New PC for video editing + 3d stereo work

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devilry

Member
Hey guys,

I’m planning on building a new pc for some big projects coming up. I need a PC that can handle the HVX200 footage extremely well. I’m also building a 3D camera rig with the hvx200 camera’s (or something similar) and planning on filming a couple of short 3D stereoscopic films. I’ll mostly be concentrating on video editing, grading, compositing and a bit of vfx work, essentially I need a PC that can do almost anything across the table pretty well.

I’ve built up 2 PC’s that I know will be more than enough to handle any of my upcoming projects but I’m not sure which one to go for. I’m hoping you guys can help me decide which setup is the best.

PC #1 (4-core):

Intel core 2 quad q9550 (2.83ghz, 12MB, 1333FSB)
8GB DDR2-800
EVGA E-Geforce 9800GX2
500GB x 2 (RAID 0)
Antec Truepower Quattro 850W Power Supply
Total: $1550 (including printer, motherboard, case)

PC #2 (8-core):

(2x) Intel Xeon E5410 quad core (2.33ghz, 12MB, 1333FSB)
8GB DDR2-667 ECC
EVGA E-Geforce 9800GX2
500GB x 2 (RAID 0)
Antec Truepower Quattro 1000W Power Supply
Total: $2550 (including printer, motherboard, case)

One’s a 4-core cpu and the other is 8-cores but it cost $1000 bucks more and I’m not sure if it would be worth it. If the 4-core is more than enough speed and power to get the job done then I would personally go for that one and save the money for something else. But, if the 8-core would really make a big difference, than I’d go for that one instead, unless it’s overkill for editing HVX200 footage + 3d stereo work.

I’d really appreciate any help or suggestions on building this new pc. And if I forgot to mention anything else about my setup or what I’ll be using, let me know. Looking forward to hearing back from you guys.

Cheers,
Varinder
 
I could really use some helpful advice or suggestions with these setups.

I'm really hoping the PC#1 set will be more than enough for the type of work i'll be doing. Since the PC#2 setup is pretty pricey and out of my budget range. Unless people in here seriously recommend buying the 8-cores.

Hope someone can put in their 2 cents, would really appreciate it.

Cheers,
-V
 
The point is: what software you'll be using ?

I always used PC, now I got a 24" iMAC and a External 1.5 TB OWC FW800 and everything goes smooth with P2 for US$ 2.500,00

About HVX200 for stereoscope, 170 should go better because lens can be closer.

Ulisses
 
For the money, I would get computer one but get either a velociraptor or two raptors in raid 0, put the OS and programs on that and when you edit, also put the footage on it so they render nice and fast. After you are done editing, store them on a 500gb raid 1 setup. This wold give you redudancy so you don't ever need to worry about loosing footage.

Here is the velociraptor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136260&Tpk=VelociRaptor

and here are the normal raptors
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136011

Hope that helps.
 
Hey guys,

Really appreciate your quick feedback.

The types of programs i'll be using will be some of the main ones from Adobe CS3 like premiere, AE, and photoshop. Will also be using some visual effects programs like, Lightwave, maya and softimage. I'll also be using Fusion for compositing. 2d3 Boujou for 3d matchmoving. I may also need to get some special software that deals with stereo 3d editing+convergence as well.

ulisses - thanks for letting me know about the hpx 170. I haven't yet begun working on my 3d project yet but will be very soon. So, i haven't decided which camera i'll be using. Again, like you pointed out the closer i can put the lenses together...the better. (not necessarily but its definitely a plus)

TJ - i will look into getting the raptors for storage + editing thanks for recommending that. Might be a little out of my budget at the moment, may purchase them down the road a bit.

I'm still having a hard time deciding which setup to get however, PC #1 or #2? I mean, if the 4-core $1500 setup can last me for a good year and i can manage most of my upcoming projects in 2k fairly well with the softwares i've mentioned above, than that's great.

But if the 4-core will become obsolete within the next 6 months or so than it's not something i would like to get. I would prefer to spend a lot of money that'll be somewhat future proof and can hold out at least for a year.

Any suggestions would be extremely helpful as i only have a bit of time left to decide. Thanks.

-V
 
We use XSI and Fusion here for Stereoscope... these days editing goes in Velocity for SD and Finalcut for HD. I adjust the 3D convergence in Fusion.
If you are thinking in work in 2K, get 2 quad cores and 8gb RAM, fusion and XSI will love it.

Do you have format spec for Real-D and Dolby 3D systems ?

Ulisses
 
Ulisses – Thanks, I really appreciate your suggestions and after quite a bit of researching around I’ve decided to go for the 8-core setup and 8GB of ram. By the way are you using any special plug-ins for Fusion like ‘Awake’ for stereoscopic work? Is there any other special type of hardware or software you recommend for stereoscopic work as well? I would really like to make sure I have all that I need to make some awesome 3D stereo films. And I also don’t have a format spec for Real D or Disney 3D systems at the moment.

I’ve been doing a lot of research lately and trying to decide what parts to get exactly. I decided to get the Xeon E5420 2.5GHz Quad-Core (x2) since it had just dropped down in price so I thought why not grab that instead.

But I’m having a hard time choosing which motherboard to get. Someone recommended getting one of the lga771 boards that allows overclocking through the BIOS to get a nice 10-15% boost in speed with no additional cooling or voltage just on stock. But after I did quite a bit of research I noticed there are barely any lga771 server boards that allow you to overclock the cpu from the bios and their incredibly costly. The only board I see myself grabbing is the Asus Z7S which will cost me about $525 ($590-after tax). It has the 5400 chipset and has an oc-enabled BIOS.

But, there is another way of overclocking a few lga771 boards that are a little cheaper by slightly modding your cpu chip by the BSEL mod or simply by a software called Systool in windows. The best boards I found to do it this way were:

http://www.supermicro.com/products/m...X/X7DAL-E+.cfm - $355
http://www.supermicro.com/products/m...00X/X7DAE+.cfm - $410
http://www.supermicro.com/products/m...00/X7DWA-N.cfm - $455

I’m not planning on using the BSEL mod method because i’d rather not screw around with my cpu physically due to my lack of experience with overclocking. Systool is just as easy as overclocking in the BIOS except for a couple of limitations. For one, you can’t save the ‘timing’ options so you’ll have to always re-enter your timings every single time you startup which doesn’t sound like a lot of fun. And two, I’m a little worried about over heating the CPU and RAM, not only that but also the stability of the entire PC by pushing the CPU to its limit. At the moment I prefer stability over 10-15% boost in CPU power, unless that boost really makes a big difference.

So, I’m a little stuck here and not really sure what to do. Will it be worth spending a lot more cash on a more newer motherboard and more expensive ram for simply overclocking?

Just for the sake of comparison, this was the original motherboard I was looking at to get, http://www.supermicro.com/products/m...00/X7DCA-L.cfm - $280

Could really use the help, thanks.

Cheers,
Vic
 
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