Best Mac Editing system using Premiere?

C

cbohlender

Member
Hey I looking to buy a new computer. I want to stick with a mac because I already have a older Macbook pro and I want to use that as a back up and a portable option. Im looking to get something with some juice. But my options look grim... Anybody have any suggestions?
 
Hey Exact,

Well because the Mac Pro tower has not been updated in long time and is due for another one but it could be awhile. The iMac is a ok computer but you cant do a whole lot of custimizing it.

So that really just leaves the Mac Pro... But I already have one that works ok...

I dont know... Thoughts?
 
cbohlender said:
Hey I looking to buy a new computer. I want to stick with a mac because I already have a older Macbook pro and I want to use that as a back up and a portable option. Im looking to get something with some juice. But my options look grim... Anybody have any suggestions?
Click to expand...

The new iMac looks really sweet, and would probably work just fine for your needs unless you're into heavy 3D rendering in C4D or Maya or something (or want to work with Element3D in After Effects on a routine basis). The new Fusion drives seems like a good option, but I'd probably plunk down for the full SSD. I'd also get the GPU option with the most RAM, I think it's like 2GB.

Otherwise, you could conceivably also build yourself a Windows box and install MacDrive on it. I cross-platform my projects all the time between my Windows desktop and my MacBook Pro. The only thing is that you have to re-locate your files each time you swap, which is usually just a single file to find and Premiere does the rest (this happens because of the differing ways volumes are presented by the OS, something OSX has a leg up over Windows on). I considered going all Mac, but my desktop is still very powerful, I can easily upgrade it (a $1.300 upgrade for me would be massive improvement over most current Mac hardware aside from a $16,000 MacPro) and Adobe apps just run faster and more stable on Windows. So I stuck with my workstation and simply added a SSD drive and a striped RAID array for my work volume and it's puttering along quite well after all these years.

I considered a MacPro when I thought about going all Mac, but I do think that, at this moment in time, the iMac is a better option with USB3 and Thunderbolt connections.
 
Thanks for your reply Gary,

I have been looking very closely at the iMacs, they definitely look nice. But I was also considering buying a PC and adding MacDrive. My main concern is that I am not a hardware guy. I have never tried to build my own computer and to be honest I dont want to. I also am not a huge fan of windows... But I would consider it... Buying a fully set up system, I think is the way to go for me. My main work is on Adobe Premiere and After Effects. I do use Element 3D but in limited amounts.

Does anybody have a suggestion on which graphics card to get with the new iMacs if I will be using Premiere?

It looks like they only offer two.

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680MX 2GB GDDR5

and

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675MX 1GB GDDR5

Can I add my own graphics card later?
 
Definitely go for the 680MX with 2GB. You can run into render errors with large elements (such as photos). I just did on a project that had some massive photos I needed to pan around in. Turning off GPU acceleration fixes the error, but it's annoying to be sure.

My GPU upgrade in my workstation will be a 4GB GTX680.
 
cbohlender said:
Thanks for your reply Gary,



Does anybody have a suggestion on which graphics card to get with the new iMacs if I will be using Premiere?
Click to expand...

Not sure what your goals are for color work but the iMac monitor is a 6 bit/low gamut monitor so not much is really going to help.
If you decide to get a more upscale Apple system, OSX is still stuck in the dark ages with 8 bit max display for some reason.
Premiere has supported 10 bit color since CS5.
 
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Hey OP,

Hope you don't mind myself asking the same question, as I was going to make a new thread, but add to this one::: I was looking for a PC Editing Computer, which is the best on the market, to handle such a task, or rather too, what components of the hard ware (Ghz, Dual-Core or Quad-Core, graphics cards) do I need to get the BEST editing experience, with little to no hiccups, using Adobe Premiere.

Thanks guys!,
 
Hi

Premiere loves Intel CPU cores -> Intel Core I7 3930K = 12 cores 6 real + 6 virtual. Virtual core performs about 1/2 work of real core.
Chipset X79 = Quad channel memory. Premiere loves bandwidth. Go with 16 GB or 32 GB in quad.
SSD = really fast. As long as you can fit your project on one they are perform GREAT and avoid the complexity of RAIDS.
GPU = Nvidia 4GB 670gx. 4GB memory which Premiere likes plus High Bandwidth. GPU for Premiere wants different specs than gaming.
Get a quiet case, maybe with drawers for hard drives. Run SSD on 6GB drive controller. Throw in a Texas Instruments chipset Firewire card for backwards compatibility. Add a nice sound interface, anything from RME is great. Then enjoy!

Good luck
 
I was in your position a couple months ago. I knew I wanted to switch to the Adobe suite, but was unsure of what to do about the hardware. I was trying to decide between building my own Windows machine or going with one of the all-in-one Mac options...I ended up deciding on the new 27" iMac. I've been on FCP on a MacBook Pro for 6 years, and I'm not ready for the headaches that could come along with moving to a new operating system. Plus, I just didn't trust myself to successfully put something together on my own.

I decided on the 2GB video card option. I only just got the iMac 3 days ago, so my experience is quite limited, but...Premiere has been running like a dream. I haven't done any heavy lifting yet, just various tests with random video clips I had laying around from old projects. Dropping .mts files right onto a timeline without transcoding is so convenient, and they play as smooth as my older DVCProHD clips. The huge monitor is amazing, especially coming from a 17" laptop...I don't have to switch in and out of full-screen mode to get a good look at the frame. I'm in no position to comment on things like color quality, GPU acceleration, etc etc...so all I'll say is that I am THRILLED with my decision so far.
 
I also decided to go with the 27 in iMac. I have only had it for a week but so far I really like it. I am editing in Premiere and got the GPU acceleration going via the hack. Its very fast. I have had some bugs but I am working them out as I go. So far I think I have been able to speed up my editing by about %30. Should be able to move faster once I get the kinks out.

Big thanks to every one that voiced their opinion!

3.4GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost up to 3.9GHz
32GB SDRAM - 1TB Fusion Drive, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680MX 2GB GDDR5​
 
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