Computer for video editing
- Thread starter JoeBloggs
- Start date
bomberboysk
Active Member
You will need a good amount of memory(6gb/8gb depending on whether core 2 quad or i7), a solid power supply, a decent gpu(GTX 275/285), a good cpu(Core 2 quad Q9450/9550/9650 or Core i7 dependant upon budget). We could help ya out with a parts list if you knew the budget you were aiming for, if it needs a monitor or os, etc.
realmike15
New Member
this is spot on advice!
does your friend need monitor help as well? i hope he's not planning on using your typical run of the mill $200 LCD. he's looking to do 1080P editing, which means he probably wants something fairly large (like 24" or larger), but color accuracy is important here too. what is his budget for the monitor?
dannaswolcott
New Member
Buy a MAC? lol... I would say good cpu, ram, video card and hard drive is needed. I would go 4gb ram , 64bit os, 1-2TB hard drive space.
bomberboysk
Active Member
Yeah, for video editing you will want a high quality lcd, samsung/asus are alright, but you need to think about something like a higher end NEC. Plus if 1080p video is being edited, you will want a display ABOVE 1920x1080.
realmike15
New Member
to elaborate a little more, here are two very nice monitors, that would be considered professional grade... suited for Video Editing and Graphic Design. is your friend a hobbyist, or is this a professional application? if he's doing this professionally.... i would recommend these two highly
http://www.lacie.com/us/products/range.htm?id=10016
LaCie is a highly respected LCD maker in the video editing world. they don't make any low grade monitors... as you can see by the $1000 minimum price tag, they are suited for professionals who demands the best
http://www.necdisplay.com/Products/Series/?series=f52d7f47-df4d-4223-b75e-c23e8b085ed7
the NEC SpectraView II are another model you could check out. very highly rated, and again you're looking at spending around a $1000 for one of these.
note the RGB and NTSC ratings associated with these panels. very important when talking about color accuracy and other specs.
bomberboysk
Active Member
+1, excellent advice.
brendanmelanson
New Member
Basically you need one powerful rig. I imagine he's going to want to be able to not only edit videos, but at the same time multi-task! So, here are my recommendations:
2.60GHz processor at-least: Intel is better by just a tad bit performance wise, AMD is better for price!
512MB Graphics card at-least: nVidia gets a few more frames but ATI is the cheaper brand!
3GB DDR3 RAM: Midas well keep him ahead of the curb
I would also say a good strong PSU and power bar to protect that investment. Not only that, you should make sure that it's got a light-scribe burner capable of DVD's/CD's/BD's just in-case he ever did want to step up the game from just DVD's if he does burn any of them
As said before a good LCD is needed! I would recommend any Samsung and wide-screen really brings the experience that much closer.
Windows Vista 64-BIT Ultimate wouldn't be a bad operating system but he'd get a little bit further with Windows Seven running from BETA's until it's retail!
2.60GHz processor at-least: Intel is better by just a tad bit performance wise, AMD is better for price!
512MB Graphics card at-least: nVidia gets a few more frames but ATI is the cheaper brand!
3GB DDR3 RAM: Midas well keep him ahead of the curb
I would also say a good strong PSU and power bar to protect that investment. Not only that, you should make sure that it's got a light-scribe burner capable of DVD's/CD's/BD's just in-case he ever did want to step up the game from just DVD's if he does burn any of them
As said before a good LCD is needed! I would recommend any Samsung and wide-screen really brings the experience that much closer.
Windows Vista 64-BIT Ultimate wouldn't be a bad operating system but he'd get a little bit further with Windows Seven running from BETA's until it's retail!
Video Computer
Thanks for the feedback. I asked about budget and hes not sure he wants it as cheap as possible but has absolutely no idea of the cost of components etc so didnt want to say build a machine for $800 when this could be totally unrealistic. He needs to be able to take feeds from different sources such as 3 live cameras, dvd, slideshow and show one on the screen at a certain point in time with smooth transitioning between each feed. ie he cant open up powerpoint show a photo slideshw and then close it down and open premiere and show his video edit. What sort of hardware would take care of these? Not too sure on what the operating system would be but i know it would have to be a version of windows as hes got licenses for a number of windows applications.
Thanks for the feedback. I asked about budget and hes not sure he wants it as cheap as possible but has absolutely no idea of the cost of components etc so didnt want to say build a machine for $800 when this could be totally unrealistic. He needs to be able to take feeds from different sources such as 3 live cameras, dvd, slideshow and show one on the screen at a certain point in time with smooth transitioning between each feed. ie he cant open up powerpoint show a photo slideshw and then close it down and open premiere and show his video edit. What sort of hardware would take care of these? Not too sure on what the operating system would be but i know it would have to be a version of windows as hes got licenses for a number of windows applications.
tlarkin
VIP Member
GPUs have little if nothing to do with video editing. It is going to be processor and RAM intensive.
