Digi/Avid Users that do offline editing... on PC/Mac/Bootcamp

K

Kip Conner

Junior
Mar 13, 2011
370
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0
Athens, GA
I'm a mac guy. Everything that I have needed for the past few years has been mac compatible.

I need to make a show file for a SC48 and am prepared to get what I need to make that happen. The venue guy recommended that I get Boot Camp and download the software. Of course I need to choose a windows platform too. The last time that I tried to do this was in 2006 with Virtual PC and it sucked balls. It really messed up my computer and had to reformat the hard drive to clean up the remnants.

I'm ready to try with bootcamp and windows if you guys think that is a good option... what else should I be considering?
 
Re: Digi/Avid Users that do offline editing... on PC/Mac/Bootcamp

Bootcamp is dead simple to do. Basically Bootcamp creates a drive partition for Windows, and downloads and burns a set of Windows drivers specific to your computer onto a CD. It then assists you with installing a copy of Windows (7 is good) in that new partition. From then on you simply hold the option key as you reboot and you'll be given the choice of which OS to boot. You can also set the default option in the System Preferences in MacOS (Startup Disk) or the Preferences in Windows (Bootcamp).

Back up your entire hard drive first, because when partitioning goes wrong it goes spectacularly wrong. Once the partition is made it is smooth sailing from then on.
 
Re: Digi/Avid Users that do offline editing... on PC/Mac/Bootcamp

I think you're best off with the Windows installation being done through Bootcamp. However, if you're only making show files (not doing anything intensive), it may be worth it to pick up a copy of Parallels Desktop or VMWare Fusion to give you the ability to run Windows without having to restart OS X.

Don't forgot anti-virus on the Windows side!
 
Re: Digi/Avid Users that do offline editing... on PC/Mac/Bootcamp

Bootcamp is great but it requires you restart your machine and run it as a PC. That may be necessary for something that eats a lot of CPU or RAM, but this does not. I use VMWare fusion, not out of any particular loyalty but it has always been great. Lets me dedicate a virtual desktop to my virtual machine and easily scoot in and out of windows for the few things I need to do there.
 
Re: Digi/Avid Users that do offline editing... on PC/Mac/Bootcamp

Is boot camp free? I can't find a dollar amount anywhere. Only a bunch of updates.... or better yet is it already on my machine and I just don't know it? :)
 
Re: Digi/Avid Users that do offline editing... on PC/Mac/Bootcamp

I think I found my answer... I just need to figure out how to operate windows..... again.
 
Re: Digi/Avid Users that do offline editing... on PC/Mac/Bootcamp

Kip Conner said:
Is boot camp free? I can't find a dollar amount anywhere. Only a bunch of updates.... or better yet is it already on my machine and I just don't know it? :)
Click to expand...

Bootcamp is free, but the copy of Windows you run under it isn't. As long as you will be buying a copy of Windows, why not spend $79 more and have the ability to quickly switch windows between MacOS and Windows? I am doing that right now, configuring a Profile and keeping my paperwork in Filemaker, and drawings in Vectorworks. The switching back and forth is great for checking that the patch sheets match the way the console is being set up.

Mac
 
Re: Digi/Avid Users that do offline editing... on PC/Mac/Bootcamp

One very handy feature of using a virtual machine ( I use VMware Fusion ) is that you can command+tab your way around to the finder with the Windows desktop still in view and take a quick screen shot of say a Vertec array calculator screen and have that .png file in your Mac file structure for quick printing or transfer to your phone. I have yet to find a windows console editor that didn't work on my Windoze XP + VMware fusion combination. It even has the same issues with USB to serial port adaptors that my Win XP IBM laptop does when trying to talk to DSP units so I guess its doing something right - even when something is going wrong.
 
Re: Digi/Avid Users that do offline editing... on PC/Mac/Bootcamp

I believe Mac is using Parallels which I am too. I'm running it with Win 7 64 bit on a 2008 MacBook Pro 15". I use it mainly for 2 reasons: Avid Venue software and XTA AudioCore to control my processor. It runs fine. My advice is to max out the RAM on your machine so you can give your virtual machine a good chunk of memory. I was initially running with 4GB of RAM. Bumped it up to 8GB and things got more peppy.

Greg
 
Re: Digi/Avid Users that do offline editing... on PC/Mac/Bootcamp

I'm using Parallels with Win7 64bit on my MacBook Pro. 16 gigs of RAM was a big improvement. Sometimes, deals can be had on Parallels. I bought it for $79, but I've seen it on sale for $59. Can't remember where, a search might turn up something.

Geri O
 
Re: Digi/Avid Users that do offline editing... on PC/Mac/Bootcamp

Geri O'Neil said:
I'm using Parallels with Win7 64bit on my MacBook Pro. 16 gigs of RAM was a big improvement. Sometimes, deals can be had on Parallels. I bought it for $79, but I've seen it on sale for $59. Can't remember where, a search might turn up something.

Geri O
Click to expand...


I got it for $49 at New Egg during one of their email blast sales. They've got it $59 with code EMCNDNE228 right now, limited offfer.

Newegg.com - Software, Parallels, Mac Software

I'm running it on a 4 core 3 gHz Xeon Mac Pro, 10GB ram. Plenty fast for 3D modeling in Alibre or data acquisition in Race Studio. Reaper and Final Cut are about the only audio or video apps I run on my iron. The rest belongs to my corporate overlords.
 
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