Silverado StudioBuilder

Silverado Blog Has Moved to Studiobuilder.tv

2011-06-02T23:42:00.000-07:00

Silverado's blog has now permanently moved to http://studiobuilder.tv

Blackmagic Shipping Updates for 2011 Products

2011-05-23T14:01:00.000-07:00

We just received the following ETA for the new Blackmagic Design products released at NAB 2011:

DeckLink Quad - Shipping now
SmartView Duo – Shipping now in limited quantity

H.264 Pro Recorder - any day now
Media Express 3 – any day now (this will come at the same time as the H.264 Pro Recorder)

DaVinci Resolve 8 (free download) - June
DaVinci Resolve Lite (free) - 2 to 3 weeks after above release

UltraStudio SDI - June
UltraStudio 3D - July

DeckLink 4K - June

Atem 1 M/E & 1 M/E Panel - June
Atem Television Studio – July
Atem Camera Converter - July
Atem 2 M/E & 2 M/E Panel - August

HyperDeck Shuttle – May/June
HyperDeck Studio - July

Rugged Mini Converters - end July

GPI/Tally Box – July

Universal Videohub 288 – July
Universal Videohub 72 - August

For more information on these products, please contact us at info@silverado.cc

New White Paper: Preparing for Final Cut Pro X

2011-05-09T01:52:00.000-07:00

For years, people asked questions about how to build Final Cut Pro systems:

• What kind of Mac should I edit with?
• Do I need a tower?
• How much RAM should I buy?
• What kind of storage space do I need?
• What graphics card should I get?

Download Silverado's latest white paper "Preparing for Final Cut Pro X" and learn about the latest technologies that will allow Final Cut Pro X to perform like no other previous editing package. These topics include OpenCL, 64-bit RAM utilization, and Grand Central Dispatch.

"Preparing for Final Cut Pro X" is an 18-page PDF download. You can get it here:

New White Paper: Preparing for Final Cut Pro X [LINK]

Should you get a Mac Pro or an iMac?

2011-01-26T05:00:00.000-08:00

We get this question nearly every day: I have a limited budget, but I want to get the right machine for the job. Should I get a Mac Pro? Or can I make-do with an iMac?

We've known for a long time that its infinitely easier to use a Mac Pro because they are far more expandable and flexible for the creative professional. However, Lloyd Chambers recently wrote a great article on the exact reasons why you should get a Mac Pro and skip the iMac:

Mac Pro Westmere Compared to Quad-Core iMac by Lloyd Chambers at Mac Performance Guide

Click over to read Lloyd's laundry list of reason's why you shouldn't get an iMac for professional work. Its a great read. It will convince you to save your nickels and dimes for that tower!

Blackmagic Design Offers Free DaVinci Resolve Workshops at San Francisco FCPUG SuperMeet

2011-01-19T10:08:00.000-08:00

This just in from Blackmagic Design...

BMD will host a series of free DaVinci Resolve for Mac training workshops at the upcoming Tenth Annual FCPUG San Francisco SuperMeet on January 28, 2011.

If you weren't already aware, the Final Cut Pro Users Group’s (FCPUG) annual San Francisco SuperMeet is the largest gathering of FCP, Avid and Adobe editors, HDSLR filmmakers, digital content creators and gurus in California in 2011, and includes free workshops, networking and the ability to connect with more than 35 software and hardware developers in the SuperMeet Digital Showcase.

During the day of the SuperMeet, Blackmagic Design will host three workshops offering training and tips for users of the DaVinci Resolve for Mac non-linear color correction system. The sessions, hosted by Rich Montez, the founder and owner of LA’s Whipping Post  Services and 25-year veteran Hollywood colorist, will provide an introduction to the DaVinci Resolve for Mac, showcase proper set up and integration tips, provide basic how-to’s and detail Resolve features and capabilities, such as the advantages of real-time performance in color correction.

When: January 28, 2011 -- Sessions occur from 11:30 - 12:30 pm PT, 1:00 - 2:00 pm PT and 2:30 - 3:30 pm PT

Where: Mission Bay Conference Center UCSF, San Francisco, CA

For more event information and to purchase tickets to the San Francisco SuperMeet, please visit http://supermeet.com/. To register for a workshop, please go to http://sf2011workshops.eventbrite.com/.

Tape Backup Speed Reference Chart

2010-12-09T12:11:00.000-08:00

Tim Jones from TOLIS Group recently sent this chart our way. Tape backup speeds for your system will swing depending on the speed of your source drive as well as the connection (USB, FC, or SAS) of your tape drive system.

For more information on LTO-5 systems, check out the Silverado FieldSAFE which is a great all-around general purpose backup system for production and post.

Dead RED Rocket card? Not so fast...try this first.

2010-11-08T12:02:00.000-08:00

Every now and then we get PCI cards that go dead. Blackmagic, AJA, Sonnet--none of them are immune to things like broken capacitors from heavy handed freight companies or electrostatic shock.

So, if your RED Rocket card suddenly doesn't work--try this first:

1. Remove the RED Rocket and flip the #8 DIP switch on. (See picture)

2. Once the #8 DIP switch has been flipped on, put the card back into your machine then run the Driver then Firmware upgrades. http://www.red.com/support/8/release_history

3. After they are installed, remove the RED Rocket and flip the #8 Dip switch back to off and put the RED Rocket back into the system.

This is a good first step before RMA'ing the card back for replacement.

New SSD Option for RED Owners

2010-09-08T00:34:00.000-07:00

More info here: REDUser

New PDF: Archiving for Indies

2010-06-29T09:27:00.000-07:00

We just published a new PDF on archiving data:

"Archiving for Indies: Creating Long-Term Archives for Independent Digital Cinema"

Learn about the latest solutions in digital archiving using LTO-5 tape. Also--learn what NOT to use for your permanent data storage needs.

Document published June 2010 by Silverado.

Click to access PDF

A REAL power strip...courtesy of RED

2010-05-24T14:53:00.001-07:00

This is RED's idea of a power strip...

Info here: RED "WAR WAGON"

New RED 1.8" SSD Option on EPIC

2010-05-24T14:45:00.002-07:00

More info here: RED 1.8" SSD Option at REDUser

Meet "Ghost"

2010-05-24T14:00:00.001-07:00

Jarred Land over at RED posted up some awesome pics. First one is "Ghost" which is one of the new EPIC cameras.

More info here: Meet "Ghost" at REDUser

Contest: If you were an intern, how would you destroy data?

2010-04-26T23:57:00.000-07:00

Here is the premise of the question: how many ways can you think an intern could destroy a hard drive or LTO tape?

Okay, okay...I am picking on interns here. In reality, we've all mindlessly destroyed data by being careless or reckless. I know I've dropped my share of drives, disconnected spinning Firewire disks, and even caused a DV tape to unspool itself inside a Sony VTR.

Some other methods here for destroying data:

1. Falling off bookshelves
2. Tumbling down staircases
3. Knocked off a 2nd story railing
4. Getting run over by a car
5. Being thrown by a little kid

What do you say? What is the strangest, oddest, or most bizarre way your data was destroyed (either by you or someone else) and did you have a backup? Put your best story down in the comments below.

The best entry will get a free RED 101 special 2-Disc DVD collection by DreamWelder Productions.

Thoughts on SCRATCH, Nuke and Smoke...

2010-03-04T06:10:00.000-08:00

I saw an interested discussion on Twitter between Shawn Nelson and Emery Wells. It goes like this:

Shawn: "what's a good way to understand Nuke vs Flame vs Inferno vs Smoke vs Fusion and how they fit together or dont?"

Emery: "Think Nuke for one shot a time. Smoke for bringing it all together. Flame is like Nuke and Smoke combined. Fusion me no likey."

Shawn: "Thanks man! Which ones do you use in your pipeline? Or do you not handle that side of post?"

Emery: "Scratch for grading, Nuke for compositing, and getting Smoke for finishing."

Shawn: "Scratch for grading? I loved the results of the Quantel Pablo! I'm also interested to see Lustre in action. Why go Scratch?"

Then, Yohance Brown jumps in with this:

Yohance: "...price. Scratch $70K, Lustre $150K, Pablo $400K"

Emery adds: "Scratch still has the strongest red support in my opinion. Pablo is great but 6 times the cost. Bout 400k..."

These are all GREAT people you should be following:

http://twitter.com/ShawnNelson
http://twitter.com/emerywells
http://twitter.com/yohance_brown

Question: Is a $2000 industrial plasma good enough for critical monitoring?

2010-03-03T04:19:00.000-08:00

Adam Wilt reports on a science experiment conducted by Pete Putman via HPA:

"Question: is a $2000 industrial plasma good enough for critical monitoring? (LCD problems: costly, high black levels, off-axis color/tone shifts, bad color gamut on CCFL backlights). Took stock Panasonic TH-42PF11UK and tweaked with calibration tools. Got stable gamma with a couple of “speed bumps”, consistent if not perfect RGB tracking, great blacks."

"Color gamut exceeded 709, even large portion of P3. Green was a bit shifted towards cyan (for brightness). Gamma at 120 nits was 2.5; looked very smooth (movie mode), a bit of a bump in 2.2 gamma. Max gray drift was 145K in the shadows; bit of a blue bump around 70%. Brightness 100-120 nits (29-35 ft-Lamberts), contrast 1189:1 (checkerboard), 11370:1 sequential (gamma 2.2), black level 0.124 nits."

"Wanted better; got a Cine-tal Davio using a 3D LUT to correct residual color and gamma errors (as seen in the demo room). After calibration, color accuracy was comparable to reference-grade CRT. Best of all: a very cost-effective solution."

You can read more on this--plus other fantastic reports over at Adam Wilt's excellent HPA 2010 coverage on Pro Video Coalition.

RED versus F35 versus Canon 7D...what would you rather shoot?

2010-02-17T01:24:00.000-08:00

Take a look at the zone plate shot below:

RED MX-REDcode 42 versus Sony F35 versus Canon 7D

What sensor would you rather shoot?

Full discussion here:

7D Zone Plate Discussion on REDUser

Stunning RAID results with SOHOTANK and ATTO R380 card...+820 MB/s

2010-02-09T11:42:00.000-08:00

We did some testing in the shop today with new firmware on the ATTO R380 SAS card and the Stardom SOHOTANK ST8-U5 running Hitachi 2.0 TB drives. The results were some of the best I've ever seen in an 8-drive RAID 5.

Using a 16.0 GB sized file in 2048x1556 10-bit RGB format, the drive pushed 705 MB/s writes and 775 MB/s reads.

Further, using a 16.0 GB sized file in DVCProHD 1080i60 format, the drive pushed over 822 MB/s read speeds.

Results are nothing short of awesome for this price point. You can't get a faster RAID 5 for under $5000.

You can get your own Stardom SOHOTANK ST8-U5 with a free Apple iPad through the end of February.

Free Apple iPad with new 16TB RAID's

2010-01-28T11:33:00.000-08:00

From now until end of February, all Stardom RAID units configured as 16.0 TB will receive a free Apple iPad when they start shipping in late March (16GB model Wi-Fi model. You can opt to pay the difference and receive a higher end model, too). More info:

Stardom SOHOTANK ST5-U8 Mini-SAS RAID with free Apple iPad

Can you get an external 16.0 TB PCIe RAID 5 unit for under $5000?

2010-01-25T10:22:00.000-08:00

Question: Can you get an external 16.0 TB PCIe RAID 5 unit for under $5000?

Yep--we just introduced the Stardom SOHOTANK ST5-U8 Mini-SAS RAID - powered by ATTO R380 SAS card with DriveAssure™ technology. Available in 8.0TB or 16.0 TB for under $5000.

Check it out here:

Stardom SOHOTANK ST5-U8 Mini-SAS RAID

A lesson for identity thieves and crooks...

2010-01-25T05:59:00.000-08:00

Please, I am getting SO tired of getting these messages. I just got a message from wesleystore2010@aol.com who urgently needs a bunch of cartridges via next day air:

CALCULATE ME THE TOTAL COST AND THE SHIPPING COST OF THE BELOW LISTED ITEMS TO GARDENA,CA 90249, USA VIA NEXT DAY AIR

HP OEM ORIGINAL INKJET CATRIDGE
C1823D ..... 50QTYS
C6578DN ..... 50QTYS

Sony PDV 184N DV tape - 1 x 184min ........ 100 Qty

WAITING TO READ FROM YOU ASAP AND ALSO THE ACCEPTABLE CREDIT CARDS FOR THE
PAYMENT

REGARDS
Richard Peterson
WESLEY STORE
1961 VALLEY RIDGE DR SW
ATLANTA
30331

If you REALLY wanted to get me to look closer at this request, you need to change up your approach big time.

First, my name is on the Silverado website. Everything else aside, could you take the time to find my name and say "Hey Torrey!" or "Dear Mr. Loomis," or something like that?

Second, enough with the ALL CAPS. NO ONE WANTS TO READ A MESSAGE WHEN IT APPEARS YOU ARE SHOUTING AT THEM.

Third, no one believes you are with "Wesley Store" when your email comes from Yahoo or AOL or Gmail. Please--get a regular domain name that goes back to a legitimate site. I run domains all the time to see where they are setup and when the site was opened.

Fourth, do you even know what business we are in? Silverado sells HD editing systems, not inkjet supplies. Sure, every now and then we order printers for someone as part of a bigger sale, but its not our bread-and-butter. So--when you write asking for dozens of products we don't typically sell--I am sending your email to the trash.

Fifth--learn English and use spell check. Its that simple...

Sixth--you say you are in Atlanta, but want the items freighted to Gardena? Another red flag...

Seventh--going back to your English lessons: you need to structure your sentences better. The way you write is a dead giveaway you are writing these with a group of other idiots who can't write either. Find one of you who can write and spell correctly, and then COPY their fraudulent messages. At least I'll respect you more when I delete you.

tl

Now on demo at Silverado: Ostendo CRVD™ Curved Display

2010-01-20T09:18:00.000-08:00

We are receiving a brand new Ostendo CRVD™ Curved Display today. We'll have this on display in one of our edit suites for the next two weeks, then we're scheduled to show it at the San Francisco FCPUG SuperMeet.

Come by and check it out!

