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2012 imac for a video editor

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PavelT

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 12, 2012
104
4
hello guys im hoping some people can help me on my path to finding the right fit for me to buy.at first i was going to buy the 27' imac, but then used a 2011 one for a week and i got tired of its size, its just too big for me. so i realized i need a 21'imac its the perfect size for me........now, i am going to use this imac for general stuff but i am video editor, i mainly use final cut pro, motion, compressor, and some photoshop and i multitask a whole lot. but i will need my focus to be on editing in final cut pro with multi audio and hd video tracks,etc...so i need the best bang for my buck with the apple prices so ridiculously high. i wanted to get the 2012 imac because i do want usb 3.0 and thunderbolt and new processor, as it would help for editing speeds?.. i was thinking about getting the top spec 21' with standard 5400 harddrive (i dont trust fusion drive for the extra money), upgrade to 16gb ram, and upgrade to i7 and it comes to about 1875$!!! :( and later buy a external ssd to boot off the os from.. what do you guys think.?
 
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Zwhaler

macrumors 604
Jun 10, 2006
7,093
1,565
What kind of video are you editing? It's really nice to have the extra screen space if you plan on doing (or eventually doing) pro video editing. The 27" has more than just screen space, it has better processor, etc. but you already know that. If you are set on the 21.5 I would get the fusion drive for longevity, plus it will speed up your workflow, maybe not a whole lot but it will make some difference. 16GB of RAM will be good enough. You'll definitely want the best processor and I would reconsider the 27" unless you 100% don't want it. If you deal with 1080p or higher it can be important to have a large enough screen to work with this higher res media in full frame. The 27" has an option for a better video card as well which will help in video editing, too. Since you are leaning toward the 21.5 just be aware even with everything maxed out the GPU isn't all that powerful, although your editing experience won't be completely ruined because you'll be playing back downscaled media anyway.
 
D

dany74m

macrumors member
Aug 5, 2012
84
0
Los Angeles - California
PavelT said:
hello guys im hoping some people can help me on my path to finding the right fit for me to buy.at first i was going to buy the 27' imac, but then used a 2011 one for a week and i got tired of its size, its just too big for me. so i realized i need a 21'imac its the perfect size for me........now, i am going to use this imac for general stuff but i am video editor, i mainly use final cut pro, motion, compressor, and some photoshop and i multitask a whole lot. but i will need my focus to be on editing in final cut pro with multi audio and hd video tracks,etc...so i need the best bang for my buck with the apple prices so ridiculously high. i wanted to get the 2012 imac because i do want usb 3.0 and thunderbolt and new processor, as it would help for editing speeds?.. i was thinking about getting the top spec 21' with standard 5400 harddrive (i dont trust fusion drive for the extra money), upgrade to 16gb ram, and upgrade to i7 and it comes to about 1875$!!! :( and later buy a external ssd to boot off the os from.. what do you guys think.?
Click to expand...

I am a video editor too, and I highly suggest you the 27". When you have to work your footage, you will need many panels for editing, color correction, audio bla bal.... and the 21.5" will not be enough. Even with the 27" sometime I wish to have a bigger or a second monitor.
 
P

PavelT

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 12, 2012
104
4
Zwhaler said:
What kind of video are you editing? It's really nice to have the extra screen space if you plan on doing (or eventually doing) pro video editing. The 27" has more than just screen space, it has better processor, etc. but you already know that. If you are set on the 21.5 I would get the fusion drive for longevity, plus it will speed up your workflow, maybe not a whole lot but it will make some difference. 16GB of RAM will be good enough. You'll definitely want the best processor and I would reconsider the 27" unless you 100% don't want it. If you deal with 1080p or higher it can be important to have a large enough screen to work with this higher res media in full frame. The 27" has an option for a better video card as well which will help in video editing, too. Since you are leaning toward the 21.5 just be aware even with everything maxed out the GPU isn't all that powerful, although your editing experience won't be completely ruined because you'll be playing back downscaled media anyway.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply. yeah i will be editing 720p and 1080i video mainly. i have been editing on my 21.5' for a while now and i dont find it a deal breaker inconvenience for screen space. i am always hiding one application, then hiding another, and pulling up another, and so on. i am used to that. i have also used two screens, and i think thats more comfortable than the 27' in my face. i have about almost 2 feet (21 inches exactly) from me to computer screen on my desk. also the price is scary at $2000+upgrades+taxes. it would have to make it at least 30% faster for me to consider the 27'....but what do you mean the 27' has a better processor? dont they have the same chip?..i would upgrade the 21.5' to 1-7 also....if i got the 27', i wouldnt be able to afford the i7 upgrade.
 
