iMac for video editing?

[iantravell]

I am thinking of getting a 27" iMac and want to know if configuring it with 32GB of memory will allow me to edit video comfortably (able to scrub in realtime) on it using Adobe CS6 etc.

[mchoffa]

I'll know tuesday

[WrrN]

I don't use Adobe Premier, but I think it would work fine. I use FCP7 on a 2006 MBP and it runs without a glitch. Yes, it's slow to render, but edits run beautifully. I imagine the new iMac would outperform my system by at least 3 times.

[macuserpl]

Originally Posted by WrrN

I don't use Adobe Premier, but I think it would work fine. I use FCP7 on a 2006 MBP and it runs without a glitch. Yes, it's slow to render, but edits run beautifully. I imagine the new iMac would outperform my system by at least 3 times.

I think it is going to be working fine. I'm using FCP on my MacBook Pro, so I think that on iMac 32GB RAM it' gonna be amazing.

[Siderz]

Originally Posted by iantravell

I am thinking of getting a 27" iMac and want to know if configuring it with 32GB of memory will allow me to edit video comfortably (able to scrub in realtime) on it using Adobe CS6 etc.

It's not all about the RAM, and 32GB isn't going to make much of a difference than 8GB.

[chevalier433]

Originally Posted by Siderz

It's not all about the RAM, and 32GB isn't going to make much of a difference than 8GB.

Ram is very important in Adobe CS6.

[Siderz]

Originally Posted by chevalier433

Ram is very important in Adobe CS6.

RAM is important for every application.

You won't be able to run a computer without RAM.

[imacanon]

Originally Posted by Siderz

RAM is important for every application.

You won't be able to run a computer without RAM.

really??? useless comment.

of course RAM is needed, but maybe not 32gb...

[Siderz]

Originally Posted by imacanon

really??? useless comment.

of course RAM is needed, but maybe not 32gb...

Did you read the other replies? Or even the quote in that latest one?

[RichiMac]

Now, now, let's not fight over who has the bigger ram! lol

[Thuc5dides]

The answer is yes.

[mchoffa]

Did some premiere and after effects renders, and AE was maxing out my 32GB of ram! I'm sure if I only had 16 it would have only used 16, but I guess 32 made it render more quickly/efficiently?

Overall I'm very pleased with the machine for editing (I've done very little editing in my life so I'm not even an amateur at it, but maybe this machine will encourage me to get into it more).

Everything plays smoothly in real time and no problem doing other things without lag while premiere was rendering (AE was not quite as nice since it used all of my resources)

[Siderz]

Originally Posted by mchoffa

I've done very little editing in my life so I'm not even an amateur at it, but maybe this machine will encourage me to get into it more

If you don't edit much then why spend the money on 32GB RAM?

Not even professionals bother getting all that RAM...

People don't seem to realise how much 32GB RAM is. My iPad has 32GB storage...

[cwazytech]

Originally Posted by Siderz

It's not all about the RAM, and 32GB isn't going to make much of a difference than 8GB.

Ok. Then what would justify the need for 32gig of ram?

[mchoffa]

Originally Posted by Siderz

If you don't edit much then why spend the money on 32GB RAM?

Not even professionals bother getting all that RAM...

People don't seem to realise how much 32GB RAM is. My iPad has 32GB storage...

I got the ram because I DO spend all day, almost every day in photoshop, illustrator, etc and spend a good bit of time in aperture

I currently use 8gb of that ram as a ramdisk for photoshop to use as a scratch disk, so that brings me down to 24gb... aperture easily uses 4+ on its own since I've got a photo library of 30,000+ pictures. I've wanted to do video for some time, but I could barely do any video work on the old iMac and when I did I had to have everything else closed. Now I can mess around with video in between real work without interrupting my workflow.

as cheap as 32GB is, there is no reason NOT to max it out if you'll use it

[Siderz]

Originally Posted by cwazytech

Ok. Then what would justify the need for 32gig of ram?