The best CG/VFX I have ever seen...

2010-01-10T22:26:00.000-08:00

Alex Roman is one extremely talented individual. I've yet to see anything better than this...

The Third & The Seventh from Alex Roman on Vimeo.

If he hadn't stated that it was CG, I still would have been very impressed at his skills and his eye. That this is 99% CG with a little green screen mixed in is unbelievable.

BREAKING...Ted from RED unveils Scarlet proto and some tidbits on release dates

2010-01-10T03:33:00.000-08:00

Ted Schilowitz from RED Digital Cinema showed the latest version of Scarlet for the Gizmodo crew

RED Scarlet and Bomb EVF surprise hands-on!

Check out the section of the video where he mentions "Scarlet is 4-6 months out and EPIC is one month or so away..."

One of the most exciting products I've seen in a long time...Christie Microtiles

2010-01-09T09:53:00.000-08:00

Check this out:

Christie Microtiles

This product is awesome. The possibilities are endless with something like this.

Fixing Final Cut Pro...the Bob Zelin Way

2010-01-09T08:43:00.001-08:00

I saw a particularly good post from Bob Zelin on FCP-L about trashing preferences and resetting FCP, especially if you are having difficulty with an AJA card:

Trash your preferences. You must do this "all the way".

This is how to delete the Final Cut Pro preferences:

Quit Final Cut Pro.

on your MAC internal hard drive, navigate to /users/yourloginname/library/preferences, and delete this file - com.apple.FinalCutPro.plist

navigate to
/user/yourloginname/library/preferences/FinalCutProUserData
and delete these three files -
Final Cut Pro 6.0 Preferences
Final Cut Pro Obj Cache
Final Cut Pro Prof Cache

thats is ! Relaunch Final Cut Pro, and you will be "starting from scratch".

Now, launch FCP. Right away, to to EASY SETUPS. Choose an EASY SETUP that relates to the AJA Kona LHi drivers, not 8 bit uncompressed or DV/NTSC, or something like that. Choose something like AJA Kona NTSC 8 bit uncompressed, etc. OK, now CREATE A NEW SEQUENCE (file>new sequence), and click on this new sequence. Try to open up color bars on your timeline from the film strip. Do you see color bars ? Is it on your TV ? Go to VIEW>EXTERNAL VIDEO>ALL FRAMES. Is it on your TV ?

If the answer is still NO, then your FCP install is corrupt and you must reinstall FCP.

Of course--you follow this at your own risk and if you toss the wrong file its your responsibility. However, I've done this before with positive results.

The Pros I Know - Ryan Todd

2010-01-06T00:48:00.000-08:00

Ryan Todd - Director extraordinaire: http://www.director-ryantodd.com

The Pros I Know - Nick Trivundza

2010-01-02T02:36:00.000-08:00

Nick Trivundza - fantastic motion graphics guy

http://www.naissance.tv

This pretty much sums up 2009...

2009-12-31T10:05:00.000-08:00

Terence Curren from www.alphadogs.tv just sent these wishes out. I think it sums up 2009 very well.

As this year draws to a close, I am taking this opportunity to once again thank all of you who make this a group effort.

2009 will be remembered as a very tough year for most of us. Many changes in our industry, combined with a painful recession combined to create a challenging environment to say the least. Those who have survived, are stronger for it. And to those who have left this industry, I wish you well.

2010 promises to be another challenging year that will present both hardship and opportunity. I hope for all of you to find the latter and prosper in new and interesting ways.

It will be interesting to see what hardships and opportunities arise in 2010...

tl

The Pros I Know - Eric Maddox

2009-12-31T00:56:00.000-08:00

Eric Maddox - awesome editor, motion gfx, shooter with a great eye: http://bit.ly/5A9qOe

CONFLICT ALERT! Autodesk Smoke and RED Rocket

2009-12-23T11:31:00.001-08:00

Please make sure you're aware of the following conflict before installing Autodesk Smoke (demo or full version) on your RED Rocket system.

Smoke requires native 64-bit OS whereas RED Rocket drivers works in 32-bit space. So, if you install Smoke and boot in 64-bit, RED Rocket will not work since the drivers will be unable to load.

There is no solution to this for now besides using one or the other at a time.

Tip: if you want to boot in 32-bit, hold down 3+2 on your Mac when booting. If you need to boot in 64-bit, then hold down 6+4. Otherwise, your operating system will make the choice for you when you boot up--either 64 or 32.

If you've installed Smoke and now you can't see your Rocket, simply reboot holding down 3+2.

tl

(Hey Tyler, you can thank me later...)

SCRATCH 5.0 Released!!

2009-12-22T15:53:00.000-08:00

This just in from the ASSIMILATE Team

SCRATCH v5.0 and SCRATCH CINE v5.0 are released! SCRATCH owners with access can visit the Assimilate support site for detailed documentation on this release.

As of v5.0, SCRATCH and SCRATCH CINE are released as native 64-bit applications only and will NOT run on a 32-bit operating system. The target OS for v5.0 is Windows 7 64-bit (any edition). Be aware that NOT all graphics cards are fully functional with Windows 7. Assimilate urge you to plan your upgrade to v 5.0 and READ CAREFULLY the article on the support site for ‘SCRATCH v5.0 Drivers and Installation issues’. This covers NVIDIA graphics card support, downloading a suitable driver for Windows 7 and additional hardware issues you need to be aware of.

What is new in SCRATCH v5.0? Here is a just a teaser of the exciting tools now available and more fixes and workflow improvements are detailed on the support site.

New 64 bit means more memory support and larger memory address space supported equals better support for 4k workflow and beyond!
New RED Rocket support
FAST playback of FULL resolution RED media!
New Implementation of NVIDIA’s CUDA Technology*
New Real time 32 bit Full Histogram*
New Real time32 bit Waveform Monitor*
New Real time32 bit Vector Scope*
New XML Scripting capabilities

(*only NVIDIA cards with CUDA – Compute Capability version 1.3 or higher, support all the new features.)

More information here:

Assimilate SCRATCH 5.0

Raising money in 2009: Strike Two--Five Star Bank

2009-12-17T14:55:00.000-08:00

This is a follow-up to this article about obtaining financing for expansion:

Raising money in 2009: Are banks lending to small business?

In the ongoing attempts to establish funding, we submitted an application to Five Star Bank...and it was turned down because the personal score for the submitter was not high enough.

That was it. That was the sole reason listed.

Folks--we're going on 8 years old as a company. Our expansion project will take us to three new metro areas and quadruple the size of our company. SBA is covering 90% of the risk on these new loans.

It doesn't matter--its exactly what I have said before: banks are not lending to small businesses. When you have a mature company--not a startup--with a significant growth initiative that can't get funding, the banks are just hoarding cash...

As I mentioned in the last blog post--we have three positions we could hire for immediately, but the funding for the growth project needs to be there first. Banks are squatting on billions in federal dollars and the government has otherwise failed to allocate funding to anything worthwhile, yet they are still pushing forward with "health care reform" and raising the debt limit to an amount so big, we couldn't pay it back for 100 years.

Do you know anyone who got an SBA loan lately?

I don't.

tl

Raising money in 2009: My plan for cutting unemployment in half in 30 days

2009-12-16T10:44:00.000-08:00

DISCLAIMER--please note I am a registered Independent. My point of view comes from being a small business owner--not the left or the right.

If you are angry at the way things are being handled by Washington--please read this over and sound off below.

President Obama's dispersal of stimulus funds has been a total joke so far. If you look at the actual jobs created, the expense of the program has been monstrous:

http://bit.ly/4qw9cB

American Prospect associate editor Ezra Klein wrote in November 2008 "The stimulus package cannot be understood as spending divided by jobs...The envisioned stimulus is much bigger than simple job creation. It's infrastructure construction and aid to states and the preservation of the safety net..."

Please--tell that to someone out of work who is about to lose their "safety net."

The dispersal of federal funds by the feds and the banks should end. Immediately. The banks aren't loaning to small businesses and the feds waste the money. Give it to small businesses instead with the requirement that the funds are used to hire the unemployed.

In November, the "official" unemployment numbers was 15.4 million people and the rate was 10%. Small business owners could right this ship overnight by implementing the following program:

1. Provide direct employment loans to small businesses who promise to hire 1-2 currently unemployed personnel
2. Defer repayment of this loan to 2011.
3. Cap the interest at 5%

If you hired 7,500,000 million people this way at $45,000 per year, the unemployment rate would go to 5%. The cost of this would be $337,500,000,000. I don't know what the default rate would be, but if you assumed 85% of businesses repaid the loan with 5% interest, the real federal cost would be $36,281,250,000. This is significantly lower than the untold hundreds of billions that are being wasted by Washington right now.

If you had a 95% repayment rate, there would be no net cost to the government and this would not require a cent in tax hikes.

As a small business owner, I can tell you right now I would hire three people overnight if this program was available. I already know who they are--the job offers would go out before the ink was dry on the loan paperwork.

But I'm not a politician, so what do I know...

Torrey
-----------------------------------------------
Torrey Loomis
President & CEO - Silverado Systems, Inc.
(916) 760-0032 • FAX (916) 404-5258
torrey@silverado.cc
Web http://www.Silverado.cc
Blog http://silveradosys.blogspot.com
Twitter http://www.twitter.com/silveradosys

Why you want an SSD

2009-12-03T03:10:00.000-08:00

Silverado and Paramore

2009-11-26T22:26:00.000-08:00

Silverado's RED ONE #21 used on Paramore's recent video "Brick by Boring Brick"

Silverado Ultrascope-powered ColoRig in action with SCRATCH

2009-11-18T10:52:00.000-08:00

Rack based Blackmagic UltraScope...

2009-11-12T13:56:00.000-08:00

The picture below was correctly identified as a rack based Blackmagic UltraScope by Paul Conigliaro.

BMD created a gorgeous full featured product in the UltraScope. And they tried to make it as inexpensive as possible by making it a card you can drop into a spare system laying around.

However, most people who have a spare system like this don't realize the specs required. You need at least two PCIe slots--one of which needs to be a x16 PCIe slot for the graphics card. Spare systems might be an older system laying around from a previous system--and they may be PCI-X, not PCIe.

And there are few graphics cards that are officially supported, so now you are having to run out and but a new card to replace in that spare system.

AND...this would be very beneficial to all editors--Mac users included--since the system requires HD-SDI, but otherwise doesn't care about the type of platform where its coming from. However, many Mac users (not all of you...no flames please) wouldn't have a spare system like this laying around, nor would they know how to build one from the ground up (again...I know you people are smart...so no flames please...I am talking about those OTHER Mac-based editors...)

One more thing--who wants another tower on the ground? This system is in a low profile compact 2U rack which can be put on a shelf nearby, or away from the main editing system altogether in another room with a long SDI run.

So...we decided to build a companion product for the UltraScope. It will be a ready-to-use product--just rack it up, plug in a monitor, turn it on, and boot up the software. Aside from that, you don't have to tinker, install, configure or do anything else.

We've already tested it with the 24" Apple Cinema LED display. Its gorgeous. I'll post a picture later on REDuser and on this blog.

We'll have it up on the site for ordering with pricing tomorrow. The engineering is done--the product works fine, but we are recasing them since aesthetically the current 2U system looks...um...generic.

If you have a monitor that supports 1920 x 1200, you can buy it without a monitor. We'll also bundle it with a 24" display and the Gefen adapter for those who want that, too.

We still need a name for it. I was thinking about ColoRig, but I am open to suggestions. I don't think "The Mullet" will make the final list.

TL

What is this?

2009-11-12T08:02:00.001-08:00

We're building up a new piece of technology at Silverado and we're giving you the chance to guess what it is...

If you are observant, you'll be able to get it pretty quick.

Post your guesses as comments below.

Free Blu-ray Authoring Classes at Silverado

2009-11-06T01:20:00.000-08:00

UPDATE: Larry now has a sign-up form active on the page below.

Larry Applegate of Rivergate Software will teach an all-day Blu-ray Authoring Class at Silverado Systems, the premiere Apple VAR in Northern California, on Nov. 16, 2009.

In this class Larry will cover the three options for a Macintosh-only workflow for creating Blu-ray recordable media for playback, and how you can distribute or publish your work by duplication and replication.

Much of the material for these classes is taken from the book Fast Path to Blu-ray for Mac with the blessing of its author Bruce Nazarian, who is also President of the IDMA (International Digital Media Alliance). Copies of the book will be available for purchase at the classes.

Here is the class schedule:

10 a.m. Making Blu-ray in Final Cut Pro 7
11 a.m. Blu-ray Video with Toast 10.4
12 a.m. Lunch offsite nearby
1 p.m. Making Blu-ray in Adobe Encore CS4
2 p.m. Publishing Blu-ray with BluStreak Premaster
3 p.m. Wrap up and general discussion

More info:

http://blustreak.dvdafteredit.com/blu-ray-authoring-classes

Raising money in 2009: SacStarts

2009-10-31T07:15:00.000-07:00

Going to check-out the SacStarts group on Sunday night:

"SacStarts dinners are informal get-togethers where the best and brightest technologists and entrepreneurs connect. Grab a seat and some food and meet other locals involved in Sacramento’s technology community."

http://sacstarts.com/events/2009/11/01/november-dinner-jacks-urban-eats

Raising money in 2009: Strike One--Tri Counties Bank

2009-10-23T08:13:00.000-07:00

I got a call yesterday from a rep at Tri Counties Bank. He had recently come in the week before and sat down with me regarding our needs. I sent him back with a full set of financials and an outline of our expansion plans. At the time, he seemed very positive on the outlook and indicated he would talk to his underwriting department as soon as possible.

I wasn't surprised when he called yesterday without positive news.

He said that the underwriter reviewed our information and that our expansion wasn't in line with "historical growth needs" but rather based on "accelerated needs" which the bank wasn't comfortable with. He indicated that our new opportunity for expansion was great for our business, but something that otherwise scares a lending institution because of the rapid and dramatic rise in the need for capital.

Rather than being open to $750-$850k in financing, he said the bank couldn't approach anything beyond $250k and that would have to be fully secured with collateral. He indicated even this would be a stretch for them. This was different than what he originally wrote in his email:

"We are often much more flexible than our larger counterparts. When we need outside guarantees we can turn to the SBA 504 program, or California Capital (like an SBA for the state of California)."

