Desktop Pc For Hd Video Editing + Adobe Cs4

[cat5]

After recently purchasing a HD camcorder I've come to the conclusion that my laptop is not man enough for the job of editing videos. It's also quite sluggish using Adobe CS4 suite. I'd like to buy a reasonably priced motherboard + RAM + CPU + graphics card on which I can get good performance for photo and movie editing. It doesn't need to be top spec - I'd just like something that nips along at a good rate. I'm happy to build the system myself, I'm just looking for ideas on what other people are using and how they rate it for this type of use. I have absolutely no interest in playing games.

[surface]

What is your idea of reasonably priced? HD video editing is pretty high end. Which software are you using?

Any of the shops in Panthip or Fortune will assemble the computer for you, which I suggest you let them do as it will help in finding any DOA parts.

Based off my recent purchase, I'd say you're looking at about 30k for a decent system.

[webfact]

For your shopping list.

If you want CS4 run like a charm do not even think about to go for less than 2 GB RAM...

Edited April 19, 2009 by webfact

[Ciaphas]

If you are using a camcorder it's not HD but HDV which is a more compressed image. I would go for 4gig of RAM just to be on the safe side. Gfx card wise 128mb + preferably with two outs but that's just a personal choice. A decent brand mother board without built in gfx card and audio card and a good speed dual core processor will be fine. I would also buy two hard drives one system drive and a media drive, for the media drive I use a external 1T firewire Drive. You can have an internal drive for media but just make sure you only put media on it. Another thing to consider which is very important but most people ignore is a good monitor for grading and colour correction.

[Sel]

I have a sony sr11 avchd format (raw files .mts) camcorder

I edit with sony vegas 9.0

Laptop stats are

core2duo p8600 2.4GHz, 1066 MHz FSB, 3MBL2 cache

Geforce 9600M

2GB DDR3

Vista 32bit

I store my video externally and use the system harddrive to edit only what is current work then after i'm done transfer the work back to external harddrive

Preview playback smothness and audio sync is near perfect in vegas

Rendering takes a while

5 min clip rendered to 6Mbps HD 720-30p video best quality 100% takes about 50mins

I think if I wanted to lower the time to render than the solution is

1. small improvement - upgrade to 64 Bit operating system and maybe get more ram just because 64 bit can utilise it, though for video editing what i have is enough

2. significant improvement - improve processor to quad core

Hope that helps

[cat5]

Thanks for all the replies so far.

I don't have a price in mind, just so long as it isn't something ridiculous. I don't need to buy new SATA hard disks or monitors as I have plenty of these already. My apartment already looks like mission control! I will need a new dual-head graphics card as I like to work with a twin screens - something that I've been doing for several years now.

I wasn't considering anything less than 4 GB of RAM, and was wondering about using more with a 64 bit version of Windows. Like most people here, the software would probably come from Pantip or a similar source. I do occasionally use Ubuntu Linux, but for all editing work I will have to stay with Windows. Adobe Photoshop and Premiere CS4 are my preferred programs, but I can't get Premiere CS4 to work reliably on the laptop I am using now (2GB RAM, 1.5Ghz dual core). I'm using Sony Vegas Pro 8.0 which seems to work just fine, so maybe I don't need Premiere after all. While writing this email, I'm also rendering some HD (HDV - I note the comment above) video which is about 5 minutes long; 26 minutes elapsed time with another 1 hour 46 minutes to go. I'd like something faster for rendering!

[wxpwzrd]

Four gig and you should automatically use a 64 bit OS to directly access all of the RAM. Photoshop CS4 also has a 64 bit version. Also Photoshop can access certain GPU (proc on the video card) to speed it's redraws. http://kb.adobe.com/selfservice/viewConten...rnalId=kb404898

[fiddlehead]

Welcome to the world of video editing and it's association with computer problems (especially PC)

Most pros use Mac as you probably have heard already.

I don't. Tried it and sent it back after 3 days. I guess i've just been a pc guy too long.

I have been through all the adobe premiere programs since 5.0 and bought computers with a little more than the average RAM all along.

Right now, i am using Adobe CS3 with 2 gig of RAM and still crash every 5 hours or so. AT least the newer ones can be put on automatic save which saves some of the frustration of the crash.

Good luck. I haven't done HD yet but looking forward to it someday when i can afford it.

[cat5]

Welcome to the world of video editing and it's association with computer problems (especially PC)

Most pros use Mac as you probably have heard already.

I don't. Tried it and sent it back after 3 days. I guess i've just been a pc guy too long.

I have been through all the adobe premiere programs since 5.0 and bought computers with a little more than the average RAM all along.

Right now, i am using Adobe CS3 with 2 gig of RAM and still crash every 5 hours or so. AT least the newer ones can be put on automatic save which saves some of the frustration of the crash.

Good luck. I haven't done HD yet but looking forward to it someday when i can afford it.

There's no way I'm going to "invest" in a Mac. I have used older versions of Premiere and still use Adobe Photoshop CS, and can't remember the programs ever crashing - not even once. Maybe things will change when I start using CS4, but to me it sounds like you have a problem with your hardware or installation.

HD video editing is proving to be a pain in the butt with regards to file formats, software compatibility and hardware requirements; nevertheless, I'm sure it will get easier.

