Compositors

[knightsilver]

Hi, My name is Shane C. and I have posted a few post here at DT.
Im looking for other compositors to correspond with.

"Please email me"
knightsilver-gold@hotmail.com


I'm still in the very basic learning stage.
As of right now I'm only using,
Maya PLE
Fusion PLE and Photoshop Elements.
Last real version of PS was 5.0 and never learned the basics.
So, I guess I need to get DT's Photoshop CDs.

My future software plans are:
Adobe Production Studio, Start out with After Effects.
(Fusion is $5000, Dont have that.)
Maya Complete.


I'm saving funds for a new workstation but that won't be until Jan.2007
And maybe more information on Xeon "Woodcrest" aka (conroe core) then.

And "YES" I know this is six months aways and technology changes but not the 'Fundamentals" of the workstation.
I need to know how to setup a workstation the software listed above.
And I'm doing my homework now, If I was building a system for Maya it would be simple and a Heck of alot cheaper.


My dilema is that I'll only have $2500 for the system.
And add the AJA I/O card, SCSI and scsi harddrives later.

As of right now and when I build the new system, I'm using DV footage but will be getting a HDV cam soon after.

As far as the CPU's go, to start out with.
Would you start with a single cheap Xeon or two cheap Xeons and then replace with higher clocked Xeons, (remember, Im only working with DV footage at first)

Thanks guys for your time and thoughts.

P.S. I'll give anyone my Kick a@@ "Oven Fried chicken" recipe, who ask for it.

thanks,
shane c.

[danlefeb]

If you're going to be dealing with HDV footage, you'll want to make sure you've got a good bit of memory, and a graphics card that can support that. Check out the system requirements and keep in mind that those are the base requirements.

http://www.adobe.com/products/productionstudio/systemreqs.html

For example, see that 2 GB of RAM is required for HDV. I'd try to get at least double that if you're going to do a lot of heavy work. Of course, 2 GB will work fine with HDV (I've done it) but if you're working in it day in and day out, you don't want to be lagging at all, so the more you can get there the better. Also check out the list of currently-supported OpenGL cards when you're picking out a graphics card.

http://www.adobe.com/products/aftereffects/opengl.html

Good luck!

[crutch]

Unless you're planning on going with motion graphics you might consider using Shake. They've just dropped their price and I think it's under $500 for students. I prefer Fusion but Shake is really powerful and used by many. You might check out www.tomshardware.com for info on building your PC.

[danlefeb]

The only downside to Shake now is that its being discontinued. Of course they're going to completely rewrite it, but whether or not it'll even end up resembling the current Shake is unknown.