MacPro Encoding/Burning?

[psymac]

Wondering which Mac hardware to buy for video editing/encoding. I'd like to take about hour of movie I shot with my camcorder, edit in iMovie, then encode/burn to a DVD to send to family members.

I've done this with my Dual 1ghz G4 QS, and it takes several hours (7 to 8 i think). Would the new iMacs or the current MacPros do it that much quicker? Any idea how long for one hour of video to encode/burn to a DVD? Should I use Toast or another third party app rather than iDVD? I've heard that its really a problem with the G4, and that even G5s do this much faster. I'd like to think the new iMacs would be fast enough, or if I should hold out for new Macpros (Oct?).

Thanks for any help!

 

[flyinmac]

Wondering which Mac hardware to buy for video editing/encoding. I'd like to take about hour of movie I shot with my camcorder, edit in iMovie, then encode/burn to a DVD to send to family members.

I've done this with my Dual 1ghz G4 QS, and it takes several hours (7 to 8 i think). Would the new iMacs or the current MacPros do it that much quicker? Any idea how long for one hour of video to encode/burn to a DVD? Should I use Toast or another third party app rather than iDVD? I've heard that its really a problem with the G4, and that even G5s do this much faster. I'd like to think the new iMacs would be fast enough, or if I should hold out for new Macpros (Oct?).

Thanks for any help!

The speed of the machine does make a pretty good difference in time for encoding videos.

My first experience doing things with iMovie and iDVD was with an iMac G5 1.8 GHz with 2 GB of RAM.

a 1 hour movie would usually take 3 to 4 hours depending on complexity to encode and burn.

Of course, that could take longer for some.

But, my iMac proved unreliable (being the first generation of G5 iMacs). So, I eventually sold it.

So, now I'm making do with a Mac Mini G4 1.25 GHz with 1 GB of RAM.

I did a 1 hour movie with it last month, and it took about 7 or 8 hours to encode in iDVD.

From my experience, I would say that any iMac from a G5 up to the current models would be plenty of power for the home user with iMovie and iDVD.

The new Intel iMacs have dual-core processors (which my G5 did not have), and are much more efficient in processing information. So, you should be just fine with an Intel iMac.

I myself just ordered a Mac Pro 2.66 GHz. But, I didn't order it for the power. I ordered it because I can blow the dust out myself (something I wouldn't be able to do with the new iMacs).

The Mac Pro's have a removable side door. So, I can blow it out just like I do with my PC.

The new iMacs (unlike the early G5 iMacs) cannot be opened and cleaned without a major operation that is quite risky for a monthly process.

So, since I don't want to have a machine die early due to clogged vents, stuck fans, and overheating components, I went with the Mac Pro instead.

For reference, I have a house with animals and kids. So, dirt is an issue here.

 

[darthraige]

Yea, when I encode a one hour video in compressor on this G4 Dual 800 it takes about 10-18 hours. Crazy! On the MacPro 2x2.66 at work with 5gb memory, the time drops to only 10-20 minutes depending on if you do a fast encode or a high quality encode. Can only imagine what a 4x2.66 will do later this year. That's what I'm waiting for, my encode times would drop soooooo much. A one hour video would only take like 5-15 min to encode on that beast.

 

[Alican]

I find in imovie, the video part of the encoding process encodes in about 3/4 real time on a 3ghz 8 core. Imovie doesn't exactly thrash the machine - leaving the CPUs about 80% idle during encoding. And of course there's in imovie there's no option for fast encode etc.