Mac users who edit video : A question - GoFuckYourself.com

2MuchMark · 02-28-2013, 01:33 AM

I use dual iMac 27" for most of my normal work (photoshop, html, accounting, project management, skype, demos, site and live stream management, etc, but lately I am finding myself editing more and more video for our members area.

The iMacs that I have are fast for everything but seem to slow way down when working with video files (30 minute mpeg's at 720 lines take forever to load and convert to other formats, and editing is painful). I have 8GB of Ram.

I am considering buying a 12 Core Mac Pro with 24GB of Ram, but its a real budget breaker. Is there anyone here with a system like this? Is it fast / smooth? Does it make work easier? For the price it should be *extremely fast* of course but I'd like to hear from anyone on it before diving in.

DamianJ · 02-28-2013, 01:55 AM

Do NOT buy a mac pro yet. They haven't been upgraded properly for years and they've promised a new one this year.

but yes, my brother has one, it renders stuff in minutes, rather than hours.

problem with the iMac is that it uses laptop components. So you're essentially trying to render on a laptop.

I'm assuming all the video files are on your internal drive and the bottleneck isn't a slow USB external drive?

AdultKing · 02-28-2013, 02:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by **********

I use dual iMac 27" for most of my normal work (photoshop, html, accounting, project management, skype, demos, site and live stream management, etc, but lately I am finding myself editing more and more video for our members area.

Dual Core 27" ?

You'd do much better with the quad core.

Oliver K. · 02-28-2013, 03:29 AM

I'd second Damian on holding off with buying a Mac Pro. They will be updated pretty soon.

The current iMac models are pretty fast. I am cutting FullHD on a 2011 i7 iMac with 8GB, and it is blazing fast.

What software are you using for editing?

During cut it is important you make use of proxy media!

Also SSDs help a lot, but you need at least Firewire800 connection to make any use of those on your iMac.

I think "12 Core Mac Pro with 24GB of Ram" is a nice machine, but overkill for editing. It is a different story when it comes to rendering, but if you don't need to do this a lot, you can let the Mac do that work overnight or (if you use FinalCut Pro X) distribute that rendering load to the Macs in your network.

My 2cents,

Oliver

borked · 02-28-2013, 03:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oliver K.

I'd second Damian on holding off with buying a Mac Pro. They will be updated pretty soon.

The current iMac models are pretty fast. I am cutting FullHD on a 2011 i7 iMac with 8GB, and it is blazing fast.

What software are you using for editing?

During cut it is important you make use of proxy media!

Also SSDs help a lot, but you need at least Firewire800 connection to make any use of those on your iMac.

I think "12 Core Mac Pro with 24GB of Ram" is a nice machine, but overkill for editing. It is a different story when it comes to rendering, but if you don't need to do this a lot, you can let the Mac do that work overnight or (if you use FinalCut Pro X) distribute that rendering load to the Macs in your network.

My 2cents,

Oliver

I concur - i only use imovie for playing with gopro3 movies but they are full HD and many GB in size and it converts them fast on iMac 27" 2009 i7 with 12GB RAM

2MuchMark · 02-28-2013, 06:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DamianJ

Do NOT buy a mac pro yet. They haven't been upgraded properly for years and they've promised a new one this year.

Ok cool thanks for the tip. I didn't know that. There is a new one available now, but it looks like its just the same hardware but with more cores. Everything else is, I think, just the same.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DamianJ

I'm assuming all the video files are on your internal drive and the bottleneck isn't a slow USB external drive?

Correct. All files are local to the machine.

Quote:

Originally Posted by AdultKing

Dual Core 27" ?

You'd do much better with the quad core.

Thats right - Dual Core i7.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oliver K.

I'd second Damian on holding off with buying a Mac Pro. They will be updated pretty soon.

Ok thanks !!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oliver K.

The current iMac models are pretty fast. I am cutting FullHD on a 2011 i7 iMac with 8GB, and it is blazing fast.

Wow something is wrong then. My machine is creeping along and nothing that can be called fast. I am suspecting it might be my OS. I recently backed up my older machine to my newer machine and maybe I wrecked something. Dammit.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oliver K.

What software are you using for editing?

Final Cut Pro, but even iMovie is dragging.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oliver K.

Also SSDs help a lot, but you need at least Firewire800 connection to make any use of those on your iMac.

