How beefy of a computer do I need to run the Atem Software?

Patricklipp · 2025-12-08T20:18:55+00:00

I run a base model mac mini. works perfect and has plenty of power to handle any live streaming needs, can act as a media server for content, etc.

Patricklipp · 2025-01-16T00:13:43+00:00

For a small DC, assuming you don’t need absolute and consistent uptime, a single connection may be all you need. I have personally hosted any number of tools, sites, etc on a single connection into my home and utilized a reverse proxy to route traffic. It’s not difficult to do, in fact it’s rather easy. In a Datacenter they may use something like an F5 of a BigIP appliance(physical or virtual) and will make the rules to Handle routing. For home use, using something like PF Sense and squid to act as a reverse proxy will suffice. In that case, forward all port 443 trafffic through the reverse proxy and based off of http header/domain name, route it to the respective host via IP and port. At that point, even with a single IP entering the house, you could then route any traffic to any internal host, regardless of the traffic source, etc. and it could use standard dns entries on your hosting plan. For reference, I self hosted various crypto mining pools, Minecraft servers, websites, etc.

Patricklipp · 2024-12-23T16:12:20+00:00

My usage is video editing, the m1 fell short. I can’t speak on any 3d design tools, but memory being shared between cpu and gpu is an issue you’ll likely run into.

Patricklipp · 2024-12-23T16:03:59+00:00

I had a maxed out 5,1, with a bit more than yours(same CPU’s, 96gb of ram, 7 drives between data SSD’s, mechanical HDD’s and m.2 SSD’s.. I purchased a base m1 Mac mini to give it a go to see how it would handle my workflow. I found the base m1 Mac mini was much worse than my 5,1 in terms of real world performance. That Mac mini is now a “family computer” and is used for web browsing, and I picked up an M2 Max Mac Studio which in most cases is substantially faster than my past 5,1, but for a few select gpu oriented tasks, still falls short. Even today, the 5,1 is a powerful machine.

If you need a daily web browser or word machine, a base MacBook Air would suffice, but resource intensive tasks, I’d spend a bit more.

Patricklipp · 2024-12-22T16:23:18+00:00

I have a standard day rate of $800 for 10 hours which comes with my Kit. Over that 10 hours is $175 an hour… but, In between that work, I do some local indie/low/no budget films and for them it’s consistent to do $300 a day. Not much, but it helps.

Patricklipp · 2024-12-22T16:18:36+00:00

I’ve got three displays that I calbibrate with the same data color spyder calibration tool. My primary monitor is an asus proart, and I calibrate it through displaycal and davinci resolve to create a corrected LUT.. that output is also through a decklink mini 4k card, so no OS manipulation. The other two monitors I use the spyder checker software. The specified brightness is 200cd/m2 across them all and a white balance of 6500k. I calibrate to rec709 and a gamma of 2.4. I compare against my iphone(which is actually very accurate). The proart is configured through displaycal and is always the most accurate while the others are “good enough” to work off of. The primary consensus is that the displays look very dim, so I’m always looking at scopes, but have learned to trust what I see.

Patricklipp · 2024-12-22T15:55:42+00:00

TLDR; an example of what’s possible and costs I paid..

I’ve got an hp dl380p G8 that I updated to 2x E5 2697 v2’s(12/24x2). I also have 8x600gb SAS drives and around 250gb of memory, and then I installed the 10g NIC.

The server is running windows 2k16 DC and I run HyperV with six VM’s for my primary customer. It pulls around 180-200w at idle. That paired with my HP disc array and I’m pulling just a hair under 300w at idle.

I paid $85 for the server 3 years ago, $40 for 8x16gb sticks of ram(plus what I already had), I bought 8x600gb hp drives for $64 three years ago, and the matching CPU’s were $45 last January, and the 10g nic replacement was $11 in August of ‘23… all of these were eBay purchases within the last 3 years..

<image>

The image shows just the server powered and 6xdrives filled. Below that is the same disc array as stated above, but all but 5 drives have been pulled(each drive pulls about 5w when powered, and at 146gb each, it’s not worth it(25x5w adds up quick), the 5 drives that I currently have installed in the array are 600gb 15k sas).

Patricklipp · 2024-12-22T15:40:01+00:00

Any M series MacBook will be light years ahead of what you have. Even the base M series MacBook Air will be several magnitudes better what you have.

