HD Video Editing Machine

[Onigiri]

Hi Guys,

I'm looking to buy a desktop machine to run Final Cut Studio and edit in HD. Obviously that leaves me with the option of the Mac Pro or the iMac 24" but I really don't need to buy a beast of a machine right now. I'd like to in the future, but for now I'd just like to get something that'll do the job well.

My current machine is a Rev A macbook which I got the day they were released so it's getting up there in age. I had purchased Final Cut Express for basic editing but for whatever reason, I can't even edit in SD, which surprises me because I've been editing in SD since the first version of Final Cut Pro on my dual 4(66?) Mhz G4 and again on my iMac G5 and in fact, when I still had my previous Final Cut Pro license, I edited SD on the macbook as well. Might it just be the age of my machine? I run OnyX fairly regularly and have the RAM maxed out at 2GB, so I'm really not sure what the issue might be.

But back to what I'm looking for, like I said, I don't care about having an absolute beast, nor do I mind buying a refurb, but here is what I do want:

-To edit in HD (my camera is a Canon HF100, but I also have access to HVX 200's so I want to be able to process both at 1080P)
-To run every app in Final Cut Studio well (The original Color never ran on my Macbook due to a lack of dedicated graphics)
-To keep costs down where reasonable (I don't mind spending more if the value is legitimately there, but under 3,000 please, and I would need a monitor with a Mac Pro)
-To keep cable clutter at a minimum (I do enjoy maintaining my aesthetics)
-To have a quiet machine (it'll be in the bedroom)
-To boldly go where no man has gone before

Also, I should note that while I can fit one monitor on my desk, since I am in an apartment with limited space, I won't be able to run dual monitors, hence no second monitor with the iMac. Color accuracy is not absolutely crucial to me at this point. I'll be shooting documentary work mostly and any narrative short films I might do will just be for fun.

My plan is to purchase a 3-4 year machine now and when I buy my house, to create a post production room with a Mac Pro and dual 24's or a single 30" monitor.

Given all this, what do you advise? And thank you for your help.

 

[Hellhammer]

Take a look at refurb store. Current gen quad goes for 2149$ and it's perfect for you

 

[Genghis Khan]

+1

refurb Mac Pro is perfect

I don't specialise in video editing, so am not sure what you might need to upgrade...

but I'd recommend getting 6GB RAM (3rd party) and a refurb 24" display (as you'll be getting two in the long run anyway)

 

[yoak]

The iMac will have no problem to edit the formats you talk about.
I had an iMac for my main machine editing HDV footage from a Canon XL-H1 and XDCAM EX HD from my EX-3 camera.
This was the first 24" 2,16 with a 256 card. Motion didn´t run too smooth and I never really used Color much so I can´t promise you if that will work.
EDIT: I had it for 2 years and sold it in November to buy a MBP. I did most of my editing on the MP the last year I have to admit, but this was mostly because of the much faster render times

 

[Onigiri]

Thanks for the advice so far guys.

This is more so general curiosity than a buying question, but when it comes to the quad and octo core Mac Pros, is the quad more well suited to certain tasks and the octo to others, or is it as simple as more cores=faster computer?

 

[Hellhammer]

Thanks for the advice so far guys.

This is more so general curiosity than a buying question, but when it comes to the quad and octo core Mac Pros, is the quad more well suited to certain tasks and the octo to others, or is it as simple as more cores=faster computer?

Depends on apps you're using. I think there's no app that can fully use 8 cores yet, so octo will be slower in single thread tasks because of its lower clock speed. People I see here all have 2.93 octo or 2.66 quad.

Quad is fine for you.

 

[Onigiri]

Sounds great! So now I just need to save up a bit. Nice and simple.