Best Editing Rig and Software for Under $7000?

J

j8jweb

Active member
Hi all,

Looking for opinions on what would represent the best editing rig (i.e. what spec pc or mac), plus what software, I have the following criteria:

1. Software should be easy to learn and intuitive
2. Whole setup should ideally be under $7000 / £3500, though I am open to hearing other options above this.
3. Should be a super fast solution... no endless waiting when applying edits, etc.

As much detail as possible on the hardware front please :) My goal is to achieve a seamless, uninterrupted, creative editing environment.
 
Get A Mac!

Get A Mac!

If you're willing to buy an Apple MAC, that would be my suggestion. The basic interface for the operating system is not that hard to learn if you haven't used it before. Final Cut Pro Studio is amzingly powerful and very easy to understand and start editing. The other plus is that as you become more proficient you can master the adanced techniques of Final Cut. Also you get an entire suite of programs. This is my suggestion for hardware/ software setup (using your $7000 budget):

Mac Pro
Both Bluetooth 2.0+EDR and AirPort Extreme
Apple Wireless Keyboard and Apple wireless Mighty Mouse - Western Spanish
One 16x SuperDrive
Accessory kit
Two 3GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon
1GB (2 x 512MB)
250GB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s
Mac OS X - U.S. English
NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT 256MB (single-link DVI/dual-link DVI): $3,438

Buy More RAM (1 GB) from Another Company...Not Apple: $ 100

Apple Cinema HD Display (23" flat panel): $999

Final Cut Studio 5.1: $1299

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3400620AS 400GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM: $204.99



AND WITH YOU LAST $1,000 you have two options:

An extra 23" Apple Monitor: $999

or

Mackie Control Universal: Street Price~ $999

I've had fun shopping for you!
 
And...

And...

Just another note. All the Apple Stuff you can buy @ Apple.com, and you can buy the Hard drive and RAM @ Newegg.com. The reason I tell you to buy them seperately is because Apple overchrages for HDD and RAM upgrades. The Hard Drive and Ram aren't hard to install youself. There are planty of tutorials online.

Peace,
Michael
 
Buqui Productions said:
Buy More RAM (1 GB) from Another Company...Not Apple: $ 100
Click to expand...

I agree that a MacPro with FC Studio is a great choice, but third party RAM for the MacPro seems to be only available at Other World Computing right now and it is way more than $100/Gig.

If you want to compare a MacPro to a *comparable* Dell workstation check out these reports . . .

http://www.macworld.com/2006/08/features/macproprice/index.php

http://theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=33576

Short version: "Apple thrashes Dell on Price"
 
I've heard very good things about Final Cut Pro being super-easy to use. Is there a comparably easy-to-use PC software package? I would prefer to stick with PCs I think... been a PC user for 10 years, so it's kinda hard to change. I never could get used to that 1-mouse-button-for-everything thing with the MAC.
 
I have a simple solution!

I have a simple solution!

First...yeah I'm sorry about the RAM understatement..my fault. If you want a two button mouse...buy one. Two button mouses work with MAC's out of the box. I use a 2 button mouse with my MAC. FCP is easy to use and has more depth than Vegas.

BUT...

If you want a nice PC Rig with a huge screen to edit on may I recommend Avid. It has the professional clout with a full set of features, but it is a bit hard to learn. But if you're putting $7000 into a rig...use the real thing and there is a learning curve in any program. And Avid is only $200 more than FCP. BUT, I still think FCP fits the bill for you. It is a Pro app without being impossible to learn.

-Michael
 
To add or subtract from Baqui's suggestions:

I'd forget about the Bluetooth 2.0 and Airport Extreme ($80)
and the Wireless 'Apple' Keyboard and Mouse ($60)

and

Instead get the FCP LogicKeyboard Keyset to replace keys on the Keyboard that comes with the MacPro. $60 http://www.logickeyboard.com/shop/productinfo.asp?id=1227

Add to that a ShuttlePRO ($109) or ShuttleXpress ($50)
http://www.logickeyboard.com/shop/productlist.asp?Id=114

or (alternative to that)

The Dr. Bott Pro FCP Editing Keyboard w/ Jog Shuttle ($190 maybe less on Ebay)
http://www.drbott.com/prod/db.lasso?code=7095-PSTL

--

More Hardware:

Save money get the low-end MacPro and Low-end videocard and get this:

(Depending if you are doing HD)
AJA Kona 3
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/con...s&Q=&sku=417388&is=REG&addedTroughType=search

Hook up the Apple HD monitor to that instead of the mac videocard. It's faster.

