MacPro for Video Editing

In configuring my MacPro to be a Video Editing system, what aspects of hardware should I focus on "expanding"? What hardware should I leave default, and what aspects should I be pouring my money into to make for an efficient Video Editing machine (using Final Cut Studio)?
Thanx.

For video editing you should…
1) Maximise your graphics performance by at least upgrading to the ATI X1900XT.
2) Maximise your hard disk aize and performance with additional drives. You can cloose make and model if you go 3rd party and it'll be cheaper than buy Apple 500GB drives. Some, including myself, have actually chosen to downgrade their internal drives knowing it will be replaced with a 3rd party drive.
3) Upgrade your RAM to at a minimum 4GB. Again it is cheaper by going 3rd party although with the current constriction on supply with the 3rd parties and the different requirements of the Mac Pro to standard FB-DIMM memory it may be simpler at the moment to just buy Apple RAM even though you do pay a premium.

Similar Messages

What Macbook Pro to get for video editing?

For software like adobe after effects cs5, what macbook would be the best, I have pretty limited money so is the base model ok? if not whitch one works well?
Thanks!

The top end non-retina, 15" anti-glare is the best. SSD preferred, has a Superdrive. RAM and hard drive upgradable later by the user.
The retina has a glossy screen which is hard on the eyes and using in various places, it's battery life is terrible and the images are not correct as it's blowing things up to mach the higher pixel rate. No Superdrive. You can't open the machine up, you can't clean the fans of dust you can't upgrade it later, you will have to max it out at purchase for a small fortune and go way over budget. Plus there really isn't too much difference in the quality of the screen with regular MBP's anyway, just eats battery life to drive that huge pixel screen. You'll be replacing it a lot sooner than the standard 15"
Don't waste your money on the 13", it lacks a dedicated graphics, the CPU does it thus it's HOT. Won't 3D game well if your also into play.
Top end 15" antiglare is perfect.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_X0wo6dIsMU
Actually the MacPro is the perfect choice of power and performance for video editing, with it's substancial cooling. But you want a laptop , just know things will take longr and the machien will be hotter as a result and wear out sooner if your doing 3D gaming or video often.

Which G5 for Video Editing?

Hello, I've decided not to wait for an Intel MacPro, but would like to buy a G5 in the next 5 mos (by July) for standard-definition video editing using FCP 5 Studio. I have a few questions:
1) Currently, I have a Quicksilver G4 with dual 1 Gz, 1 Gb ram and 160 Gb ATA drive. Would FCP 5 Studio work effectively on this machine (for editing, color-correction, motion graphics, rendering to DVD etc)? If not, is it worth investing more money into this machine, or should I switch to a G5?
2) Which G5 would work effectively for my purposes? Kindly advise on clock-speed, RAM, Video card, hard disk etc. I take it I will not need RAID for SD, but only high-definition? I would need to use this machine for at least 3 years. Do you see Apple discontinuing hardware or FCP support for this platform during this time?
3) How would the 23" screen be for video-editing? Are there any rumors about a 25" screen replacing it?
4) Lastly, are there any Apple conventions in the next 6 mos (where new products could be announced), which I should wait for, before purchasing?
Thanks for your advice!
G4 Quicksilver Mac OS X (10.3.5) Dual 1 Gz, 1 Gb Ram, 2 x 80 Gb ATA

