Help Please - Wintel Hardware config for HD editing w/CS4

M

mendyogi

New member
Moving from SD into HD and looking for someone to help me configure a setup that will allow for a seamless workflow in editing HD Wedding work from a Sony EX1 on Adobe Premiere Pro.

i7 Quad Core - But is 2.6 good enough or should I go with 3.4 (maybe something in between)
Hard Drives - 10K RPM or SDD - Raid or just mirrored - how many drives
Graphics card - 1 GB or 2 GB (Dual or single)
Memory - Speed ? 12 GB or more ?
BD Drive ? - Which one and speed ?

It's not that money is no object but I do want to configure something that will last for a few years without thinking to myself - if only I hadn't cut corners when I bought the machine. Also don;t want to go overboard if it's moot and won;t make a significant difference in speed and functionality.

Any and all recommendations would be greatly appreciated. My only caveat is to stay Windows based. Not an apple person.
 
If you use CS4 and want something last for next 2 -3 years... You might wanna do study on how GPU and CPU work with Premiere, After FX and even Maya.

Watch this video: This is something Adobe is currently working on.

http://tv.adobe.com/watch/davtechta...new-adobe-mercury-playback-engine-technology/

Go for Intel i7 Quad Extreme Processor ($1000): Intel is planning to release this next month, This is the way to go!

The best one out there is Nvidia Quadro 4800 ($1000), If you can't afford that then get GeForce GTX 258 ($400)

6 to 8 GB is good enough. Again, Consider getting better processor (i7 Extreme) than Ram.

I wouldn't worry on BD Drive. I like Sony so go for that.

Never get WD! Never! the worst Hard Drive! Go for Seagate, Matrox or Hitachi. Don't worry about RPM. Standard 7200 rpm still good enough. I don't know how technology going to be next 2 years, no problem editing 4K with 7200 rpm.

Expect to spend $2500!!!
 
I have built a lot of systems for wedding editors and though I am completely sold on Adobe's solutions for my work (I don't do event videography), I have to say that Canopus Edius is the NLE to use for HD event editing. It is simple, quick, and the Canopus HQ codec is outstanding. If you don't need integration with After Effects like Premiere gives you, then I'd say switch to Edius. You will need MUCH less power than what Premiere CS4 requires.

However, with that said, CS5 with the Mercury Playback Engine might change everything. If you need something for now though, I'd go with Edius.

As far as hardware goes, I've built systems with the i7 Extreme 965 processor, which is almost $1000, and I personally get better performance from my i7 920 overclocked to 4.2ghz with a Noctua cooler (don't try going anywhere near 4.2 without a Noctua or equivalent aftermarket fan!). The 920 is about $280 or so depending on where you order it from. It's the best bang for the buck because the i7 is easy to overclock and is stable when overclocked as long as you keep it's temps within specs.

If you build i7, use the LGA1366 socket i7's and opt for 12GB of quality RAM. 6 to 8, as referenced above, is ok but systems perform much better with 12 and it's really not much more money. RAM is cheap.

Video cards: I'd look at a card with 1GB minimum... there are many at that spec for decent prices. Keep in mind that if you stay with Adobe, there are minimum recommendations for cards that will be compatible with the Mercury Playback Engine. That's why I bought a Nvidia 285 with 2GB ram.
 
Thanks guys for the responses:

Wildfly - what do you recommend with regard to hard drives and their setup. SDD vs RAID and if RAID - what config and what speed drives? DO I even need RAID or just Mirrored drives ?
 
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