HELP ME BUILD MY COMPUTER SOLELY FOR EDITING

R

reddPLANET

Member
Haven't seen a topic like this, so I apologize if I'm repeating others... I've got a decent computer right now, but I wanna build a computer that I will use soley for editing.  No internet.  No virus scanner.  Just the necessary programs.  I plan on having close to 500GB in harddrive space and 2-3GB in memory.  What I need suggestions on is motherboard and processor, video card, sound card.  I'm not even 100% sure how much of a part the video card plays in editing and rendering.  I'm still in the debating process of purchasing a g5 and switching to FCP (i'm currently using Vegas), because I'm having some output problems (i burn to dvd and the footage jumps every once in awhile but it looked fine on my comp... or after rendering to mpeg2, the slowmo sequences are very jittery), but if you can convince me to stick with pc, I will... i'm used to it and it's easier and cheaper to upgrade... thanks!
 
Re: HELP ME BUILD MY COMPUTER SOLELY FOR EDITING


well i built the editing machine from hell and i'm very happy with it...

dual xeon 3.06 - tyan s2668 motherboard

3 gig of ram - system drive is a 72 gig sata 10k rpm's

matrox p650 video card with dual 17inch lcd monitors

on the video storage i got waaaayy carried away...

i have a 3ware sata raid card (9500 model)

i have a separate chassis that will hold 12 sata drives.

i have 9 250 gig sata drives in a raid 5 with 1 of the drives as the hot spare and i have one separate 250 gig sata drive in the raid chassis as it's own drive and i use that for all the preview and temp files to speed things up.

other than going to one of those new motherboards that just came out with 3 or 4 xeon chips i don't see how you could get much faster than this.

matthew
 
Re: HELP ME BUILD MY COMPUTER SOLELY FOR EDITING

Man, Matthew, what a saucy machine!  ;D

I for one should recommend the G5. I edit on a G4 with FCP and wouldn't trade it for the world. But I know there is a lot of people who will just use this to start a Mac x PC topic, and to call me a moron because they computers outgun mine for half the price. So whatever. Just be sure you try a Mac first and see if it's worth from your point of view. I think they are. I think a G5 running on the numbers you said should be coming close to US$ 3500. A bargain, IMHO.

Now, the first question you should be asking yourself, before we get into a Mac X PC fight is what are you going to edit? DV exclusively? SD? HD? (With 500GB space, I am guessing DV) Do you plan on capturing from analog decks? Are you budgeting for monitors (Audio and Video) and decks? You already have that?
 
Re: HELP ME BUILD MY COMPUTER SOLELY FOR EDITING

Hey Matt, is Xeon faster for video editing than say the 3.4E or 3.4C?
 
Re: HELP ME BUILD MY COMPUTER SOLELY FOR EDITING

wow, matt your machine is a monster from hell. what kind of work do you do that you need so much storage all at once. sounds cool though
 
Re: HELP ME BUILD MY COMPUTER SOLELY FOR EDITING

I would go with the G5, off the shelf a reliable editor with no worries about making oddball components of a builder work as one.
 
Re: HELP ME BUILD MY COMPUTER SOLELY FOR EDITING

I have 2 PC with P4 3.0, 1 GB ram,80 GB for program, 2*120 GB Raid0 for video DVD-rom, DVD+-RW. I have the same vido at both.
 
Re: HELP ME BUILD MY COMPUTER SOLELY FOR EDITING

i am working on two documentaries with 25+ hours of video each and i did a short while i was on location doing one of the documentaries.

i just have no patience for not having all of the footage online.

i forgot to mention i have a sony 14 inch professional monitor

matthew
 
Re: HELP ME BUILD MY COMPUTER SOLELY FOR EDITING

G5 all the way!