When I asked about these guarantees, none were volunteered or offered.

To be fair--he was very nice the entire time and I appreciated him coming to the office and sitting down with us the week prior.

I talked with an associate and she said she didn't think the story would be different with any of the other banks. "In this economy, you almost have to prove you don't need the money to actually get the money..."

We'll see...

Raising money in 2009: Are banks lending to small business?

2009-10-01T06:57:00.000-07:00

I am going to start a new topic here on the blog along the lines of small business development and funding.

Its always hard to run a small business. Right now, it can be really hard. But that doesn't stop owners from still trying to take on new challenges, establish new markets, and continue the pursuit of growth for their companies.

We're an example of that. I've run Silverado since 2003 as a fairly organic organization--we've generally bootstrapped most of what we do from the very beginning. We do a number of very high-profile things--and we do them very well.

First, we design high-definition editing systems for film, media, broadcast, and independent editors using Apple and Assimilate technology. One of our largest projects included redesigning the TV editing facility at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center around Apple technology.

Another project includes high-end film finishing software. If you are planning to see Disney's "A Christmas Carol" in 3D later this year, that movie was finished on our editing systems using a product called SCRATCH from Assimilate.

Secondly, we've been at the forefront of helping to transform cinema production with the acquisition of two of the first RED ONE cameras in the world. The RED ONE can shoot in a format called 4K--which is akin to 35mm film grade material created digitally. It is actually a very green process since there is no film development, no chemicals, no processing, and no transporting material back and forth to labs.

We work on this 4K material in our new 5000 sq. foot Silverado Studios facility in Folsom which currently has one fully operational digital cinema editing suite along with two more edit suites and an advanced 4K digital cinema theater in development.

Did you see Lois Wolk's iPhone style-ad during the last election? Shot on our RED cameras and edited at Silverado.

Did you see Cathleen Galgiani's bullet train spots? Shot on our RED's and edited by Silverado personnel.

Our cameras and personnel have shot three full-length feature films including acting personnel such as Jennifer Love Hewitt, Jamie Kennedy, Robert Picardo, and Cybill Shepherd. Our studios also hosted the editorial of the critically acclaimed Timothy Hutton feature film "Broken Hill."

For better--and worse--we've worked pretty much with the existing cash flow of the business instead of taking venture capital, angel funding, or SBA loans. We've used our own resources plus those of a few family and friends along with a local bank for a small credit line which is no longer available.

Because of that, we've been restricted in growth to what we could accommodate on our own. In spite of those restrictions, we've been awarded the following accolades along the way:

2007 "100 Fastest Growing Companies in Sacramento" - Sacramento Business Journal
2008 "100 Fastest Growing Companies in Sacramento" - Sacramento Business Journal
2009 "100 Fastest Growing Companies in Sacramento" - Sacramento Business Journal

2008 "Top 5000 Fastest Growing Private Companies in America" - Inc. Magazine
2009 "Top 5000 Fastest Growing Private Companies in America" - Inc. Magazine

Presently, we're poised to take on a new project in the immediate future which will require outside funding for the first year. The details are under wraps right now (my competitors like to read my blog) but will come out fairly soon. The crux of the matter is that this project will take $850,000 in excess of what we currently have. This new operation will allow Silverado to become a $10M company in about 18 months.

With that in mind, I need a loan. But are banks lending?

My position is that they are not lending. But rather than hem-and-haw about the situation, I intend to determine for myself if banks aren't lending to small business.

The following banks will get a loan application from Silverado Systems, Inc. in the next two weeks:

Sierra Vista Bank

Folsom Lake Bank

First Northern Bank

IronStone Bank

Bank of America ($25,000,000,000 in TARP funding)

Wells Fargo Bank ($25,000,000,000 in TARP funding)

Five Star Bank

Umpqua Bank ($214,181,000 in TARP funding)

River City Bank

California Bank & Trust

California Federal Bank

Imperial Bank

Sacramento Commerce Bank

Sonoma National Bank

Western Sierra Bank

Mechanics Bank

Comerica Bank ($2,250,000,000 in TARP funding)

Tri Counties Bank

Stockmans Bank

American River Bank

Bridge Bank

First US Community Credit Union

Our criteria is the following:

1. We need a loan of $850,000 for a business expansion project that will significantly increase Silverado sales on a national basis.

2. We will move all deposit accounts to the loaning institution.

3. If such service is offered, we will move our credit card processing over to the loaning institution.

We will report the results from every single bank right here on this blog. Either "yay" or "nay."

This isn't designed to be antagonistic, but other business owners are in the same shoes as we are right now--trying to expand their business, but not having much luck getting funding. Plus, a lot of people want to know what is being done with their taxes. When a bank gets a bailout, are they loaning back to the community?

If there are any banks not listed that you think should get an app, please let me know. Our criteria for applying to a bank is whether they have a strong business loan track record.

Note--while this might be a noble experiment conducted for the benefit of ourselves and other Sacramento area small businesses, I am a businessman first. If a private investor walked in the door with $850,000, we'd proceed with our business project immediately. If you're in that position, I can always be reached at torrey@silverado.cc

However, private capital being in the condition that it is today--I don't know if that is plausible. So, we are proceeding with the traditional loan process.

If you are a lending institution that would like to be considered for an application, please contact us at (916) 760-0032.

Further--we'd love to accommodate a tour of our facility. Please call us and schedule a time to visit. We would love to show you around the studio and we can talk about our expansion plans in greater detail.

Stay tuned to this blog for the results.

Starting from SCRATCH: Building 4K editing & finishing systems how-to PDF

2009-09-24T12:27:00.000-07:00

I get a lot of questions about how SCRATCH systems are configured, why some things are spec'd, and general costs of these items.

I thought I would answer all the questions in one doc. Its 28 pages long and I am pretty sure it covers everything--including equipping your system for 3D stereoscopic.

You can download it here:

http://bit.ly/2FEYkm

This is a 1.0 doc, so if you have suggestions I am happy to incorporate them into the next revision.

Silverado extending AppleCare to 5 years

2009-08-18T03:09:00.001-07:00

In an industry first, Silverado will be extending AppleCare coverage to 5 years.

Effective on all sales after 1/1/09, Silverado is extending AppleCare benefits from three years to five years on the following professional Apple equipment:

Apple Mac Pro

Apple MacBook Pro

Apple Cinema Display

Apple Xserve

When purchased with an appropriate AppleCare plan, Silverado will extend coverage on these items from three years to five years.

During the first three years, customers will obtain service from Apple as normally specified in their AppleCare agreement. In years 4-5, clients needing service can contact Silverado at (916) 760-0032 for service coverage.

At its discretion, Silverado will do the following:

Replace items that have worn out due to normal use and repair items that no longer function such as ports, logic boards, and cables.
Alternatively, if a repair is not available then Silverado can opt to replace the system with a brand new equivalent system.

All AppleCare exclusions will apply. Systems cannot be repaired or replaced if systems are not functioning due to abuse, accidents, and non-standard usage (i.e. using a system outside normal operating parameters such as extreme temperatures, etc...)

AJA first to support Final Cut Pro 7

2009-07-29T13:53:00.000-07:00

New info from AJA on their support for Final Cut Pro 7:

New Features

• Closed captioning support for Final Cut Pro 7, MacCaption, VTR Xchange, and AJA TV via QuickTime Closed Captioning Tracks - The QuickTime Closed Captioning Track is Apple's defined standard for closed captioning support (all supported KONAs).

• Full VANC data capture and playback support on a per-frame basis for all Apple ProRes formats

• Support for new Apple ProRes formats (requires Final Cut Pro 7):
- All KONAs support new Apple ProRes 422 (LT), Apple ProRes 422 (Proxy), and Apple ProRes 4444
- In addition, KONA 3 supports 10bit RGB/Dual Link capture and playback path using Apple ProRes 4444

• Expanded KONA LHi support:
- Display of timecode in the Control Panel (near the LTC input icon)
- HDMI/DVI detection of colorspace/protocol
- Downstream Keyer added (DSK)
- LTC input implemented
- Analog audio output monitoring selection implemented
- HDMI audio input channel selection
- HDMI input/output auto-detection
- 8 Channel HDMI audio output

• Support for Avid DNxHD QuickTime file playback and video output (KONA 3, LHi and LHe)

• Support for AVC-Intra QuickTime file playback and video output (KONA 3, LHi and LHe)

• Support for Cineform 3D QuickTime file playback and video output (KONA 3)

PDF File on Apple's revised ProRes codec

2009-07-24T16:18:00.000-07:00

Apple just posted up a new link to the ProRes codec revision in Final Cut Studio 3:

2009 Apple ProRes White Paper

No more b.stock R-Series Sony Projectors...

2009-07-24T16:16:00.001-07:00

For those interested, Sony is now completely OUT of the b.stock R-Series SXRD projectors...

Going forward, all projectors from Sony are the new T-Series T105 and T110 models.

Leasing a Sony 4K projector?

2009-07-22T11:41:00.000-07:00

We got a lot of questions after the last edition about purchasing Sony 4K projection systems - one was "Can I lease them?"

The answer is yes. So what do those rates look like?

Here are example rates from a B-stock R-Series projector with lens, input boards, replacement lamp, and installation cage:

24 months - $4445

36 months - $3049

48 months - $2369

60 months - $1969

For comparison, here is a similar set of rates on the new T-Series projector.

24 months - $6668

36 months - $4583

48 months - $3574

60 months - $2963

Silverado Travel Reimbursement for Major Systems and Equipment/Facility Rental

2009-07-22T11:30:00.000-07:00

Folks like to get out to NAB to see demos by major manufacturers before making purchasing decisions. Shows like this are a great way to check out gear prior to investing a lot of money in new workflows.

However, sometimes a shoot or edit session will come up and prior travel arrangements get tossed in deference to a job at hand.

We're going to solve this challenge once-and-for-all on high-end systems and rentals with the Silverado Demo Travel Program. Fly or drive to Silverado to see a demo on your own time and on your own schedule--and when you purchase or rent one of the following systems or services you'll receive a 100% reimbursement of your flight or fuel:

SYSTEMS:

Assimilate SCRATCH Systems

Silverado Blackpowder DI Systems

Cine-Tal Color Correction Displays

Sony 4K Projectors

RED Rocket-based Mac Pro Systems

Facilis Terrablock

RENTALS:

Edit Suite Rentals (multi-day)

4K theater rentals (multi-day)

RED ONE camera rentals (multi-day)

Essentially, just let us know what kind of system or rental you want and we'll provide a quote ahead of your trip. After you've made the trip out here to review for yourself, you'll be reimbursed 100% of your flight or fuel upon purchase of the quoted system or rental.

We want to make an investment in any of these systems or rentals as painless as possible--and for some folks getting to a demo like NAB is just not do-able sometimes. With the new reimbursement program, we're trying to take some of the uncertainty out of making these decisions.

There are a few guidelines we need to follow (no first class flights!) so for information on travel reimbursement contact us at info@silverado.cc for more details.

RED Rocket starts shipping...

2009-07-16T00:01:00.001-07:00

Jim Jannard mentioned that the RED Rockets started to ship today. Jarred added that the initial batch are in green, while future card PCB will be red.

First picture of the RED Rocket...

2009-07-09T23:39:00.000-07:00

Deanan just posted this up over at REDuser...

Adobe CS4 Updates for May 2009

2009-05-28T13:23:00.000-07:00

Just got this post from Adobe:

The new CS4 video updates will be available late tonight/Friday morning . These updates contain several new updates and several critical fixes for After Effects.

Some of the new features are:

Major Speed improvements for Media Encoder (new support for RED)
New RED R3D workflow & Raw setting panel
Avid Import & Export (We are currently testing FCP Export)
DVD/VOB support (edit directly off the DVD !)
Faster/smooth AVCHD playback
Faster project loading
New Frame Export
And more......

We also showed several things at NAB 2009 that we have cooking in the Adobe Labs and we are planning to beta test a few of these new features this summer. The plan is to make these available on the http://labs.adobe.com site:

AVCIntra
XDCAM Export
Finalcut Pro Export

You can catch a new video here which shows all of the new CS4 updates and features in action on Adobe TV.

http://tv.adobe.com/#vi+f1510v1005

The 3 updates are:
After Effects 9.02
Premiere Pro 4.1
Media Encoder 4.1

Blackpowder Digital Cinema Systems released...

2009-05-27T14:37:00.000-07:00

Our new digital cinema CPU's are up on the site:

Blackpowder Digital Cinema Systems [LINK]

We are very proud to have worked with Globalstor Data Corporation on these. In our opinion, they are among the best RED and DI systems in the world.

One already deployed to Korea and another to Walt Disney Company...

Want to optimize your DIT work on a RED shoot?

2009-05-25T02:14:00.001-07:00

This just came via email:

"Things have really ran quicker, smoother, better here than any show I've been on in the last year and a half and I've done well over fifty unique RED shows. The gear you sent me out here with totally kicks ass and makes the process of data management, dailies creation a lot faster and tranparent allowing me to put more concentration on the creative editorial process and ultimately offering more to a production."

Want to know more? info@silverado.cc

Want to raise $2.0M for your next movie?

2009-05-19T22:03:00.000-07:00

You want to raise some money for your new film? Do this:

1. Go out and buy MovieMaker's most recent issue (#80)

2. Read pages 28-29

Fantastic article by Jeffrey Goodman--who was determined to raise $2,000,000 for his film. He actually did it and has a feature under his belt to show for it:

The Last Lullaby [LINK]

You can also follow his weekly blog "Adventures in Self-Releasing" [LINK]

Official Silverado Predictions for WWDC

2009-05-18T16:38:00.001-07:00

Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference kicks off Monday, June 9th 2009 at 10 AM.

