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Anyone 4k Editing on the New iMac 5k

R

Ray&Paula

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 12, 2015
188
7
Looking at the new iMac 5k for video editing 1080 and 4k. I would max it out as follows;

iMac with Retina 5K display
Hardware:
4.0GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost up to 4.4GHz
32GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 4x8GB
1TB Flash (SSD)
AMD Radeon R9 M295X 4GB GDDR5
Apple Magic Mouse
Apple Wireless Keyboard (English) & User's Guide

Storage:
PROMISE Pegasus2 R4 8TB (4 by 2TB) Thunderbolt 2 RAID System
http://store.apple.com/us/product/HE151VC/A/promise-pegasus2-r4-8tb-4-by-2t...

Software:
Final Cut Pro X
Pages, Numbers, Keynote
iPhoto, iMovie, GarageBand
OS X

Basically, I'm looking for smooth 1080 and/or 4k editing along with a UHD monitor. Actual final rendering output is not an issue. The maxed out iMac with the 27" 5k retina display, thunderbolt 2 storage and running FCP X certainly seems like it would fit my situation/use. I'm not editing raw 4K and/or using RED camera's, therefore I don't need a ton of processing power.
My current equipment is as follows;
Sony PXW-X70 using 10bit 4:2:2 with 4k upgrade on the way.
Canon 7D DSLR
I would like to hear from those of you that are currently using the new iMac 5k as I am planning to. If you are, could you give your thoughts, experience of the following? Your help would be most appreciated. Thanks in advance, Ray
1) How is it handling FCP X?
2) Are you running other software for example; Motion 5, DaVinci Resolve, etc.?
3) How is it handling effects, transitions, music, pictures, etc.?
4) Any lagging, hiccups, etc.?
5) Is it quiet enough to do voiceovers?
6) Any external drives? If so, how do you have your external hard drives configured along with what each one is used for?
 
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Ray&Paula said:
Looking at the new iMac 5k for video editing 1080 and 4k. I would max it out as follows;

iMac with Retina 5K display
Hardware:
4.0GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost up to 4.4GHz
32GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 4x8GB
1TB Flash (SSD)
AMD Radeon R9 M295X 4GB GDDR5
Apple Magic Mouse
Apple Wireless Keyboard (English) & User's Guide

Storage:
PROMISE Pegasus2 R4 8TB (4 by 2TB) Thunderbolt 2 RAID System
http://store.apple.com/us/product/HE151VC/A/promise-pegasus2-r4-8tb-4-by-2t...

Software:
Final Cut Pro X
Pages, Numbers, Keynote
iPhoto, iMovie, GarageBand
OS X

Basically, I'm looking for smooth 1080 and/or 4k editing along with a UHD monitor. Actual final rendering output is not an issue. The maxed out iMac with the 27" 5k retina display, thunderbolt 2 storage and running FCP X certainly seems like it would fit my situation/use. I'm not editing raw 4K and/or using RED camera's, therefore I don't need a ton of processing power.
My current equipment is as follows;
Sony PXW-X70 using 10bit 4:2:2 with 4k upgrade on the way.
Canon 7D DSLR
I would like to hear from those of you that are currently using the new iMac 5k as I am planning to. If you are, could you give your thoughts, experience of the following? Your help would be most appreciated. Thanks in advance, Ray
1) How is it handling FCP X?
2) Are you running other software for example; Motion 5, DaVinci Resolve, etc.?
3) How is it handling effects, transitions, music, pictures, etc.?
4) Any lagging, hiccups, etc.?
5) Is it quiet enough to do voiceovers?
6) Any external drives? If so, how do you have your external hard drives configured along with what each one is used for?
Click to expand...

Mine is an i7/32/512/M295X retina iMac, and I shoot with a EOS-1Dc (4K) and Arri Alexa.

It runs FCP X really well, with no other software open. Editing it is also pretty smooth, with only a slight amount of lag.

When the fans ramp up, no Mac is going to be quiet enough to do voice-overs. Voice-overs are normally done in a separate soundproof room with mikes connected directly to the iMac, and the contents of the iMac are mirrored to that room via another external monitor.

My 12TB Promise Pegasus R6 RAID array is hooked up to it via TB2. It's used as a scratch space and also for storage.
 
