Building a rig for post work and surround mixing

[T_S_Harris]

Hello DUC users,
I am building a rig to get into post and surround mixing. I need a little help so i can do this right. Here is what i have so far

MacPro 4 core 8 gigs of ram
2 24 inch screens
Glyph Storage
HD 2
192 i/o
96i/o
Antelope clock
Dynaudio BM5a 5.1 with sub
Most all of the Digi plugins
Digitranslaor
Waves Gold
Sound Toyz

I guess i need to fill in the blanks. I am looking at a 32inch as a play back monitor. What should i get to work with protools as a playback card or system? Plus i need something for monitoring to and other software. I know there is alot of great stuff out there . Im not looking for the biggest and bad ass gear .Just looking for stuff that works.

T.Harris

[BradLyons]

Are you going to be syncing to external film or just playing back QuickTime files?

[T_S_Harris]

I will be playing just Quick time files

[Giftofsound]

If your working with QT then a
Blackmagi intensity card may be for you.

[BradLyons]

WEll I have a 46" LCD/TV that I use and place a QT movie window on that screen. IF you're wanting full-screen, then QT isn't the way to go. Instead I'd setup an LE system with Video Satellite LE

[mikevarela]

However, if you use the blackmagick intensity, you could be looking at 720p or 1080p video which would look great on a large monitor. but--- it'll tax your box. if you're doing small stuff, no porblem, but on larger sessions I'd take brad's advice and invest in a second computer running Video Satellite LE (go with a digidesign micro and maybe a cheap tower PC along with the blackmagic intensity)

also, as a side note.. check out Altiverb and Speakerphone

[Eric L]

The preceding suggestions are good ones and will definitely work. I would suggest using the second DVI out to to your new monitor. If you don't want to give up the second desktop view just for video, you can try the Triple Head to Go system by Matrox. This will give you three extended desktop monitors. One of which can be dedicated to video.

Also, try searching this forum, as this topic has been discussed very often. Good luck.

[BradLyons]

If I'm looking at the right product, that resolution looks pretty low when using (3) displays... am I missing something?

[Eric L]

am I missing something?

I'm not sure. Maybe.

If you have two DVI outs from the computer, then you would only connect the Triple Head to Go to one of them. This would provide 2 monitors with a max res of 1920x1200. The other display would connect to the remaining DVI out.

I have not used this system personally. I was only suggesting it as a possible solution that the OP may want to research. I am not promoting it as the best solution, just an option.

I would do this before buying another system just to run video satellite. Quicktime played back via DVI is completely acceptable for a professional post sound rig.

[originalscottyg]

The TripleHead2Go works well for this purpose. The first DVI out of the MacPro goes to the Matrox which splits it to 2 computer monitors. I use these for the Edit and Mix windows. The second DVI out of the MacPro goes directly to a DVI to HDMI converter then to a 46" LCD. I use that for 1080p ProRes QT movies. Looks great! The only downside I can find is that all of the dialog windows that come up are always centered between the 2 computer monitors and thus split between them. I think there may be a way to manage this with the Matrox software, but I haven't been able to find it yet. The resolution seems just fine using the Matrox box for the edit and mix window. The QT movies do not go through the Matrox.
HTH

Also...
Is the antelope clock really necessary for the purpose the OP is building for? If interfacing with external sync or video decks at some point, I think a Sync|HD would be much more useful.