Are iMac's good for professional video editing?

Are iMac's good for professional video editing (and these other apps)?, if so what one is the best
Software i would like to run (and run fast):
Final Cut Pro 7/X
Premier Pro
Avid
Motion 5
Colour
After Effects
Photoshop
and maybe a copple of games such as the elder scrolls online, gta 5 (when it comes to Mac/PC) and skyrim (with mods)

Yes, I'd urge you to visit your local Apple Store and ask your quesitons. You may want to speak to their business professional who may have more expertise than your everyday consumer sales people.

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Best Practices for Professional video editing

Hi
I'd like to know your thoughts on what the most proffessional / effeciant method for editing are. At the moment, I archive all the footage from a DV tape through iMovie (I just find iMovie easier for doing this) save / archive all the imported segments of clips I need, name them, then import them into FCP
When I finish an edit I export and uncompressed Quicktime movie, then back up the entire project on an external drive
Is this good practise, Should I export the final edit to tape?
I've just started out as a video-maker as a paid proffession and I'd like to know the most 'by the book' methods
THanks
G5 Dual Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Sounds to me that you're doing a whole lot of extra steps using i-movie as your import. You're going to lose some of FCP best media features by not digitizing with FCP. Batch Capture in FCP isn't hard to learn.
I wouldn't say there's any "rulebook" for professional editors. We all work a little differently but here are some of my "best practices"
Always clearly name and label all of the tapes that you are using in a fashion that makes sense to you. When I cut a large project I may have multiple tapes. If I lose a piece of media accidentally, it's easier to go back and re-digitize if I have organized the project early in.
Clearly label bins and use them wisely. For example, on a small project I might have a "video" bin, a "music" bin and a "graphics" bin. This saves searching through one large bin.
On larger projects, I try to think ahead to how I will edit and make bins accordingly. For example I might have bins as follows, interviews, b-roll location a, b-roll location b and so on. Then I'll have music bins, animation bins and still graphic bins. I generally try to save all to one hard drive which saves me looking through three or four drives. This isn't always possible depending upon the size of the project.
As for back-up. Lots of peope buy harddrives for each project and then store them until they need them next. Of course, keep all of your raw-footage and you can always re-digitize.
When I'm done with a project I save the completed project to tape...this is for dubs and library. I save the FCP information on a DVD and I burn the media from the drive, because I can't afford multiple hard drives. I would rather re-digitize my raw if I need to re-do the project in the future.
That's how I do it, but other editors have other methods. I would highly suggest digitizing in FCP and not i-movie, but that's entirely up to you. You're not doing anything "wrong."
G4 Dual Processor Mac OS X (10.4.1)
G4 Dual Processor Mac OS X (10.4.1)

Are iMacs good for playing video games like Skyrim?

I'm most likely to be getting a baseline iMac and I wanted to know if these computers are good for playing video games such as Skyrim before I get rid of my current PC. Also, are these games even compatable with a Mac. I've heard rumors that you can't play these kind of games on a Mac.

SladeSS wrote:
So, I can interchange between the Mac OS and Windows at any time I want or did I understand that wrong? Is it a one or the other kind of deal?
Yes, please read the Boot Camp FAQ for additional information. You will need to buy a license of Windows 7 and once your get the iMac run an App called Boot Camp Assistant and follow the on-screen instructions to install Windows. Once you have you completed you will have both OS X and Windows 7 installed. BTW there is a Boot Camp forum if you have more detailed questions, that is where the Boot Camp and Windows guys hang out.
Note: Whenever you load MS Windows on your Mac it then becomes a native Windows machine when running Windows. This means like any Windows box it is susceptible to ALL the other issues Windows users have to put up with including viruses and other malware. The good news is even if your Windows partition becomes totally diseased that in no way affects the OS X partition or OS X.

Considering dumping my iMac for a PC used for DSLR video editing on Premiere CS6. Help!