Ray&Paula said:
...
I would like to hear from those of you that are currently using the new iMac 5k as I am planning to. If you are, could you give your thoughts, experience of the following? Your help would be most appreciated. Thanks in advance, Ray
1) How is it handling FCP X?
2) Are you running other software for example; Motion 5, DaVinci Resolve, etc.?
3) How is it handling effects, transitions, music, pictures, etc.?
4) Any lagging, hiccups, etc.?
5) Is it quiet enough to do voiceovers?
6) Any external drives? If so, how do you have your external hard drives configured along with what each one is used for?
Click to expand...

I'm a documentary editor and use a top-spec 2013 iMac 27 configured similarly to yours, with an 8TB Pegasus R4 in RAID5. It's 3TB Fusion Drive but I'd recommend 512GB SSD in this case.

Our voiceover work is done in a separate sound booth, so noise near the iMac isn't a factor. My perception is it might be quiet enough in front of the iMac but we haven't tried it.

We have the 5D Mark III, D800, D810, Canon XA25, HFG30, GH4, at least 10 GoPros and several drones.

Software is FCP X, Motion, plus many plugins inc'l PluralEyes and Izotope RX4 Advanced.

We mostly shoot 1080p/30 but with the GH4 have shot some 4k. In general the iMac has no problem editing this. Due to the documentary style the shooting ratio is very high, so the initial import just uses camera native files -- we don't transcode, use proxies or optimized media. It handles it fine.

In some specific cases on highly compressed codecs (like GoPro or 4k if using "best quality" playback) there may be a slight lag if doing rapid "JKL" keyboard editing. Using "best performance" playback usually is sufficient to resolve this.

I have two other Thunderbolt RAID0 drives for high-speed backup, plus about 100TB of separate drives for archival backup.

If you'll only have two cameras in production, the Pegasus R4 plus backup drive may be enough. You will need at least one backup drive. However we often have 5-6 cameras in production and can produce 200GB per weekend. FCP X libraries can grow very large due to render and other files, so 8TB (6TB formatted) in RAID5 can be marginal depending on how many concurrent productions. We might eventually get the R6.
 
Great replies.....This is exactly the information I'm looking for! Moving away from the computer to another room for voiceover work is a great tip. I totally agree, you could never have enough storage especially for 4k. Currently I do my work in Sony Vegas Pro and Sony DVD Architect. My PC is approx. 7 years old (which struggles), therefore I need to upgrade to a new workstation. I use my three hard drives as the following;

Hard Drive 1: C/drive OS Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit, software/hardware (1TB Samsung HD103UJ SATA2 7200rpm 32MB)
Hard Drive 2: Raw un-edited pre-rendered video, pictures and music (2x750GB Raid 0) Samsung HD753LJ 750GB SATA2 7200rpm 32MB
Hard Drive 3: Rendered events for final output. (2x750GB Raid 0) Samsung HD753LJ 750GB SATA2 7200rpm 32MB

I do have a couple 2TB portable external drives that I use for storage, but having a fourth one as the PROMISE Pegasus2 R4 8TB (4 by 2TB) Thunderbolt 2 RAID System would be great.
http://store.apple.com/us/product/HE...r4-8tb-4-by-2t...

The majority of my work is personal, but I do some commercial work occasionally. Some of my events last as long as an hour on the timeline. I then render/output to DVD. I do like to use pictures, effects, Chroma keying, some transitions and music. Basically, I want to make sure the new "maxed out" iMac 5k is up for the task without choking. As you know, manipulating 1080 & 4k with the aforementioned works the processor pretty good. With the new iMac having a 4-Core 4.0Ghz processor it should be great/fast for editing these formats. With that being said, I've learned that an 8-Core 3.0 processor Mac Pro is somewhat slower for editing, but has faster rendering times. If rendering time is not an issue, the iMac may be the better choice. Factoring in the price of the iMac with a 27" Retina 5K display is more appealing to me than a full blown Mac Pro and monitor.
I've been wanting to move up to Mac for quite some time for my video work. Before I jump into it, I want to find out what the "real world user's" have to say about it (meaning you). This forum is a wealth of information and I sincerely appreciate all of your input and thoughts. Thanks, Ray
 
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Ray&Paula said:
...Currently I do my work in Sony Vegas Pro and Sony DVD Architect...I then render/output to DVD...I've learned that an 8-Core 3.0 processor Mac Pro is somewhat slower for editing, but has faster rendering times...I've been wanting to move up to Mac for quite some time for my video work...
Click to expand...

