The Monster has arrived

Regular readers will know that I am something of a video nut. The last few months things have been stepping up a few gears on that front. For example, when I attended SAP TechEd in Las Vegas, along with colleague Jon Reed, we shot 22 videos over two days. It took nearly two weeks to get them all processed and uploaded. And therein lay one of our BIG problems.

A 5 minute high definition video was taking upwards of 4 hours to fully process once we’d finished editing. It was driving me crazy and I knew I needed a much faster machine with which to get things done if we are not to be consigned to endless late nights.

I could have gone with a MacPro but they are hideously expensive. Instead, I commissioned Nik Butler aka @loudmouthman to come up with a specification that would do the job at a fraction of the MacPro price. As part of the process I checked in with one of Nik’s clients who runs a video production studio in London.  He confirmed that the spec I was looking at should do the job.

For the geeks in the audience the basic spec was:

Intel i7 8-core processor, 120GB Solid State Disk for running Windows and the Adobe programs I use to produce the shows, a 6TB Raid0 storage array and 12GB RAM. I also need a few other odds and ends but that pretty much covers it. The machine is fully upgradeable so that if I need more storage then that can be added, either by upping the internals or, more likely, adding in a cluster of additional drives run off the SATA ports. Memory can go up some considerable amount before I run out of processor headroom. All in, I reckon I’ve got a machine that should easily last three/four years.

A machine of that spec is going to give off a LOT of heat so to overcome that problem we opted for what amounts to a gaming machine class cooling system. Despite the fact it has fans of a size that would keep my house cool, it runs super quiet. I can hardly hear the machine at all.

Getting a machine of this size and weighing around 25Kg to Spain was no mean feat but Nik had the foresight to palletise it. Sure, it put cost onto the system but it was well worth the extra.

Am I happy with The Monster? You bet. Windows 7 is a revelation. It is so long since I touched a Windows machine the last operating system I remember was XP. This OS just seems to work though some people have reported issues. I’ve optimised Adobe Production Pro for the machine’s configuration and processing time has been slashed by an order of magnitude. The quick unboxing vid only took 7 minutes to render which I can confidently say is waaaay better than what I was getting from the iMac. The machine should hold its performance as I have no plans to add anything other than Skype to the system. As long as I remember to house keep and flush out the crap Windows seems to magically accumulate then we’ll be just fine.

It’s worth noting that Nik was completely transparent throughout. Everything from parts discussion through to, costings and delivery options were laid out in a way I could understand and live with. Oh yes – they delivered exactly to the agreed time. How good is that? I was happy to pay up front in the knowledge that I was not only getting a good deal but that I would be getting exactly what I need for the job in hand.

Side note: I’ve only met Nik on a couple of occasions (although he lives only a stones’ throw from Gatwick airport, my recent second home) but we’ve conversed steadily over the last few years mostly via Twitter, on occasion using that medium to play Mornington Crescent. Now anyone who can play THAT game definitely deserves attention!

All in I am a happy camper and no, my Mac machines are staying on the network. Good thing this internet eh?