So I edit mostly 1080p DSLR footage taken from my canon T3i camera. I purchased a 2011 (the latest model) iMac a little over a year ago, upgraded the RAM to 12GB and it has worked reasonably well. I purchased the base model for $1200 which has a quad core i5 processor, 512mb of video ram, and a measly 500gb hard drive. The past couple of days I have come to the realization that I only use Adobe Programs for graphically intensive work (premiere, after effects, etc). I originally bought my iMac for final cut, but FCPX SUCKS and I switched to Premiere CS6 which works like a dream. Anyways, I'm a senior in high school and do lots of video editing (going to major in video production in college). I'm likely going to differ college for a year and continue my video production business (pretty informal) as well as video production internships at a couple companies (so don't suggest that I get a laptop for portability, not an issue). I just shot an entire wedding with 2 DSLR's and the footage takes up over 20% of my hard drive which is unacceptable. This is very troublesome for me and has been clogging up my computer considerably. I have realized it would make a lot of sense to sell my iMac and purchase a PC that's not only faster, but has much more space. I was ideally looking to sell my iMac for $1000, and from that get a better and faster PC setup for my video editing. $200 would be allocated for a 24" 1080p LED 5ms Asus monitor (from newegg) which would leave $800 remaining for the PC. Ideally it'd be nice to have a little cash left over. Some things that sound appealing to me are: an intel i7 quad core proccessor at least 3.0+ Ghz, 16 GB of ram (maybe 8 to start), 1 GB of video RAM (here is where I'm stuck, my Imac had a Radeon 512mb video card in it, but I've heard premiere runs especially well with nVidia CUDA cards? Don't really know too much about this stuff.) I have no idea what type of card to get, and if I would even see a performance upgrade from my iMac. For storage I'd like at least 2TB of space, should I get two seperate 1 TB drives? One for boot and software and another for video files? Anyways, I assume I can benefit from selling my 2011 i5 iMac to get a faster PC equivalent at a lower price since I mainly edit videos (which is pretty graphically intense) from an HD DSLR camera. I've noticed premiere rendering times on my mac are starting to get pretty slow these days. Ideally it'd be nice to buy a desktop (already assembled) maybe from HP for around $600 (not including the monitor). I'm not completely against building a PC from parts (since I know a friend who can do it for me) I just need help figuring out WHAT exactly it is that I need and would benefit from.

Buy a Desktop Video Editing PC
http://www.adkvideoediting.com/
-ADK Kudos http://forums.adobe.com/thread/877201
Build a Desktop Video Editing PC
-http://ppbm7.com/index.php/intro-part-1
-http://forums.adobe.com/thread/1098759
-http://forums.adobe.com/thread/878520?tstart=0
-http://forums.adobe.com/thread/815798
-http://www.shawnlam.ca/2012/premiere-pro-cs6-video-editing-computer-build/
-http://www.videoguys.com/Guide/E/Videoguys+DIY9+Its+Time+for+Sandy+Bridge+E/0xe9b142f408a2 b03ab88144a434e88de7.aspx

What is the best value iMac config for hd video editing. I was going to go for i5 3.1 ghz with 4mb ram, but should I go further? Thanks!

What is the best value iMac config for hd video editing.? I was going to go for i5 3.1 ghz with 4mb ram, but should I go further? Thanks!

You have it currently installed? Can you go to the System Profiler and click on Applications (will take a while to populate) - take a look at your FCP and check what it says on the right - Universal, Intel, or PPC? It'll look like this:
If it's Universal or Intel, it'll run in Lion. However, the installer may or may not be PPC - that you may not know until you try to install. If you have it currently installed, then you could do what I did - move over all the files manually. I have a list of files for FCE and would assume they'd be the same with FCP: copy them from the old Mac and insert them in the very same spots on the new one.
Here is the list for FCE:
http://support.apple.com/kb/TA38198?viewlocale=en_US
(It was published for an uninstall, but worked like a charm).

Laptop for Photo/Video editing via Photoshop CS5/Premiere

I am currently seeking a laptop strictly for photo/video editing. I desire an i7 processor (Ivy Bridge is better from what I'm hearing but am not sure), dedicated graphics card (at least 3G video memory), a minimum of 8GB ram that is still expandable, a 17" 1920x1080 matte display with a wide color gamut, a 7200rpm drive and would absolutely love to find one with Windows7 as I personally cannot stand the new Windows8. One other thing, I need the necessary ports available to hook to a larger monitor for more detailed work. I was looking at the ASUS G75VW that BestBuy was carrying, which I hear has gotten good reviews (other than the sound driver issue that I hear is fixable) and here begins the other half of my dilemma.
At two local stores, I have went and looked at computers on display, and, although nice personalities abounded, when I started mentioning the above mentioned desires, every single employee I spoke with stood there and looked at me like a cow looking at a new gate before handing me a printout of "specs" off of the BestBuy website. I pointed out several inconsistencies I had noticed on the "specs" (ie information left out, inconsistent information) and the looks only got worse, as if I had suddenly started speaking in tongues from planet "what the f...??".
All of this being said, I realize I could purchase a "designer" laptop from a myriad of other sites. However, I was recently given a sizeable gift card, from BestBuy, and am limited in this aspect. So, with an open mind, any suggestions, experience, recommendations anyone?
P.S. I have also considered the MacBook Pro, as well as the iMac 27" (yes, I know it's not a laptop but it's freakin' cool looking). Despite the PC vs Mac MMA cage fights to the death, I don't care if it's a pc, apple, orange or a grapefruit as long as it's fast, reliable, upgradeable to a degree, repairable when it breaks and does what I need it to do.
Thanks in advance!

