is considerably less.

How to clone and restore your system

This is a quick guide to cloning and restoring your system. I'd advise that you print this out and keep it in a safe place by your machine so that you won't waste time looking for it when your machine goes down.

Cloning your machine will create an exact copy of every single file on your computer onto a second hard drive. This can be either an internal or external disk. I'd advise external over internal because if something damages your machine, the external disk won't get damaged as well. The best time to create a clone is right after you have done a fresh Erase and Install of your operating system, have installed all of your apps and are ready to go.

Cloning
1. Download and install Carbon Copy Cloner.

2. If you are cloning to an external drive, connect it now.

3. Fire up Carbon Copy Cloner from your Applications folder. In the dialog that appears, select your system drive as the source and set your backup drive as the target.



4. Under options, make sure "Copy everything from source to target" is selected. You must check "Erase target volume" too, so as not to cause conflicts with data already on the disk. If you do not check this, the drive may not be bootable and this whole process would be pointless.



5. Click Clone and wait for it to finish. Be aware that this could take several hours.

6. Unmount your external disk (if applicable) and keep it in a safe, dry place, not too hot and not too cold. If you're paranoid like me, I'd advise connecting it to your machine every so often and verifying the disk in Disk Utility to make sure that it everything is ok.

Restoring
So the worst has happened. Your system is completely hosed and you have a deadline in 12 hours. What do you do?

Temporary Solution
1. Mount your backup disk, go to System Preferences and click on Startup Disk. If it is an external disk, it must be connected via FireWire in order to be bootable.



2. Select the backup drive in the drives list and click Restart.



3. The system will now restart in the backed-up "fresh" operating system.

This is a temporary solution to help you get your project finished without wasting time. You are advised to follow the permanent solution below.

If you have an external disk, make sure that it doesn't get disconnected either deliberately or accidentally. That's a good way to cause a kernel panic, which is never good. Don't put the machine to sleep. Shut the machine down completely before unplugging the drive. I once forgot the machine was asleep and unplugged it and my system completely froze. Not good.

Permanent Solution
1. Backup any data that you do not want to lose.
2. Boot to the backup hard disk as detailed in the Temporary Solution above.
3. In Carbon Copy Cloner, clone the backup disk over the startup disk. Follow the steps for cloning above but select your backup drive as the source and your startup disk as the target.
4. You must select "Erase the target drive".
5. Click Clone and wait for it to finish. Again, this could take several hours.
6. Go back to System Preferences > Startup Disk and set your startup disk back to the old drive and click Restart.

Xserve RAID replaced by third party solution

Today has been a day of good news and bad news. The good news is that Xsan 2 was released and it looks GREAT, and the bad news is that Apple has now discontinued the Xserve RAID. It's bad news but it's bad news with a decent solution.

There was no official statement from Apple but the old Xserve RAID page now points to the Promise VTrak E-Class RAID Subsystem. It's a shame as I love our Xserve RAIDs (we have three), even though they do put out a lot of heat and noise.

I can see why Apple did it, as the price and complexity did not help sales, and endorsing an established third party is cheaper and easier. The Xserve RAIDs were in need of a update, so it is refreshing to read the specs on this machine:

	Xserve RAID	Promise V-Track
Fibre Channel Port Speed	2 GB	4 GB
Fibre Ports per Controller	1	2
Max number of drives	14	16
Max drive size	750 GB	750 GB
Max storage	10.5 TB	12 TB (24 TB with expansion module)
Drive type	Ultra ATA	SATA / SAS
Controller cache	512 MB	2 GB
On-drive cache	8 MB	16 MB
Redundant controllers	No	Yes
Expansion	None	Expansion chassis adds 16 extra drives
Rack size	3U	3U

See more specs here.

Pricing Comparison

Low-End:


Mid-Range


High-End


Other Promise Configurations


This is without a doubt much better value for money than the Xserve RAID but the high initial cost will put a lot of people off, I would imagine. I think I am going to take advantage of cheap Xserve RAID units and get the maximum possible performance out of our existing units before shelling out for these.

I have spoken to a few people that own Promise RAIDs and they say they are very satisfied with them, so my mind is at rest on that front.

Apple releases Xsan 2

Apple today announced Xsan 2, a brand-new edition of its popular Storage Area Network (SAN) software.

SAN software allows you to manage storage devices on a network. It manages the reading and writing to the volumes through one machine (a server), otherwise data corruption can occur if two machines are reading and writing to the same area at once. It also allows you to control access to the data on these volumes. It is commonly used for managing video editing storage networks (we use Xsan 1.4 here at Digital Rebellion) so while it's probably not particularly exciting for most people, it is a big deal.

New features include a completely overhauled Xsan Admin (yay) which offers greater speed, greater stability and more monitoring features. There is now an Easy Setup wizard, a new filesystem offering up to 2 PB per volume (1 petabyte = 1024 terrabytes), and templates that optimize the system for a particular task (e.g. HD video, SD video, file sharing, etc).

