To play back digital cinema files

To play back digital cinema files or multiple streams of HD
(High Definition) video files without dropped frames or other
interruptions, you should consider a RAID. A RAID can be used
in lieu of additional drives for everything except your operating
system and software. To give an example of performance, a
RAID system such as a G-Technology G-SPEED eS PRO with
four 7200 RPM drives can play back:
• 4 streams of 1080i AVCIntra footage
• 6 streams of 1080p H.264 Canon 5D footage
• 8 streams of RED 4k R3D files
• 14 streams of 1080i XDCAM EX, 1080p DVCPROHD,
or 1080i HDV
• 40 streams of DV NTSC
(In addition to file size demands, different codecs require
differing amounts of processing power to decode and play back
in real time. That’s why so many more streams of DVCPROHD
can be played back than Canon 5D H.264 footage.)
Some hardware cards may also be used to accelerate media encoding and decoding. For example,
RED Digital Cinema makes the RED ROCKET that enhances transcode and playback abilities of R3D
files in various resolutions in real-time speeds. Multiple RED ROCKET cards may be used in one
system to boost system performance when working with R3D files. For laptop users, cards such
as the RED ROCKET may be used in a Thunderbolt-connected expansion chassis, as demonstrated
in this video (tinyurl.com/AdobePWP-05). Similarly, Adobe’s Mercury Transmit technology gives
Adobe I/O hardware partners, such as AJA, Black Magic Design, Bluefish444, Matrox, and MOTU,
direct access to the Mercury Playback Engine, so you experience better playback performance.
When using external monitors, you’ll get full-screen playback while maintaining all the real-time
performance benefits of the Mercury Playback Engine.
As stated in the introduction, Adobe has created numerous documents and videos that
go into more detail on how to improve performance when using Adobe Premiere Pro
(tinyurl.com/AdobePWP-02).