Here is what I think is likely happening this year at WWDC:

Snow Leopard--released? I'd have to say no. But release date announced? Yes--I'd call this at 100%. Apple recently froze the API's for Snow Leopard, so there shouldn't be much more under-the-hood work to do there.
iPhone OS 3.0--I'd have to say this is 80% yes. Why not 100% There has been a lot of chatter about background apps--and whether the policies that will govern the behavior of those applications has been decided upon by Apple.
New iPhone hardware--I'd say 100% yes on announcement. 50/50 on shipping. If OS 3.0 is delayed, you can guarantee the new phone will be delayed as well.
New iTablet or iPad?--Maybe... I'd give this a 25% shot

Here is what I think is NOT happening at WWDC:

No new Pro Apps (no Final Cut Studio, Final Cut Server, Aperture, Logic, Color, etc...)

Why? There are a few reasons.

First--WWDC has never been a creative show--its a development show. Correct me if I am wrong, but no Apple Pro App has ever debuted at WWDC. This is totally the wrong crowd for this type of introduction.

Second, the most logical prior opportunity for Final Cut Studio to debut would have been NAB last month. However, that didn't happen. I think that is because the new pro software is based much more heavily on Snow Leopard than people think. And 10.6 hadn't deployed yet, so there is no use in hyping features based on other software that can't be discussed yet.

Finally, why do two major launches at the same time? Snow Leopard is big enough, why complicate the mix with doing two simultaneous introductions? Remember the Mobile Me launch? One fumbled product release was bad enough. However, doing two at the same time--one to a hypercritical professional audience and the other to dozens of millions of customers--is a potential PR blunder if one or the other should stumble.

Last--will Steve Jobs show up to do "one last thing." No clue one way or the other, but I'd like to think so.

Answers to 5/15 Twitter Contest

2009-05-15T16:19:00.001-07:00

Our 5/15 Twitter challenge was tough. Here are the questions (and answers):

QUESTION Setup: About the new movie starring Jennifer Love Hewitt.

QUESTION 1 of 5 - Name of Jennifer Love Hewitt's current feature (Cafe)
QUESTION 2 of 5 - Name a co-star (Jamie Kennedy)
QUESTION 3 of 5 - City of shoot (Philadelphia)
QUESTION 4 of 5 - Name a producer (Chris Wyatt, Sean Covel, or J. Andrew Greenblatt)
QUESTION 5 of 5 - Name the famous movie the producers shot prior to this project

For #5 we were looking for "Napoleon Dynamite", but "Twelve" was submitted and that technically counts.

Winner is Tim Schultz! BTW...most of the answers for this could be found here [LINK]

Cafe is being shot on two RED ONE cameras from Silverado. We're also handling data wrangling, assembly editorial, and final color correction.

How black is black on an LCD? Try the iPhone Black Level Experiment...

2009-05-07T14:47:00.000-07:00

If you are using an LCD, how black is black? Try this experiment.

If you have an iPhone, turn it off. Go into a pitch black room (I mean PITCH black--no light leaks--totally sealed).

Then, turn on your iPhone. The Apple logo comes up--you can just cover that with your thumb.

The bright gray glow you see emitting from your iPhone? That is "black" on an LCD. But it turns out its not really that black is it?

In fact, its such a bright gray, a fully "black" iPhone display can illuminate a dark room.

This is the problem with using generic LCD's for color correction. Their black level isn't black enough, so your colors get washed out and muddied.

Try it sometime...

StudioBuilder 04.30.2009

2009-05-05T02:16:00.000-07:00

Hope you had a good NAB week. We've got a few things cooking for this week--every one of which will save you time and money in production and post.

AJA KI PRO PRE-ORDERS

The AJA Ki Pro is a tapeless video recording device that records high-quality Apple ProRes 422 QuickTime files onto computer-friendly media. Because it features SD/HD-SDI, HDMI, and analog inputs, you can interface with virtually any type of camera you might own or rent.

AJA's new Ki Pro was a hit at NAB. If you haven't seen the Ki Pro in action yet, take a look at this video: http://www.aja.com/products/ki-pro/

This new device is definitely going to streamline the time from production-to-post. I think of some new application for the device on a daily basis.

The Ki Pro is $3995 and AJA is already accepting reseller orders for this unit to ship this summer. Like other vendors, we're accepting pre-orders, too. However, we're making a Silverado order a little more worth your while.

With every Ki Pro pre-order between now and 5/15/09, Silverado will add a 250 Gb Ki Module at no charge--a $265 value.

You can place your AJA Ki Pro pre-orders here:

http://silverado.cc/shop/product.php?productid=1120

GEARNEX GEARED HEADS A HIT AT NAB

You know you have an awesome product when Jarred Land walks up to it and says "This thing is badass..."

We showed the Gearnex Geared Head at NAB to rave reviews at FCPUG and REDUser. The units also got plenty of play at the AJA and Panasonic booths.

While the NAB special of $3995 is now over, we have a post-NAB window where the price is $4995. That is a $1000 savings over the $5995 retail price.

http://silverado.cc/shop/product.php?productid=1118

Use the code GEARNEXRED (in the checkout notes section) through 5/3/09 for a free swivel/tilt arm.

MOVE UP TO 800GB TAPE WITH CACHE-A PRIME-CACHE LTO-4

We showed the new Cache-A LTO-4 product at REDUser 2009 last week in Las Vegas to a lot of very interested data managers.

One of the neatest things about this product is backwards compatibility with current LTO-3A archives. If you have a library of LTO-3A material, then the new Cache-A LTO-4 is the perfect way to move up to 800 GB tape, while retaining compatibility with your existing archives.

Units ship in mid-May. Pre-order your Prime-Cache today and we'll throw in 4.0 Tb in free LTO-4 tapes and a Pelican travel case at no charge.

http://silverado.cc/shop/product.php?productid=1119

SILVERADO TWITTER CONTESTS

We'll be building up our Twitter followers over the next few months with some fun contests. When we get to 500 followers, we're going to give away a free Blackmagic UltraScope.

But! In the meantime, we'll be doing fun giveaways at random. We got a copy of Shake v4.0 that we're itching to give away. So, follow our tweets and you might just get lucky:

Silverado Twitter [Link]

SILVERADO PRODUCTION UPDATE

We think its more important than ever to stay involved in production and post. There are a lot of vendors you can buy from, but how many of them are just order takers?

At Silverado, we support projects as small as music videos all the way up to feature films. We recently completed editorial and color correction on a RED video that involved a Gulfstream jet, two Lamborghinis--all for a budget that would shock the senses.

We're scheduled as the RED rental house for a feature project in Philadelphia along with assembly editorial and color correction, and in June we have a feature starting work right here in Folsom which we are going to support with cameras and editorial.

What does this mean for you? If we sell it at Silverado, its generally because we've tested it in the field and feel confident about the products capabilities. If you ever wander through our webstore and wonder why we don't sell something--its because we aren't the Wal-Mart of professional video.

We don't want to sell everything--just the best products that work. We think that the best place to determine that is in actual use in the field and the edit suite doing real work.

If you ever want to stop by and see the suite and our reel, please let me know at torrey@silverado.cc and we be thrilled to accommodate a private showing.

NEXT TIME:

More updates on NAB releases--too much stuff there to put into one update.

Also--WWDC is around the corner so we should start to hear rumblings about Final Cut Studio 3 updates.

tl

Digital Cinema Society NAB Video Wrap-Up

2009-04-30T09:21:00.000-07:00

Digital Cinema Society posts massive video log wrap-up of NAB:

DCS Video Wrap-Up of NAB [LINK]

liveTweets at NAB

2009-04-21T10:35:00.000-07:00

Follow all of our NAB activities posted at Twitter:

Silverado NAB liveTweets [Link]

Hardware Advisory - Replace your Xserve RAID's Immediately

2009-04-15T09:46:00.000-07:00

When they were introduced a few years ago, the Apple Xserve RAID was a breakthrough in RAID price and performance. Most other RAID products of the time were significantly more expensive and nothing else even came close to the level of performance offered to Apple users.

Fast forward to today. Untold thousands of Apple Xserve RAID's have been deployed and are in use across the world today. And many facilities still rely on these machines to safely store their critical data and archives.

Its our opinion these devices should be replaced as soon as possible.

One of the most important aspects of using any RAID device is the ability to replace a failed hard drive and restore a RAID 5 volume to full status. You can lose one hard drive in a RAID 5 and have a degraded volume, but if you lose another you have lost all your data. It is not recoverable.

Our recent checks have determined there are no further Apple Drive Modules being manufactured. Further, there are essentially zero remaining drives available as "stock" within the distribution channel (meaning there are none sitting "on a shelf" which can be overnighted to clients...)

Additionally, anecdotal checks have also determined that stocks of Apple Drive Modules available for warranty replacement via AppleCare are fully depleted. If you have an Xserve RAID covered under an AppleCare agreement, there is no guarantee that you can get a replacement drive if you have a failure.

We've talked to a few clients that are still relying heavily on Xserve RAID's and have stocked up on Apple Drive Modules over the last year in order to extend the life of their direct-attached and Xsan-based systems. However, if you don't have multiple spare drives on hand, there will come a time when your drives will begin to fail and you won't have an option for data recovery.

One of our contacts has indicated they have seen failure rates of one drive per week in some of their oldest Xserve RAID systems. These folks are actively looking to migrate to a new storage platform.

What are the best options for replacing these older systems?

We really like the new Active Storage XRAID™ and XRAID™ ES platform. We've highlighted the XRAID platform before, but the XRAID ES is a new product recently released and it has some very compelling features.

The XRAID™ ES is available in 4TB and 16TB configurations, with the 16TB configuration offering $ .67 cents per GB cost. This new, affordable, high-performance storage solution is ideal for business-critical, science, and education use in Apple-based infrastructures, and complements Active’s existing product line with a really low entry cost with future expandability.

The new Active Storage XRAID™ ES employs the same level of per-port performance, reliability and ease of management (using the native Mac OS X storage management suite found in the original Active Storage XRAID™), yet offers a lower-cost configuration taking advantage of a single high-throughput RAID controller and business-class hard drives with smaller read/write cache.

Performance of the Active Storage XRAID™ ES is also impressive — offering up to 744MB/s in a RAID 5 configuration. The Active Storage XRAID™ ES provides redundant power, triple-redundant cooling and redundant Fibre Channel connections and is managed using the same powerful, yet easy to use management tools of the original Active Storage XRAID™. The ES differs from the original Active Storage XRAID™ by utilizing a single high throughput RAID controller and business-class hard drives using a smaller cache size. These changes result in a very cost-effective and robust RAID solution ideal for business-class applications starting at a ground-breaking $6,999 US MSRP.

The Active Storage XRAID™ ES is also available in 16TB configuration providing unmatched value at $9,999 US MSRP.

You can get Active Storage XRAID™ and XRAID™ ES products at Silverado's store here:

Active Storage XRAID™ and XRAID™ ES at Silverado [LINK]

Government do-gooders strike again: California to consider ban on large TV's

2009-04-09T11:15:00.000-07:00

California politicians are crazy. Just mad stupid.

In the midst of an economic crisis, they are simultaneously raising people's taxes while proposing to take away some of the best tools of a retailers livelihood:

California to consider ban on large TV's [LINK]

What does the consumer get in return? Less choice and poorer quality.

Sales of high-end products such as large sets drive revenue. Revenue pays taxes. Taxes fund projects. However, I don't think that politicians see this equation very clearly.

It should be mandatory that these people spend a modicum of time in some sort of business entity before being elected. Lack of understanding about where revenue comes from is currently destroying California state government.

tl

Everything is so quiet...

2009-04-09T01:02:00.000-07:00

Is it just me? Or is the silence before NAB positively deafening?

What do you think?

tl

Spring Fire Sale...

2009-04-07T14:32:00.000-07:00

Got a few things to clear out before NAB:

Silverado Spring Fire Sale [LINK]

tl

2009 Update for Apple Pro Apps 4-Seat

2009-04-03T21:26:00.000-07:00

I mentioned this first one in my last blog post. Its been out for a while, but for workgroups using Xsan--the 2006 Apple Pro Apps 4-seat Xsan document is still a fantastic primer for building a small Xsan workgroup:

Apple Pro Apps 4-Seat Xsan [PDF]

However, the tech is pretty old, so we thought we'd take a stab at adding some new tech and including a few things that weren't available when the 2006 doc was released:

Pro Apps 4-Seat Update for 2009 [PDF]

Curious to what else you might want to see in a system like this...

Original 2006 Apple Pro Apps 4-Seat Xsan Doc

2009-03-25T10:34:00.000-07:00

We're updating the 2006 Apple Pro Apps 4-Seat Xsan document. For reference, you can get the original document here:

2006 Apple Pro Apps 4-Seat Xsan Quick Setup Guide

Its still an amazing document--even if its a little crusty in terms of old technology. In terms of building your own 4-seat Xsan, you can do no better than this free document.

Stay tuned for our next post. I'll take the components of this doc and fully update them for equipment available now in 2009. There are also a few holes to plug in terms of available support, training, and other items like VPN routers--we'll plug those with the best available gear available today.

Content! Content! Content!

2009-03-11T14:23:00.000-07:00

Awesome content trumps technology. Even when its shot on a cellphone:

Unauthorized Trader Joe's commercial

Free NAB pass...provided by Panasonic

2009-03-02T10:40:00.000-08:00

Our friends at Panasonic would like you to attend their booth at NAB--and they'll spring for the pass:

http://www.nabshow.com/2009/attendee/packagesFees.asp
Exhibitor ID: 524
Pass Code:LV2174

tl

SSD's in the Real World...or how I plan to save $2000 a year on three minutes a day

2009-02-24T21:39:00.000-08:00

Solid-state drives (or SSD for short) are becoming the new rage in computing. You can get a good read on the background of the SSD here:

Wikipedia entry on solid-state drives

Over the last year or so, the capacity of drives has gone way up and the price has come down significantly. They've come down so much that we obtained three of the 80 GB Intel X-25M drives and tossed them into a Mac Pro as an experiment to see how fast they worked.

We were fairly shocked. I've never seen a single internal boot volume working at over 700 MB/s (not megabits...megaBYTES). Ever.

I was so impressed that I set out to conduct another experiment. This would be a real-world experiment: moving my entire MacBook Pro from a regular 2.5" SATA hard drive to an SSD.

Would it be worth the trouble in time and money to make the move? Could someone justify the expense of an SSD now versus waiting till later when the prices fell more?

