wetbrick 0 #1 May 11, 2011 i need to make some recommendations to the dz owner for a editing computer, but i need some help. We want to be able to edit hd video from our cx-100 cameras. This would normally bee an easy answer with the $1000 computer but were looking at getting someone to build us a computer which may save us some money because he will have used towers power supplies monitors that can be used. There are things i would like to have like to have like 2 monitors which makes it editing easier on the eyes. Two burners would be helpful as we are constantly burning multiple copy's for stags and stagettes. I will likely be editing on Sony Vegas Movie Studio HD Platinum 10. So if you were building a editing work horse today that has to be capable of putting a HD DVD in the customers hand before they leave, what would you build? What are some things you would avoid? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dragon2 0 #2 May 11, 2011 I dont know what Vegas likes in particular, but for video editing in general, you want a core i5 quadcore or better yet a core i7 CPU. Get the sandy bridge version, or the triple channel older i7s (socket 1366, these might actually be better for video editing than the sandy bridge i7). Get a motherboard to match. If you want to overclock a sandy bridge you need the K version of the CPU and the P chipset ont he motherboard, if you don't want to overclock but want the onboard VGA get the H version chipset). Then get a lot of RAM. Like, 12/16 GB or more. Speed is not that important, the amount is. Preferably buy all of it at once, as a kit, so they are from the same batch. Harddrives, the usual: 1 7200 rpm harddrive for windows, 1 bigger 7200 rpm drive for the video files, plus 1 for the scratchdrives. If you want to splash get an SSD for the OS drive but that won't speed up your editing just make working with the pc a lot more pleasant. For graphics, if you run premiere pro cs5 or 5.5 there's a range of cards that will speed up editing a bunch, but usually graphics don't matter much when video editing, no need to buy the latest and the greatest card. PSU, get a decent brand one, and wattage is mostly dependant on your graphics card. But the latest CPUs and the amount of RAM do need more than the minimum. Make sure the used PSUs are OK to use, also (if they're older) makle sure they fit yourmotherboard plug-wise. The case needs to fit your motherboard (uATX or ATX, whatever you buy, not all cases fit both). You will also need 2 DVD burners, 2 monitors, mouse, keyboard, speakers, and a fast cardreader. And of course you need a 64bit windows, not 32bit, to use all the memory. ciel bleu, Saskia Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DSE 3 #3 May 11, 2011 Having provided many of these machines to broadcasters and DZ's alike...I'd suggest differently from what Saskia offers. Beefy power supply. Enterprise grade drives. 12 GB of RAM is plenty for Win7 64 tools Easily cleanable intake fan (dz's are usually very dirty places) Chris Warnock/Parachutist builds these very regularly. He'll have the latest data. I would not trust Sandy Bridge for a fulltime biz operation (yet), but I do have two personal SB machines. my take on Sandy Bridge. Sandy Bridge isn't the only chipset that has on-board AVC decodes...and that's the main consideration for what we're doing. We don't need 7.1 decoding on the chip, and don't need high-end graphics support. Overclocking in a business environment is generally a really bad idea too. I'd consider Vegas Pro vs VMS, simply for purposes of automation. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wetbrick 0 #4 May 14, 2011 DSE I'd consider Vegas Pro vs VMS, simply for purposes of automation. Quote I wish that was in the bugget but if we need to buy another copy of Vegas for this computer i will highly recommend Vegas pro. There are still lots of startup costs for this season. DSE *** Chris Warnock/Parachutist builds these very regularly. He'll have the latest data. How how can i contact Chris Warnock? Is it possible to do this with a laptop? dragon2 thanks for posting very informative Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