I've only seen Windows 8, never used it, and it looked like a pain. But if I'm not mistaken, isn't there an option for it to function like a normal Windows machine with Desktop and Start menu/ bar?
The laptop you linked looks fine for running CS5. I'd max out that RAM for rendering reasons thats about it. The only thing is the graphics card is mid-range, and being a laptop you can't upgrade it. I don't know what your work load for file size is or what type of video your doing in Premiere though.
I like iMacs and everything, but when it comes to upgrading stuff, don't count on it. Depending on what your workin' on, I'd rather invest in a MacPro and pick my own monitor.
As far as Windows or Mac goes, you can obviously use either one, but I personally like the workflow on a mac. Windows seems to be more worried about being 'flashy' and not concerned with the user experience. Unfortunetly Macs are gettin there too. For some stupid reason people are thinking the workflow on a tablet and phone are the same on a desktop.
Former BBY Home Theater Associate 2010 - 2012. Now I work as a graphic designer in the print and prepress industry.

Using SSD for FCP Video Editing on Macbook Pro

Hi,
I am looking to get a Macbook Pro 15" which i will be using for some video editing related work (definitely HD, might include some 3K footage at times). I was earlier considering getting a 512GB solid state drive for some fast performance, but I have been hearing that they are not great for video editing and that video editing will suck through the lifetime of the SSD, I could use some clarity or confirmation on the subject. Ideally, I would love to have a solid state drive in my laptop for just the overall performance boost and I love the idea of a less heating and power consuming drive, however I do know, that I will be doing video editing related work with large files frequently and would like my drive to last for at least 3 years. Should I expect that from a SSD?
Will it be wise to get a SSD in my case? I'll appreciate your suggestions. The more you can explain your reasoning, the better.

I also read somewhere that the old SSDs might have been a bit problematic but the new ones have 'load balancing' which makes sure you don't use the same bits of electronics all the time and spreads the memory around. Does this mean that video editing playback will be good? Or any improvements of SSD lifespan?

How is this for a PC spec for home video editing?

OK - we've decided to get the new PC now, focused around decent performance for video editing at home when we do it. Any feedback on the below would be greatly appreciated. I've tried to put in my "principles", but as you note I've highlighted some questions around these.
Principles
* Decent computer for Home Video Editing - so when we do it want it to be reasonable from a performance point of view (not annoying). Also want assurance for the video data that a single HDD crash won't mean lost data.
* Hard Drive Configuration - Assume RAID 1 for data
C: 500GB - Operating System (1 x 500GB)
D: 500GB - Swap Area for O/S (1 x 500GB)
E: RAID 1 Redundancy for Data ( 2 x 1TB )
* 64 bit Windows 7 Pro
* Questions re Principles
Is it really worth having a separate drive (D: drive) for Swap?
Is there any real need to have a drive F: (another one) for exports? This is non-real time so it shouldn't be an issue should it?
Any major improvement re moving say the C: drive to SSD? (or not worth the $$)
SATA II versus SATA III drives? (I've assumed both are ok when picking)
The Spec
CPU - Intel Core i7 960 Processor LGA1366 3.2GHz 8MB Cache CPU
Motherboard - Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R X58+ICH10R QPI 6.4GT/s DDR3 2000 PCI-Ex16 SATAII SATA3 USB3.0 RAID GLAN ATX
RAM - Kingston 12GB(3X4G) KIT 1333MHz(PC3-10600)
Video Card - NVIDIA GTX560 - Gigabyte GTX560 OC 1G GDDR5 PCIE DualLink DVI [?? matches motherboard / is this overkill ??]
RAID Card - Adaptec AAR1220SA-SGL SATAII RAID0 1 JBOD/2 PORT/Low Profile/PCIEx1/OEM/No Cables [?? is this ok - seems cheap ??]
HDD (non-RAID) - 2 x Western Digital 500G RE4 SATAII 7200rpm HDD 64MB Enterprise [?? only SATAII this is ok no??]
Case - CoolerMaster RC-942-KKN1 HAF X 942 Black No PSU [?? is this overkill - just took someone recommendation here ??]
Power Supply - Corsair HX-850 ATX Power Supply w 140mm Modular Cables [?? power ok? again just took a recommendation ??]
O/S - 64bit - Microsoft Windows 7 Pro 64bit OEM(Microsoft OEM Terms&condition apply)
Note - I'm looking at the following local site re where to source if this assists: http://www.umart.com.au