I had to wait a little while until the 160 Gb SSD's came out from Intel. There was just too much stuff I kept on my laptop to pare down to less than 130 Gb of critical info--so in the meantime I read up on my friend Lloyd Chambers' excellent technical primer on using Intel SSD's in both MacBook Pro and Mac Pro.

I received my 160 Gb Intel SSD earlier this week. I copied off the boot drive to the SSD with Mike Bombich's fantastic tool Carbon Copy Cloner. Then I set about conducting tests with the primary drive before I moved over the the SSD.

Rather than re-invent the wheel with Lloyd's technical analysis, these are my anecdotal thoughts on my own experience with running an Intel SSD in a MacBook Pro.

The test system is my 2.5 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo-equipped MacBook Pro with 2 Gb of RAM running Mac OS X Leopard 10.5.6.

I was tempted to do the tests from a clean installation, but this is a real world test. I didn't have time to un-license and deauthorize all my apps and then reauthorize fresh builds on the new system. I figured most other folks wouldn't have the time to do that either--so I opted to do a clone of my hard drive.

These were essentially boot-time tests. I didn't want to make any major file changes to docs or anything else on the old drive since I was going to start using the SSD permanently--so I only tested the boot times along with conducting some other interesting tests. Here are the apps I booted:

Apple iCal
Apple Numbers
Apple Pages
Apple iPhoto
Apple iTunes
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Illustrator
Apple Final Cut Pro
Microsoft Word
Apple Safari
Apple Mail

I also tested system boot time and shutdown. Finally, I ran AJA System Test to determine drive performance.

Here is the chart of the raw performance I got between my old hard drive and the new SSD. Time is in seconds.

To say that this workflow is fast is a complete understatement. Everything is fast--my Mac finally feels like it works as fast as I think.

Response is instantaneous. Boot times on some of these applications is nothing short of ridiculous (Booting iCal and Numbers in 1-2 seconds?)

However, what really surprised me was the performance tests I ran with the help of AJA System Test.

With the hard drive installed, I ran System Test on a standard 1.0 Gb test using SD sized frames. With nothing else running. I got writes of 43.6 MB/s and reads of 52.2 MB/s. Very respectable all around. I then loaded up iTunes and let it start playing a track. I reran the tests with results of 38.9 MB/s and 41.2 MB/s. A drop of around 20% in performance, but still not horrible.

However, I then started Safari and did a 15-tab load--then I ran the same AJA test. On the hard drive the writes plummeted to 12 MB/s and the reads went to 12.8 MB/s. I thought I did the test wrong because an 80% performance hit didn't sound right. I reran the test--with the same results.

With more apps running, I got the performance down to around 4.2 MB/s sec for reads and writes.

Yuck. No more hard drives for me--that kind of performance sucks.

I swapped the HD for the SSD and performed the same tests.

With nothing loaded, we got writes of 62.2 MB/s and reads of 120.8 MB/s. With this test alone, we had already increased writes by 20% and doubled the read performance. The next test took me by surprise and I had to run it three times.

Performance went up when I did the iTunes test! I expected a performance hit when I launched and played iTunes, but the writes went to 68.7 MB/s and the reads went to 122.1 MB/s. I tried it three times--the reads and writes were all higher while iTunes was running versus when there were absolutely no apps running in the background.

I can't explain it--and I doubt it has anything to do with iTunes--but it was very strange to see drive performance actually increase when placed under increased load.

Finally, I ran the 15-tab Safari test and expected performance to fall apart. It didn't.

While iTunes was playing and Safari was loading 15 tabs, SSD writes were at 63.2 MB/s and reads pegged 121 MB/s. If there is an engineer out there who can explain why the SSD works faster when under load, I am all ears...

I figured all those time savings netted me an additional 3-4 minutes daily. At our lowest hourly bill rate, I figure on recouping nearly $2000 per year on the time I reclaimed.

Okay...okay...that is kind of ridiculous, isn't it?

It would be if the time savings was just from booting apps. However, the kind of performance achieved with this new SSD has added a level of productivity that I haven't had before. I can switch back-and-forth between windows and apps with zero lag time. Opening files is nearly instantaneous. Accessing websites is about twice as fast since the disk caching is way faster. Reading my mail and synchronizing my mailbox between the laptop and my SMTP servers is much faster than it was before.

And the dreaded Spinning Beach Ball has totally vanished.

I conservatively estimate I'll be working 10-20% faster than I was before. That alone is worth the price of the drive for me. Is the speed worth it to you? You have to be the judge of that.

Here are my new recommendations for the fastest possible system (either MacBook Pro or Mac Pro)

1. Get as much RAM as your budget will allow
2. Get the fastest processor possible, too.
3. Equip your system with an SSD-based boot drive (make sure its an Intel X-25...) If you can afford to, put in two or three in the Mac Pro.

These three recommendations will get you the fastest available Mac.

One more note--you can't get it from Apple. They don't have the Intel X-25 drives in their systems. If you want yours X-25 equipped, let me know at info@silverado.cc

tl

50% off Sony 4k projectors...

2009-02-04T02:25:00.000-08:00

Sony Digital Cinema Systems has an abundance of SXRD® ultra-high resolution 4k projection equipment now available at a tremendous discount - 50% off MSRP.

Each model is fully refurbished, and carries the full Sony warranty and service options available with new A-stock models. B-stock accessories are also available to configure full 4K systems at a great value -- now priced at 10% below MSRP.

If you have considered purchasing a Sony 4K projection system, now's the time. Systems can be purchased outright or leased over time. Here are the available models:

Sony SRX-R105 SXRD 4k Projector
5,000 Lumen
MSRP $68,000.00
Sale Price $34,000.00
Lease as low as $789 over 60 mos.

Sony SRX-R110 SXRD 4k Projector
10,000 Lumen
MSRP $98,550.00
Sale Price $49,275.00
Lease as low as $1145 over 60 mos.

Sony SRX-S105 SXRD 4k Projector
5,000 Lumen W/DVI
MSRP $78,000.00
Sale Price $39,000.00
Lease as low as $905 over 60 mos.

Sony SRX-S110 SXRD 4k Projector
10,000 Lumen W/DVI
MSRP $102,000.00
Sale Price $51,000.00
Lease as low as $1160 over 60 mos.

Members of Silverado's StudioBuilder list are also eligible for the following rebates when ordered before February 13th.

Sony SRX-R105: $1,000
Sony SRX-R110: $2,000
Sony SRX-S105: $1,500
Sony SRX-S110: $2,500

We are able to provide a free replacement Xenon lamp ($1675 for 5,000 lumens and $2100 for 10,000 lumens) for the first two projectors ordered.

These systems require accessories like lamps and lenses which are based on your facility. We'll need to determine which items are needed for your installation, but the discounts on those items are huge, too.

Please contact us directly at orders@silverado.cc for ordering information. More details on each machine can be found below:

Sony SXRD projectors at Silverado

We've been told by Sony that all projectors in this class will be gone by March. There may never again be another opportunity to own Sony 4k gear at such reduced cost.

Torrey
----------------------------
Torrey Loomis
President & CEO - Silverado Systems, Inc.
Outfitter to the World's Foremost Apple Professionals
2600 East Bidwell Street, Suite 280
Folsom, CA 95630
(916) 760-0032 • FAX (916) 404-5258
torrey@silverado.cc
http://www.Silverado.cc

What do you want to see in the new Final Cut Studio 3?

2009-01-28T23:41:00.000-08:00

Apple is on a new rotation with their product releases now that they have purged tradeshows from their calendar with the termination of their presence at Macworld.

With that in mind, its reasonable to think that Final Cut Studio 3 could be released any time between now and NAB. I think it would be silly for them to release it after NAB, but Apple definitely doesn't play by anyone else's rulebook...

So...with that in mind--what do you want to see in the new Final Cut Studio 3?

Please opine gratuitously in the comments below.

tl

Amazing new Panasonic monitor...

2009-01-27T16:25:00.000-08:00

Folks,

Check out this awesome new monitor from Panasonic: the BT-LH2550

Panasonic BT-LH2550 25.5 Multi-Format Color LCD Production Monitor with native 1920 x 1200 IPS Panel

Its got a color gamut larger than 709, so its going to be awesome for HD-color work. Plus, native 1920 x 1200 resolution for 1:1 reproduction of detail without scaling.

Here is all the nitty gritty:

* 1920 x 1200 resolution (WUXGA)
* Six color space settings for use in print to digital graphics to HD video: SMPTE, EBU, ITU-R BT.709, Adobe 2.2, Adobe 1.8, D-Cinema
* Wider color space than CRT models with two new color space modes Adobe gamma 1.8, Adobe gamma 2.2 and D-Cinema gamma 2.6
* Wide 178 horizontal and vertical viewing angles
* New split-screen function plays dual live pictures (1 each: SDI, DVI, Component or Video)
* Calibration hardware interface for chroma and luma (with built-in Application Software)
* Built-in waveform monitor and vectorscope functions from SDI (HD/SD) input (representing all picture lines)
* Exceptionally accurate color reproduction and improved contrast and black levels
* Three-dimensional 10-bit 3D LUT offering virtually the same color
* Offers a variety of professional functions including split-screen/freeze frame (live input vs. freeze frame), marker and blue-only, and cross hatch overlay display
* Time code and closed caption capable (closed caption on video input only)
* Embedded audio decoder on board (via Headphone Jack)
* 8 Channel audio level meters
* Cine-gamma Film-Rec compensation function for use with cameras such as the Panasonic AJ-HDC27 VariCam HD Cinema Camera and the new AJ-HPX3700 and
AJ-HPX2700 P2 HD VariCam camcorders
* Inputs/outputs include: DVI-D input and two HD-SDI/SDI Auto switching inputs with switched output, component video (Y/Pb/Pr), RGB, PC RGB, external sync, RS-232C/GPI remote control terminals, speaker and headphone jack
* Five programmable user buttons for easy access to functions
* Desk stand included; compatible with VESA mounts (100mm x 100mm or 200mm)
* Separate 24 Volt AC Adapter supplied; AC cord (5.58 ft.) and 4-pin XLR DC cord (6.56 ft.) included
* One-year warranty (parts & labor)

tl

Silverado Expansion in 2009--WE NEED YOU

2009-01-27T03:37:00.000-08:00

A little history about Silverado. We are now in our 7th year of operations. Every year we seem to grow more and more.

However, in 2009 we're going to take the growth to a completely new level. We've defined a massive core market--the professional broadcast and digital cinema industry--and our vendor relationships are second-to-none. We're going to take that momentum and redouble our growth efforts over the next 18 months.

We're going to be expanding our local presence to upwards of 25 different markets across the country. To do that, we'll need a lot of help. We aren't looking for employees, but people who want to run an entire wing of Silverado in their market.

This will take someone who--by profession--is a broadcast or digital cinema pro. You'll not only need experience, but you'll need to be a savvy marketer and be able to effectively network with the media community in your region.

If you are that type of person--and you are looking for a change of pace from production and editorial to trusted advisor--we want to talk to you. It will be your shop and your territory.

Here are the markets we are working towards in our initial roll-out:

New York
Los Angeles
Chicago
Philadelphia
San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose
Dallas-Ft. Worth
Boston-Manchester
Washington DC
Atlanta
Houston
Detroit
Tampa
Phoenix-Prescott
Seattle-Tacoma
Minneapolis-St. Paul
Miami-Ft. Lauderdale
Cleveland-Akron
Denver
Orlando-Daytona Beach
Sacramento-Stockton-Modesto
St. Louis
Pittsburgh
Portland
Baltimore
Indianapolis

If you are interested in joining Silverado not as an employee--but as a partner--please send me a note to torrey@silverado.cc and I'll forward more information your way.

CFAA tonight...

2009-01-20T13:49:00.001-08:00

Important advocacy meeting tonight at Capital Film Arts:

Please join local filmmakers and friends or an important meeting of the Capital Film Arts Alliance
ADVOCACY AND INCENTIVES FOR THE FILMMAKING INDUSTRY

Tuesday, January 20th at 7:00 PM
Art Institute of Sacramento

2850 Gateway Oaks Dr.
Sacramento (I-5 to west El Camino)
Free for all

Capital Film Arts Alliance

Got one thing right...the rest wrong...

2009-01-09T00:09:00.000-08:00

I got one thing right about Macworld. Steve Jobs was a no-show.

I was pretty sure that if he looked anywhere near the way he did at the last WWDC, the stock would fall 5% just for spite.

So, I think I was right on that count. I was wrong on everything else.

No new displays, Mac Pros, no iPhone anything...

Nada. Zip. Zilch. The announcements were total buzz kill.

I will say this--Phil Schiller did an excellent job at taking the keynote helm. He had very hard shoes to fill and I think he did a fine job.

That said--two software announcements and a laptop speed bump? Ouch...

But then again...I have to take that back, too. Those were my first impressions when I read about the announcements, but when I watched them being demonstrated I was really impressed.

It was appropriate to show the software. The demo of the new iMovie '09 had me saying a few times "gee, I wish that was a feature in Final Cut..."

And iWork.com is great! The kind of collaboration that product will enable is huge--its a fantastic way to share and work on docs.

So, a mixed bag in all. Neat products were released, but nothing over-the-top and it was definitely a let-down to see Apple leave Macworld with a whimper, not a bang.

Business analysis of Steve Jobs latest health info...

2009-01-05T09:23:00.000-08:00

Not that I am a callous person in any way, but I don't really pay much attention to other people's health matters unless they are a close friend or family.

My health is private, so yours should be private, too. In the Internet age, there are way too many things for snoops to pry on these days--and your health should be the last of them.

So, its with business in mind that I comment about Steve Jobs current state:

Post on Steve Jobs health from Apple

The letter flat out states Jobs isn't leaving Apple as CEO. Regardless of his weight loss, he probably feels fine.

So, if he feels OK then why did he drop out of Macworld 09? Simple--he probably doesn't look good.

If he has been losing the kind of weight he mentioned, his figure is probably fairly gaunt--so why bother with a repeat of the rampant speculation ala WWDC 2008?

Tons of flacks mentioned that Jobs' cancer looked like it had returned, but Apple attributed his appearance to a "common bug." However, the precedent had been set--if Jobs shows up looking bad, comments will be made. And the stock price may suffer.

