AVCHD files... iMac dual or quad core???

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whittard

New member
Yes i know, quad core i7 is better than dual core... but considering my pocket and what i need (i'm not a professional user), the question is:

can i edit mts files (avchd produced by TZ7/ZS3) with an iMac 27" Intel Core 2 Duo a 3,06GHz, with iMovie or Final Cut express, in adequate time?!?! or the dual core will be too slow to preferred the quad core?

someone experience?

thanks in advance
 
If you use Final Cut or iMovie you won't edit the mts files directly anyhow. You'll transencode them to a different codec like Apple Intermediate or ProRes. Those are larger files, but easier for the computer to work with. I can edit those files fine on my 2.4 Core2Duo MacBook Pro, so I'd imagine the Core2Duo iMac would be just fine.
 
We're talking less than a $200 difference between the 27" i5 and the i7. But there is a HUGE difference in performance. Maybe that $200 is a deal breaker for you. However, if not, you never know -- you could get into some future projects where that extra power would mean a lot to you.

And certainly the resale value would be much better with the i7.
 
Just as a point of reference, my Vista-64 i7 with 6GB ram and 2 hard drives renders full HD video with 5.1 surround sound at about 4X real time. This is with Vegas MS and about as fast as I've seen reported anywhere, but it would be interesting to see a list of systems and results.

If people report their configurations & rendering time I can put up a web page that summarizes them.
 
Gosh Perrone, I've never tried full screen playback from Vegas. I only play back during editing in Vegas, and I still haven't decided whether I like the playback window on my 2nd monitor or docked on the main screen.

Keep in mind I'm strictly an amateur with no tricky/creative editing skills and my target output device is an HDTV with 5.1 sound driven from a PS3. So my playback needs when editing are pretty minimal. Mostly I just check for no gaps in the timeline, transitions where they belong (and not where they don't) and other fairly gross stuff like that.

For final review of rendered media on my PC (stereo sound only) I use the standard Windows media player in something like a 1/3 screen window. Needless to say this works fine.
 
I was just curious. My editing system is still hooked to an SDTV so the only HD preview I get is on my full screen preview until I write a temp out to bluray. I've not been happy with playback performance on my computer. Was wondering how the i& handles it.
 
I think you will want a quad core, you can get by with a dual, but the quad core is just better. It does not remove all the bottlenecks, but it definitely makes a difference.
 
iMovie works with AVCHD Lite and will recognize your GH1 and import your GH1 files. If you are shooting 1080 you can then use JES de-nterlacer to reverse telicine. Or you can just use the .mov files (that iMovie will create when importing) in another program.
 
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