Perhaps if you're running a server or rendering a lot of 3D stuff (Where you wouldn't go for a Mac anyway).

And no, 'future-proofing' isn't an excuse on the 27" because it's possible to upgrade RAM later.

You'd be better off going for 8GB right now, then later, when RAM gets cheaper, go up a level, maybe to 12GB.

If you're getting the 21.5" though, RAM isn't upgradable easily, so if you think you're gonna need 16GB one day, go for the 16GB.

[Siderz]

Originally Posted by mchoffa

I currently use 8gb of that ram as a ramdisk for photoshop to use as a scratch disk

That's pointless. The scratch disk on Photoshop is only used when you don't have enough RAM to perform a task. You run out of RAM, so Photoshop temporarily uses the allocated disk as RAM, slow but surely. Assigning the scratch disk to the RAM is just going to cause problems for other applications.

Originally Posted by mchoffa

aperture easily uses 4+ on its own since I've got a photo library of 30,000+ pictures

That 4GB is probably inactive RAM, not RAM actually being used. It's just being reserved for the application in case it needs it, but if another application needs RAM, Aperture will give up its reserved RAM for that application.

Originally Posted by mchoffa

as cheap as 32GB is, there is no reason NOT to max it out if you'll use it

32GB isn't very cheap, especially through Apple. But you're right; if you're going to use it all, there's no reason not to get it...other than the fact that only very few things will need such an amount...

[mchoffa]

Originally Posted by Siderz

That's pointless. The scratch disk on Photoshop is only used when you don't have enough RAM to perform a task. You run out of RAM, so Photoshop temporarily uses the allocated disk as RAM, slow but surely. Assigning the scratch disk to the RAM is just going to cause problems for other applications.

Everything I've read says otherwise. For example:
http://forums.adobe.com/message/4147073

I'm no expert on that end of things, but if lots of users are saying that PS uses the scratch disk no matter what you do, then I'll use a ramdisk until I get my external SSD

Originally Posted by Siderz

That 4GB is probably inactive RAM, not RAM actually being used. It's just being reserved for the application in case it needs it, but if another application needs RAM, Aperture will give up its reserved RAM for that application.

I keep a monitor running to see how much ram is in use and how much is free at all times in my menu bar (because my old iMac was bogging down constantly). When I said I was using it all up when After Effects was rendering, I really meant that all of it was in use. I got down to 50MB free at one point out of the whole 32GB. As soon as the render was complete, I went back to 24GB free. Aperture couldn't even open if I had Chrome/Photoshop open on my last system. I could predictably make my mac completely freeze up by opening a few memory hog applications at the same time.

Originally Posted by Siderz

32GB isn't very cheap, especially through Apple. But you're right; if you're going to use it all, there's no reason not to get it...other than the fact that only very few things will need such an amount...

I thought the same thing a few years back when I bought my last iMac and thought I wouldn't need 6GB of ram. Surely 4GB was enough... and until last week when the new one got here, I was fighting my iMac just to get work done.

16GB probably will be fine for most people for a few more years, but I don't want to have "just enough" since it's only $160 for 32gb right now (or $140 if you got it on cyber monday)

[Siderz]

Originally Posted by mchoffa

Everything I've read says otherwise. For example:
http://forums.adobe.com/message/4147073

I'm no expert on that end of things, but if lots of users are saying that PS uses the scratch disk no matter what you do, then I'll use a ramdisk until I get my external SSD

http://help.adobe.com/en_US/photosho...b64-748aa.html

Originally Posted by mchoffa

I got down to 50MB free at one point out of the whole 32GB. As soon as the render was complete, I went back to 24GB free.

That's most likely inactive RAM.

If you click the 'System Memory' tab on Activity Monitor, you'll see the different types of RAM in the lower left corner. The picture I have attached isn't a good example because there's barely any "Inactive" RAM, but sometimes the "Free" will plummet, but there'll be a high number for "Inactive".

