[tmbird4476]

I'm about to get a new Dual G5 setup and I'm wondering if anyone here can confirm / deny my thoughts about what video card to get if I'm interested in using Motion.

I have been to Motion's website and read the system requirements, yet I'm thinking that the video cards they mention that are compatible are really there to try and steer you towards having at least a G5 machine.

My current machine is a G4 Quicksilver 867Mhz. And I have a GeForce 2 card in there with 32MB of ram.

I want to have the muscle in a new Dual G5 system to run Motion/FCP/DVDSP really well, but should I wait for the extra time to get a GeForce 6800 Ultra or GT?

Money is not the only issue, time is also a concern since it will triple the time to get the machine to me (from 1-2 weeks to 5-6 weeks.)

Anyone here using Motion and can attest that it's all about the Processor speed, when it comes to rendering? Or should I learn some patience and hold out for the better video card?

[azdude]

Originally posted by tmbird4476:
Money is not the only issue, time is also a concern since it will triple the time to get the machine to me (from 1-2 weeks to 5-6 weeks.)

I don't use it personally, but from what I have heard, Motion is highly GPU dependent (while FCP/DVDSP are not).

However, despite this, I don't think you'd need a 6800 xxxx in order to get great performance from Motion... a Dual G5 with a 9600 XT will give good/great performance, if time and money are both a concern. If you want to future-proof your setup a bit more beyond that, go for the 9800 XT.

If I had money & time constraints, I'd choose between 96/9800.

[tmbird4476]

Googled "Apple Motion Speed" and got this cool article:

http://www.barefeats.com/motion.html

Looks like it will make a difference on certain particle intense effects. Good to know.

[awcopus]

Originally posted by tmbird4476:
Googled "Apple Motion Speed" and got this cool article:

http://www.barefeats.com/motion.html

Looks like it will make a difference on certain particle intense effects. Good to know.

Prepare yourself to be underwhelmed. I'm running a dual 2.5 g5 with 6gb RAM and the stock 9600XT card, and Motion is still kind of staggering along through effects running off of RAID O SATA 7200rpm drives.

Of course, it runs a helluva lot slower on any other G5, but you need to be ready for the fact that it's not going to be snappy and zippy because its interface is built around LIVE PREVIEWING, which is incredibly processor/ram/gpu intensive. If you're building a complex composition, don't expect fluid playback instantaneously.

I've got an ATI X800XT on the way, and of course my fingers are crossed for a perceptible improvement in Motion's performance. I'll take anything I can get.

[Feathers]

I'm running Motion with 2Ghz Dual G5, 9800XT (256MB VRAM) and 2.5GB RAM. I think the card is sufficient, the nVidia may be overkill but oodles of RAM is essential. I am resting my wallet for a bit but there will certainly be an extra 2Gigs (at least) going in soon. Playback of HD stuff was instantly improved when I added the initial 2 GB's, so it was clearly a RAM rather than a card bottleneck. Faster HD's are a big deal too!

[awcopus]

X800XT is in the machine and Motion is TRANSFORMED. Amazing live rendering speed. I feel unleashed. Finally!