I have been considering SSD for a while but I would like it setup as my boot drive if possible. Are you setup this way? Or do you use SSD in another way?

My external drive is Firewire800 already. (I was using the Apple Time Capsule drives over Ethernet originally. Firewire800 is a big improvement).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oliver K.

I think "12 Core Mac Pro with 24GB of Ram" is a nice machine, but overkill for editing. It is a different story when it comes to rendering, but if you don't need to do this a lot, you can let the Mac do that work overnight or (if you use FinalCut Pro X) distribute that rendering load to the Macs in your network.

That would be the ultimate setup but way way overkill for this. Thanks though!

DamianJ · 02-28-2013, 06:36 AM

Yeah, you are using proxy media in final cut?

Grapesoda · 02-28-2013, 07:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by **********

I use dual iMac 27" for most of my normal work (photoshop, html, accounting, project management, skype, demos, site and live stream management, etc, but lately I am finding myself editing more and more video for our members area.

The iMacs that I have are fast for everything but seem to slow way down when working with video files (30 minute mpeg's at 720 lines take forever to load and convert to other formats, and editing is painful). I have 8GB of Ram.

I am considering buying a 12 Core Mac Pro with 24GB of Ram, but its a real budget breaker. Is there anyone here with a system like this? Is it fast / smooth? Does it make work easier? For the price it should be *extremely fast* of course but I'd like to hear from anyone on it before diving in.

that's just typical mac bullshit... seriously.. mac's are allergic to everything and so you must convert everything to 'mac' so the os can deal with it... that's what is talking time, videos just blow right on through for the PC

candyflip · 02-28-2013, 08:03 AM

iMac is not a machine made for editing video.

02-28-2013, 01:33 AM	#1
2MuchMark Videochat Solutions Industry Role: Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Canada Posts: 48,603	Mac users who edit video : A question I use dual iMac 27" for most of my normal work (photoshop, html, accounting, project management, skype, demos, site and live stream management, etc, but lately I am finding myself editing more and more video for our members area. The iMacs that I have are fast for everything but seem to slow way down when working with video files (30 minute mpeg's at 720 lines take forever to load and convert to other formats, and editing is painful). I have 8GB of Ram. I am considering buying a 12 Core Mac Pro with 24GB of Ram, but its a real budget breaker. Is there anyone here with a system like this? Is it fast / smooth? Does it make work easier? For the price it should be extremely fast of course but I'd like to hear from anyone on it before diving in. __________________ Custom Software \| Server Management \| Integration and Technology Solutions https://www.2much.net

02-28-2013, 03:29 AM	#4
Oliver K. Registered User Industry Role: Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: On the edge of lunacy Posts: 4	I'd second Damian on holding off with buying a Mac Pro. They will be updated pretty soon. The current iMac models are pretty fast. I am cutting FullHD on a 2011 i7 iMac with 8GB, and it is blazing fast. What software are you using for editing? During cut it is important you make use of proxy media! Also SSDs help a lot, but you need at least Firewire800 connection to make any use of those on your iMac. I think "12 Core Mac Pro with 24GB of Ram" is a nice machine, but overkill for editing. It is a different story when it comes to rendering, but if you don't need to do this a lot, you can let the Mac do that work overnight or (if you use FinalCut Pro X) distribute that rendering load to the Macs in your network. My 2cents, Oliver __________________ Exklusive BDSM & Fetisch Videos Deutschsprachiger Content // Zielgruppengetestet // Affiliates Welcome www.leidendschaft.com // Ab Frühjahr 2013

02-28-2013, 08:03 AM	#9
candyflip Carpe Visio Industry Role: Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: New York Posts: 43,056	iMac is not a machine made for editing video. __________________ Spend you some brain. Email Me

02-28-2013, 01:55 AM	#2
DamianJ Too lazy to set a custom title Industry Role: Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: A magical land Posts: 15,808	Do NOT buy a mac pro yet. They haven't been upgraded properly for years and they've promised a new one this year. but yes, my brother has one, it renders stuff in minutes, rather than hours. problem with the iMac is that it uses laptop components. So you're essentially trying to render on a laptop. I'm assuming all the video files are on your internal drive and the bottleneck isn't a slow USB external drive?

02-28-2013, 06:36 AM	#7
DamianJ Too lazy to set a custom title Industry Role: Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: A magical land Posts: 15,808	Yeah, you are using proxy media in final cut?