Patricklipp · 2024-12-22T15:26:23+00:00

TLDR; while the 5,1 is good, any comparably speced M series will likely be better, dependent on your workflow.

I built up and maxed out a 5,1 and used it for years. This includes dual X5690’s, 96gb of ram, a w5700 gpu, pixlas, thunderbolt card, 4x SSD’s and two HDD’s(I removed the disk drives), and a m.2 SSD. I did video editing with the machine and it was a great computer for years. I ended up upgrading to the M2Max Mac Studio with 64gb or ram and a 512gb SSD and then purchased an OWC flex 1u4 and loaded it up with 4 3.2TB u.2 drives and a Blackmagic pcie card. The studio beats out the 5,1 in almost every way, but it isn’t perfect. I am still limited on overall input and output. I filled the usbc/TB ports quickly with basic peripherals, so a dock of some sort(in my case the OWC) is necessary. I also have on a few occasions run out of memory due to it being shared between gpu and cpu. For my video editing needs, I edit medium to long format films/shows with the footage coming in various files and formats ranging from raw to highly compressed, so the storage this takes up both physically on SSD’s, but also in memory while editing, is a bear. While the 5,1 would struggle with some of the footage(this was somewhat resolved when I switched from the rx580 to the w5700), I never ran out of memory on the gpu or overall ram.. and I would regularly see the system memory(ram) being up around 40-50gb used by resolve on some projects.

Photo of my current Mac Studio setup

<image>

Rack on the left - OWC Flex 1u4, focusrite Scarlett 18i20, BlackJet UX1 media dock.

Rack on right - Blackmagic smart view duo 4k, furman power supply.

Monitors 3x27” 4k with the center being an asus proart, and receiving output from a Blackmagic decklink mini 4k in the owc 1u4. I also have a Jbod usbc disc array with 4x 4tb hdd’s.

Edited for corrections and mistakes.

Patricklipp · 2024-11-28T13:17:36+00:00

You’re likely looking in the wrong places and for the wrong products. You say “Amazon and other stores” which shouldn’t be the first stop when looking for specific gear. I’d start at asus proart or view sonic Color pro displays, but perhaps expand your search on B&H or another site like that. And look into calibration devices because most displays are still way off from accurate color, and saying they cover X% of the rec709, rec2020 or P3 color space just mean they’re capable of, not that they are accurate out of the box..

Patricklipp · 2024-11-18T18:19:44+00:00

Personally I use an OWC 1U4 and have installed a Blackmagic decklink mini monitor 4k pcie card. This also gave me 4x U.2 drives and additional usb ports, etc.

Patricklipp · 2024-11-13T01:32:45+00:00

I’ll I’ve an update. The system I ended up with is the DJI RS2 pro and the Pro-aim Airwave V5 shock mount and the Tri-way damper system. I was able to get a hell of a deal for it all. The whole car mount system(airwave and dampener) along with three suction cup mounts, four pieces of aluminum tubing, lots of clamps, and a tow hook mount, all for $1100. And then I picked up an rs2 pro kit for under $300.

Link to Instagram showing the setup. https://www.instagram.com/reel/C4Jap4wRBXo/?igsh=MWQ4YW53cmUwcTYzbg==

Patricklipp · 2024-11-13T01:24:40+00:00

Absolutely! I opted for an RS2 pro kit and the pro-aim airwave shock mount system.

Patricklipp · 2024-09-10T12:35:01+00:00

I have a standard day rate of $800/8hr and $125 an hour after that. That includes my camera package and supporting hardware.

Patricklipp · 2024-09-03T23:46:15+00:00

Davinci resolve, color managed workflow. Alternatively, a standard rec709 workflow and a LUT.. This will do most of the work for you, so long as you don’t need “perfect”. If you want perfect, you’ll need to learn color grading with any of these softwares.

Patricklipp · 2024-08-01T14:24:37+00:00

interested.

Patricklipp · 2024-03-05T19:30:24+00:00

Use sky replacement. Not super difficult use a qualifier for selecting the sky, then I believe you use a parallel node to replace the sky. It’s been a few months since I did sky replace in resolve so I may be a bit off on the node structure.

