What are you guys using to edit Af100 footage?

T

taras4444

Well-known member
Hi all, basically I am looking to get an af100 in a few weeks time, however this is my first venture into hd editing. I have edit 80 minute plus standard definition feature films on my current pc, but looking to upgrade as it can get a bit slow and I know hd will require a lot more power etc.
This is what I have it down to so far but obviously open to suggestions and advice:

For £1500 a dell alien ware laptop with the following specs:

Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64bit- English
Alienware M15x Gaming Laptop - Cosmic Black
Intel® Core™ i7 740QM (1.73 Ghz, 6MB, 4C)
1.5GB NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 460M
8192MB 1333MHz Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM [2x4096]
640GB (7,200rpm) Serial ATA Hard Drive
40cm (15.6") Wide Full HD Display (1920x1080)
DVD+/-RW (DVD, CD read and write) Slot Load Drive
Dell Wireless 370 Bluetooth Module
6-cell 56Whr Lithium Ion battery


Or the following pc for around £1400 (would have to get a good hd monitor though)

Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Processor i7-960 (3.20GHz) 4.8GTs/8MB
CacheMotherboard ASUS® P6X58D PREMIUM: DDR3, USB 3.0 & SATA 6.0GB/s, 3-Way SLIMemory
(RAM) 8GB SAMSUNG DDR3 DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 4GB)
Graphics Card 1GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 550 Ti - 2 DVI,HDMI,VGA - DX® 11, 3D Vision ReadyFree Item FREE Need For Speed™ World Starter Pack with any Nvidia® GTS450 or above!2nd Graphics Card NONE3rd Graphics Card NONEMemory -
1st Hard Disk 1TB SERIAL ATA 3-Gb/s HARD DRIVE WITH 16MB CACHE (7,200rpm)
2nd Hard Disk 1TB SERIAL ATA 3-Gb/s HARD DRIVE WITH 16MB CACHE (7,200rpm)
3rd Hard Disk 160GB INTEL® X25-M SERIES SSD, SATA 3 Gb/s (upto 250MB/sR | 100MB/sW)
RAID RAID 0 (STRIPED VOLUME - 2 x same size & model HDD / SSD) (£9)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive 24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM2nd DVD/BLU-RAY Drive NONEMemory Card Reader INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORTPower Supply CORSAIR 750W TX SERIES (TX750) 80+ ULTRA QUIET PSU (£89)
Processor Cooling SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE CPU COOLER (£19)Sound Card Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ Xtreme Audio (£32)Network Facilities ONBOARD 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCsUSB Options 6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARDModem NONE, I WILL BE USING BROADBANDFloppy Disk Drive NONEFirewire & Video Editing 1 x IEEE 1394a FIREWIRE PORT ONBOARDTV Card NONEOperating System Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79
Processor (CPU)​
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Processor i7-960 (3.20GHz) 4.8GTs/8MB Cache
Motherboard​
ASUS® P6X58D PREMIUM: DDR3, USB 3.0 & SATA 6.0GB/s, 3-Way SLI
Memory (RAM)​
8GB SAMSUNG DDR3 DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 4GB)
Graphics Card​
1GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 550 Ti - 2 DVI,HDMI,VGA - DX® 11, 3D Vision Ready
Free Item​
FREE Need For Speed™ World Starter Pack with any Nvidia® GTS450 or above!
2nd Graphics Card​
NONE
3rd Graphics Card​
NONE
Memory - 1st Hard Disk​
1TB SERIAL ATA 3-Gb/s HARD DRIVE WITH 16MB CACHE (7,200rpm)
2nd Hard Disk​
1TB SERIAL ATA 3-Gb/s HARD DRIVE WITH 16MB CACHE (7,200rpm)
3rd Hard Disk​
160GB INTEL® X25-M SERIES SSD, SATA 3 Gb/s (upto 250MB/sR | 100MB/sW)
RAID​
RAID 0 (STRIPED VOLUME - 2 x same size & model HDD / SSD) (£9)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive​
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
2nd DVD/BLU-RAY Drive​
NONE
Memory Card Reader​
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply​
CORSAIR 750W TX SERIES (TX750) 80+ ULTRA QUIET PSU (£89)
Processor Cooling​
SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE CPU COOLER (£19)
Sound Card​
Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ Xtreme Audio (£32)
Network Facilities​
ONBOARD 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs
USB Options​
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Modem​
NONE, I WILL BE USING BROADBAND
Floppy Disk Drive​
NONE
Firewire & Video Editing​
1 x IEEE 1394a FIREWIRE PORT ONBOARD
TV Card​
NONE
Operating System​
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Processor (CPU)​
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Processor i7-960 (3.20GHz) 4.8GTs/8MB Cache
Motherboard​
ASUS® P6X58D PREMIUM: DDR3, USB 3.0 & SATA 6.0GB/s, 3-Way SLI
Memory (RAM)​
8GB SAMSUNG DDR3 DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 4GB)
Graphics Card​
1GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 550 Ti - 2 DVI,HDMI,VGA - DX® 11, 3D Vision Ready
Free Item​
FREE Need For Speed™ World Starter Pack with any Nvidia® GTS450 or above!
2nd Graphics Card​
NONE
3rd Graphics Card​
NONE
Memory - 1st Hard Disk​
1TB SERIAL ATA 3-Gb/s HARD DRIVE WITH 16MB CACHE (7,200rpm)
2nd Hard Disk​
1TB SERIAL ATA 3-Gb/s HARD DRIVE WITH 16MB CACHE (7,200rpm)
3rd Hard Disk​
160GB INTEL® X25-M SERIES SSD, SATA 3 Gb/s (upto 250MB/sR | 100MB/sW)
RAID​
RAID 0 (STRIPED VOLUME - 2 x same size & model HDD / SSD) (£9)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive​
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
2nd DVD/BLU-RAY Drive​
NONE
Memory Card Reader​
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply​
CORSAIR 750W TX SERIES (TX750) 80+ ULTRA QUIET PSU (£89)
Processor Cooling​
SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE CPU COOLER (£19)
Sound Card​
Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ Xtreme Audio (£32)
Network Facilities​
ONBOARD 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs
USB Options​
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Modem​
NONE, I WILL BE USING BROADBAND
​
NONE
Firewire & Video Editing​
1 x IEEE 1394a FIREWIRE PORT ONBOARD
TV Card​
NONE
Operating System​
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)

Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Processor i7-960 (3.20GHz) 4.8GTs/8MB Cache
Motherboard​
ASUS® P6X58D PREMIUM: DDR3, USB 3.0 & SATA 6.0GB/s, 3-Way SLI
Memory (RAM)​
8GB SAMSUNG DDR3 DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 4GB)
Graphics Card​
1GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 550 Ti - 2 DVI,HDMI,VGA - DX® 11, 3D Vision Ready
Free Item​
FREE Need For Speed™ World Starter Pack with any Nvidia® GTS450 or above!
2nd Graphics Card​
NONE
3rd Graphics Card​
NONE
Memory - 1st Hard Disk​
1TB SERIAL ATA 3-Gb/s HARD DRIVE WITH 16MB CACHE (7,200rpm)
2nd Hard Disk​
1TB SERIAL ATA 3-Gb/s HARD DRIVE WITH 16MB CACHE (7,200rpm)
3rd Hard Disk​
160GB INTEL® X25-M SERIES SSD, SATA 3 Gb/s (upto 250MB/sR | 100MB/sW)
RAID​
RAID 0 (STRIPED VOLUME - 2 x same size & model HDD / SSD) (£9)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive​
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
2nd DVD/BLU-RAY Drive​
NONE
Memory Card Reader​
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply​
CORSAIR 750W TX SERIES (TX750) 80+ ULTRA QUIET PSU (£89)
Processor Cooling​
SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE CPU COOLER (£19)
Sound Card​
Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ Xtreme Audio (£32)
Network Facilities​
ONBOARD 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs
USB Options​
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Modem​
NONE, I WILL BE USING BROADBAND
Floppy Disk Drive​
NONE
Firewire & Video Editing​
1 x IEEE 1394a FIREWIRE PORT ONBOARD
TV Card​
NONE
Operating System​
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)

or finally the following 27inch i mac: which is like a grand more at £2500,
  • 2.93GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7
  • 8GB 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x4GB
  • 1TB Serial ATA Drive + 256GB Solid State Drive
  • 8x double-layer SuperDrive
  • ATI Radeon HD 5750 1GB GDDR5 SDRAM
  • Apple Wireless Keyboard (British) & User's Guide (English)
  • Magic Mouse

    I know their expensive but surely for that much extra money its not going to be thta much better?

    Be interesting to hear what you all think,

    Thanks Taras
 
I recommend Macs. Of course, I'm biased - used to work at an Apple store and have been using Macs since majored in film in college.
 
We're using Finale Cut Pro on Macs. If you stick PC, I believe that Adobe Premiere (CS5) works OK with the AF100 stuff.

jeff
 
I've got a Dell Vostro with i7 and AVCHD runs pretty smooth. Advantage of a PC is codec support. It just plays everything and file handling is much better on a PC.
 
I am using FCP on a 3.1ghz MBP, and transcode everything from the AF100 to proress422LT for editing, and find it to work great with the AF100 (and with DVCPROHD from the HVX/HPX). That said, if I was to start again from scratch, I would be really tempted to use CS5 on a machine with a CUDA video card that supports all the realtime native editing features, as with CS5 the magic really happens with having the right video card. I kinda want to switch to CS5 (especially for anything shot on RED), but my whole workflow is around FCP (as are my habits), and I dont have a pressing need to switch over right now...
 
editman said:
I've got a Dell Vostro with i7 and AVCHD runs pretty smooth. Advantage of a PC is codec support. It just plays everything and file handling is much better on a PC.
Click to expand...