Greg (correct me if that's not correct!),
You're spec. looks like a great start for what you are trying to do. I have a few comments, and also two questions!
Comments:
- Spec. generally looks fine
- I particularly like your case and p/s choices!
- For a home PC, you may consider bumping up your OS choice to Ultimate, which adds some nice multimedia capabilities
- Regarding the D drive for swap (and I assume you mean Premiere Pro media cache and media cache database too) will definitely speed up aspects of Premiere Pro, but likely be unnoticeable for other home PC day to day use. Why not build out the system and decide then if you need the extra speed for Premiere Pro - it is so easy to add something like that later.
- I'd vote no regarding a need for a F output drive for this system
- Regarding your OS drive... Speed and responsiveness versus cost - what do you choose? This really is a personal choice. I will say that a 2x1TB RAID 0 OS boot array would probably be a bigger step up in performance than a similar priced SSD option and a 2xSSD (60 to 80GB) array will perform better than a single larger SSD.
- Sata II vs Sata III - I have some of each now, and I would agree with other posters and articles on the Internet that say the often larger cache size on the Sata III models is more important than the Sata III interface. Keep going like you are going, with the assumption that both are OK.
- finally, your CPU; personnaly, with the new lower cost pricing on the i7-970, I'd suggest you downgrade to a i7-950 and same some money or upgrade to the 32nm 6-core i7-970 CPU and jump to a significantly new level of performance and power per watt
Questions:
- what version of Premier Pro will you be running?
- what will be your workflow (i.e. DV, Sony consumer AVCHD, Canon DSLR, etc.)?
Cheers,
Jim

What is the best system for HD Video Editing?

We are planning to upgrade our system for HD video editing and I am looking for a system that will perform better with Adobe Premiere CS6 and CC. These are the options that we have:
PROCESSOR : 4.3 GHz Intel Core i7-4960 OR Dual 2.6 GHz Intel Xeon E5-2630 (both with 6-cores and 15 MB cache) - Which is more powerful?
GPU : Dual NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 w/ 6GB GDRR5 OR Dual 3GB NVIDIA Quadro K4000 - Which is more stable? more faster for rendering?
Both will have 64GB of RAM and 512GB SSD 6Gb/s MAIN + 3TB 7200RPM Storage. Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Thanks.

First read Tweakers Page and all the articles there.
Then you will understand why it is better to opt for an i7-4930K and a single GTX 760 with that disk setup. Otherwise you will end up with a convoluted, unbalanced system, spending money unwisely.

USB 3.0, fast, portable, external hard drive for HD video editing

I'd like a 1TB or 2TB, bus-powered, fast, portable, external hard drive for HD video editing on MacBook Air i7 (2013).
Any recommendations?
Thanks!

best options for the price, and high quality HD:
Quality 1TB drives are $50 per TB on 3.5" or $65 per TB on 2.5"
Perfect 1TB for $68
http://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-Canvio-Portable-Hard-Drive/dp/B005J7YA3W/ref=sr_1_ 1?ie=UTF8&qid=1379452568&sr=8-1&keywords=1tb+toshiba
Nice 500gig for $50. ultraslim and perfect
http://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-Canvio-Portable-External-Drive/dp/B009F1CXI2/ref=s r_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1377642728&sr=1-1&keywords=toshiba+slim+500gb
2.5" USB portable High quality BEST FOR THE COST, Toshiba "tiny giant" 2TB drive (have several of them, LOT of storage in a SMALL package) $117
http://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-Canvio-Connect-Portable-HDTC720XK3C1/dp/B00CGUMS48 /ref=sr_1_4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1379182740&sr=1-4&keywords=2tb+toshiba
*This one is the BEST portable external HD available that money can buy:
HGST Touro Mobile 1TB USB 3.0 External Hard Drive
$75
http://www.amazon.com/HGST-Touro-Mobile-External-HTOLMX3NA10001ABB/dp/B0062FZ2WS /ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1379185002&sr=1-1&keywords=hitachi+extern a l+hard+drive
Most storage experts agree on the Hitachi 2.5"