Hello, I've decided not to wait for an Intel MacPro, but would like to buy a G5 in the next 5 mos (by July) for standard-definition video editing using FCP 5 Studio. I have a few questions:
Get a Quad and get one fast, with a PPC machine you'll have lots of media copying freedom as you have control over your hardware. With the new EFI Mactels, trusted computing and HDCP coming you will not.
Actually I wouldn't waste money on a PowerMactel machine until the whole "Blueray/HD-DVD" thing gets straightened out too, that's going to have a lot of baggage associated with it. When they do at least you'll have a Quad to be able to do things you won't be allowed on the PowerMactel w/BlueRay.
Standard definition is going "bye-bye" in the US mandatory by 2009, mostly by 2007. You'll need to go HD as all the new TV sets being sold are HD/digital ready and all the content will switch as well. (HD Is really nice too, but eats hard drive space fast)
1) Currently, I have a Quicksilver G4 with dual 1 Gz, 1 Gb ram and 160 Gb ATA drive. Would FCP 5 Studio work effectively on this machine (for editing, color-correction, motion graphics, rendering to DVD etc)? If not, is it worth investing more money into this machine, or should I switch to a G5?
Yes sure, but if time = money, you'll need CPU muscle to render faster and large RAM to burn faster.
I say get a PPC Quad, a large stock drive with 16MB of cache and a Western Digital 150GB 10,000 RPM RaptorX for a boot/app and "bare bones" home drive, keeping your video on the large stock drive. Get yourself 4Gb of RAM or slightly more, install it yourself and save money by visiting Crucial.com. (no comp)
2) Which G5 would work effectively for my purposes? Kindly advise on clock-speed, RAM, Video card, hard disk etc. I take it I will not need RAID for SD, but only high-definition? I would need to use this machine for at least 3 years. Do you see Apple discontinuing hardware or FCP support for this platform during this time?
Apple will support PPC based hardware for a long time, so will a lot of third party software makers because it's the majority platform. Not much software is available for the Mactel based machines, so PPC and the Quad is the best longterm professional choice at this time. I would also not get the stock card but the next one up.
RAID you can play with later, rolling your own mini-raid set or if you have volume and require speed then a X-RAID.
3) How would the 23" screen be for video-editing? Are there any rumors about a 25" screen replacing it?
I had a 23", it's small, but it will do the job. A couple of inches increase won't make much of a difference IMO. If you got the bucks get a 30", it's awesome and better than two monitors as you don't need to turn your head back and forth. Just sit back and take it all in.
Of course for standard video your going to need a standard monitor anyway for previewing.
4) Lastly, are there any Apple conventions in the next 6 mos (where new products could be announced), which I should wait for, before purchasing?
We just had one, Macworld, where the Mactels were announced, supposely Intel will release a 64 bit dual core around September, Adobe Photoshop supposely won't be ready with a Mactel version for another 14 months it's been estimated.
Apple is working on universal versions of their apps, some are ready already.
http://appleintelfaq.com/
A site that be of interest to you is HDforIndies.com
I always advise people to clone their boot drives
http://homepage.mac.com/hogfish/Personal11.html

Which of these macs would you choose for video editing?

The main difference is the MBP has an Serial ATA drive, and the Air has a Flash drive. Also the MPB has 2.9Ghz, and the Air has only 2.0Ghz. Which one would you pick for editing with Final Cut Pro X? (Also curious which one you would pick even if video editing wasn't a concern for you, thanks!)
MacBook Pro 13.3” - Dual-Core i7 2.9Ghz ($1269 refurb, or $1399 new at BestBuy)
Eligible for OS X Mountain Lion Up-to-Date Program
Originally released June 2012
13.3-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit glossy widescreen display, 1280-by-800 resolution
8GB (2 x 4GB) of 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM
750GB Serial ATA @ 5400 rpm
8x double-layer SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
Intel HD Graphics 4000
Or
MacBook Air 13.3” - Dual-Core i7 2Ghz ($1449 refurb)
Eligible for OS X Mountain Lion Up-to-Date Program
Originally released June 2012
13.3-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit glossy widescreen display, 1440-by-900 resolution
8GB memory
512GB flash storage
720p FaceTime HD camera
Intel HD Graphics 4000

Zenman1969 wrote:
Thanks for the answer. Didn't realize the 13" MBPs differed from the 15" MBPs. I thought the screen was the only major difference.
Apple fools a lot of people with that. The 13" is really a MacBook and not a "Pro" machine.
The best machine for video editing depends upon what your going to do, full on production or casual home stuff.
A 15" MacBook Pro and a iMac for the casual lightweight stuff and iMove can do the job.
The new MacPro coming out for the heavy duty stuff.
The industry seems to be moving away from Final Cut Pro X as it's been consumerized or something, lacking needed features and moving towards Avid on powerful Mac's or Windows 7 towers.
http://arstechnica.com/apple/2011/07/does-apple-still-care-about-creative-pros/
http://www.avid.com/US/
So perhaps a mix of Avid and Final Cut Pro X if your serious about furthering your career.