Z

Zwhaler

macrumors 604
Jun 10, 2006
7,093
1,565
PavelT said:
Thanks for the reply. yeah i will be editing 720p and 1080i video mainly. i have been editing on my 21.5' for a while now and i dont find it a deal breaker inconvenience for screen space. i am always hiding one application, then hiding another, and pulling up another, and so on. i am used to that. i have also used two screens, and i think thats more comfortable than the 27' in my face. i have about almost 2 feet (21 inches exactly) from me to computer screen on my desk. also the price is scary at $2000+upgrades+taxes. it would have to make it at least 30% faster for me to consider the 27'....but what do you mean the 27' has a better processor? dont they have the same chip?..i would upgrade the 21.5' to 1-7 also....if i got the 27', i wouldnt be able to afford the i7 upgrade.
Click to expand...

It has the option for a better processor, but if you're comfortable with your render times then it doesn't matter, plus you have already ruled it out, essentially.
 
H

HurtinMinorKey

macrumors 6502
Jan 18, 2012
439
171
If you plan on ever editing RAW video you'll find the graphics cards on the 21 incher woefully inadequate. Even the 680mx in the 27 doesn't do that well with programs like Resolve.
 
Yebubbleman

Yebubbleman

macrumors 603
May 20, 2010
5,789
2,379
Los Angeles, CA
PavelT said:
hello guys im hoping some people can help me on my path to finding the right fit for me to buy.at first i was going to buy the 27' imac, but then used a 2011 one for a week and i got tired of its size, its just too big for me. so i realized i need a 21'imac its the perfect size for me........now, i am going to use this imac for general stuff but i am video editor, i mainly use final cut pro, motion, compressor, and some photoshop and i multitask a whole lot. but i will need my focus to be on editing in final cut pro with multi audio and hd video tracks,etc...so i need the best bang for my buck with the apple prices so ridiculously high. i wanted to get the 2012 imac because i do want usb 3.0 and thunderbolt and new processor, as it would help for editing speeds?.. i was thinking about getting the top spec 21' with standard 5400 harddrive (i dont trust fusion drive for the extra money), upgrade to 16gb ram, and upgrade to i7 and it comes to about 1875$!!! :( and later buy a external ssd to boot off the os from.. what do you guys think.?
Click to expand...

If you're doing video editing, the Fusion Drive is a no-brainer. Either that or get a 27". It's not that a 5400 RPM drive will be THAT bad, nor does it really matter too much given that most of the footage you'd ideally work with would be on an external. But when it comes to using the actual program itself, it helps to have a faster drive. Fusion helps tremendously, and on a machine that now HAS to have a 5400 2.5" drive, that's the best call.

As for speeds, yes, accessing your footage from USB 3 and/or Thunderbolt will be much faster over USB 2 and FireWire 800.
 
P

PavelT

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 12, 2012
104
4
Zwhaler said:
It has the option for a better processor, but if you're comfortable with your render times then it doesn't matter, plus you have already ruled it out, essentially.
Click to expand...

what do you mean better processor on the 27? both i7 chips boost to 3.9ghz...and i was baseing the option to upgrade from i5 to i7, solely based on the fact that i5 doesnt have hyperthreading and i7 does. i figured the i7 hyperthreading would make video editing times much faster for the extra $180-200 bucks.. is this correct? or not worth it?
 
Z

Zwhaler

macrumors 604
Jun 10, 2006
7,093
1,565
PavelT said:
what do you mean better processor on the 27? both i7 chips boost to 3.9ghz...and i was baseing the option to upgrade from i5 to i7, solely based on the fact that i5 doesnt have hyperthreading and i7 does. i figured the i7 hyperthreading would make video editing times much faster for the extra $180-200 bucks.. is this correct? or not worth it?
Click to expand...

I was referring to the previous gen model. If the 2012 shares the same top end i7 between 21.5 and 27", than you'll be set with rendering on an iMac whichever screen size you go with.
 
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