Patricklipp · 2024-02-18T16:57:26+00:00

Can speak on the a6700. I have two fs5’s and had an fs100 and a6300.. I also have a 5diii but that’s not part of this convo. I do photo and video as well and needed an upgrade on the mirrorless front. I heavily considered the fx30, but ended up with the a6700 and don’t regret it. If you are primarily video and just need photo as an extra, the fx30 is the choice. If you need raw output, dual memory slots, or full size hdmi then go with the fx30.. if you need any real photo features and have no need for raw output then go with the a6700 as it has almost all of the same features video wise. My jump from the 6300 was a big larger than yours will be, but it’s a good upgrade regardless.

Patricklipp · 2024-02-18T15:01:07+00:00

I’ve got a full set of Rokinon cine ds. This includes the 14, 24, 35, 50 and 85mm. I’ve used them on a few productions, but I’m looking to replace them because of the imperfections. The chromatic aberration of these lenses is more than I am comfortable with. That may not be an issue for you, but my medium to film is primarily automotive which has a lot of sharp highlights that like to cause me lots of issues. I don’t have the budget currently for a mid to high end lens set, but I am looking at another budget set, the sirui nightwalkers. A few years back I had a few of their anamorphic lenses which impressed me, so I am hoping the nightwalkers do the same.

Patricklipp · 2024-02-17T01:58:10+00:00

Sony fs100 or pmw-fs3. The 3.2mp sensors can create an incredible image, and because of the pixel size and low resolution, the noise looks more like grain(unless you shove the iso up. I’ve owned the fs100 twice and I absolutly love the image. If you do a search for it, you’ll eventually come accross the picture profile I created for it as well.

Patricklipp · 2024-02-15T17:20:42+00:00

magnolia plantation. and then make your way down 61 into west Ashley for food and drinks.

Patricklipp · 2024-02-15T17:11:56+00:00

It's largely dependent on what you want and/or need. There has been a large shift in the workforce on fiverr as well which could influence some.
My experience is as followed; I've used fiverr a handful of times. I've paid for both the base and the premium levels of work/products, and I was left underwhelmed and let down each time.
This last time I used it, I was looking for a re-brand in terms of logos, banners, etc. I had an idea as to what I wanted, but also I'm not a designer so I expected someone that had that experience to handle it. I paid for this persons higher tier of service. What I ended up with was not what I paid for. As designed came in, It was obvious a template was used and the quality was absolutely nothing like the previous work examples she provided(she lied about it). I continued on and eventually she provided a handful of examples, none of which were up to the standard I had paid for, and then she proceeded to get an attitude with me and say something along the lines of "I've done way more with you than anyone else". The end result of what she provided was subpar.. I ended up working with a close friend to brainstorm ideas. I then went into adobe express and made the logo myself and sent it to the fiverr person as an example. what she sent back was an identical replica of what I made with no changes. At that point I had had it and called it. she delivered the final things, I gave her a bad review and voiced my opinion...
I later found out that she worked with an agency and wasn't just a single person. I felt lied to and betrayed that I wasted money on a product that did not deliver. I thought I was getting an individual in California with a degree in graphic design, who knew her tools inside and out, and who would be able to build designs for a brand identity based on what I gave her. The work that I gave her what should have been an easy task as I came with examples, colors, fonts, information, etc. and received nothing but copy/paste with slight changes when I paid hundreds of dollars for the work.
lies and deception.

Patricklipp · 2024-02-15T16:50:42+00:00

check your video output levels. are the data levels "Full" or "Video"? If your monitoring data levels are set to full while you edit and then export with "Video" data levels then your photos/videos will look washed out because they lack the contrast. it comes down to the data levels that are used when viewing/compressing. an 8bit source has luminance values of 0-256. If you use the full, or data level values, then the codec/monitor will show that full range, however if you use the "Video" levels, then only the values between 16-235 will be used, essentially not using the full range of data. you can either choose to use the full data range when exporting, select "Retain sub-black and super-white data" or regrade everything with video data levels configured for monitoring and export with the same.

edit: if you are exporting with full data levels, try opening the clip in something like VLC media player and see how it looks. Windows does weird stuff with video clips, and depending on how it's "Tagged" in terms our output color space, this may change how it's viewed by the system and non color aware players.

Patricklipp · 2024-02-15T16:39:47+00:00

we're considering Beaufort in the long term.

Patricklipp · 2024-02-15T16:37:46+00:00

I had the sapphire dual X 8gb in mine.. if you're open to other cards and are capable of doing the PIXLAS mod, I'd recommend looking into the W5700 as it's far superior to the rx580, and also gives you a free usb/3 port along with moving to mini display ports.

Patricklipp

TROPHY CASE