Best type of SATA drives for video editing?

I'm getting a MacPro system to do editing of Hi-def home movies in Final Cut Express and iMovie. I will be adding additional internal drives, but I'm not buying from Apple because they seem overpriced. So the question is: is there a preferred brand out there for video editing? Maxtor, Western Digital, Seagate, etc.?
They have good prices on MacSales.com, but some talk about being suitable for nearline applications, and I don't know what that means. I have also heard that setting up a RAID may be the way to go, but I've never done it and I'm a little intimidated by it (I don't want to get hundreds of gigs of material and then realize I should have done something differently, and have to reformat and start over).

Look for SATA-II (3 Gbps) drives that are 7200rpm and have at least 8MB cache (preferably 16MB). Seagate, Western Digital, Hitachi and other drive manufacturers all make drives that meet these specs. For what it's worth, I have long preferred Seagate drives.
In addition to your working drives, remember to add 1 or more drives for backup capability, preferably external drives that can be kept offline except for times you are backing up or restoring.

Dual 17'' Displays and an NTSC Monitor for Video Editing

I am trying to hook up two 17'' apple monitors and an NTSC television monitor for video editing, but all I have on the back of my G5 tower is one ADC plug and one DVI plug. Any advice on how to make this work would be greatly appreciated.

If you run in anything other than the LCD's native resolution your graphics card will be resampling the image. This inevitably distorts the image as pixels must be discarded to create the display. Typically this softens the image.
Cheers,
Neale
Insanity is hereditary, you get it from your children

Thinking to buy a new 15inch macbook pro retina display. Aim to use it for video editing and compositing... Is ıt worth for it?

Hi... I am a freelance filmmaker. Now I have 2008 model mac pro and I am thinking to buy a new macbook pro 15 inch retina display. Do you think its worth for it? I aim to use the macbook mainly for video editing, video compositing (after effects) and photo editing. My current old mac pro has 12 GB and the graphics card is ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT 256 MB (Yes I still use it). My main question is, do you think its better to move to macbook pro or upgrading the old one? Making it 32 GB of RAM and buy a new NVIDIA cuda capable graphic card? I dont have enough budget to make it together... Want to hear your suggestions...

I'm not sure, I've seen pro animators use MBPs but usually with a large monitor. Especially doing video editing, compositing and editing it might make more sense to upgrade the Mac Pro to an SSD as the boot drive. What kind of CPU setup is in your Pro?
Check these out:
mac pro SSD upgrades?
SSD as system disk while users folder + data on HDD
Early 2008 8-Core Mac Pro GPU Upgrades
I deal exclusively with OWC. I'd call them and walk them through your system and see what they say.
What you do takes a lot of CPU, RAM, graphics and boot disk power.
I've upgraded my two computers to SSDs and the first thing I noticed was that Photoshop CS6 opens in 7 seconds vrs. 50 seconds when the application was on a HDD.

How to set up multiple hard drives for video editing?

I have recently purchase a new custom built PC for video editing with Premiere.
I have 3 seperate HDD's as I read on one of the forums that I should set up the hard drives as follows:
one for OS/programs
one for media
one for pagefile/scratch/rendors (these are new terms for me and I am not exactly sure what they mean)
If anybody can help walk me through the steps to set up/program my HDDs properly for editing video for adobe CS5, it would be greatly appreciated.
I do not know where to begin to set this up as recommended.
Thanks in advance.

Todd_Kopriva wrote:
I go through this in this video:
http://www.video2brain.com/en/videos-5353.htm
This video helped a lot. I have configured through my adobe software accordingly. Another user also suggested that I configure redirecting of my swap files through windows. I was unable to figure out how to do that.
Is that necessary?
Thanks.
Your video definately helped.