parachutist 1 #5 May 18, 2011 Quote How how can i contact Chris Warnock? Is it possible to do this with a laptop? There are *lots* of options when it comes to hardware/software for editing videos. Generally I like to find the most cost effective way to have a reliable moderately fast system. In my experience, right now that middle ground for pretty high speed on at a fair price starts with an AMD Phenom II hex-core CPU on an affordable motherboard with 8 gigs of memory. You could do editing on a laptop, but you're always sacrificing speed and money when using a notebook system. Notebooks cost more for lower speed. Plus they tend to overheat easier and are not as simple to service. You were asking about used towers & power supplies. A new decent tower can be had for $40 with free shipping, so used isn't really saving you much there: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133179 Good power supplies are important, so I generally spend $100 on a good new one for these 6-core systems. They need solid stable power. In the long run you'll be better served to buy a new 650+ PSU instead of salvaging an old one for this. When it comes to deciding whether you want Vegas Movie Studio or Pro, the real factor that swings the vote is: how many videos will be edited on the busiest days? If it's five to ten then go with Studio I'd say. If it's a dozen or more then I'd say invest in Vegas Pro with Production Assistant 2 for automation to save time. There's a general guideline in my opinion... any more specific questions can be asked here or sent to me as a PM. blues, Chris Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
freefalljason 0 #6 May 18, 2011 You should listen to Chis, He knows what he's talking about. I built a machine a couple of months ago based on his recommendations and it is working FLAWLESSLY!! I highly recommend the "Tandem Videos Made Easy" DVD that he and DSE produced a few years back. It has helped me TREMENDOUSLY!! Thanks again for all your help Chris! Blue Skies, Jason Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wetbrick 0 #7 June 7, 2011 how important are the hdd drives? The HDD drives seem to be a bit on the pricey side and don't store alot of data. how much should i spend on the video card? what is reqired? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
beowulf 1 #8 June 7, 2011 Pricey? compared to what? You can get a 2 Terabyte drive for under $100 I think that's cheap. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wetbrick 0 #9 June 7, 2011 ops i should have said SSD drives seem a bit pricey and don't have allot of storage. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
beowulf 1 #10 June 7, 2011 I wouldn't use an SSD as main storage, just for the OS. SSD's have shorter expected life span compared to HDD. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
freefalljason 0 #11 June 7, 2011 Quote ops i should have said SSD drives seem a bit pricey and don't have allot of storage. I am using a 120gb SSD for the operating system/programs and a 1tb 7200 rpm HHD for storage. The SSD makes my machine start-up SUPER FAST! 37 seconds from the time I push the power button till the Windows log-in screen!! Blue Skies, Jason Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wetbrick 0 #12 June 7, 2011 Can i get by using hdd drives for rendering/ edting hd video.? Are ssd drives a must have? what do i need for a video card ? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DSE 3 #13 June 7, 2011 SSD is by no means a necessity. It can make things faster, sure. Necessary? By no means. I have an SSD boot/application drive in one computer, it's terrific. None of the editing machines we've put into DZ's have em', and they're crankin' along just fine. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
beowulf 1 #14 June 7, 2011 SSDs are not a must have, but they are much faster then HDDs. The increased speed is useful for running the OS and your main applications. For storage I would use HDDs. I wouldn't worry too much about the video card. Just don't get a cheap off brand card and you will be fine. You don't need a high end gaming video card. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wetbrick 0 #15 June 7, 2011 what is needed for the video card? does it have to anything special? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
beowulf 1 #16 June 7, 2011 No, nothing special really. Most of the high dollar video cards are for gaming or CAD use. The only issue you might have is with cheap generic cards causing your computer to crash. A friend of mine bought a really cheap video card that did that. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DSE 3 #17 June 7, 2011 Quote what is needed for the video card? does it have to anything special? Not at all. Both Sony Vegas and Adobe Premiere take some advantages of some very high end gaming cards, but IMO, the advantages are small enough to warrant a low-midgrade card vs a high end gaming card. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wetbrick 0 #18 June 7, 2011 how does this look for an editing computer 2 monitors 2 dvd burners windows 7 case roomy with air filters with fast card reader fire wire or usb2 cpu AMD Phenom II hex-core CPU video card nothing special gaming quality ram 12MB with option to go to 16 Hard drives 1 ssd for for the operating system $100-150 1 for archiving 2 TB power supply spend $100 Adrenalize - Adrenaline-Based Audio Sony Vegas movie studio HD 10 platinum Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
