• Wondering which camera, gear, computer, or software to buy? Ask in our Gear Guide.

$5000 for an editing workstation?

N

noumena

Let's say you were making a 90 min indie film with nothing 3D and limited to no CGI and you had $5000 max to put together the best possible editing workstation for the job. Can anyone with lots of experience offer their advice? I've been looking at this http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/860765-REG/Apple_Mac_Pro_Adobe_CS6_Premiere.html and would add a 27" monitor. Thoughts?

I've actually only acquired my GH3 and not begun shooting yet but, due to an unforeseen macbook blowout will need to buy my new computer six months sooner than anticipated.
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
What AWFUL specs for that price... I have a much better PC and I paid $1500 roughly. Damn that's immensely over-priced.
That Xeon Quad-Core processor is rubbish, plus that build only has 6GB of RAM...
No, don't buy that, it's junk.

I have an i7 processor that's literally twice as fast at that, 16 gigs of RAM, a solid state drive and a hard drive (solid state drives (SSD) work at 500 to 600mb per second, hard disk drives (HDD) work at 40 maximum, that desktop only has hard drives).
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0 Downvote
Yeah, unless you feel VERY confident that you're about to be a professional editor, I see no reason for a computer like that, what with all the extra hard drives, etc. And then you still have to buy the monitor?

You don't need all that for editing a feature. Something like this will perform admirably -- http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/897219-REG/Apple_27_iMac_Desktop_Computer.html. I would want to add an external hard drive, but those aren't expensive. Install Premiere, and you're ready to rock!

Also, I don't know if you're required to use CS6 ($750), but if I were in your shoes, I would be VERY tempted by Creative Cloud. Fifty bucks per month, and you get the entire suite? Seems much more affordable to me.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Radical. So you think a new Imac is fine rather than a Mac Pro? I tend to head to overkill due to nerves and have been working on MBPs for six years now, so desktops seem foreign and daunting all over again.....

Thankfully I've already got cloud, so I am good to go on that front.

How much RAM would you add?

Thanks!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
noumena said:
Radical. So you think a new Imac is fine rather than a Mac Pro? I tend to head to overkill due to nerves and have been working on MBPs for six years now, so desktops seem foreign and daunting all over again.....

Thankfully I've already got cloud, so I am good to go on that front.

How much RAM would you add?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Before we go too much further, I think I should point out that I'm a PC guy, so you should definitely talk to someone more familiar with Macs before making a purchase. Hypothetically, there might be a compatibility issue somewhere, but as I understand Macs, they don't really have compatibility issues the way that PCs do. So, I can't imagine that'd be a problem, but of course it'd be wise to double-check.

The only thing I can comment on is the specs of any Mac, be it an iMac or Mac Pro -- the overall performance should be comparable to a PC with the same specs. Anyway, I edit with 8GB RAM, and a dual-core 2.7 processor. The Mac I recommended is better than that, and my computer is more than enough to edit a feature. You might consider spending a few extra bucks on more storage and memory.

RAM really makes a big difference. I did a quick configuration at the Mac store, and found that it's only $150 to upgrade to 16GB. Hell yeah, that's totally worth it, and you'll love the extra speed!

As I mentioned, you are gonna want more than one single TB of storage. An upgrade to 3TB might be a wise move, but you'd still want an external HD, if only for backup. Also, the larger monitor size makes a big difference. You can edit on a smaller screen, it's just not a very pleasant experience.

Anyway, off the top of my head, this is what I'd get if I were in your shoes:

screenhunter01may270007.jpg


Mind you, I spent about five minutes researching the subject, and you should obviously spend more time on it than that. I'm just saying that those particular specs I am confident you'd be very satisfied with.

As for iMac vs Mac Pro, as far as I can see it's pretty much just a question of whether you'll want to add more upgrades in the future, no? Is there really any other reason to get a Mac Pro?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Cracker Funk said:
Mind you, I spent about five minutes researching the subject, and you should obviously spend more time on it than that.
Click to expand...

Oh hell yeah. Its just that my MBP suddenly died today and so I am dipping my toe into beginning to sort out what I will need to buy to get a rough ballpark estimate and start planning. But, yes, I intend to do quite a bit more research.

