Re: live transcoding of HD, plus pre-recorded ingest

When capturing using the MXO2 encoding is being handled by FCP and the CPU it's running on. The ability to record all this data is then down to the PCIe bus, storage adapter and storage. To encode 1080i ProRes 422 HQ with confidence you need a Quad Core CPU, so basically a MacPro. For 720p and SD ProRes a MacBook Pro will do. The MXO2 will work happily with uncompressed SD/HD too. Just bear in mind that due to the much higher bandwidth (and filesize) of HD you'd have to use a fast RAID and quite a lot of it. If possible go to a dealer who sells a range of NLE products into high-end post and get friendly with them. They can advise you on your complete end-to-end workflow, integration with your existing system, and be on hand when things go wrong. The advice isn't always free but you may be able to bargain, to a degree, by offering them some great 'demo material' which dealers are always crying out for. Buying from them will always make them obliging! Good luck on the docu!