Actually, my experience on the PC was that it really depended on the NLE and what it supported.
 
hey thanks for all the responses, so the three options i posted originally, most of you would go for the mac? Portability is a big issue for me so a mac book pro or a laptop would be ideal, however i worry about overheating and inability to upgrade etc, any one experience this?
 
The new macbook pros just came out. If you bought one right now, chances are you'll be able to use it for 3-5 years before you'll find yourself needing to upgrade to a new machine. Personally though I only edit on a laptop when I'm on the go or traveling...most of the time I use my MBP for in-field capture and that's it. I prefer to edit on a desktop with a 25-in display.
 
taras4444 said:
hey thanks for all the responses, so the three options i posted originally, most of you would go for the mac? Portability is a big issue for me so a mac book pro or a laptop would be ideal, however i worry about overheating and inability to upgrade etc, any one experience this?
Click to expand...

No real issues with overheating, I always use SMC fan control and keep my fans turned up to high when editing though. I must add that you REALLY need an external display if you are going the laptop route, I always use both my external 23" and my laptop when working, and find when in the field that the laptop display is really cramped. That said, as I have moved away from P2, I rarely bring my laptop on set anymore, and I kinda wish I went with a cheaper laptop for offloading and quick cuts, and a decent quad-core or better workstation at home for editing. Especially now that I am having to transcode my AVCHD footage to prores instead of editing DVCPROHD natively... I kinda find the transcode time on a dual core machine kinda a bummer. That said, editing the prores files is no problem, nor is playing the AVCHD files in VLC or whatever. I have never tried to edit AVCHD natively as I dont consider it a suitable codec for editing.

on edit: Also, it was kinda a bummer when CS5 came out to have top end laptop and not be able to use the mecury playback engine as the GPU was not supported nor upgrade the graphics card to one that could support it... I am pretty sure the only macs that support it though are Mac Pros with aftermarket NIVIDA CUDA cards, so that would be my recommendation of the way to go if you can afford it.
 
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Been using a MacBook Pro with FCP for years ... if you get the new MacBook Pro, then it will have the ThunderBolt port on it .. and there's a lot
of very cool boxes and storage options that are coming out for that.

I haven't had any problems with it overheating....

jeff
 
I use various Macs, MBP's to 8 core MP's with RAID5's, with FCP and my absolute favorite editing app, Media100, been using it since 1994.

It is rock solid fast an does not need to render the way FCP does. Not many editors use it but in my and a few other editors it is the best.

It only runs on Macs and is now owned by Boris. The price is about the same as FCP and like I said I use that too. It also works with AJA Matrox etc. Right along side of FCP. You can try it free for 15 days I believe. It is really easy to learn.

I also use After Effects a lot.
 
I run FCP on a macbook pro. I am about to upgrade to the new macbook pro. This one lasted me about four years, and at this point, I don't think this system can take too much more. Granted, I really abused it on some feature films, shorts, and a lot of freelance work.

I am far from being overly dedicated to Apple, but FCP is a solid platform. Also, I have experienced FCP to be marketable if you are considering professional work in post. This is especially true in documentary, and also what I have experienced in the indie film world.

Some other parts of the Final Cut Studio suite are worth learning. Apple Color is a great program; you can do a lot of great color design with it.

It is a pain to upgrade most any laptop, mac or not. I feel fine with the four years I got out of this system. I like that FCP has worked out for me with professional work, but I am not into the extra expense when buying a Mac.
 
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Finnegan said:
The new macbook pros just came out. If you bought one right now, chances are you'll be able to use it for 3-5 years before you'll find yourself needing to upgrade to a new machine. Personally though I only edit on a laptop when I'm on the go or traveling...most of the time I use my MBP for in-field capture and that's it. I prefer to edit on a desktop with a 25-in display.
Click to expand...

Ha! Sometimes with a doc, you are always on the go. I mostly edit with my large display now too though. Maybe I am getting older at last?

Edit: I just made the cut for "member" on dvxuser.
 
Hey thank you all for the input, I'll be sure to post my final decision on here before I buy anything. One more thing, what is the exact workflow with the af100 then? As a lot of people mention transcoding etc which i dont quite get. I'm use to using dv tapes where i simply upload the footage straight to adobe and bam start editing. Is there something i have to do first with af 100 footage? thanks taras
 
I import clips into Premiere and start to edit. Key advantage with Premiere is the excellent integration with AE and the great number of plugins to use with both Premiere and AE. It's a complete online suit and if you are on a PC you can even use Adobes Audition to do audio.
 
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