Computer advice for compression

[Deb37]

Hello

Looking for advice from those who use Sorenson Squeeze and other compression/encoding software. I work for an educational institution and over the last year we have been compressing DVDs and other file types to streaming video for our teachers.

I have been using Handbrake to rip the DVDs to mpeg4 for Sorenson (on my older G5), Virtual Dub for mpeg1 files and Sorenson to convert to our streaming media types (on a PC)

My question for those who might be familiar with these processes...

I have been given the go-ahead to order a new dedicated Mac to use for this purpose. I want to load Windows on the machine to be able to communicate with our "PC only" streaming software. Let's say I'm going to be allowed a $3000-$4000 budget. Which Mac should I be considering and at what configuration? Thanks for any advice

 

[LethalWolfe]

Is your budget for hardware only or hardware and software? Will you still keep your G5 or will the Mac be a replacement (so you'll still use the same monitor, software licenses, etc.,)?


Lethal

 

[Deb37]

I would only need the CPU. We already have Sorenson and monitors galore....
A new Mac would be in addition to the G5 I have already.

 

[seany916]

"standard" configuration 2.8 w/ 2x Quad (8-core)

8800GT GPU upgrade

minimum RAM

500GB Hard drive

get another 6GBs of RAM from a 3rd party vendor and install yourself

would recommend filling a few of the HD bays as well. 750s are at a nice price point right now

PERSONALLY, I keep my OS & Apps on a different drive from ones I am constantly reading/writing to (I use it to archive older things/backup though)

wireless keyboard & mouse are actually quite nice as well

this is a workstation that can be used for other things WHILE it is compressing for you

you'll have a great workstation as well as a "dedicated" compression device

For $4000, you could easily get the computer above with 8GBs of RAM and get 3 750GB hard drives.

best of luck with your purchase. Your teachers are really lucky. Do they know this?

 

[Deb37]

Seany916...thank you so much for the input. I will print your advice out now and take a look at the Apple site. I will be meeting with one of our Apple reps mid-March and see if she can give me a good deal!

I do the same thing with my G5 now...keeping the OS and Apps on one drive and using a second (and third) larger drive to keep our large movie files on.

Our teachers do greatly appreciate the convenience of having streaming educational video delivered right to their classroom computers...but they have zero understanding of the process I have to go through to get it to them! Since I have worked in our "Media Library" I have watched our Ed. media go from mainly VHS tapes to DVDs and now streaming. With no training whatsoever in compression/encoding it has been quite the learning curve for me. Thank God for the Macs! They have made my job infinitely easier!