Imac for HD video editing?

[Scorge120]

Hi,

I'm currently in the midst of upgrading my current CPU, and I'm wondering what I should upgrade to.
Basically I've heard at least a million times that Mac's are the way to go for media editing, so I've settled down on the 21.5 inch iMac, but I'm beginning to have some doubts...

The guy at the Apple store recommended to me the 21.5 inch 3.06 GHz dual core processor, 256 MB dedicated video ram iMac, but then when I asked him if the default video editing program iMovieHD had chroma keying, he simply replied by asking me what that was... but then again, he was a sound engineer, not a video editor.

I've never used a Mac before, I've always used a PC, but anyway, I'm wondering if you guys could recommend a computer, or specs based on the following:

-Basically editing HD videos anywhere from 1 minute to 1 hour in length.
-I will be working with a lot of layers, advanced filters and special effects.
-I will be using Adobe Premiere/After Effects for video editing.
-Would prefer to preview the video near full-framerate in (hopefully) full resolution instead of 1 frame per 10 seconds in full resolution (preview framerate of my current PC).
-I don't care about the size of the screen, right now I work with 2, 13 inch monitors.

I kind of wrote this last minute, if there's anything that I left out, or that could help you to help me, then just ask ^^

I'm also wondering if I go with a Mac, then should I learn the ropes for Final Cut? I work with motion graphics the most, and AE/AP is perfect for that and I'm pretty content with it.

So that's basically it, I don't really care if the computer isn't a Mac, price range is preferably around the low 1000's (if possible).

-Zac

 

[XxEjGxX]

I would say that it would be fine enough for you, it's ram and cpu you need for editing not graphics, maybe learn the art of final cut, but it will be an easier transition if you just get thw adobe collection (after effects and premiere)

 

[macrumorsMaster]

Never trust a salesman

If you're comfortable with the Adobe collection and don't need to learn final cut, then stick with windows, you can get a much more powerfully configured system for a lower price(but a lot worse resale value).

 

[Badger^2]

Never trust a salesman

If you're comfortable with the Adobe collection and don't need to learn final cut, then stick with windows, you can get a much more powerfully configured system for a lower price(but a lot worse resale value).

I agree.

Im just not seeing the big reason for you to go OS X for what you do, unless you just really want to dump Windblows at the same time?

 

[PeterQVenkman]

It pains me to say it.

Stick with the PC on this one unless you HAVE to switch to FCP for some reason. Get a fast core i7 from Dell for $1100, or juice up an overclocked pc from cyberpowerpc.com (the computer will look horrible, but it will be fast at a great price)

 

[chkdg8]

Ok, I just have to chime in here. I'm an editor. In 2007 I converted to mac and haven't look back since. I used AP Pro on Windows but now it's all FCP. Depending on your budget here's a breakdown: the new Quad core i5 and i7 27" iMacs are beasts! I have 2 editor friends that recently sold their mac pros for a 27" iMac. It's a cheaper, all-in-one solution that can give some Mac Pro set ups a run for their money. You'll have plenty of real estate for your time line but since you mentioned that you don't care bout screen size then the second tier 21.5 iMac will do just fine. Remember that memory architecture is now DDR3 which can theoretically support up to 16TB in the future. Whatever you do, don't buy the memory upgrade through Apple. Go to newegg instead and save. I cap out at 4GB with DDR2 so I'm feeling a tad bit of sluggishness when dealing with 1080P footage.

Final Cut is where you need to be if you want to edit professionally. It used to cost $1299 but I guess Apple realized that $999 is fair enough in this economy. It also supports AE. Just search on here as there are tons of dedicated threads on this topic. iMovie is your basic "home movie" editing software which literally blows away any standard editing suite out there but it's extremely limited. So is Final Cut Express for that matter. Just google Final Cut Pro vs Final Cut Express. When I made the switch from AP to FCP, it took me less than an hour to figure my way around. It's almost as if they're distant cousins. Very similar UI and work flow.