Canon 7D recommended computer specs.

PaPa

PaPa

Major Contributor
Right now, I'm running an Intel Core 2 duo 6600 @ 2.4 Ghz, 2 gigs of ram and premier pro cs3.

I cannot open the footage in any player and play it real time, full screen, without some sort of lag.

Now, if i want to add some memory, i will have to switch out of windows xp and go for vista 64 i believe ( someone correct me here if im wrong ) which will allow me to use more than 3 or 4 gigs of ram effectively.

At that point what is generally recommended? how much is over kill but what specs would make one very happy to work with this footage? If i jump to vista will i have issues with premier ?
 
before getting a new pc ...
Try the k -lite codec pack. It worked for me , maybe a clean install will help to..
with windows xp you can get a max of 3.2 Gigs of memory usage. Atleast if your motherboard can have more then 2 gigs of memory
 
H264 at fullHD is very processor intensive. Just convert it to some other intermediate format that takes more drive space but is less CPU demanding, such as prores on the mac or that avid codec that should work the same...
 
hey michael. Don't remember what video card i have, but i do know it's quite powerful. Regardless, from what i understand a video card has very little to do with video editing since it requires no 3d realtime rendering. Was under the impression it came down more to processor and memory speed.

k lite codec, ill check it out, i may already have it because it does ring a bell.


My converting it to an intermediate form, as you say it makes the file size larger but easier to handle? Does this lessen the quality of the video? If not, what's the best way to go about doing something like that? Working on premier.
 
Intermediate codecs are higher quality than the h264, so you don't have to worry about that.

In premiere, I'm not exactly sure about your options but one way to do it would be converting to a known codec, such as XDCAM... Just stick to square pixel codecs (no DVCProHD), so you don't have to mess up the image too much...
 
I have 2.6ghz pentium 4 and 512 ram , i was able to play 720p from canon 500d in KMPlayer (with crushed blacks because of internal codec in player ,but it was at least something) and i couldnt play 1080p , after installing quicktime codec for my player i cant play even 720p right now so players with internals codecs might be faster for you but you might get crushed blacks ,if it doesnt bother you then try KMPlayer or VLC player just for previews .
Also change video generator in KMPlayer , choose super speed mode ,but before all this enable advanced settings in options.
Best looking generator is Haali but fastest for me is VMR7 Renderless
 
PaPa said:
Regardless, from what i understand a video card has very little to do with video editing since it requires no 3d realtime rendering. Was under the impression it came down more to processor and memory speed.
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Correct. However, I've heard that the latest versions of Premiere might be able to accelerate video decoding (playback) with the help of the graphics card.
 
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Hmm. Interesting. I've had playback issues on my computer versus another with identical specs but a better video card. I'd assumed it was video card related, but perhaps there is something else amiss...
 
good information guys.

Just to get back to my question though, if i want to upgrade my computer to be able to handle the native editing, what system specs would you suggest? should i be looking for 4, 6, 8 gigs of ram, cpu speed? Want to upgrade without spending more than the camera itself on components.
 
I just went to the Adobe Premier site, just to see what CS4 recommends as the system requirements. In general, I prefer my systems to exceed the requirements. (I know that's not the version you have, but it should be at least a guide...)

2GHz or faster processor for DV; 3.4GHz for HDV; dual 2.8GHz for HD*
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You can get an Intel Core 2 Duo E7600 @ 3.06GHz with 3MB L2 Cache for less than $150.
A bump up to the E8400 or E8500 gets you a 1333MHz FSB instead of 1066MHz for less than $200.
 
Get a Core 2 Quad Q6600. With the Core i7s (and now i5s) being the hottest things now, the Core 2 Quads are really good values. You might not even have to change your motherboard. 4 GB of RAM is a good amount; you probably won't benefit much from more. You'd also have to upgrade to 64-bit Windows if you want to use more.

So CS4 does do acceleration through the graphics card. Maybe consider upgrading your software? You can get a crazy good deal on a graphics card now. The latest sub-$200 models match or outperform the top models from a year or two ago. The new Radeon HD 5850, which is around $250, goes toe-to-toe with NVIDIA's $400-500 models.
 
ydgmdlu said:
Get a Core 2 Quad Q6600. With the Core i7s (and now i5s) being the hottest things now, the Core 2 Quads are really good values. You might not even have to change your motherboard. 4 GB of RAM is a good amount; you probably won't benefit much from more. You'd also have to upgrade to 64-bit Windows if you want to use more.

So CS4 does do acceleration through the graphics card. Maybe consider upgrading your software? You can get a crazy good deal on a graphics card now. The latest sub-$200 models match or outperform the top models from a year or two ago. The new Radeon HD 5850, which is around $250, goes toe-to-toe with NVIDIA's $400-500 models.
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Do you know how premiere deals with quad cores? I know that some programs don't really utilize the extra two all that well and, in terms of performance, a fast dual core turns out to be better.
 
Michael Olsen said:
Do you know how premiere deals with quad cores? I know that some programs don't really utilize the extra two all that well and, in terms of performance, a fast dual core turns out to be better.
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It's fine. I have an AMD Phenom II/910 and Premiere and AE run fine on it - I've had not problems editing 7d footage at 1080p. Intel Quad cores are a bit better but a bit pricier. 4gb of RAM is good, 8gb is better. For get Vista, Install Windows 7 64-bit (Premiere and AE are 32 bit apps, only Photoshop has a 64-bit version, but that'll change next Spring with CS5).
 
I think you need to get Cineform, even 8 cores might not be enough, Cineform will solve all the isses. It's a difficult codec for a computer. i7 are top drawer.

On the issue of dumping footage, anyone know if a built in card reader imports fast than a usb reader?

I'd go for 6 ram, not worry too much about graphics card.
Look for a machine that can accept esata too.
Blu ray is also a good feature for archival.
 
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