To the right of that, there's also "Page outs", which tells you how much memory from the RAM has had to be transferred to the hard drive because there isn't enough. Mine's at 0, because I have enough RAM to cope with whatever I've done today.

Only if you have some data there do you actually require more RAM.

I suggest you turn your computer off every night if you don't already, this will purge the RAM entirely. If you keep it on, 'memory leaks' will occur. Often I will restart my computer before beginning any large tasks, that way any hidden applications will halt (Like Preview; Mountain Lion will keep Preview in the background for a while if you've used it, but keep it off the dock)

[tears2040]

Converting, Compressing multiple HD files and rewrapping to other codecs will eat through ANY amount of ram. Couple that with Coloring and Exporting through Red Cine and you're done.


32gb is a good amount so is 16gb, but I can eat through that Ram easily in a couple of hrs. Not always, but on certain days I easily have to restart 5+ times a day.

[mchoffa]

Originally Posted by Siderz

http://help.adobe.com/en_US/photosho...b64-748aa.html



That's most likely inactive RAM.

If you click the 'System Memory' tab on Activity Monitor, you'll see the different types of RAM in the lower left corner. The picture I have attached isn't a good example because there's barely any "Inactive" RAM, but sometimes the "Free" will plummet, but there'll be a high number for "Inactive".

To the right of that, there's also "Page outs", which tells you how much memory from the RAM has had to be transferred to the hard drive because there isn't enough. Mine's at 0, because I have enough RAM to cope with whatever I've done today.

Only if you have some data there do you actually require more RAM.

I suggest you turn your computer off every night if you don't already, this will purge the RAM entirely. If you keep it on, 'memory leaks' will occur. Often I will restart my computer before beginning any large tasks, that way any hidden applications will halt (Like Preview; Mountain Lion will keep Preview in the background for a while if you've used it, but keep it off the dock)

I am shutting down every night since I'm running 3 displays now. No use wasting all that power, and I have a freshly booted OS at the start of my workday.

I attached my activity monitor during an After Effects render just to show you how it uses it.

I also understand how photoshop is supposed to use ram and then scratch disk, but the general consensus seems to be that it actually does use scratch disk even before allocated ram is used and that using ramdisk or ssd scratch disk helps with that a lot. I haven't had to open big photoshop files since I got this iMac so I haven't been able to see how it works.

[dany74m]

Originally Posted by chevalier433

Ram is very important in Adobe CS6.

Yes 8GB is the minimum for using decently CS6, I raccomend 32gb considering that now the ram is very affordable its gonna make a big difference. Who edit usually keeps opened many programs in the same time so your workflow will benefit of extra ram. I edit with my 2011 IMAC 32gb , FULL HD footage very smoothly, so the new Imac will just do better.

[chevalier433]

Originally Posted by dany74m

Yes 8GB is the minimum for using decently CS6, I raccomend 32gb considering that now the ram is very affordable its gonna make a big difference. Who edit usually keeps opened many programs in the same time so your workflow will benefit of extra ram. I edit with my 2011 IMAC 32gb , FULL HD footage very smoothly, so the new Imac will just do better.

Yes specially after effects and photoshop.The most important I think is hard disk speed and you need 3 disk to edit properly app disk,scratch disk or render disk and footage disk.

[Ctrl2k]

Originally Posted by iantravell

I am thinking of getting a 27" iMac and want to know if configuring it with 32GB of memory will allow me to edit video comfortably (able to scrub in realtime) on it using Adobe CS6 etc.

32GB of memory has little to do with it. I was able to scrub in real time on the 2011 27" iMac with the AMD 6970, never mind with my newer machine.

[JRoDDz]

RAM is not everything for video editing. A fast i7 CPU and a fast Video Card is more important than having 32gb of ram. 16 is sufficient. Spend the extra on cpu and vid card.