What exactly are the updates good for on an ipod

I ask because mine is windows format, and im having trouble transferring all the metadata off my ipod with senuti to a back up so that i can reformat the ipod to mac and then sync in my senuti backed up library. I was wondering if anyone knows what exactly are the updates that you get. my ipod is 1.2 5thgen.
If i were to have the latest update would i be able to see album cover art view when the ipod is plugged into itunes? I noticed that i can see that view in library mode but not in ipod mode. (my pod isnt synced)...
so what are these updates good for?

hey thanks for your reply.
I do have it set to manual and i can see the art on the ipod by itself, but even with manual transfer itunes wont let me view the artwork modes unless i am playing off my computers library (which doesn't have the songs on my ipod on it). I called apple earlier today and some tech support guy claimed that itunes does not support this feature. Is this correct? can anyone out there see artwork modes on an unsynced ipod through itunes?

What are the best settings for exporting video in Premiere Pro Cs5.5 in HD MP4 format?

What are the best settings for exporting video in Premiere Pro Cs5.5 in HD MP4 format?
Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks

function(){return A.apply(null,[this].concat($A(arguments)))}
bmiller0525 wrote:
What are the best settings for exporting video in Premiere Pro Cs5.5 in HD MP4 format?
Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks
thats way too vague of a question... best what? quality? size? playback?
best quality then use high bitrate, small size use low bitrate.

What is the best Computer for HD video editing where can I get it under $3000-5000? Thank you!

What is the best Computer for HD video editing where can I get it under $3000- $5000.00?

The wording of your question suggests you may be new to video editing, in which case the types of projects you will be doing may not be the most complex.
Please accept my apology if that assumption is incorrect.
The cheapest computer available will edit 1080p video perfectly well but if you must have the "best" you will be looking at nothing less than a MacPro.
Too many people get hung up about the equipment they use and blame it for any inadequacies . . . when the most important component is the operator.

1 TB vs 2 TB for HD video editing/storage

I'm all set to buy a new iMac. I think I settled on the quad core 28" i5 over the 21.5" dual core i5. But now that that decision is settled, I have a new dilemma. Lol.
While 1TB be more than enough? I plan to do alot of HD video and photo editing shot with my canon t2i dslr.
My current and soon to be replaced G5 iMac can't even play HD video, so I have no experience with how fast HD video eats up Hard drive space.
While checking out the new iMacs wt the apple store, I noticed that the OSX and applications that come installed alone eat up nearly 200 GB of hard drive space leaving about 800 GB. Although still ALOT of space, it got me to thinking.
Anyone hear have experience with this situation who edits had video/photography? I know more is always bette, but Did you find 1 TB hard drive more than enough? Or had you wished you gone with the 2TB?
Thanks for any and all comments.

Ok, I do a lot of video editing on Macs, so here are my suggestions -
Get the 1TB internal drive and use the $150 saved to get yourself a good external 1TB FW800 drive. Keep the internal drive to less than 50% utilization. Use the external drive for media storage (video & photos) and working space, not your internal drive. (Lacie d2 Quadra 1TB drives are going for ~$150 / OWC Mercury Elite 1TB for ~$170.)
Also keep in mind that you should have a separate drive for offline backups, so two external drives would be a good idea - one for working storage, the other for backups. (Time Machine is a great backup utility, just not for video and definitely not on the same drive as your working storage; so if you are interested in using TM, that would be yet another external drive.)
As for disk space requirements, assuming use of iMovie or Final Cut Express, you should estimate about 45GB per hour of video. In a typical FCE project with 1 hour of source video clips, some render files & output files and an iDVD project, the total disk space needed will be somewhere between 65-110GB by the time the project is complete. You can get rid of some or all of that stuff when your project is finished depending on what you want to keep. (I keep the source media clips & FCE project files (with them you can reconstruct your project any time).

24" iMac any good for games (compared to Mac Pro)

Hi,
I'm on my second Mac Pro and after no end of trouble so i'm hoping to exchange it for a 24" imac but i was wondering if it's any good for games?
I would probably configure it with the 7600gt and maybe the 2.33ghz proccessor.
My mac pro with the x1900xt ran Quake 4 and Doom3 etc at full stettings really well but i've just had to much trouble with it!

The iMac would be fine for games for now, but you are stuck with the configuration that you purchase as there is no way (for now) to upgrade the video card.
There is a thought that some OEMs might make an upgrade card, but as of now there are none.
The big advantage of the Mac Pro is that it has the PCI-express video card that you can remove the stock card from and add a newer, better card.

Are iMac's good for professional video editing?

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