You've given me a good bit to chew on. Thanks so much!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I use a late-2011 27" iMac w/ a 2.7GHz i5 running Avid Media Composer, Adobe After Effects, Illustrator and Photoshop, Pro Tools, DaVinci Lite and RedCine X.

It works great. Keep in mind, it's a dedicated editing machine, so I don't even have Office installed, but it works fine for what I need. Upgrade to the i7 and get 8GB+ of RAM and you'll be set.

If you really want, grab a Thunderbolt RAID array, and you'll never have data worries. You definitely don't need to spend that kind of money unless you're seriously looking to be a freelance editor and charge your service out, but then your rate would cover the cost of the computer.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Price comparisons out of the window (since I use PC), I recommend to everyone that they get a SSD. The speed you gain from using one for your OS and programs/apps is immense and worth every penny. Get 128gb or more and you'll be set, then use HDDs to store everything else on.
My PC's speed rating is literally off the chart (Window's test that gives you numbers from 1 to 7). When you get a fast computer, the physical limitations of HDDs becomes a serious bottleneck in the system. Trust me on that, you won't regret it. Just make sure the read speed of your SSD is 500mb or more because some aren't that fast, write speed is less important since you'll be installing things on it only once then never writing to it again outside of software updates. :)
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Personally, I spent $10+K on the Mac Pro, $1400+ on the 16TB RAID5 array, $1300 for the OWC Mercury Accelsior_E2 PCI Express SSD, a few bucks on the cables, $1K for the monitor, $180 for the external eSata2 BD-RW drive and an extra $60 on the old fashioned crumb-catcher keyboard Apple doesn't make any more (because it's my favorite that's why). Getting out my calculator, I'm pretty darn shocked what I've spent on this one item alone and this is only half of what I spent on just the setup (the editing box)... I've spend almost as much on the camera and all the accessories for it (including chroma green room). I'm a bad boy.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Oh, and just one FYI; you need to stay away from the new iMacs. They have replaced the 3.5in 6G drives in the order models with 2.5in 3G notebook hard drives that run at 5200RPM. MUCH SLOWER. Also, the new screens are not bolted in, they're merely glued in cheaply. It's not known whether or not they will "come apart" at will, but with this level of cheapness that Apple is now putting into their products (Steve Jobs would NEVER have allowed this), this is one item to stay AWAY from when looking for an editing box. Always go with the Pro. Mac Pro that is.

Go to macsales.com, purchase an OWC Mercury Accelsior_E2 PCI Express SSD of your choice and connect it to one of their Mercury Elite Pro Qx2 4-bay RAID5 solutions with the built-in eSata2 connection in the PCIe SSD card.

For an editing box (if you decide to go Mac), this is the cheapest way to do it.

Oh, het's not forget the price of FCPX and the two addon accessories for it too.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
jax_rox said:
I use a late-2011 27" iMac w/ a 2.7GHz i5 running Avid Media Composer, Adobe After Effects, Illustrator and Photoshop, Pro Tools, DaVinci Lite and RedCine X.

It works great. Keep in mind, it's a dedicated editing machine, so I don't even have Office installed, but it works fine for what I need. Upgrade to the i7 and get 8GB+ of RAM and you'll be set.

If you really want, grab a Thunderbolt RAID array, and you'll never have data worries. You definitely don't need to spend that kind of money unless you're seriously looking to be a freelance editor and charge your service out, but then your rate would cover the cost of the computer.
Click to expand...

Just out of curiosity, do you do internet stuff on this computer? Or anything else or do you purely have film related things installed on it?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Loud Orange Cat said:
Personally, I spent $10+K on the Mac Pro, $1400+ on the 16TB RAID5 array, $1300 for the OWC Mercury Accelsior_E2 PCI Express SSD, a few bucks on the cables, $1K for the monitor, $180 for the external eSata2 BD-RW drive and an extra $60 on the old fashioned crumb-catcher keyboard Apple doesn't make any more (because it's my favorite that's why). Getting out my calculator, I'm pretty darn shocked what I've spent on this one item alone and this is only half of what I spent on just the setup (the editing box)... I've spend almost as much on the camera and all the accessories for it (including chroma green room). I'm a bad boy.
Click to expand...

Dude, I hope you made some kick ass movies to justify all this. Where are they ? :D

@OP : Do you REALLY need to stay on MAC ?