Easy solution is to have Phil Schiller take over this year's keynote while Jobs gets his weight back.

But...without Jobs--people simply think Apple doesn't have anything to show. And while that may have been true in the past at a couple of keynotes, it doesn't seem likely for this one. Here are some of the possibilities:

New iMac

New Mac Mini

New LED Display

New 17" MacBook Pro

New Mac Pro

Updates on Snow Leopard

Plus one that Andy Ihnatko is talking about:

Super secret Apple product to be released at Macworld?

So where is Steve Jobs in all the product-release madness? Again, its simple--he's not there and he won't be there.

Times are changing. Apple is not doing trade shows anymore--they see WAY more people in a week at their retail stores than they see at Macworld. Plus, with access to the Internet--even people who can't make it to an Apple Store have access to way more information than anyone could have by making it to a Macworld show.

Jobs can't run Apple forever--this is just part of the separation process for the Apple community. Even if he is there for another 10 years, the community has to accept that it won't be business as usual at Apple going forward. Best to get used to it now.

While Apple is Steve Jobs, and vice versa--it can't always be that way. Part of the mystique that is Apple is the mysteriousness of Mr. Jobs. But while there may have been a time when it was flattering, the cult of personality which has been built up around him can't be a pleasant way to live.

And now this obsession with All Things Steve is so bad that when he gets sick, it affects the stock price?

The board of directors can't allow a company like Apple to externally manipulated by forces outside their control. Apple has to be bigger than one man.

So, MWSF 2009 is Apple taking the leap to show that its more than Steve Jobs. The Keynote? Performed by others. The One Last Thing? Done by someone else.

My educated guess: Phil Schiller will do a great job on the keynote. And Steve Jobs will not make an appearance at all.

MWSF 2009 Predictions...the New Mac Pro

2008-12-26T21:52:00.000-08:00

[UPDATE 1 - Info's on SSD's added 12/29/08...duh to me for not adding the first time. Also, info on upcoming Cinema Displays and graphics cards.]

As an Apple VAR (value added reseller) you would think we would get some notice of upcoming new technology. New iPods, iMacs, Mac Pro's, MacBook's, etc...

Not so.

Apple is notoriously tight-fisted with information. And rightly so...its how they maintain their competitive edge and the element of surprise.

But--it doesn't stop one from guessing at what might be coming. So here is my best shot.

None of this is based on any first hand knowledge--just conjecture and some educated guessing.

BACKGROUND:

Apple introduced the Intel Mac at MWSF in 2006. It was reported that Intel had over 1000 people under NDA working on the transition.

Why is that important?

It shows at least a couple things:

Apple and Intel are capable of pulling off major projects--and can keep them quiet
Apple can integrate new Intel technology before other vendors

Later that year, Steve Jobs introduced the Mac Pro. The Mac Pro would incorporate the new Intel dual-core Xeon's. And at the time--those weren't available to other manufacturers.

Fast forward to now.

Intel is currently offering the new Nehalem Core i7 chips using the single-socket DX58SO "Smackover" logic boards. These boards and chips are not used in any of Apple's current CPU lineup. Apple's latest MacBooks (just released) did not use these new chipsets.

And officially from the Intel community, dual-socket boards are not due for a while.

Where does that leave Apple for MWSF 2009? Before we go there, let's look at what Apple does have that people will be expecting: Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard.

Beyond the usual accoutrements that accompany a major release, Snow Leopard has Grand Central:

"Grand Central", a new set of technologies built into Snow Leopard, brings unrivaled support for multicore systems to Mac OS X. More cores, not faster clock speeds, drive performance increases in today’s processors. Grand Central takes full advantage by making all of Mac OS X multicore aware and optimizing it for allocating tasks across multiple cores and processors. Grand Central also makes it much easier for developers to create programs that squeeze every last drop of power from multicore systems.

Think about what this provides. The ability for any application to take advantage of all processors--apparently intelligently distributed by the OS itself.

So here is my prediction: I think Apple will be debuting the Intel Nehalem Core i7 architecture in their new Mac Pro's at MWSF 2009. Further, I believe that multiple-socketed Smackover-type boards are not only possible, but likely.

Why bother with Grand Central if you are only going to use one socket on the board? And why roll out a new architecture that only has one socket when everything else currently in the Mac Pro line is dual-socket?

There is a laundry list of new things that are rumored to be included in new Apple technology, so lets go down the list:

Bluetooth 3.0
Blu-Ray Drives
DDR3 Ram
USB 3.0
Wireless USB
Integrated eSATA ports
Firewire S1600 and S3200
10 Gig Ethernet
SSD Drives [Update 1 - 12/29/08]
Cinema Displays [Update 1 - 12/29/08]
New Graphics Cards [Update 1 - 12/29/08]

Bluetooth 3.0 - No way

The new spec isn't even due until mid-2009, so shipping chipsets with even pre-draft tech are highly unlikely. Here is an update from Mike's blog over at the Bluetooth SIG:

"As we wind down 2008, it is easy to start anticipating what will occur in 2009. One of the most anticipated specifications from the Bluetooth SIG should be finalized about midway through next year. This will be approximately two years after the v2.1 + EDR specification which was adopted on July 26, 2007. Of course I’m referring to the core specification developed with the code name of Seattle. The hallmark feature of the Seattle release is an architecture enabling higher data rates. The reason why I still refer to this specification as the “Seattle” release is that the Bluetooth SIG typically doesn’t finalize the name of a specification until just before adoption. This is to ensure that the exact feature set for the specification is known before the name is finalized. As such, it is too early to identify the Seattle release as v2.X or v3.0 or anything else. Currently, many different contingencies are being discussed and proposals being considered. I expect that decision to be made in the first part of 2009; perhaps at the All Hands meeting."

So, its Bluetooth 2.1 for now.

Blu-Ray Drives - I say yes

This is WAY overdue.

You can already pop in a Panasonic SW-5583 Blu-ray drive into your Mac Pro and burn discs all day long using Adobe Encore. We've done a few of these already and it works great.

Apple used to rule the world of discs with iDVD, DVD Studio Pro and SuperDrives. However, they completely ceded their leadership role in disc-based media to Sony (Blu-Ray drives shipping for a while now in their machines...) and Adobe (their Encore disc burning software)

So, creating HD video on Blu-Ray is simple. But what about playback of commercial discs?

One of the sticking points here is High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection--or HDCP for short. It states that "high-definition digital video sources must not transmit protected content to non-HDCP-compliant receivers."

Translation--no playing Blu-Ray discs to non-HDCP displays like Apple's Cinema Displays via DVI.

However, Apple is now deploying their new DisplayPort-enabled 24" LED Cinema Display equipped with HDCP. As such, any new DisplayPort Mac with a Blu-Ray drive and the correct software should be able to play commercial discs just fine.

Further, with the advent of Final Cut Studio 3 and DVD Studio Pro 5 (more conjecture on my part--another story for another time) Apple really needs to have another avenue for deploying HD video from Final Cut. Layback to tape is soooooooo 1990's...

DDR3 RAM - Yep

Intel's Nehalem architecture only uses DDR3, so this is a given.

However, how much RAM will you be able to use? And in what configuration?

Intel's DX58 boards use three channels for their most optimized DDR3 RAM configuration. However, Apple uses two daughterboards for their current motherboard connection.

Snow Leopard will be able to address 16 Tb of RAM, so something is going to have to give in order to accommodate a LOT more memory.

USB 3.0 - Maaaaaaaybe

"On September 18, 2007, Pat Gelsinger demonstrated USB 3.0 at the Intel Developer Forum. The USB 3.0 Promoter Group announced on 2008-11-17 that version 1.0 of the specification has been completed and is transitioned to the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF), the managing body of USB specifications. This move effectively opens the spec to hardware developers for implementation in future products. A new major feature is SuperSpeed bus, which increases the maximum transfer rate to 5.0 Gbit/s. USB 3.0 receptacles are compatible with USB 2.0 device plugs for the respective physical form factors. However, only USB 3.0 Standard-B receptacles can accept USB 3.0 Standard-B device plugs."

Intel showed this back in 2007. If Intel was working on new boards for Apple, its possible that they might incorporate the new spec into the new product. However, USB 3.0 devices don't even exist right now--no cameras, recorders, printers--nothing. So, this might get extended out to 2010.

I wouldn't be surprised to see this go either way.

Wireless USB - Possible

"In May 2005, the Wireless USB Promoter Group announced the completion of the Wireless USB specification. Wireless USB is used in game controllers, printers, scanners, digital cameras, MP3 players, hard disks and flash drives. It is also suitable for transferring parallel video streams. Kensington released a Wireless USB universal docking station in August, 2008."

Steve Jobs hates buttons. Is it a stretch to think he hates cables any less? Ridding the desktop of as many cables as possible would be awesome. I would love to see this incorporated on as many Apple products as possible.

Integrated eSATA ports - they should be!

If anything should be on the new motherboards, its at least one or two integrated eSATA ports. Right now, there are two on the Skulltrail motherboards and on the DX58, so it shouldn't be a stretch to add these to the new Mac Pro.

Firewire S1600 and S3200 - I say yes

"In December 2007, the 1394 Trade Association announced that products will be available before the end of 2008 using the S1600 and S3200 modes that, for the most part, had already been defined in 1394b and was further clarified in IEEE Std. 1394-2008. The 1.6 Gbit/s and 3.2 Gbit/s devices use the same 9-circuit beta connectors as the existing FireWire 800 and will be fully compatible with existing S400 and S800 devices. It will compete with the forthcoming USB 3.0."

So, the new Firewire spec has been approved for a while, beats USB 3.0 to the market hands-down, and is backwards compatible with current 400 and 800 Mb/s devices. I'd say this would be stupid not to include on the new motherboards.

10 Gig Ethernet - I say yes

There is a ton of really cool stuff you could do if you integrated 10 Gig Ethernet into the new Mac Pro. Fibre Channel over Ethernet becomes a reality:

"Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) is a proposed mapping of Fibre Channel frames over full duplex IEEE 802.3 networks. This allows Fibre Channel to leverage 10 Gigabit Ethernet networks while preserving the Fibre Channel protocol. The specification is supported by a large number of network and storage vendors, including Absolute Analysis, BLADE Network Technologies, Broadcom, Brocade, Cisco, EMC, Emulex, Finisar, HP, IBM, Intel, Hitachi Data Systems, Mellanox, NetApp, Nuova, PMC-Sierra, Qlogic and Sun Microsystems."

With FCoE, network (IP) and storage (SAN) data traffic can be consolidated using a single network switch. This consolidation can:

reduce the number of network interface cards required to connect to disparate storage and IP networks
reduce the number of cables and switches
reduce power and cooling costs

Very cool applications for Xsan environments where shared collaboration between creatives is a must.

SSD Drives [Update 1 - 12/29/08] - YES...this should be a no-brainer

In my opinion, SSD's (solid state drives) are one of the BEST new things to come along in a while.

Some of the early entrants to the field were marked by spotty performance or reliability concerns (how many times can you write to one before it goes bad?)

However, the new X25-M series of drives from Intel are nothing short of stunning.

For kicks (albeit expensive kicks) we obtained three of the new X25-M Series 80 Gb drives and RAID'ed them together into a three-drive RAID 0 using Disk Utility. The results were nothing short of amazing.

700 MB/s read speeds (that is megaBYTE, not megabit...) and the machine would boot from the "bong" in 11 seconds.

Photoshop loads in 3 seconds. Flat.

This is one of most important things that ANYONE can do to speed up the performance of ANY Mac Pro. And if Apple doesn't include these by default, we'll make sure that we do.

Cinema Displays [Update 1 - 12/29/08] - Most likely.

I can tell you this. Getting a new 23" Cinema Display is now officially impossible. They are sold out everywhere.

What's someone to do if you want a 23" or 24" class Apple display? You have to wait for new graphics cards in the new Mac Pro...or get an adapter (which don't exist right now...)

You can still get 20" and 30" Cinema Displays...while they last.

However, I think that there will be some 20" and 30" cousins for the 24" LED display before too long. All based on the DisplayPort connector and integrating HDCP.

New Graphics Cards [Update 1 - 12/29/08] - Yes.

There are a few toss-ups here. Here is one that I think is the no-brainer: the new Nvidia Quadro FX 5800.

A Mac Pro version of this should be rolling out to replace the 5600 that is currently offered. However, one thing that will probably be different about the Mac version is the DisplayPort. Currently, the shipping version from Nvidia ONLY comes with dual-DVI.

On the low end, we could see new entrants from ATI and Nvidia. I won't even speculate on those options since it could be one of any different entry level cards.

However, one dark horse candidate for a mid-range card is the Nvidia Quadro CX card. This card is optimized for hardware-acceleration of Adobe's CS4 suite of applications. From hardware-accelerated Photoshops scrolling to vastly improved h.264 render times--there are a TON of things that Adobe and Nvidia worked on together to integrate on this board.

I blogged about this before, but if this card isn't offered its not because Nvidia and Adobe don't want you to have it. Apple has the hardware and source-code for the board. They just have to integrate into their offerings.

Wrap-up

Those are my MWSF 2009 predictions for the Mac Pro. Tune back in January to find out how close I got. In the meantime, chime in with some predictions of your own.

tl

Torrey schools KGO's Gene Burns

2008-12-10T00:12:00.000-08:00

Torrey just schooled KGO's Gene Burns on law enforcement use of force policy. This is an audio file. Its a recording from KGO posted on their website at KGO Radio

Click here for audio player

I had just gone to funeral for a police officer the morning this was taped. I thought Gene was way off-base on this so I called to talk with him about it.

His last words are priceless.

tl

RIP--SJPD Officer John Cahill

2008-12-05T23:57:00.000-08:00

My friend John Cahill, officer with San Jose Police Department, passed away yesterday.

I remember talking with John just a few weeks ago over a pool game at Donna Lind's house along with Bruce Lindsay. I had no idea that just a short time later this awesome person would be gone.

It makes you think about the people in your life--and about your priorities. All of the problems in your life pale in comparison to not having a life at all.