Vegas is Windows only, so switching to Mac would likely mean switching to Premiere Pro CC or FCP X. Both are excellent however CC is $50 per month. FCP X is $300 one-time and you can run it on up to 10 machines you own or control.

Premiere would be an easier transition, as both it and Vegas are timeline-oriented, file-oriented editors. FCP X is a database-oriented editor and uses a storyline metaphor, has stronger metadata management features but requires learning a different approach.

On FCP X an 8-core nMP is probably a little faster for editing. By "rendering" if you mean exporting to a final file a 4Ghz iMac is probably faster on H.264 due to Quick Sync: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Quick_Sync_Video

For other things the Mac Pro would be faster. However some of this depends on the editing software. Premiere heavily leverages the GPU for rendering effects, FCP X less so but is very good at background rendering. OTOH Premiere does not support Quick Sync. Further discussion on this in this thread: http://www.fcp.co/forum/4-final-cut-pro-x-fcpx/21230-how-to-create-a-render-farm#59701
 
Thanks for the reply...... I've been looking at videos and reading a lot about FCPX, Motion 5 and now about Compressor. I've got to say, so far I'm very interested in this software for what I do. I'm not interested in paying by the month and/or year for software/programs..... for me, it would be throwing money out the window. FCPX seems like it would fit my needs, but I will definitely take a look at Premiere before making a decision. I don't mind learning new programs, for me it's part of the joy of video editing. I know what to expect from Windows running Sony Vegas Pro due to doing so for the past 7 years. Too many bumps, crashes, lagging...... In other words, it's time to move to Mac. As they say hindsight is always better than foresight. Only thing that's held me back is having to change all my software and CPU. I'm at that turning point and with Mac's reputation for video editing workstations........ it's a no brainer. I just need to make sure the iMac 5k will fit my needs. As of right now, it appears that it will if maxed out. In addition, I need to find out which software options are out there that will produce menus, etc. Thanks again, your recommendations, thoughts and help is very much appreciated. Ray :)
 
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Greetings. I am doing 4k editing although most of it is still 1080p/24. I shoot with GH4(s) and use FCPX. I have Adobe CC but prefer FCPX. Most of what I do is instructional videos for the web along with personal projects. Like the other posters I have a RAID 0 drive for back-up and archives. I also have a 1 TB external SSD that I use to edit on. The 5K iMac configuration that the OP is looking at is the one that I have. I think that you will be very happy with that set-up for your stated needs.

- David
 
Thanks for the reply........ Great to know that you're having a great 4k editing experience with the new iMac 5k and FCPX. Are you outputting to DVD? If so, have you found any type of menu software that can be used with FCPX? Thanks again for your input. Ray:)
 
It appears that a lot of people haven't output to DVD...... I guess I'm old school that needs to be brought up to date.... LOL :eek: What are the alternatives? Thanks, Ray :rolleyes:
 
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Thanks......... I'm not interested in paying a monthly fee in my situation. Ray :eek:
 
The DVD pirates in years past made subscription services inevitable. Dropbox does have a free version as well. I don't recall what the limits are.
 
You can edit 4k on older computers, do it just fine on my iMac which is 2012 model with @gb Graphics card and i7 processor.

Cpu won't be your bottle neck, disk speed will. Get an SSD and preferably Raid if possible. Combine that with an internal SSD and any top of the line computer within that past couple of years will be fine.


Also remember 4k is just resolution, it's really based on the compression of the file which actually chokes your system. 4k files from a consumer GH4 will run like smooth butter in Resolve, but editing 2.5K RAW files from a BMCC will definitely push your system to the limit.

I mostly work with RED Files, Blackmagic and then personal lower projects shot on GH4, Sony A7s, Canon Dslr, etc.
 