Everybody is moving away from MAC (Freddiew for one). If for some reason, you have absolutely no other choice, then go hackintosh buy don't buy a mac workstation. There's absolutely no advantage to it.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I don't see any reason to move away from Mac, but there is a developer event in June where they usually announce new products. The Mac Pro hasn't really been updated since 2011 even that was minor) and is past due for a major upgrade.

Personally, as a Mac user, I'd buy used. Stick whatever new hard drives and memory in yourself. Don't skimp on a display! And if you go Adobe, a NVIDIA cuda card is nice, shop around for those too.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
MileCreations said:
Just out of curiosity, do you do internet stuff on this computer? Or anything else or do you purely have film related things installed on it?
Click to expand...
I have Safari, which is pre-installed, as well as Firefox and Mail. I think internet is pretty necessary - when you get e-mailed something to be included in an edit, or need to download some music for something, it's much easier and quicker to simply fire up Mail or Safari and do it instantly, rather than having to do it on the laptop and transfer the file/s.

I have a new Macbook Pro Retina for on-location stuff, including data wrangling/DIT-type stuff (for the productions that want it) and an old '09 Macbook Pro which I use for everything else.


TheArtist said:
Everybody is moving away from MAC (Freddiew for one). If for some reason, you have absolutely no other choice, then go hackintosh buy don't buy a mac workstation. There's absolutely no advantage to it.
Click to expand...

Everybody is..? Absolutely every single person? :P Someone better tell Apple!

Seriously though, there's no reason to move away from mac if that's what you like and are used to. Still most creative houses are based around macs, and many colouring systems are based around Linux, rather than a traditional Windows PC.

I do think an SSD is a good idea - have your boot drive as an SSD, and then you can add 7200rpm HDDs as needed (perhaps in a Thunderbolt RAID array).
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Freddiew is a YouTube guy, and Nofilmschool is fine, but neither are really professional editors, so taking their word for what system to use to edit is perhaps not quite taking advice from the best people to take advice from.

Hackintosh's can bes tupidly unstable, and I would never use a Hackintosh in any kind of professional setting.
Funny thing is, Bootcamp tends to run Windows better than a PC, and there are tests that have proven it. Weird, huh.

It's not that big a deal, but if you're used to mac, I see no need to change for the sake of change..
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
The Mac Pros have not been updated for a while for these reasons:

1) They have been pulled from the market in Europe due to EU regulations on (lead?) or something like that. They will be replaced soon with a new replacement series to be announced June 10.
2) On June 10, they will (it's claimed) that they will replace the Mac Pro here in the USA with the new model also. It's claimed they're moving from 6 cores per processor to 8 with a new box design, but we'll see about that.

If you CAN wait, I would suggest waiting until the new stuff comes out soon. My Mac Pro is 3.5 years old and I plan on getting a new one if they truly go to 8 cores per CPU. With hyperthreading, that's 32 threads per box. With 64GB of RAM, an OWC PCIe Mercury Accelsior card to replace the internal hard drive will make this the fastest home PC on Earth. Yes, I will buy one.

This is the card I have: http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/SSD/PCIe/OWC/Mercury_Accelsior/RAID
I cannot recommend it more. It's simply plug and play and the fastest thing you'll ever use.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
jax_rox said:
Freddiew is a YouTube guy, and Nofilmschool is fine, but neither are really professional editors, so taking their word for what system to use to edit is perhaps not quite taking advice from the best people to take advice from.

Hackintosh's can bes tupidly unstable, and I would never use a Hackintosh in any kind of professional setting.
Funny thing is, Bootcamp tends to run Windows better than a PC, and there are tests that have proven it. Weird, huh.

It's not that big a deal, but if you're used to mac, I see no need to change for the sake of change..
Click to expand...

First, Freddiew makes a living out of filmmaking. By definition, it' makes him a profesional. Just because it's for YouTube doesn't make it any less professional than anyone else. I'd take advice from him before anyone else in the industry because he's much closer to where we come from than any industry dweller. OP is looking for a computer to edit his feature, there's nothing more professional in it than me or you or freddiew.

As for mac, it's not just changing for the sake of changing. It's because it's more expensive for near zero gain. The only reason you'd stick with MAC is because you value OSX a lot more than Windows 7 and that you have the money to back up this preference (a mac setup easily costs double of what you'd get on a PC).
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top