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iMac for video editing.

D

DeReyes Films

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 30, 2012
5
0
South Jersey
Hi everyone my name is DeReyes and I'm new to the mac world. I own a MacBook Pro for a year now and been using it for video and photography. Well I'm looking to upgrade to a iMac 27 and wanted to know if this one is more than good enough for video editing?

Processor 3.4GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7
Cache 6MB on-chip shared L3 cache
Memory 8GB of 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM; supports up to 16GB
Hard drive 1TB Serial ATA1; 7200 rpm

Graphics AMD Radeon HD 6970M with 1GB of GDDR5 memory
Thunderbolt / Firewire Two Thunderbolt ports and One FireWire 800 port; 7 watts
USB Four USB 2.0 ports
 
If you edited with your MBP (2011 model probably, dual or quad core) and it was okay, then the iMac will be much faster.
Anyway, as you haven't told us what kind of footage you edit with what application and what result you want, it is not 100% possible to give you an adequate answer.

But since you linked to 720p content, you probably use iMovie and some kind of AVCHD or DSLR footage, which will, when using iMovie, be properly transcoded to an editing format, and your output is YouTube or similar video sharing websites. For that any Mac will do, even older ones.
It is only if you go into the more professional direction (FCP, Avid - what kind of footage - where will it be broadcast / where will it be distributed to) you may need more than an iMac.


I recently edited a 1080p short film on my 2007 iMac and 2009 MacBook Pro, and as I was using an editing codec (ProRes and DNxHD) I was more than capable of doing those tasks.

Video Compression
Why It Matters & How To Make The Most Of It


____________________________________________________________

Maybe have a look at Advanced Search to find similar threads about using a 2011 iMac for video editing:
​
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​
 
simsaladimbamba said:
If you edited with your MBP (2011 model probably, dual or quad core) and it was okay, then the iMac will be much faster.
Anyway, as you haven't told us what kind of footage you edit with what application and what result you want, it is not 100% possible to give you an adequate answer.

But since you linked to 720p content, you probably use iMovie and some kind of AVCHD or DSLR footage, which will, when using iMovie, be properly transcoded to an editing format, and your output is YouTube or similar video sharing websites. For that any Mac will do, even older ones.
It is only if you go into the more professional direction (FCP, Avid - what kind of footage - where will it be broadcast / where will it be distributed to) you may need more than an iMac.


I recently edited a 1080p short film on my 2007 iMac and 2009 MacBook Pro, and as I was using an editing codec (ProRes and DNxHD) I was more than capable of doing those tasks.

Video Compression
Why It Matters & How To Make The Most Of It


____________________________________________________________

Maybe have a look at Advanced Search to find similar threads about using a 2011 iMac for video editing:
____________________________________________________________
​
Click to expand...

I use a Canon 5D Mark II and edit at 1080 using booth FCPX and After Effect. I use the video's mainly for online use.
 
Last edited:
DeReyes Films said:
I use a Canon 5D Mark II and edit at 1080 using booth FCPX and After Effect. I use the video's mainly for online use.
Click to expand...

Then you will be fine, even if you not use the ProRes codec FCP X provides. I edited footage from the 5D Mk II too on my iMac and used 5DtoRGB to transcode the footage properly.
I used Avid Media Composer and After Effects, and while AE was a bit slow due to the slower CPUs, it was okay for my usage.
 
simsaladimbamba said:
Then you will be fine, even if you not use the ProRes codec FCP X provides. I edited footage from the 5D Mk II too on my iMac and used 5DtoRGB to transcode the footage properly.
I used Avid Media Composer and After Effects, and while AE was a bit slow due to the slower CPUs, it was okay for my usage.
Click to expand...

Thanks!! Im going to look in to 5DtoRGB because Im clueless to transcoding, encoding and all that stuff. I basically just drop the footage in FCPX and start editing, I've only been doing this for less than a year. Was thinking of taking classes to learn more about video edting.
 
DeReyes Films said:
Thanks!! Im going to look in to 5DtoRGB because Im clueless to transcoding, encoding and all that stuff. I basically just drop the footage in FCPX and start editing, I've only been doing this for less than a year. Was thinking of taking classes to learn more about video edting.
Click to expand...

Then take a look at the following:
Video Compression
Why It Matters & How To Make The Most Of It

Anyway, since I have an editing background, I always transcode my footage to an editing format, but it might not be necessary for your purposes. Just see how well your MBP fares with the H.264 encoded .mov directly from the 5D and how it does with a properly transcoded .mov of that H.264 .mov.
If you don't see any difference (playback, frame precise editing, effects, ...), then transcoding might not be necessary for you.
 
simsaladimbamba said:
Then take a look at the following:
Video Compression
Why It Matters & How To Make The Most Of It

Anyway, since I have an editing background, I always transcode my footage to an editing format, but it might not be necessary for your purposes. Just see how well your MBP fares with the H.264 encoded .mov directly from the 5D and how it does with a properly transcoded .mov of that H.264 .mov.
If you don't see any difference (playback, frame precise editing, effects, ...), then transcoding might not be necessary for you.
Click to expand...

Ok I'll give it a try, thanks again.
 
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