Thanks for the info..... I'm feeling much better leaning towards the iMac 5k thanks to the input I'm receiving. I definitely believe in having a RAID setup with the hard drives along with SSD. I've always ran in RAID 0 due to it's fast configuration, but I'm unsure if this is the best scenario anymore for video editing. I do know if running in RAID 0 you need to make a backup of your work on another drive due to breakdown and/or corruption. As I stated before, I'm looking at the PROMISE Pegasus2 R4 8TB (4 by 2TB) Thunderbolt 2 RAID System
http://store.apple.com/us/product/HE...r4-8tb-4-by-2t...
Anyone have any thoughts on this or any other external hard drives? Thanks again for your help and please keep chiming in about your 4k experience with the iMac 5k. Ray:)
 
Ray&Paula said:
Thanks for the info..... I'm feeling much better leaning towards the iMac 5k thanks to the input I'm receiving. I definitely believe in having a RAID setup with the hard drives along with SSD. I've always ran in RAID 0 due to it's fast configuration, but I'm unsure if this is the best scenario anymore for video editing. I do know if running in RAID 0 you need to make a backup of your work on another drive due to breakdown and/or corruption. As I stated before, I'm looking at the PROMISE Pegasus2 R4 8TB (4 by 2TB) Thunderbolt 2 RAID System
http://store.apple.com/us/product/HE...r4-8tb-4-by-2t...
Anyone have any thoughts on this or any other external hard drives? Thanks again for your help and please keep chiming in about your 4k experience with the iMac 5k. Ray:)
Click to expand...

That's why I use RAID 10 for best performance and redundancy. At least if a drive fails, you don't lose anything.
 
Ray&Paula said:
...I'm looking at the PROMISE Pegasus2 R4 8TB (4 by 2TB) Thunderbolt 2 RAID System
http://store.apple.com/us/product/HE...r4-8tb-4-by-2t...
Anyone have any thoughts on this or any other external hard drives?...
Click to expand...

It is one of the best, a very well engineered package. You will probably want to purchase a spare drive so you'll have an on-site replacement available.

The R4 can be slow to initialize or build the RAID5 format. This is related to the stripe size chosen. See my studies and graphs on this: https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/18576138/
 
yjchua95 said:
That's why I use RAID 10 for best performance and redundancy. At least if a drive fails, you don't lose anything.
Click to expand...

RAID 0 is perfect, speed and you can use both drives. This is what I use for Video Editing. My Master files of any given project I'm working on is already backed up t another hard drive and my actually sessions are backed up to my main hard drive. So even if my current drive were to fail all I would have to do is build the session up again as everything is constantly being backed up.

I always edit off of external drives and use my main drive to store copy sessions and another external to keep master files + another external for all master backups.

From my experience portable drives are the ones that usually always die, while my stationary drives which I never move have laster a very long time (knocks on wood).
 
Thanks for the great information and link...... Is there any information anywhere that shows the steps needed to configure the drives in RAID? It's been quite awhile since I went through the process (7 years) and I want to make sure I configure it properly. Let's say the PROMISE Pegasus2 R4 8TB (4 by 2TB) Thunderbolt 2 RAID System as an example.
The following is my current setup as I stated earlier;
Hard Drive 1: C/drive OS Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit, software/hardware (1TB Samsung HD103UJ SATA2 7200rpm 32MB)
Hard Drive 2: Raw un-edited pre-rendered video, pictures and music (2x750GB Raid 0) Samsung HD753LJ 750GB SATA2 7200rpm 32MB
Hard Drive 3: Rendered events for final output. (2x750GB Raid 0) Samsung HD753LJ 750GB SATA2 7200rpm 32MB

I "will not" be using any of my current drives above. I would like to keep at least 2TB (one of the drives) for backup storage. If you can think of a better configuration, please let me know. I know RAID 0 only requires two drives minimum and is suppose to be the fastest, but you run the risk of loosing everything. That's why I'm constantly backing it up in other storage. I've ran RAID 0 simply due to being told in the past that it is the best for video editing. I believe all the other RAID configurations require at least three drives, but on the downside they run slower, with the upside being that you won't loose your information. Maybe other RAID's work better than in the past due to all the changes in processors, etc.... please correct me if I'm wrong. I found the folowing article & video interesting; Thanks again to all of you for your help and thoughts, Ray :)
http://www.larryjordan.biz/an-explanation-of-raid-levels/
 
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It's weird that 2.5" consumer SSDs seemed to peak at 1TB, and we haven't seen any 2TB or larger drives introduced this year.

Have we?
 
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