By the way, you said no internet. I am trying to think of how I could have done some of the stuff I did with no internet. It is such a pain to have to continually switch to another computer to pull stuff off the internet and then transfer it to another machine. For the love, keep the internet! And save yourself the trouble and go ahead and get a G5. ;)
 
Re: HELP ME BUILD MY COMPUTER SOLELY FOR EDITING

hmmmmm... I dunno... I was hoping to be convinced to stay with PC... but it seems like maybe I should just go for the G5... i have 2 20 inch monitors, so i'm good to go on that... i just capture from my dvx right now, but i want to get a deck... someone told me that in order to correctly transfer my 24p or 24pa i need to do it directly from the camera... is this true? or can any deck work? or do i just need a special deck? and yeah, I'm doin my work with DV... so um yeah... unless I get any more tips from anyone, I think I'm just gonna put the the order in for the g5... i'm gonna go for the 2.5... cuz a dual xeon doesn't come out to much cheaper than the g5... so that matrox video card is good stuff matthew? even if i decide to switch to g5, i'm still gonna have a pc for smaller video projects... i just want a good stable quality video card for the pc... hey Kyle... from my small experience it doesn't seem like it's all that easy to get **** online for macs... i can basically get anything for my pc, but macs seem so much more difficult, that's why i proposed the idea of no internet... i don't wanna deal with viruses or anything slowing down my comp... let me know if you know of any good sources for downloads for the mac...

taubkin, you wrote "Are you budgeting for monitors (Audio and Video) and decks?" what did you mean by this... what's an audio monitor? sorry... me confused... and by monitors, you don't mean computer monitors do you? you mean preview monitors? i need one of those, too...
 
Re: HELP ME BUILD MY COMPUTER SOLELY FOR EDITING

you really should get a preview monitor.

i have the sony 14 inch i forget the model, it has -4l? in the model number.

you definitely don't need a deck.

i have both a deck for capture and a really cheap sony camera and they all work equally well.

it is adviseable to not use the dvx for capture simply because it will put more wear and tear on it.

i build all my own machines so it is a lot cheaper than paying someone else to do it, but it can be frustrating because even if you have built over 100 machines each one has its own unique issues to deal with when you put it together.

i prefer pc's simply because it is easier for me to swap parts and to upgrade them more often.

matthew
 
Re: HELP ME BUILD MY COMPUTER SOLELY FOR EDITING

You'll save money if you go the PC route, and when stuff goes wrong, which it will Mac or PC, you can actually fix PCs.  I think there's no better deal then a P4 w/ the Adobe video suite 2.5...

If you go G5 you have to get FCP, DVD Studio Pro, Photoshop, and AE (or Motion, maybe), which will run you $2.5k.  FCP alone is $1k, which on the PC side gets you Premiere Pro, After Effects, Audition, Encore DVD... add another $500 and you've got AE Professional and Photoshop CS, and you've got $1000 lying around to get a production monitor (TV) and speakers. Oh, and this is if you spent the same amount on a PC than you would on a G5, which you wouldn't... A dual 2GHz G5 with a single small cinema display is $4k! We're talking total savings of up to $2k here if you go PC.

Macs will always be more expensive.  I'm not a Mac person but I work on them all day long at my day job, so I'm not trying to vote for one or the other for you... PCs are just cheaper, regardless of any other factor.
 
Re: HELP ME BUILD MY COMPUTER SOLELY FOR EDITING

Can you give us more specs on your P4/Adobe PC setup? What are people recommending for ram and video card? Before I bought my DVX, I'd been running an AMD 1.2 with 512ram. We shot with Sonys and Canons and used Premiere 6.5 to cut short videos and other projects for web exhibition. I'm attempting to set up something for $2000 or lower.
 
Re: HELP ME BUILD MY COMPUTER SOLELY FOR EDITING

you almost certainly want to go with dual displays, i am a big fan of dual lcd's with true digital output so i chose the matrox p-650

they have fancier cards that might be a little bit faster, and they do up to three screens, but i think two screens is enough + an ntsc monitor.

you really can't have too much ram.

i think i have 3 gig of ram now and i'm sure i'll upgrade to 4 at some point.

i had a p4 but i had a chance to get a dual xeon motherboard and the chips and it did make a noticeable difference.

any p4 with a fast bus speed will be fast enough that you shouldn't feel like your sitting around waiting and waiting for the computer to catch up with you.

i would definitely be sure not to go too small on the storage, i am excessive in how much storage i have, but i really like having tons of stuff online and hate having to go looking for something i did a while ago, plus i tend to have several projects going at once.

matthew
 
Re: HELP ME BUILD MY COMPUTER SOLELY FOR EDITING

[quote author=reddPLANET link=board=Links;num=1090265141;start=0#9 date=07/20/04 at 00:44:33]taubkin, you wrote "Are you budgeting for monitors (Audio and Video) and decks?"  what did you mean by this... what's an audio monitor?  sorry... me confused... and by monitors, you don't mean computer monitors do you?  you mean preview monitors?  i need one of those, too...[/quote]

Yes I was talking about preview monitors. And audio monitors wich are essentially good audio speakers. Depending on the quality of the audio work you want to do (no offense to anyone), or if you don't edit the audio on taht machine, you can skip them.

you should definately keep your 20' computer monitors. And you can transfer your 24p footage from any deck or cheap DV camera flawlessly.
 