Storage options for video editing

For video editing is it better to use an external drive as the scratch disc or use an internal (non-bootable) drive. I keep getting conflicting information. I would like to get an additional 500gb for my system (Mac Pro G5)but don't know what direction to go. Any advice/opinions would be greatly appreciated.

Well it all depends. Certainly, there's many good reasons to install a second internal drive. But I think it's better to use this as a "clone" of your startup drive. When I have a stable OS and application combo, I clone my startup drive to the second internal drive using carbon copy cloner (available at versiontracker.com). After cloning, I always try starting up from the clone to make sure everything's working. Then I can do a software update, install additional apps, and if my system goes south either from updates or some sort of corruption, I can quickly restart from the second internal drive and get back to work.
I've installed a sata card and bought a 5 bay sata enclosure from macgurus. Trays are about $ 25.00 and drives keep getting cheaper. I can quickly swap out drives and you can also stripe the drives if you need faster thru put.
I used to have as many as 11 firewire drives chained to my g5 and it worked great for years. But then things went seriously south and it took many months of troubleshooting to figure out the problem. It seemed like different brands of firewire drives did not play nicely together. I've been working with the sata enclosure for 2 1/2 years without any problems.

Thinking of Building/Buying a PC for Video Editing?

If one is thinking of building, or buying a PC for video editing, Harm Millaard has published an ARTICLE in the Adobe Hardware Forum. He has arranged it such that one can rather pick and choose from three levels of system - beginner, intermediate and full-blown advanced pro-level rig. There have been some advances in hardware, since the article was first published, but with the discussions that follow it, much has been updated.
Harm approaches the computer from the eyes of one using PrPro, but with the exception of the GPU requirements for the Mercury Playback Engine (MPE), PrE will benefit from his suggestions. Be sure to follow all of the links that he offers in that rather longish thread.
Also see his other NLE PC ARTICLE, and his storage requirements ARTICLE.
If one is considering a RAID setup, his RAID ARTICLE will prove very useful.
If one is considering working with external HDD's, then this ARTICLE should be useful.
Hope that this helps people, who are considering a new computer for video editing.
Good luck,
Hunt

Harm Millaard has written an update to his computer ARTICLE, and there is some good discussion in it, as well.
Hope that this helps someone.
Hunt

Which do you think; Windows 7: 32-bit / 64-bit, (plus unused RAM issues) is best for video editing?

Hi there!
Just received delivery of a Lenovo G550 with the following spec:
2.2Ghz Core 2 Duo,
4GB (DDR3 - 1066Hz) RAM,
500GB HDD
NVIDIA GeForce G210M (512MB)
Windows 7
The entire purpose for buying this laptop, was for video editing and it is the best spec I could find for my needs and budget.
So what's the problem?
1) Windows 7 is installed as 32-bit, not 64 bit. Why is this? I was given no choice in this decision.
2) Only 2.96GB of that juicey RAM is being used by Windows 7. I need as much RAM as possible for video editing.
3) Lenovo sent NO install disc. - When I eventually get a virus or my HDD fails, I have NO WAY to clean install the very product I have just purchased! (A laptop with Windows 7 OS).
Considerations:
As I understand it (please comment if there are alternative views on this); The 64-bit architecture is only useful for compatible software which has been designed to run 64-bit.
The video editing software I use is "Sony Vegas Movie Studio HD 9.0"
The suggested problems with Windows 7 run as 64-bit include:
* Possible lack of driver compatibility support.
* Possibility of 32-bit programs running SLOWER in 64-bit environment, than their native 32-bit environment.
* Higher running temperatures & processor cooling issues.
* No performance gains for all other programs running as 32-bit (email, internet browser, etc).
The suggested advantages with Windows 7 run as 64-bit could be:
* Full utilisation of the 4GB RAM. (Presently limited to 2.96GB)
* Faster rendering and video editing tasks in 64-bit environment.
Questions:
4) How can I get an install disc for Windows 7? Shouldn't this come with the computer?
5) Do you think the potential hassle and architecture conflicts are worth suffering, to get the reported performance gains of 64-bit architecture and the remaining unused RAM?
Thank you for any help and advice!

