Windows Editing Computer, any suggestions please?

R

RayFrisby

Well-known member
Hi I am in the process of buying Canopus Edius Broadcast 4 and was just wondering what people out there think is the best off the shelf system for editing on. Basically what do you think is the best type of processor Intel or AMD/ dual processor or dual core.
I'm not an editor so I am looking for a system under 5,000 Euro which can take the Canopus hardware too. I am thinking of getting a RAPTOR 150GB 10,000 RPM system drive and a 2.5 Tb G-Tech G-RAID Pro FireWire RAID for storage; or would I be better going for internal Serial ATA storage. One last question is the Panasonic BT-LH1700W a good enough monitor for critical color correction ?
Any suggestions would be appreciated !
 
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If you want a PC, build it.

I would go with an Intel Core 2 Duo (Not Core Duo, notice the "2"!).

http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/06/05/first_benchmarks_conroe_vs_fx-62/page6.html

There should be lots of support soon. Check out newegg.com.

Also, The G-Raid Pro is RAID 3. I'm partial to RAID 5:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redundant_array_of_independent_disks#RAID_3

Looking at the system/price, I'd say it's over-priced by about $1,000-$1,500US.

Check out (ReadyNAS NV) :http://infrant.com

Just my $0.02
 
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Is this for editing HVX footage?

I bought a simple Dell XPS 600 with a dual-core Pentium D 950, 2GBs of high-speed DDR, a 24-inch ultra-sharp flat-screen (wow!) and 500GB performance RAID (two 250GB drives internally). Plus I'm getting another TB worth of external firewire Maxtor drives. I use Adobe Premiere Pro + Aspect HD, and my system has more than enough power to do everything in real-time.


In fact, I'm very pleased with the setup so far.
 
I don't know the Apple screen well enough to compare but I utterly love this Dell 24" monitor!! It's astonishing.

Here's a digital pic I snapped of my Dell screen, which is being shot in real-time by my HVX...



I also do a little gaming for fun, and you should see Half-Life 2 on this monitor.... it's so wide and has such high res that it makes me seasick.
 
Tom Lowe said:
Is this for editing HVX footage?

I use Adobe Premiere Pro + Aspect HD, and my system has more than enough power to do everything in real-time.
Click to expand...

Just curious what version Premiere Pro are you using?
 
Premiere Pro 2.0. The only thing I am not happy about is that I am having a great deal of difficulty exporting MOVs. I can export everything else ok, but Quicktime is a pain. But I'm a noob so I'm probably doing something wrong.
 
Hi, David,

I've been very happy with Aspect HD and HD Link! My trial runs out soon and I will be purchasing your software, my friend!

tom
 
Thanks for the posts guys !
Yes Tom the system is for editing HVX footage and for taking the Canopus hardware too. I already have a Dell Inspiron P4 3.2 ghz Laptop that is great for SD but I need a good system capable of editing HD . I already have a 1TB Graid but am looking at a system capable of editing a T.V feature on. We are in preproduction at the moment and will probably use the Laptop to offload the footage to in the field in conjunction with the Graid. But I need a good computer capable of editing once back at base and one that has a reliable track record working with Canopus software and Hardware.
I am also looking at the Dell 24' (but also the BT-LH1700) for color correcting on, is the Dell suitable for this ?

I will prob go for 1Tb of internal storage (two 500 GB drives )and a fast 150GB Raptor 10,000 System drive.
Just wondering if the ReadyNAS NVcan stream HD if I use it as my main storage for Footage. Also can I back up my information to say a cheaper 300 or 500 Gb hard drive with it rather than burning DVD's.
http://infrant.com/

Once again any help would be apreciated.
 
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The BT-LH1700 is amazing, but it's in a different price league than the Dell 24". Someone with more knowledge than myself should answer whether the Dell screen is suitable for critical CC. Certainly the BT-LH1700 is.

I actually plan to edit an entire full-length feature on my 500GB Dell RAID desktop, downloading cards from my laptop on set to external USB2 drives as we shoot, then cutting out footage I don't need every evening on the Dell. Because the HVX files are actually so small and easy to deal with, the entire workflow can be contained on a laptop, desktop, and several external drives for backup and storage. In fact, using this process, I think by the time our 30-day movie shoot is over, I will have something close to a rough cut done, simply by editing as I go. This is not too different from what George Lucas did... except my budget and hardware are.... 2000 X cheaper. ;)
 
What about a macbook? I'm going to buy one to edit HD with FCP.. but also to have windows on the same system to do Windows Media Encoder for some webstreaming. Seems to be a great solution.. and why not get a mac too. Will be a bad ass windows system FINALLY... stable, reliable and beautiful... And then when ya want to go to the good side, there's the Mac all gleaming.. bright and glorious...
 
I would wait for the new Powermacs or the new Intel Woodcrest/Conroe chips. The Mac is the only machine which can handle all OS (including Linux) on the same computer and that´s really a great situation. That´s why, I am waiting for the announcement of the new PM (hopefully soon) and then I´ll make my decision to go with an HP Workstation or a new PM.

But I would not buy any Computer right now (beside the Mac Books maybe but not the Pro Version) and wait a few weeks. Intel is expected to release the first of the new Chips this week (Woodcrest) and I think you will get more bang for your buck after lunching the new Chip Generation (also AMD is expected to lower prices).
 
Thanks emu !! Does this mean that the new Intel Macs /G5 or whatever they decide to name name it would be capable of running both Window and Mac O/S and could run Canopus also? I'm afraid I'm on a bit of a learning curve when it comes to Editing.

Also does the idea of backing up to cheaper hard drives from the ReadyNAS NV make more sense than burning DVD's

http://infrant.com/
 
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Ray - Short answer is, "Yes".
The longer answer is, "but not at the same time". - you have to boot into one or the other OS, at the moment.

Bear in mind that you could also have a Linux distro loaded onto another disc as well.
 
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