Re: HELP ME BUILD MY COMPUTER SOLELY FOR EDITING

about audio monitors (also known as speakers :) )

i have a pair of rogers speakers that were designed by the bbc for their mobile recording labs and i thought they were the ultimate playback speaker but then i tried a set of these new bose ones that have two small satellite speakers (left and right) and a big subwoofer that sits on the floor and they are great! very lifelike sound.

for careful editing i still use my sony monitor headphones, i forget the model but they are designed more for voice than music and they pickup stuff that even the best speakers don't pickup.

matthew
 
Re: HELP ME BUILD MY COMPUTER SOLELY FOR EDITING

[quote author=rbilsbor link=board=Links;num=1090265141;start=0#11 date=07/20/04 at 11:40:53]You'll save money if you go the PC route, and when stuff goes wrong, which it will Mac or PC, you can actually fix PCs.  I think there's no better deal then a P4 w/ the Adobe video suite 2.5... .[/quote]

I guess it's up for the debate... but what is better, Adobe or FCP? I vote for FCP.

[quote author=rbilsbor link=board=Links;num=1090265141;start=0#11 date=07/20/04 at 11:40:53]
A dual 2GHz G5 with a single small cinema display is $4k!  We're talking total savings of up to $2k here if you go PC..[/quote]

You can use the monitors you have with no problem. No need to buy the Cinema display unless you have extra $$$ lying around...

[quote author=rbilsbor link=board=Links;num=1090265141;start=0#11 date=07/20/04 at 11:40:53]
Macs will always be more expensive.  I'm not a Mac person but I work on them all day long at my day job, so I'm not trying to vote for one or the other for you... PCs are just cheaper, regardless of any other factor.[/quote]

I agree, Macs are more expensive and it is scary to think who will repair it if it breaks. I use PCs on everything else in life, but with editting I love my Mac.

(Itunes rocks as well! But now that it is on PC as well, you at least don't have to worry about that part!)
 
Re: HELP ME BUILD MY COMPUTER SOLELY FOR EDITING

The almighty apple . . . I am a PC person, could never afford the big Mac and I am now at a point where even if I could, I would rather spend my cash on a bigger PC machine with a couple of added perks. My 2c :P
 
Re: HELP ME BUILD MY COMPUTER SOLELY FOR EDITING

Hi Redd, Buy a MAC, with the intro of the G5 it has never been better. Our post shop is based on 2 FCP setups and it just keeps getting better. AAt the high end we do uncompressed finishing to DBETA, but, the sole of the setup is still the DV firewire and all the possibilities it offers. I would encourage everyone doing video to spend some time working with FCP, once you feel the workflow and the intuitive nature of the interface you will be hooked. We purchase from an APPLE reseller who specializes in video systems, so they are totally amped with RAM and Terrabytes of External Hard Drive space. As for the fixing it thing, these machines are rock solid and maintenance is miminal, so enjoy fixing your PeeCee and forcing Windows to work... I'll be editing.

Gordo
 
Re: HELP ME BUILD MY COMPUTER SOLELY FOR EDITING

thanks for the tips guys... if i decide to go with the g5, would you suggest holding out for the 2.5? I can get educational discount, so that's good... it won't show up for another month, so that's a bummer, but yeah, what do you think? the specs on the apple site show the 2.5 to be monsterously faster than its predecessors... especially for video rendering. If I go with the g5, i'm gonna get the apple care just in case something goes wrong...

as far as my pc goes (I'm gonna have one regardless of the g5 decision) does anyone have any suggestions for a good video card for editing besides the matrox p650 video card (which I looked into matthew, and it's very decentally priced)... and i don't use adobe on the pc, i'm a vegas man... and i'll be getting a 5.1 surround sound system for audio monitoring... i do need to get a preview monitor... does anyone just use a small tv? or should it actually be a specifically made preview monitor?
 
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