John Cahill's Memorial Service is this Tuesday (Dec 9th) at 11 a.m. at San Augustine Church on Glenwood Drive in Scotts Valley. Scotts Valley Police Department Lt. John Hohmann and retired sergeant Bruce Lindsay are coordinating the details. John's family is requesting donations be made to the Fallen Officer Foundation in John's name.

tl

Silverado Special Edition Mac Pro...released

2008-12-02T14:06:00.000-08:00

Not for everyone, but...

If you are looking for the fastest Mac Pro in the world, this is it:

Silverado Mac Pro Special Edition

The Intel SSD boot drive setup alone works at over 700 MB/s. Triple Intel X25-M drives raided together create a boot drive capable of boots of less than 15 seconds.

Hand-tuned by Silverado, each system includes the following:

• Two 3.2GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon
• 32GB (8x4GB) 800 Ghz FB-DIMM
• Three Intel X25-M 80 Gb Hard Drives in a RAID 0 boot configuration
• One WD 300Gb Velociraptor Drive
• One Panasonic Blu-Ray Drive - SATA
• One NVIDIA Quadro FX 5600 1.5GB
• One 16x SuperDrive
• Apple Wireless Mighty Mouse
• Apple Wireless Keyboard (English) + User's Guide
• AirPort Extreme Card (Wi-Fi)
• iWork '08 preinstalled
• AppleCare Protection Plan

10,000 RPM Western Digital Velociraptors add 300 Gb of lightning-fast storage for photos, music, and backup.

Includes 32GB of ultra-fast 800MHz DDR2 ECC fully buffered memory — a memory architecture that's up to 256 bits wide and allows for incredible memory capacity, bandwidth, and reliability.

NVIDIA Quadro FX 5600 graphics card is the ultimate workstation-class graphics card available, with a massive 1.5GB of GDDR3 memory and a 3D stereo port for stereo-in-a-window applications.

Panasonic Blu-Ray is standard on this machine for burning up to 50 GB of data on dual-layered Blu-Ray discs.

We have a limited amount of $2500 discount coupons available for this system through December only. If you want one of these coupon codes, just e-mail me at torrey@silverado.cc

tl

Nothing personal, just business...Should we stop accepting the American Express card?

2008-11-09T23:10:00.001-08:00

I got a $5400 bill the other day from American Express.

$5400 for one month.

Why? Its their fee for allowing us to accept AMEX at the business--and its not right.

When we process an AMEX card for a client, we don't see the funds for at least four business days. That is four days that American Express gets our funds--interest free.

In contrast, when I run a Visa or Mastercard transaction, our funds post to our account at midnight the next business day. And our rates are about 32% less.

So, if I have this straight--I am paying a huge premium for a large corporation to take advantage of us by getting a short-term interest free loan.

Its not as if small businesses haven't had run-ins with American Express before over other issues. Do a Google search on all the small business credit lines that they are drawing down:

American Express reduces small business credit lines

My question is this: Should we draw down on American Express?

American Express--if you are listening--I suggest you call me ASAP. You have a very dissatisfied customer.

Torrey

(916) 760-0032

Update: Lots of angry people responding to this New York Times article

Annual Silverado Fire Sale

2008-11-07T11:10:00.000-08:00

Its time for another famous Silverado Fire Sale!

We updated our Fire Sale page here for 2008:

http://tinyurl.com/33z2uo

We have a ton of new and used gear that needs to go before we begin the transition over to our new facility in Historic Old Folsom in 2009:

Silverado 950si SCRATCH CPU (demo machine)
Apple Mac OS X Leopard (overstocked - new copies)
AJA IO HD (demo machines)
Panasonic displays (new LCD's and demo plasmas)
Apple Mac Pro's (demo machines)
Apple MacBook Air (demo machine)
Apple Cinema Displays (demo machine)
Apple MacBook Pro (brand new--overstock item)
Dulce RAID (demo item)
Silverado Fieldmaster (demo system)
Sony JH3 Compact HDCAM (demo system)
Tangent Devices CP100 (demo system)

Prices range for 11% to almost 70% off.

Also--we've released a new Twitter feed:

http://twitter.com/silveradosys

All new updates will now be pushed to Twitter first and then to our blog.

One note--the site is triggered to sell first come, first served. Once an item is sold, it will no longer appear on the Fire Sale page.

Torrey
-----------------------------------------------
Torrey Loomis
President & CEO - Silverado Systems, Inc.
Outfitter to the World's Foremost Apple Professionals
2600 East Bidwell Street, Suite 280
Folsom, CA 95630
(916) 760-0032 • FAX (916) 404-5258
tloomis@silverado.cc
http://www.Silverado.cc

Nvidia Quadro CX...coming to Mac soon?

2008-10-22T00:46:00.001-07:00

Unless you've been living under a rock lately, the hottest new thing from Nvidia and Adobe is the Quadro CX--which provides hardware acceleration to many of the apps in Adobe's new CS4:

So, the big question is this--can I put it in my Mac?

No--and right now its not because Adobe and Nvidia don't want you to.

While no NDA's were compromised here...I have it on very good authority that the ENTIRE source code for this product has already been given to Apple and its up to them to develop the Mac-based driver.

Do I believe it? Yes--this is a very high profile product for both Adobe and Nvidia and it makes a ton of sense for them to want to see this pushed as hard on the Mac platform as it is on Windows.

What kind of performance are we talking here? Think 500% increase in h.264 encodes for Blu-Ray media, real-time manipulation of monstrous images, and amplified processing of color conversions and tone mapping.

Best way to see this pushed through is to petition Nvidia and Apple as hard as possible to work together to see this gets done by Macworld 2009.

tl

Death of an Xserve...or why you need more than one server...

2008-10-15T23:45:00.000-07:00

I get this question all the time: "You spec'd four servers for our Xsan system? Two MDC's and two ODC's? Do I really need that much infrastructure for a few people?!?"

The answer is yes. Absolutely yes. Definitively yes.

The last week has proven this point very painfully. I've never seen this type of behavior before in an Xserve, but it makes the case for multiple Xserve's extraordinarily clear.

Editorial crew (three people) came in Tuesday to find the machines unable to connect to their sinlgle Xserve (which acts as Xsan MDC and ODC). They were running slowly Monday, however I suspect one of their machines took over as MDC and the Xserve had actually crashed sometime over the weekend.

They hooked up a monitor to the Xserve to find the "prohibited symbol" against a grey background. I drove over to check it out myself. When I arrived, the monitor had the grey screen, Apple logo, and the circling status icon. It was rotating around like it was trying to load.

After a few minutes, it was apparent it would not boot. I shut it down, and restarted it in Target mode (which launched successfully and allowed me to mount Server HD on my laptop). DiskWarrior showed some minor things to clean up, which I allowed it to do. The folder structure of the Server HD looked fine. I disconnected and attempted to start it up.

No dice. Xserve got to the grey screen, Apple logo, and the circling status icon--but nothing else.

Thinking it might be a hardware problem with the hard drive, I attempted to boot off the Restore CD to see if Disk Utility had any thoughts.

The Xserve would not boot off the CD either. Neither the 10.4.10 restore disc OR the latest Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard Server disc either.

Now I am thinking its strictly a hardware problem, not a software issue.

Praying hard, I loaded Xserve Diagnostics and pressed "D" which DID allow it to boot into diagnostics mode. I thought I was right around the corner from discovering which hardware was the issue...except that all tests passed. Nuts...

As a last resort I had Carl run over with a brand new set of RAM for the Xserve and swapped the old. No help.

Everything was disconnected--including the RAID's and the ethernet connections. The only thing left in the machine besides the RAM was the fibre card. I even yanked the fibre card to see if it would boot--but no luck.

I left Tuesday at 2:45 PM and set the diagnostics to run for 15 hours to see if it would pick up an intermittent error.

At 9 AM on Wednesday, I arrived to find that Diagnostics hung up at 10 hours. Checking one of the CPU's is where it froze.

Now realize this...the client's budget did not allow for even a parts kit. At this point, I had no choice but to call AppleCare and wait four hours for an engineer and logic board to arrive. The AppleCare call was fairly straightforward since I had already eliminated nearly everything besides the CPU's and logic board.

Engineer arrived around 1 PM on Wed. and swapped the logic board.

Did...not...work...

Now frustrated, the engineer calls someone high up the Tier level at Apple and requests a bunch of parts for next day delivery. RAID card, fibre card, logic board, CPU's, etc...

As of this writing, their system is STILL down. So, while there is no resolution for the client yet, there IS a moral to this story.

1. Servers will die.
2. The best defense against server death is a PRE-DEPLOYED backup to act as failover.
3. You need backups of your MDC and ODC machines. Yes--four servers..
4. By hosting MDC duties and ODC on the same machine and implementing a network home folder--the client couldn't even log into his own machine to do any local work. Having an ODC (and backup) separate from MDC would have allowed them to work even if the SAN was down.
5. Parts kits DO NOT ALWAYS mean you are back in action. We replaced the logic board and the server was still down.

The Cost?

A creative director and two editors at total of $84 per hour (includes fringe, etc...) times 24 hours (three eight-hour days of lost time) equals a straight loss of over $2000--not to mention the grief and possible lost sales the CEO will lose from his creative team being down for three days.

At the very least, one more server in this workflow would have already paid for itself. These don't have to be huge render-class servers--just basic Xserves.

One funny note--the engineer works contracts for Apple and Dell. When asked, he said most of his dispatch repair work is on the Dell machines. He says he puts hands on an Xserve about twice per year for actual repairs.

Update: Turns out it was the logic board AND a RAID card that went bad. The Xserve went right back up serving out Xsan as soon as these were replaced.

Major Adobe CS4 Release Event at next SF Cutters

2008-09-22T06:46:00.001-07:00

Got this from my buddy Claudia Crask at SF Cutters:

Come Join Sf Cutters, San Francisco Final Cut Pro User Group on Sept 25th

To Celebrate the release of Adobe CS4 - learn more!

View the Finalists from our "Mini Reels Competition" and hear from G Technology makers of storage devices and technology.

For Further details and to Register online go to:

http://sept25sfcutters.eventbrite.com/

This Meeting is Free, but we do need you to preregister so your name is on the entry list.

Thanks to Adobe Systems their generous support of the meeting and providing CS4 Production Studio as a prize and to FMC Training for providing a pass to the Editors' Retreat, lodging and travel are not included in the pass, and are the responsibility of the winner.

Location: Adobe Systems in San Francisco
Map: http://tinyurl.com/37grn7
601 Townsend
San Francisco, CA 94103

Time 6:30 PM - 10 PM

Further questions contact Claudia Crask
sfcuttster@gmail.com

RED module added to upcoming Sacramento Final Cut Pro training

2008-08-20T23:22:00.001-07:00

Due to popular demand, Larry Jordan is adding time to the tapeless media portion of his training to specifically talk about ingesting and editing RED media.

Silverado is hosting Larry Jordan's North American Seminar Tour for two days of jam-packed Final Cut Pro training in the Sacramento area on September 8th and 9th.

We now have a seminar discount code for registration. Enter the code SILVER8 upon registration at www.larryjordan.biz/seminar and you'll get 10% off the course registration fee.

Different than the other locations, each registrant for the Sacramento training will get a free Final Cut Pro keyboard cover--your choice of desktop or laptop cover.

We'll also have a large sampler of RED media for participants to copy and take home--just bring a hard drive and we'll copy it off for you.

Best of all, each participant will get a free entry into OpenCut 3.

This is our 3rd year hosting Larry in Folsom and he always gets rave reviews for the technical material along with his witty presentation and sage wisdom. I highly recommend anyone looking to sharpen up their FCP skills to attend these courses.

Register today at www.larryjordan.biz/seminar

AJA posts updated 6.0 software for Kona 3 and Io HD

2008-08-19T18:48:00.000-07:00

Just got this in from AJA!

Io HD and KONA v6.0 Software Now Available. VTR Xchange v4.0 Application Now Available.

AJA has now released the anticipated 6.0 drivers for the Io HD and KONA products. They are available for download from the AJA website. Additionally, AJA has also posted a new version of the VTR Xchange application to the website. Details regarding these releases are outlined below.

Io HD New Features

Additional format support for true progressive formats in 1080
Additional format support for intermediate formats
Added Audio Delay for Input and Audio Delay for Output controls
Stand Alone Mode enabled
Io HD LCD display now allows users to choose between the display of primary and secondary video formats or the primary video format and timecode
Io HD now a FireWire "plug and play" device (can now be connected or disconnected to host computer without rebooting to recognize device)
Active Video Output Filter added

Io HD Improvements and Fixes:

Component and composite now provide simultaneous output
General improvements to A/V sync performance
General improvements for multi-user environments

KONA New Features

RED Support added (KONA 3)
For more details on KONA 3 support for RED workflows, consult the version 6.0 manual, page 24.

PLEASE NOTE: When working with RED Easy Setups, AJA recommends changing the Dynamic RT setting to "Unlimited RT" for the best playback results.

Active Video Output Filter added (KONA 3 and KONA LH)

KONA Improvements and Fixes

64 bit firmware update (KONA 3)
General improvements to A/V sync performance (entire KONA product line)
Custom LUT support now implemented for dual link output in addition to single link output (KONA 3)
General improvements for multi-user environments (entire KONA product line)

VTR Xchange v4.0 New Features

Multi-channel discrete audio output via new Audio Routing feature
Batch capture feature added
PLEASE NOTE: VTR Xchange does not offer batch logging and capture, only batch capture from a pre-existing batch list
Apple script support added
Support for playback of 23.98 fps movie files at 29.97 fps or 59.94 fps

VTR Xchange 4.0 Improvements and Fixes

RP-188 and LTC timecode is now displayed in the main window during capture
General UI enhancements

Please read the release notes for more details on Io HD and KONA v6.0 software and VTR Xchange 4.0 Application.

NOTE: There is important configuration and installation information contained in the READ-ME for both the KONA and Io HD software releases, so please be sure to read it completely.

The new v6.0 KONA and Io HD software is further proof of our commitment to build value and refinement into our Desktop products. KONA and Io HD offer professional features not found anywhere else, and our products are the most reliable and best supported solutions for any type of post-production work!

KONA v6.0, Io HD v6.0 and v4.0 VTR Exchange software can be found here:

http://www.aja.com/html/support_swd.html

OpenCut presentation at Sac Film & Music Festival

2008-08-18T02:24:00.000-07:00

I was honored to be invited by the board at Sacramento Film & Music Festival to talk about OpenCut and screen the top three entries.

