Windows XP 64 Bit w/ Edius/PC3

[whitehat]

Hello all,

Is anyone using Windows XP SP2 - "64 bit" version with
1) Edius 4.5
2) PC3

Any issues?

Much Thanx

[tingsern]

Strictly zero h/w support on WinXP 64. So - you have find the h/w support (device drivers) from elsewhere. Only 1394 ports (using WinXP 64 device drivers) will work in this platform. Other than that, no issue so far.

[GrassValley_BH]

Seems I ask this question a lot but...

What's your reason to go with 64-bit? (tingsern, I know yours)

There is a great deal of lacking in hardware support from lots of vendors - it did give me a good excuse to get a new scanner though...

Contrary to popular belief, moving to a 64-bit OS won't make things instantly faster, just like moving to a 32-bit OS from didn't make things instantly faster either (one might argue Windows is slower than DOS, but that's a topic for a different forum).

[tingsern]

Even though Adobe Creative Suite products today are only 32 bits, Win XP 64 does move data between memory areas using 64 bits instructions. When manipulating large bit maps (Photoshop, After Effect, etc) ... the speed is not marginally faster - it is MUCH faster.

Video Editing programs are not memory intensive, but, I/O intensive. They won't benefit as much in 64 bits as compared to 32 bits today. However, 64 bits will be coming - it is the future of computing.

[GrassValley_BH]

Even though Adobe Creative Suite products today are only 32 bits, Win XP 64 does move data between memory areas using 64 bits instructions. When manipulating large bit maps (Photoshop, After Effect, etc) ... the speed is not marginally faster - it is MUCH faster.

This is a good point, but as you say, video is I/O intensive, not memory-intensive.

My point is that for video-oriented users, it may not be worth the extra effort and problems trying to run 64-bit Windows, and you should know what you're getting into. :)

[Blast1]

Actually RT Video is CPU intensive, I/O only comes into play when importing captures and exporting finished product, previews, and using something like external USB drives, if I/O-ing high end HD alot is done by add-on cards.

[GrassValley_BH]

For real-time playback it's both CPU and I/O bound - depends on the bandwidth required for the clips you're using - "tougher" compression like HDV and AVCHD is more CPU-bound while "looser" compression like Canopus HQ, Canopus Lossless and uncompressed is more I/O-bound.

But you don't get 64-bit CPU speed increase unless the app is built for 64-bit instructions, otherwise it's a 32-bit app running WoW64.

At least until things settle down, if I was installing a new system to use, I'd install both 32-bit and 64-bit Windows in parallel.

[tingsern]

Agreed. 32 bits applications running under 64 bits OS isn't a magic thing. No turbocharger if you like. And there is a ZERO device support under Win 64 today. Very few developers are writing 64 bits device drivers right now. On my workstation right now, Canopus NX is not supported. Motherboard h/w, Adaptec RAID, GINA 3G (sound card), and nVidia Quadro are the only ones that have 64 bits device drivers today. Scanners (via USB 2), Spyder (monitor calibration), etc, etc - don't have 64 bits device drivers either. Hence, as BH suggested (same as me) - install both 32 and 64 Windows version in your PC.

The key advantage today running 64 bits Windows is the virtual memory that you get. Applications that use memory (Photoshop, After Effects, etc) can get 4GB or close to that if you run them in 64 bits Windows. That figure is impossible to obtain if you run 32 bits Windows as the upper half (about 2.5GB and higher) is allocated to Windows system and device drivers.

[GrassValley_BH]

:) Wisdom of experience... we're a bit OT, but it's worth noting.

• Newer Epson printers and scanners have 64-bit drivers, but older ones don't.
• Newer Wacom (digitizer) tablets have 64-bit drivers, but again older ones don't.
• Silex SX2000U USB device server has 64-bit driver, but the connected USB device must also have a 64-bit driver for it all to work (otherwise you just get a connection to a USB device that doesn't have a driver)

Things that still don't work in 64-bit Windows that you might not anticipate being a problem...

• Software VPN clients (Cisco, Nortel)
• Keyspan USB device server (US-4A)
• Keyspan USB printer server (PS-4A)
• Modems (if it requires a specific driver)
• Nintendo Wi-Fi Connector (for Wii or Nintendo DS connection, you can use a workaround to get the Ralink driver to work if you're just using it as a PC Wi-Fi adapter)
• Older/off-brand TV capture cards
• Third-party Bluetooth stack (Seems there is a 64-bit Widcomm stack but you can't download it. IVT BlueSoleil has a 64-bit version. Not sure about Toshiba Bluetooth stack.)
• Anything that installs a virtual device including the Acrobat PDF Printer and USB-Serial adapters (though the popular FTDI and Prolific chipsets do have drivers)
• Anything USB that requires vendor-provided drivers including touch-screens, tablets, audio, video, etc.
• Any other hardware that requires a vendor-provided driver

Pretty much successfully running 64-bit Windows requires that you have recent everything including peripherals and software