RE: New Casablanca 4 Studio Models

[LouBruno]

Did this include the acceleration of the 1-7 chip for rendering? Curious

[methuenbill]

Thanks for the info. I have had 3 Avios (different version units) Scarts were very delicate. The last one had the molded on/off switch break off, so I had an electrical engineer at my company install a real switch. I have had the 4000 worked fine till the soldered in batteries died. I currently have the 6000 with a LCD display (used for what?) A glass front that hides the DVD eject button as well as a hidden reset button. The Software over the years has gotten better and it is easy to use, so if I can buy a US made or built machine with the same specifications as required for use with the windows software, I would look at that option. I currently use a HP Z800 with 12GB ram at work to design machinery using SolidWorks cad software.

[garymcnally]

I would be very cautious with the information coming from Videoman53. He says building a PC System is the way to go, but just today he had to get another PC, and we had to give him new codes. I hope after 6 weeks you can finally get your new PC to work, as all your questions in the Bogart for Windows section, and elsewhere are adding up to a lot of hours for me and your dealer....I don't know how you can talk like you know something about PC's, because you have them built by someone else. Your dealer told you not to use the first builder, but you went ahead and used him anyway. I hope you finally get lucky with a builder, and we can get our lives back, and you can finally edit.

I would appreciate it if would you would go back correct all your errors on all your posts, or I will go back and clean them up.

Lou and I have tested dozens of PC's that have super specs, but our software was specially written for our hardware to maximize performance, and all our models beat them handily. You could have made $10,000 on projects with all the time you are wasting trying to save a few hundred, since that $1700 you supposedly saved, is now much less after you had to buy another PC.

When this one doesn't work, buy the Casablanca 4 Studio for $1400 less than the Studio Pro. It will beat whatever off the shelf hardware you buy.

[garymcnally]

No Lou,
It didn't have hardware acceleration or the Smart Booster Technology.
Hopefully his new PC build will work but I doubt it.

[garymcnally]

Doesn't matter whether i7 or new AMD ( 8- core Fx 9590 4.7-5.0GHz speed)with an EVGA graphics card :
EVGA 06G-P4-4995-KR GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB 384-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 SLI Support SC+ w/ACX BP Video Card
6GB 384-Bit GDDR5
Core Clock 1102MHz
Boost Clock 1190MHz
build this into a PC and it will run circles around Cassie 4's for UNDER $2100

Videoman53, you wrote the above on July 15.
Either it is the system that never worked for you, or the new one you got today, which it was impossible to try with Gold (which activates HW acceleration if you have the right HW and proper PC settings), until I gave you the codes a few hours ago.
Either way it is a gross misrepresentation of your PC building experience, and the Casablanca 4's which just came out.

[JBrooks]

I can say from first hand experience that the Studio Pro is a well designed and blazing fast system. The build in smart booster technology is a huge time saver for both HD creation and even SD down-converts. I am very pleased with the modernization of the hardware design. Included is a high tech thin design keyboard and mouse too. I highly recommend getting into this system. It is well worth the investment.

Joel Brooks-MIT Video Productions
Macrosystem Americas Dealer
http://www.mitvideoproductions.com

[mhuebmer]

1) you won't find Bogart currently on any comparison platform. When there is no English manual, this would be useless and some more add-on software would also be nice if you compare the brand new Bogart Windows to some year old PC software. This is no problem for Casablanca owners, because both worlds can be combined and scenes for special effects can be easily transferred. But it is useless to count "points".

2) The most comparison pages are just doing that: counting points. If one software got 300 transitions and 99 video-tracks (even nobody uses) it get's better ratings then any software with a good selection of 20 transitions. I don't think these "points" will help. The big advantage of Bogart is it's very easy and fast usage. But this workflow can never be measured with any points a comparison page can give. ~13-14 years ago there was a speed challenge with a Casablanca Kron (~400 MHz) against a PC with Fast or Pinnacle software. Although the PC hardware was at least twice as fast - Joerg Sprave and Kron won Now the PC hardware got even faster these 13-14 years. But Casablanca-4 got these fast parts and it is still the workflow that makes the difference.

3) one major thing Buying a Casablanca-4 also means to support the future of Bogart development The Casablanca-4 units are built in Germany and shipping, assurance, warranty,.. are surly more expensive then shipping containers of PC's from China to America. It is your decision if you just support the hardware parts manufacturer in China - or invest in the future of the MacroMotion development with a Casablanca-4.

[methuenbill]

Does the new software package tell you what hardware requirements are? Most software packages do. If there is something special required, I hope they tell the purchaser.

[CKNewman]

Videoman53,

I read your post several times and didn't see information you should have included if you wanted to write an accurate and unbiased comparison of purchasing a new Casablanca 4 Studio Pro vs. upgrading your existing computer. It looks like you only wrote about upgrading your motherboard and graphics card. What else did your computer builder change? Was it only the replacement of the motherboard and graphics card? Or did your computer builder assemble an entirely brand new computer starting with the case and matching all of the hardware that MacroSystem includes in the Casablanca 4 Studio Pro model?

What about the software? Did he include the Windows 8.1 Pro 64 Bit operating system? He could not have included the Casablanca software: Bogart 7 Gold Edition, Arabesk 6, Power-Key, and Sentry that come standard with the Studio Pro model. Did you add the cost of those programs into your comparison?

Did your computer builder ship a brand new computer to your door or did you have to drop off your old computer at his shop for modifications and then pick it up?

Will your computer builder be able to answer questions about operating Casablanca hardware and software like an experienced MacroSystem VAR will?

[bethklinger]

All good points, Craig. I've been a Cassie user since the '80s and have always found our support system awesome! Even though we're not in any top lists of editing software, doesn't mean we're not good! Sure I've been frustrated at times, but also have been frustrated with ProShow, Premiere Pro etc ... and their support networks are awful! Whenever I see someone comparing ANYTHING it has to be "apples to apples" (no pun intended!) We all have the final decision to make on what we choose to edit on, there isn't just ONE right way.
Beth Klinger