Instead of a 2nd Apple 23" display get a Cheaper and Bigger Dell (or similar) wide-screen LCD. ($500-800) Use this for main editing screen Tools, Timeline, Viewer.

--

Software:

Buy a USED version of FCP 4 on ebay $50-$80 and purchase the upgrade to Final Cut STUDIO 5.1 Universal for $200. So you get FCP Studio for about $300 instead of $1200. All legit.

--

Get more RAM but don't Max it out. Cause the MacPro with new RAM architecture sucks. It is actually slower. And getting more RAM doesn't really help much, according to these articles -

Read this article: http://www.anandtech.com/mac/showdoc.aspx?i=2811&p=4
and this article: http://www.anandtech.com/mac/showdoc.aspx?i=2816&p=1

--

And always: save up for HARD DRIVES. You'll need it. Newegg.com, www.frys-electronics-ads.com, MacSales.com

I think the speed differences between the different Mac Pro systems are very minimal. You won't really feel the difference. They are plenty fast. Read that article and see the test results.

Good Luck
 
That and...

That and...

With $7000 do your own research and decide what you need based on what you want to do. In the end we cannot foresee what you will be doing. Read, learn, and remember that no computer, no matter how fast, can correct bad imagry. Shoot well and editing will be its own art no matter what you edit on. I edit on an IMAC G5 and I can do what the big boys can do just a bit slower....You gotta love technology!

Peace,
Michael
 
Two?

Two?

You should just get an HVX and spend the rest on a cheap computer, because, as I said, nothing can make up for bad imagry...

OR

Maybe you get two PC's...

One for general editing and audio work

AND

Another for Graphics Work

You have enough money to do so...

It's up to you....have fun...I wish I had $7000 to blow. :badputer:
 
If you need BLAZING speed.....Alienware PC, the MAxed out one.... VEgas6 (7? if it comes out soon).

It will FLY through everything.

My laptop is a 3.2gghtz P4 with 2 gigs ram. It flies through just about anyhting. at thsi point if youre editing SD you dont need too much more than a nice fast 799$ PC. get a nicescreen, a graphics card upgrde maybe? youre basically set. you can be ready to rock for less than 2 grand including Software.

I agree with horsefilms, Get a screaming PC and vegas. No need to spend 5300 on a machine+software, when you can get one that will do the same work for 1/3 the price.
 
It really depends what are you going to edit. 7K for an editing station is not overkill at all. Considering decks, monitoring, input cards, RAID... If you're going to edit 10-bit uncompressed, I'd say 7K almost can't cover it.

Now, let's say you're going to edit straight DV.

First of all, whatever people prefer for them, and whatever you prefer for you, it's a great time to get a Mac. You can get a Macpro bay, with apple 23 inch monitor for about 4K, and that would be a blazing fast machine. FCP will cost you 1.2K The other 2 K can be spent on a deck, and a monitor. Maybe for a little extra (couple hundred) you could get yourself a couple of decent (not excellent) audio monitors.

However if all you want to do is learn how to edit, without having the need for a professional suited editing bay, (and I say professional loosely, because a lot of great professional work is done without those professional equipment), than I say experiment with a much cheaper computer. Since I'm from a Mac world, something like an iMac, or a reasonably priced PC. You don't have to spend 7K on an editing station unless you want to set up a professional bay. Your choice.
 
Thanks for all your replies, very interesting and useful.

...I wandered down to the Apple store around here, and I was blown away by the 30 inch cinema display. It's beautiful, I've never seen a PC monitor that compares to it, at any size.

The guy in the shop said that if I'm intending to edit much HD footage (which I might well be), that I will need the bare minimum following spec machine:

Quad Core 3GHZ (3GHZ x 2)
4 GIGS RAM
1000 GIGS HD Space (500GB x 2)
Videocard ATI Radion 512MB

Which comes out at close to $7000 in itself (I live in rip-off Britain)

Is it really this expensive to get seamless HD editing?
 
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