I suggest you get a Mac and get Final Cut Studio and Shake.
realmike15
New Member
i'm not really familiar with live video feed I/O hardware, if he knows what sort of configuration he'll be using to directly connect all those devices to a computer, please share.
however, i think an i7 system would be great, considering even if it is a little more than he needs... he has room to expand and still run smoothly. i think 6GB of RAM is a nice starting point, since Premiere is quite a hefty program, and i'm sure live 1080P feeds are slightly intensive on your system. dvd media and slide shows will be less intensive.
couple more questions, and i'll be glad to try and help the best i can. i'm in the Pro Audio field, which although not directly related... is in fact very closely related.
does this system need to be mobile? is it going in a studio? will he be storing 3 live feeds of 1080P data in real time? how is he planning on actually connected 3 live cameras to his computer, does he have an I/O system picked out? firewire aint gonna cut it.
I dont think he knows yet how he can connect them to the computer. I think he wants to be able to use the computer to edit the video but at another point the computer could be used to control what feeds are displayed on a projector during an event. I would assume that he would also be taking a copy of the video live but through a seperate recorder not through the computer.
bomberboysk
Active Member
Premier though... doesnt it have gpu acceleration? As gpu's are much more powerful/paralell than cpu's...
tlarkin
VIP Member
GPUs help and assist with real time rendering and direct X, not loading and editing video. Your main performance pieces are going to be processor, RAM and hard drive, with hard disk I/O being your largest bottle neck.
GPUs that are built for gaming tend to help out mostly for gaming and only marginally in other areas of computing.
That is why movie studios do video editing on dual Xeon work stations, they don't have the need for high end gaming cards so they don't use them.
Also, there is a whole other line of video cards which are built for work stations and 3D rendering and such and they suck at games. Nvidia has a line of them called Quadro, which aren't for gaming at all but would kick a gaming video cards ass to Tienanmen Square and back when it comes to 3D rendering in say Maya.
Also with multi core CPUs most of them do not use parallel processing they use distributed processing.
This is why I recommend using a Mac for video editing. You get access to all video editing software/plug ins and you get access to Final Cut and Shake which are Mac only and are bad ass programs.
realmike15
New Member
yea, i think he's thinking of older versions of premiere. even photoshop uses GPU acceleration now.
edit: here's an article
http://techreport.com/discussions.x/15571
tlarkin
VIP Member
Only marginally does it utilize that stuff. You put up a Core 2 quad or an i7 and a top of the line gaming card versus a Xeon and a mediocre video card the Xeon should whoop it's ass in video editing.
Like I said, there are work station cards that do help out, but they aren't gaming cards. Gaming video cards only really help boost performance in gaming, and only marginally in other areas of computing.
If you wanted to get a Quadro card, then yes that may help out but I think the money is better spent on Processor and lots of RAM and super fast HDs.
*SIGH*
Yes I have read up on the CUDA technology, actually CUDA technology is really damn old Apple has been using it for over a decade in their computers. It still doesn't compare to a high end work station with high end processor, RAM and super fast hard drives.
bomberboysk
Active Member
I noticed vast improvements in the areas where gpu acceleration helps out in photoshop cs4 vs cs3.... As the gpu acceleration uses opengl, which works the same essentially on workstation cards and gaming cards. Workstation drivers dont benefit premier in any way, unlike say, 3d modeling programs.
Info Here:
http://techreport.com/discussions.x/15571
http://www.fudzilla.com/index.php?Itemid=34&id=9602&option=com_content&task=view
Last edited:
realmike15
New Member
i'm not saying he shouldn't get a video editing card instead of a gaming card, i'm trying to get some details on what he is trying to do first. i am however saying that the correct card can make vast improvements to his performance in premiere. everyone here is telling him to go with an i7 system... so i'm not sure why you keep telling him to get a better CPU or more RAM... our suggestions are practically reaching the limits as it is. therefore logic would say that improving the graphics card choice would be the next best option.
bomberboysk
Active Member
CUDA isnt apple, CUDA is an SDK developed in 2007 by nvidia for nvidia graphics cards to accelerate programs normally used by the cpu.... and its what premier uses, which works the same on workstation and standard "gaming" cards(eg- Folding@Home uses cuda)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CUDA