contact lenovo support line for windows 7 dvds, but make sure if they send recovery dvds instead of windows 7 dvd.
most of people are having trouble with installing windows and drivers, so companies has found as this as solution to send recovery dvd -if asked- or using hidden partition to recovery system - like one key recover - instead of.
but if you ask me, they need to send dvds.
i'll contact the mods and admins about this issue, please stay connected to this post.
anyp wrote:
the member should contact lenovo, as of recently users are entitled to request media for 32 / 64 bit if they purchased one and want the other.

Better for Video Editing? MBP 13" or 15" w/9600M GT

I am planning on purchasing a Macbook Pro for relatively extensive use of Final Cut Pro (HD video) along with possibly some light Motion work and video transcoding. In addition I will be using it for photo editing and web editing. I don't plan on using it for any high-end gaming.
I will be purchasing a $200 24" external monitor to use most of the time along with external keyboard and mouse (so MBP screen size isn't an issue), but I need the portability and don't have the funds to purchase an additional dedicated desktop yet.
I am having trouble deciding between the 13" and the 15", mainly due to conflicting opinions I've been hearing over the importance of a dedicated graphics card for video editing. Salespeople at the Apple store tell me it's important and I should get the 15". Research online yielded heated forum arguments over whether it really makes a difference or not.
The price difference is quite significant though at the configurations I picked ($765) so I am seeking advice here for whether people think the cost difference is really justified for my needs. Note that both configurations include 4GB of RAM, smallest hard drive option (i've got external drives) and AppleCare protection.
Pricing with education discount after tax:
13" 2.26GHz - $1520
15" 2.66GHz w/9600M GT 256MB - $2285
*Is there a real difference in video editing performance and if so, is it really worth an extra $765? Or is there a better option that I'm not considering?*

Thanks everyone for the feedback!
Studio X wrote:
Are you planning on making any money at this or are you only in it for fun? Have you ever edited before? Have you ever edited with FCS before? What of the 44 billion HD formats are you planning on editing? Do you have a camera? What format does it record? If it's a flash media based device, what's your back up strategy? How are you planning to externally monitor the HD material ? What are you planning to use as media drives as the system drive should not be used for media capture or playback?
Still, I guess I come down on the side of "it doesn't matter as neither one is a serious editing machine". If I was in the market for a laptop and was limited to the current apple lineup, the only machine of interest is the 17" MacBookPro. The other two MacBookPros you are considering have no expresscard slot and come only with glossy screens - both are serious deficiencies in my world.
I do plan on using this computer professionally. I am a recent college graduate but do have professional FCS editing experience under my belt. However my work was done using both school and employer resources. I do have an archive of work in Mini DV(HDV) and AVCHD formats. I don't currently own an HD camera, however will likely be purchasing one in the near future. As far as externally monitoring HD material, what else would I need other than the 24" external monitor (perfectly capable of full HD) or a separate HDTV? In addition to several older usb2 external drives for backup I do have a 1TB 7200rpm external capable of FW800 and eSATA that I would use as a media drive.
I currently have an old 17" dell notebook with a glossy screen. The screen hasn't really bothered me, but the size and weight of the notebook has. And while the 17" MBP is a little lighter and smaller than my old dell, I would still prefer a 13" or 15". But from the opinions I've been hearing I'm steering away from the 13" and fully realize the downsides to the lack of ExpressCard slot in the current 15" as well. Still wondering while Apple decided to remove it.
MartinR wrote:
If budget is a primary constraint, then consider a refurbished 15" or 17" MBP from Apple, or a used MBP from a reputable supplier.
I hadn't checked into the refurbished options, but now that I did, I found a nice 15" (late 2008 unibody) configuration that would provide a lot more value for the buck. For about $550 more than the new 13" config I would get a faster processor, 2" bigger screen, 9600M 512mb GPU, double the internal storage, removable battery as well as the ExpressCard slot (even though its not listed in specs, it's there). The only trade off I can see is battery life.
http://store.apple.com/us/product/FC026LL/A?mco=MjE0NjE5MA

What format is best for an external hard drive for video editing on a mac?