[Sel]

Anyone getting captured video as .mts, what video player and codec pack are you using?

[Ciaphas]

Welcome to the world of video editing and it's association with computer problems (especially PC)

Most pros use Mac as you probably have heard already.

I don't. Tried it and sent it back after 3 days. I guess i've just been a pc guy too long.

I have been through all the adobe premiere programs since 5.0 and bought computers with a little more than the average RAM all along.

Right now, i am using Adobe CS3 with 2 gig of RAM and still crash every 5 hours or so. AT least the newer ones can be put on automatic save which saves some of the frustration of the crash.

Good luck. I haven't done HD yet but looking forward to it someday when i can afford it.

There's no way I'm going to "invest" in a Mac. I have used older versions of Premiere and still use Adobe Photoshop CS, and can't remember the programs ever crashing - not even once. Maybe things will change when I start using CS4, but to me it sounds like you have a problem with your hardware or installation.

HD video editing is proving to be a pain in the butt with regards to file formats, software compatibility and hardware requirements; nevertheless, I'm sure it will get easier.

Most pros actually use PCs with Avid hardware and software. 95% of the Television programs in Europe are still made on Avid with FCP slowly making a head way into the market.

With all new formats it takes a few years for things to settle, while everybody competes to gain their corner of the market with their own cameras, file formats etc and waiting for hardware and software to catch up.

What has surprised me reading the thread is how long it's taking you guys to render. I'm not sure what you are rendering as I don't know CS4 but if I had to wait that long for rendering I would never leave the edit suite.

If you are doing this professionally it might be worth considering Avid Express with a Mojo.

[p_brownstone]

Although this Forum is specifically targeted at users of the Canon HD Cameras there is a lot of useful information applicable to other Manufacturers / Cameras too:

http://www.hv20.com

Patrick

[cat5]

Anyone getting captured video as .mts, what video player and codec pack are you using?

Following advice from another forum (sorry, can't remember which one) I just rename the .mts files to .mpg and they play in Windows Media Player with no problem. Not sure about the CODEC pack, if any.

[Apecks]

<P align=left>I want to build a HD video editing PC for use with Adobe Master Suite CS5. Completly lost with all the tech stuff so I had a look what is on the net. Came up with this, anybody got any thoughts / suggestions:

Coolermaster HAF X Black Case

2 x 120mm Standard Case Fans

Intel Core i7 2600K Overclocked 4.20GHz Per Core CPU

Corsair H70 Hydro High Performance CPU Water Cooler

Asus P8P67 Deluxe, 4xDIMM, Max. 32GB, ATX (USB 3.0, SATA 3.0) Motherboard

2GB ATI FirePro V8800, PCI-E 2.0 (x16), 256Bit GDDR5 PCI Express Graphics Card

16GB (4 x 4GB) Mushkin PC12800 1600MHz DDR3 Ram (Would it be worthwhile putting 32GB inside)

120GB Ultrafast Sandforce SSD

2000GB SATA II

LG Blu Ray Writer & DVD +/- Rewriter

Quiet Sony 24x Dual Layer DVD +/- Rewriter (Do I really need two rewriters)

Wacom Bamboo Pen & MultiTouch Graphics Tablet

Internal Memory Card Reader

Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio Sound Card (Hmmm)

2 Front + 4 Back Ports

2 x USB 3.0 Ports

Quiet Modular Coolermaster 1000W 135mm Fan PSU

[Darrel]

The usual bottleneck on any mid-spec or high-end machine will be the hard drive. Whilst you have gone for an SSD for the OS, which is fine and will make the machine boot and load apps very fast, it is not advisable to use this for a "work" drive, especially for HD video editing which involves lots of data writing/rewriting. SSD is not designed for this.

So I would think about using two good SATA III hard drives in a RAID configuration. This should speed up the data writing a lot.

The rest of the spec seems OK, if somewhat over the top, apart from the water cooler. Water and electrics dont mix in my book. Your fans will do the job fine.

[Tywais]

The rest of the spec seems OK, if somewhat over the top, apart from the water cooler. Water and electrics dont mix in my book. Your fans will do the job fine.

The problem is this "Intel Core i7 2600K Overclocked 4.20GHz Per Core CPU" (normal is 3.4GHz) which could potentially be a problem under full load. The case only has two 120mm fans, the overclocked CPU and the video card and it may get pretty warm in the case. If the case can support more fans than I would add them.

Agree that Sata III drives in RAID configuration for the data work would give a pretty high performance level. I assume you will be running a x64 bit OS or else that amount of memory won't help in a x32 bit system.

[Apecks]

The rest of the spec seems OK, if somewhat over the top, apart from the water cooler. Water and electrics dont mix in my book. Your fans will do the job fine.

The problem is this "Intel Core i7 2600K Overclocked 4.20GHz Per Core CPU" (normal is 3.4GHz) which could potentially be a problem under full load. The case only has two 120mm fans, the overclocked CPU and the video card and it may get pretty warm in the case. If the case can support more fans than I would add them.

Agree that Sata III drives in RAID configuration for the data work would give a pretty high performance level. I assume you will be running a x64 bit OS or else that amount of memory won't help in a x32 bit system.

Thanks for the advice. Out of country at the moment but will move forward with it when I return.