beowulf 1 #19 June 8, 2011 That should work well for what you are wanting to do. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
solodude59 0 #20 June 8, 2011 Quote ram 12MB with option to go to 16 12 Megabytes might not be quite enough to boot windows... In freefall, you have the rest of your life to figure out what's wrong. -Joe, AFF Instructor Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BlindBrick 0 #21 June 12, 2011 We're running: Phenom II X6 1090T Corsair H50 liquid CPU cooler 16 GB G-Skill Ripjaw Ram kit Two 1 Tera HDD's GTX 460 vid card (OEM OC'd) Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Professional sound card Biostar MCP6P mobo 3 DVD Burners Two 19" Monitors (we actually only use one because the preview window works fine for us as is) Xclio A380 Color case Originally intended to run the OS and Vegas on an SSD, but our SSD was DOA so we installed on a HDD. I always intended to migrate back to the SSD but we had so much teething trouble I didn't want to reinstall the OS on the SSD because I was an utter dumbass and forgot to write down the fixes to the teething trouble as I found them and it literally took me about 6 weeks to get them squared away. When I build our second NLE system early next year I'm going with a different mobo and case. I went with the mobo because at that time it was the only board on the market that had close to enough SATA slots, but it's only half compatible with the memory and vid card which caused major teething trouble. Next time I'll get a NVIDIA friendly mobo and then just buy an expansion card to add the extra SATA ports. I went with the A380 case for the massive fans it sports but once I had it in hand I saw that the front fan is basically neutered and the case is anvil-level heavy and poorly built. Next time I'll go with a ligther weight case and add my own 120 mm fans. I need to get with a true NLE guru like Chris because right now the system is not tweaked, but even without optimization, Rendering and burn time together are generally under two minutes unless we pile on the effects. -Blind"If you end up in an alligator's jaws, naked, you probably did something to deserve it." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
theonlyski 3 #22 June 13, 2011 Quote Originally intended to run the OS and Vegas on an SSD, but our SSD was DOA so we installed on a HDD. I always intended to migrate back to the SSD but we had so much teething trouble I didn't want to reinstall the OS on the SSD because I was an utter dumbass and forgot to write down the fixes to the teething trouble as I found them and it literally took me about 6 weeks to get them squared away. You should be able to ghost the image of the HDD to the SSD, though, I don't know if the OS would bitch about it, I doubt it. Very simple to do, could take a couple hours depending how much info is on the drive. If you've got a friend in the industry that has ghost, might be worth calling in a favor."I may be a dirty pirate hooker...but I'm not about to go stand on the corner." iluvtofly DPH -7, TDS 578, Muff 5153, SCR 14890 I'm an asshole, and I approve this message Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dragon2 0 #23 June 13, 2011 Quote Quote Originally intended to run the OS and Vegas on an SSD, but our SSD was DOA so we installed on a HDD. I always intended to migrate back to the SSD but we had so much teething trouble I didn't want to reinstall the OS on the SSD because I was an utter dumbass and forgot to write down the fixes to the teething trouble as I found them and it literally took me about 6 weeks to get them squared away. You should be able to ghost the image of the HDD to the SSD, though, I don't know if the OS would bitch about it, I doubt it. Very simple to do, could take a couple hours depending how much info is on the drive. If you've got a friend in the industry that has ghost, might be worth calling in a favor. Better not, as an SSD has a different allignment from a HDD. Using an SSD is worth it though, the pc will run much more smoothly overall. You'll notice especially when you're back to using a pc that doesn't have an SSD ciel bleu, Saskia Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