What's the best format for an external hard drive for video editing to be use with a mac only? I need to format my new hard drive and want to be sure I choose the right format.

I concur with Kappy. His suggestion is correct.
Allan

Multiple Hard Drives for Video Editing with Premiere Elements 8?

I'm using Premiere Elements 8 for video editing. These are the specs I'm using:
The camcorder I used to shoot the footage is a Sony Handycam with model number HDR-SR12. It's a digital HD video camera recorder that shoots in NTSC 1920x1080i HD recording. The footage was shot with AVC HD 9M (HQ), which records in higher image quality mode. The video camera is connected to my computer through a USB cable.
The computer itself is a Windows 7 desktop computer. The CPU is an HP Pavilion Elite HPE-150f PC with Intel Core i7-860 processor. I imported the video into Premiere by selecting "File" --> "Get Media From" and then choosing the third option from the top.
My import option is NTSC/AVCHD/Full HD 1080i 30 5.1 channel, which matches the specs of the camera I shot the footage with.
Even with the patch 8.0.1 that should be preventing crashing, the program keeps crashing upon startup with one specific video project. Using the exact same video files for that project, I recreated the video, with Elements, and never ran into the problem. Both times, I had the patch installed.
At the moment, I am using only the single internal hard drive for everything (software, OS, video editing, etc.). It is 1 TB in size. However, I am informed that one hard drive is not recommended for video editing, and that I need at least two hard drives, one for OS and one specifically for video editing. I was also informed of FireWire 800 and eSata; however, it does not appear that my computer supports eSata.
Can this problem be resolved if I have an external hard drive and connect it to my computer with FireWire 800 (which the computer supports)? If not, what can be done so this problem doesn't arise in the future?
Thanks for the help.

staring-into-space wrote: My import option is NTSC/AVCHD/Full HD 1080i 30 5.1 channel, which matches the specs of the camera I shot the footage with.
When you import the footage is there a red line across the whole of the timeline?
staring-into-space wrote:
I recreated the video, with Elements, and never ran into the problem.
As you have the recreated project working fine I'd be inclined to put this down as a one-off glitch. If it happens again on a different project then it may be more worrying. You may want to consider using save-as to create multiple versions of your project (note this does NOT duplicate the source clips - so you won't be eating up much extra disk space). You could for example use save-as to create a daily version - ProjectName-Mon, ProjectName-Tue etc....
Cheers,
Neale
Insanity is hereditary, you get it from your children

Is it better to have two ati radeon HD 5770 or one ATI radeon HD 5870 for video editing?

Is it better to have two ati radeon HD 5770 or one ATI radeon HD 5870 for video editing? I'm basing this question based on the current options when configuring a Mac Pro. Currently there are three options
ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB
Two ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB [Add $250.00]
ATI Radeon HD 5870 1GB [Add $200.00]
Between the second and third options I am wondering which will provide a better more productive experience for video editing. Such as using FCP or FCPX. I know how many monitors that are in use will affect the answer to this questions. While I'm more focused on which option will deliver a better video editing experience, lets just say for argument sakes that the Mac Pro is running a 30" cinema display and a small generic monitor. About 18". Its an older VGA monitor for web development.
I hope thats enough info to get an answer on this subject.
Thanks

Ya in my research of this question, I came across this whole issue of Mac not being able to use CrossFire. I didn't thorugly investigate what this CrossFire issue was, but if it makes more sense with the singel 5870 rather than the 2 5770 then thats helpful to know.
If the Mac can't make the most out of two 5770 because it doesn't make use of CrossFire, it seems silly that Apple even bothers to offer it as an option. Plus its cheaper with the singel 5870 versus two 5770. Unless you really needed to run several monitors.
Thanks. This satisfies a long curiousity I have had.

MacPro for Video Editing

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