Window of Opportunity: Are PCs Poised to Take Back the Edit Suite? 01/11/12

I’ll admit it – I’m a Mac Guy. And for those that regularly read my blog posts, newsletter articles or have checked out some of my workflow hacks this isn’t news.
 
Lately though, I’ve become a lot more open minded.
 
Like many of my peers, I’m still a little intimidated by FCP X. But I am still planing on becoming proficient with the app because of the novel ways it improved FCP 7. I also think FCP will eventually re-gain some of its mindshare so I want to be able to talk knowledgeably about it as it slowly rebuilds its core set of users over the years.
 
That said, I’ve been giving the Windows platform another look.
 
A few days ago I stumbled upon Richard Harrington’s article on Creative Cow, Opening My Mind Has Opened Doors.
 
He talks about how the powerful HP z800 workstation blew away a similarly configured Mac Pro during a side-by-side speed test.
 
Yes, it’s true that it is an HP sponsored post but that misses the point. Richard Harrington is a Mac guy through and through, being one of the first FCP certified instructors with more than 10 Mac focused books under his belt.
 
After he saw how much faster the PC performed a file conversion workflow, he put his money where he mouth is and switched one of his edit suites over to the z800.
 
And I have to admit – they are fast and powerful machines. I freelance at several shops that use them and I’ve always been impressed by their performance.
 
But don’t take my word for it, check out the illuminating article by Joe Herman about how well this box works with Premiere Pro.
 
Interesting highlights:
 
 
- The insane storage capacity of the z800 (up to 192 GB of RAM and 10TB of online storage) and support of top of the NVIDIA 6000, arguably the fastest graphics card on the market.
 
- Premiere Pro’s advantages as an NLE such as its handling of native tapeless file-based camera formats and the dynamic link it has with After Effects
 
- The benefits of the HP Performance Advisor which let’s you see a visual representation of the components installed in your Z800 without having to open up the case.
 
 
I’m not saying that I’m going to be buying a Windows machine anytime soon, but I’m intrigued by what I see happening with the platform: Black Magic Design recently announced the beta for Resolve for Windows, Thunderbolt coming to Windows and Kinect support coming to the platform as early as Feb. 1st.
 
These reasons and more will keep the PC platform in post-production, compelling and relevant.
 
Let’s face it, everything feels like it is up for grabs since the FCP X aftermath. Many editors are re-thinking and even disavowing not just Apple software but even hardware after last summer’s wild ride.
 
Which begs the question: If Mac users are going to consider switching platforms for using Premiere Pro and Avid, why stop there? At the rate Sony Vegas and Lightworks are adding features we are probably only at the beginning of market fragmentation.