I talked about RED vs. Film workflow and went over how RED material made a 35mm editing competition possible.

The coolest part of the presentation was seeing three cuts of "Susannah" shown on a 40-foot screen at full res 1920x1080 HD.

I played back ProRes files from my MacBook Pro equipped with a G-Tech G-SPEED eS connected via an ExpressCard. It worked flawlessly.

I was really excited that Sean Wells--one of the top editors--was able to make it to the panel to answer questions about the editing experience. He offlined his version "Susannah" on a MacBook with FCP, then onlined his final version on an octo-Mac with Adobe After Effects.

It was such a good experience that we've been asked to repeat the presentation at an upcoming Capital Film Arts meeting. If you missed the first presentation, we'd love to see you around for the next one.

Silverado mention in Millimeter article

2008-07-29T01:52:00.000-07:00

Silverado mentioned in "HD Share" by Dan Ochiva writing for Millimeter:

Article Here

Can you help us set another world record?

2008-07-25T02:48:00.000-07:00

OpenCut is an open-source film editing competition that gives editors 35mm film grade material and allows them to complete their own version of the material.

OpenCut 1 "Susannah" has been submitted for a world record as the "greatest number of cinematic film edits from a single set of source media." We had 51 separate versions of "Susannah" submitted by editors from around the world. You can see the different cuts here:

"Susannah" on VUZE

OpenCut 2 "The Alpine Meadows Shoot" is a new attempt. We want to submit for the "greatest number of commercial spots from a single set of source media."

Interested in being part of this world record attempt? We'd love to have you take part. You can register here:

OpenCut 2 "The Alpine Meadows Shoot" Registration Page

New edit site--CutScape--an outright copy of OpenCut?

2008-07-09T01:07:00.000-07:00

I was surfing across the net today and saw this:

http://www.cutscape.com

It was "created" by Ted Chandler of http://www.makemymovieonline.com/

I say "created" because its a knockoff of http://www.OpenCut.org which we started a few months ago. I would list the similarities, but they are way too numerous to mention--there are dozens.

I am thrilled that the idea of OpenCut would provide such an inspiration for Ted and others to follow. I wish him the best of success in this endeavor.

However, if you look at CutScape--its amazing how so many things are lifted from OpenCut. How is CutScape any different than an outright duplication of the OpenCut project? We didn't put all the thought and energy into OpenCut to have it shamelessly knocked off.

I guess good ideas are emulated, but great ideas are stolen...

tl

World's fastest production SCRATCH CPU by Silverado - shipping at 4.19 Ghz

2008-07-03T02:09:00.001-07:00

New product release! The world's fastest production SCRATCH CPU by Silverado - at 4.19 Ghz!

4.19 Ghz SCRATCH CPU

Production stable at 4.19 Ghz and runs very cool with our liquid cooling system.

These things are real beasts, but extraordinarily fast. We'll be putting it through its paces tomorrow when we hook up a Dulce PRO RX via PCIe and measure disk speeds with IOmeter. We'll post the IOmeter results once the tests are done.

Best of all--we back it up with a 4-year warranty which I believe is one of the longest coverages available on this class of machine.

These are available to order immediately--they are custom-built upon order and ship within 5-10 business days.

Silverado to build Apple Xsan-based editing facility for NASA

2008-06-05T01:05:00.000-07:00

We received word last week that we won a major contract to rebuild the SAN-based editing infrastructure for NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.

Silverado is providing the infrastructure and our excellent partners Meta Media Creative Technologies are providing all installation and training.

Yeah...its kind of a big deal.

:-)

tl

Press release for OpenCut.org

2008-06-05T00:44:00.000-07:00

Here is the press release for OpenCut.org:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

OPENCUT.ORG DEBUTS AS THE WORLD’S FIRST OPEN SOURCE FILM COMPETITION – USING 35mm FILM GRADE MATERIAL SHOT ON THE RED ONE DIGITAL CINEMA CAMERA PLATFORM

SACRAMENTO, CA (May 21, 2008) – What would happen if you took a professionally shot, but raw and unedited film--and gave it to over 200 editors along with a script and told them to edit the project any way they wanted?

The answer will be discovered soon through the OpenCut project. Silverado Systems, Inc. ignited a revolution in the film industry today when it debuted the OpenCut project – the world’s first open source film competition using 35mm film grade material acquired exclusively on the RED ONE Digital Cinema Camera platform and made available internationally to editors of any and all skill levels.

OpenCut material is fully scripted and professionally produced using a skilled film crew and talented actors in real-world settings and shot on RED ONE. This film-quality material is then made available internationally to editors of any skill level to edit with as they please in a time-limited competition between storytellers.

Should the story be told rapidly, or should it have a dramatic feel? Can the story incorporate a lot of visual effects and an imposing background score? Or should the dialog take precedence over everything else? These are questions that the editors will have to answer for themselves as they read the script and review the media.

This project is something that could not have been feasible just a year ago—delivery of 35mm film-grade material to hundreds of editors on consumer-sized hard drives. However, because of the advent of the RED ONE Digital Cinema platform and the ability to create film-grade material in a compact file size, you can now edit Hollywood-class film sequences on desktop computers. With the introduction of OpenCut, this material can now be disseminated worldwide in a broad competitive format.

The main goal of OpenCut is to create a new open-source model previously unavailable in the film industry. OpenCut encourages creativity among editors and filmmakers by allowing them to work on 35mm film grade material—regardless of skill-level, industry position, or time in the craft. OpenCut also seeks to promote the use of RED in production and post-production and stimulate creative discussion among editors and filmmakers.

“As there is no "one way" to tell a story, so too can stories benefit from being re-edited and re-told from many different vantage points and perspectives.” stated Torrey Loomis, project director of OpenCut and CEO of Silverado Systems. “With a single script and crew, you can take a story and tell it 300 different ways. The power to do this lies in the editing.”

Loomis adds “Just like in the film industry--there is no handholding here. For some editors, this will be like drinking from a fire hose.”

Editors are expected to use the immense resources available on the Internet to answer any workflow questions they might have, including resources like RED forum REDUser.net and training site fxphd.com, which hosts a lot of RED-related training online.

Combined with the information and training found online, and the film-grade material provided by OpenCut—editors have everything they need to create a Hollywood-class entry.

OpenCut’s first project is “Susannah” a gritty tale of two characters apparently fighting over a girl. But with any good story--nothing is as it appears and the script and plot of “Susannah” allow for surprising twists.

Shot on location in the Salton Sea, “Susannah” stars Ben Bray as “Ed” and Johnny Bogris as “Jacob.” Bray is a talented stuntman and has performed in some of Hollywood’s biggest films such as “No Country for Old Men” and “Spider-Man 2.” Bray has also stunt coordinated features such as “Smokin’ Aces” and “Lakeview Terrace.” Bogris is a skilled actor with credits including “NYPD Blue” and “End of Days.”

“Susannah” was directed by aspiring director Evan Nicholas, along with director of photography and talented RED ONE operator Brian Hamm. The project was executive produced by director Joe Carnahan of “Smokin’ Aces” and “NARC” and CEO Torrey Loomis of Silverado Systems, Inc.

“I hope that tons of people check out the script, read the storyboards, and ultimately come up with their own version of the movie.” said Evan Nicholas, director of “Susannah.” It’s amazing to think that through OpenCut, our storytelling is not limited to one or two editors—but is literally open to editing by potentially hundreds or thousands of people worldwide. As a director, that is something that is very exciting.”

The rewards are significant for participating editors. The grand prize is an AJA Io HD, a coveted piece of editing equipment valued at $3500. Further, the winner of OpenCut will be named as the “editor-of-record” in IMDB—the recognized source for movie production information. They will also have their cut finished in 4k resolution and a DCP (Digital Cinema Package) will be generated which will allow distribution to any digitally-equipped cinema in the country. The winning cut will also be submitted to multiple film festivals throughout the country on behalf of the editor.

Regardless of place, the licensing of OpenCut allows all editors to use their own cut of “Susannah” on their personal reel. For some editors, this is access to 35mm material they have never been able to feature on their reel before.

OpenCut 1.0 is open now for registration at http://www.OpenCut.org. Editing begins on June 1st and submissions are required to be submitted to VUZE (an online video hosting platform) on or prior to June 30. People can register to compete in OpenCut for $25 and will submit a hard drive to OpenCut. Their hard drive will be returned with media, scripts, and supporting documentation.

About Silverado Systems, Inc.
Started in Folsom in 2003 by founder and CEO Torrey Loomis. Recently named #13 in rank as a member of Sacramento Business Journal’s “100 Fastest Growing Companies in Sacramento” for 2007. Silverado is frequently described as an “Apple Store for Professionals.” Silverado is a one-stop-shop for creative professionals--serving filmmakers, editors, graphic designers, artists, directors, and media personnel. Silverado specializes in the high-end of Apple technology and focuses on being “Outfitters to the World’s Foremost Apple Professionals.” With the recent acquisition of new cinema technology from RED Digital, Silverado is on
the forefront of 4k digital cinematography and post-production.
http://www.silverado.cc

About director Evan Nicholas:
Working on projects like “Smokin’ Aces” and GM’s critically-acclaimed recent “Cadillac” spots--and the upcoming feature film “Killing Pablo”--Evan Nicholas is director Joe Carnahan’s right-hand man. “Susannah” is Nicholas’ directorial debut and was very open-minded towards the OpenCut project by handing over his entire short-subject to be treated to the OpenCut editorial process.
evan.nicholas@gmail.com

Long time...no blog...

2008-06-05T00:43:00.000-07:00

I've been up to my ears in hard drives. About 180 to be exact. We've been duplicating 170 Gb per drive for OpenCut...

What is OpenCut, you ask? Next post!

RED Feature Film profiled on KCRA 3 News

2008-03-20T13:10:00.000-07:00

Our affiliated RED ONE feature film "Sensored" has been profiled by KCRA 3 news in Sacramento.

KCRA 3 Profile on Sensored

Brother Blog

2008-02-01T01:00:00.000-08:00

In my attempts to find new ways to completely avoid work altogether, I navigated over and read some of Tyler Berry's posts at his blog, Mountain Peaks and Metadata.

Tyler writes very well and his posts are entertaining. We just completed an in-depth demonstration of RED and workflow for the folks at CBS yesterday, and Tyler posted up some tidbits from the visit.

Take a look - its a fun read.

Mountain Peaks and Metadata by Tyler Berry

Macworld Special: AJA IO HD

2008-01-18T12:54:00.000-08:00

Get a great price on an AJA Io HD--our Macworld Special--for only $3189 while supplies last through Macworld.

Here are some facts about the Io HD:

- 10-bit 4:2:2 full-raster HD over Firewire 800
- Apple ProRes 422 and Apple ProRes 422 HQ Codec hardware integration SD, HD 720/1080, full-raster 10-bit 4:2:2, realtime

- Up/down/cross-conversion, 10-bit, realtime, in hardware
- SD-SDI and HD-SDI input/output (x2)
- Component input/output (SD and HD)
- Composite and S-video input/output
- HDMI video w/2-channel audio input/output
- Embedded SDI 8-channel audio input/output
- AES/EBU 8-channel unbalanced audio input/output (BNC)
- Analog 4-channel balanced audio input/output (XLR)
- Analog 2-channel unbalanced audio output (RCA)
- Genlock, terminated with buffered output
- RS-422 machine control
- LTC Timecode input/output
- All-new AJA-developed QuickTime driver software
- Core Audio support
- 3-year International Warranty and Support
- No proprietary cables!
- Designed specifically for Apple Final Cut Studio 2 on Mac OS X

Besides Io HD's completely unique Apple ProRes 422 hardware implementation, Io HD can also be used with DVCProHD and uncompressed workflows!

These other HD codecs can be used with the Io HD via software encoding/decoding. The Io HD can be used to capture to DVCProHD compression when used in combination with the MacPro series of Apple desktop computers; these computers provide sufficient processing power to software encode to DVCProHD compression in realtime. MacBookPro computers with attached SATA or FW800 drives via ExpressCard/34 and a minimum of 2GB of memory are also able to capture and playback DVCProHD material in 1080 and 720 formats. Uncompressed 10-bit 4:2:2 and Uncompressed 8-bit 4:2:2 QuickTime playback is supported when using MacPro desktop computers along with the Io HD. (An adequate disk array for uncompressed HD playback is of course required.)

Io HD supports:

- Apple ProRes 422 and ProRes 422 HQ, SD and HD, 720 and 1080 formats, ingest and playout (natively)
- DVCProHD, 720 and 1080 formats, ingest and playout (CPU-based)
- Uncompressed HD, 720 and 1080 formats, playout (CPU-based)
- Uncompressed SD, 525/625 formats, ingest and playout (natively)
- DV, 525/625 formats, ingest and playout (CPU-based)
- DVCPro, 625 format, ingest and playout (CPU-based)
- DVCPro50, 525/625 formats, ingest and playout (CPU-based)

You can place orders for AJA IO HD here:

Order AJA IO HD from Silverado

RED Training in SF - 4k finishing using FCP and SCRATCH - Jan. 24th

2008-01-18T12:51:00.000-08:00

Silverado is hosting a RED 4k finishing class next week in San Francisco.

RED 4k Finishing with FCP and SCRATCH

The training is free, but space is limited due to the venue.

You can get all the details on the link above. If you are interested in learning about SCRATCH and how it works with FCP, I really recommend you come.

We'll have a full RED ONE system setup and can go directly from camera, to FCP, and then to SCRATCH.

ALSO! We'll be showing a complete field portable tapeless archive and backup system that fits in an airline carry-on case. RAID 1 and LTO-3 tape backup--in one box!

If you have any questions that the link doesn't answer, please contact me directly at the e-mail address below.

Torrey
-----------------------------------------------
Torrey Loomis
President & CEO - Silverado Systems, Inc.
Outfitter to the World's Foremost Apple Professionals
2600 East Bidwell Street, Suite 280
Folsom, CA 95630
(916) 760-0032 • FAX (916) 404-5258
tloomis@silverado.cc
http://www.Silverado.cc