There's also a new MultiSAN feature that allows you to connect to other SANs on the same server, such as a SAN for dailies and a different one for stock footage for example. It also comes with Spotlight support.

My number one favorite feature though would have to be the ability to direct files to a specific location. You can automatically set certain types of files to go to certain volumes such as dailies in one place, audio in another, project files in a third. This is very cool and is a great way to keep everything organized without having to impose rules on everyone.

I am very much liking the sound of this. My major complaint about Xsan 1.4 (and the same goes for Color and Shake) is that it didn't feel very Apple-like. It was complex to set up, it didn't "just work" and it was difficult to manage. Apple is famous for its ease of use but it was lacking in the previous version of Xsan.

I would be upgrading in the near future were it not for the following caveat: it is Leopard-only. The system requirements for the server are much higher too - 2 GB RAM minimum, plus 2 GB per volume (up from 512 MB per volume). I would not advise the use of Leopard in a critical environment yet. Some people edit on Leopard and have no problems at all but I am waiting until at least 10.5.4 before I consider upgrading.

Despite this, this is a great upgrade. Xsan 2 is available now for $999 per machine.

To see the difference an Xsan 2 network will make to a video editing network, see the graphs at the bottom of this page.

Toshiba to drop HD DVD

BBC News is reporting that shares of Toshiba have risen over speculation that it will scrap the HD DVD format. Toshiba was one of the pioneers of the format and has stood by it even after it was eclipsed by Blu-ray.

The article states that Toshiba is "reviewing its business strategies" but no decision has been made about HD DVD's future yet. This reflects a change in Toshiba's attitudes as it used to answer a firm "yes, the format will continue" when asked.

I hope Toshiba kills it sooner rather than later, as not only are they hurting themselves and the industry, but they are prolonging the inevitable. I think the major complaint about Blu-ray - price - will become a non-factor in the future as the industry can now focus its resources on one format to bring down prices, instead of splitting them between two. Also, technological improvements over time and increased demand will lower production costs and bring down prices as well.

Some people are wondering if it will all be in vain, as the download industry is just starting to take off. That remains to be seen but I don't think they are ready to directly compete with discs yet though.

Update 2/19/08: It's official. Toshiba has now suspended production of HD DVD players and recorders but will continue to clear out its inventory until March. This is a lot earlier than I had originally expected, so well done Toshiba for not drawing it out.

FCS Remover 1.0.2 released

We've just released FCS Remover 1.0.2. FCS Remover is a free utility for uninstalling Apple's Final Cut Studio suite.

This update offers the following features and fixes:
* Compressor and Qmaster support
* Now removes Final Cut Studio codecs
* Now removes some extra files that were missed out in previous versions
* New automatic update facility

This is just a minor update to fix a couple of things. I've been receiving a lot of feedback and the next version will not only be faster, but it will allow you to select which Final Cut Studio products you wish to remove. I am planning to rewrite the application for the next release so please be patient. Your comments and suggestions have been noted though and the update facility will notify you when additional versions are available.

You can file bug reports and feature suggestions here:
Bug reporter
Feature request

As always, your feedback is highly appreciated.

I also wanted to let you know that we now have an appcast feed up and running. You can import this into an RSS reader such as NewsFire and be instantly notified of new application updates, complete with a link to install them immediately.

Using Pacifist to downgrade QuickTime

Since I often need to use this information for reference, I am posting a guide here. As you may already be aware, certain versions of QuickTime can cause havoc with Final Cut Pro and other professional applications like After Effects. For example, many users of FCP 4.5 HD have been unable to capture long clips after installing QuickTime 7.3 and up.

Apple does not offer a means of uninstalling a rogue version of QuickTime so the solution is rather "hacky". It will solve the problem but for best results, you are recommended to perform a full Erase and Install to reinstall Mac OS X.

Also, don't perform this process unless it is absolutely necessary.

1. Download Pacifist.

2. Check which version of QuickTime works best with your software.

3. Download the version of QuickTime you wish to downgrade to.

4. Start up Pacifist and drag the QuickTime package onto the Pacifist logo in the main window.



5. A new window will pop up. Use the disclosure triangles to select the following two directories:
System/Library/Components
System/Library/QuickTime



It might be worth backing up the existing /System/Library/Components and /System/Library/QuickTime directories on your hard disk before performing this.

6. Now click Install up the top.

7. You will get this message, click Install and then type in your admin password:



8. It will spend a minute or so extracting and verifying files then this message will appear:



Click "Don't ask again for this installation" and then hit Replace.

9. When it finishes, restart your machine. If you go to QuickTime Player, it will still say the version number of the old version but if you open Final Cut Pro, it will now work as it did previously.

Full credit for this tip goes to Fred Turner.

Edit 2/17/08: Fixed a couple of errors.

Update 11/16/08: Erik Smith sent me another solution to the issue, although I would definitely say try it at your own risk.