Should I buy CS5.5 Production premium?

[Thomas E. Smith]

I've been using Final Cut express for about two years, mostly for my own personal videos. Lately I've been working on getting my videography business started, and I've realized I need something that will handle my AVCHD files without transcoding, plus burn decent Blu-rays (i.e. not Toast).

Since I'm a student, I can get CS5.5 production premium for $369.99 from Amazon. I've also been contemplating buying Avid Media Composer, but considering that I can get After Effects, Photoshop Extended, Illustrator, and Encore for about the same price, I'm leaning toward going with Adobe.
My question is, should I wait for CS6, or should I go ahead and buy CS5.5 now?

[Bruce Watson]

Originally Posted by Thomas E. Smith

...should I wait for CS6, or should I go ahead and buy CS5.5 now?

My theory is that you should buy the biggest bang for the buck when you need it. Then, get out of the market -- quit researching, quit looking at the latest thing, concentrate instead on learning your new tool to get the most out of it.

To do anything else seems to surrender your life to FUD from the manufacturers (designed to keep you from buying a competitors' product before their product cycles through) and GAS. And who really wants to live like that? Just sayin'.

So, the question that comes back to you is, when do you need it?

[Kawika Ohumukini]

I went to CS5.5 when my Mac laptop started to throw fits processing 32GB in files. That one decision cost a lot more than CS5.5 as I really needed new hardware. Measure twice, buy once. GL

[Claire Buckley]

Originally Posted by Thomas E. Smith

I've been using Final Cut express for about two years, mostly for my own personal videos. Lately I've been working on getting my videography business started, and I've realized I need something that will handle my AVCHD files without transcoding, plus burn decent Blu-rays (i.e. not Toast).

Since I'm a student, I can get CS5.5 production premium for $369.99 from Amazon. I've also been contemplating buying Avid Media Composer, but considering that I can get After Effects, Photoshop Extended, Illustrator, and Encore for about the same price, I'm leaning toward going with Adobe.
My question is, should I wait for CS6, or should I go ahead and buy CS5.5 now?

Yes Thomas, but make sure your hardware is up to the job: RAM, Video Card, HDD I/Os and CPU cores & speed. Given you can purchase with the educational discount makes those (like me) who had to pay the full price rather envious.

But who knows what CS6 might bring? But if you have a need now - then meet that need.

If you intend to start your video work as a fulltime business then you need to have a full-time business attitude and the tools to match

CS5.5 (compared to CS4) cut my edit time by a third.

Good Luck Thomas.

:)

[Thomas E. Smith]

Thank you all. I've made the decision to go ahead and purchase it, since I really could use it now.

As far as my setup, I have a mid 2010 i5 2.4 GHz Macbook Pro with a 64GB SSD, 8GB of RAM, and an Nvidia 330m graphics card.
I also have an external Firewire 800 2TB hard drive and an LG Blu-ray burner to use with Encore.

[Claire Buckley]

Thomas,

Do check out the hardware requirements.

Your current setup falls short, especially if you are wanting to edit AVCHD material and probably utilise effects and processing.

Do more research.

Eg:

I run Hex core i7 970 with 24 GB RAM, Nvidia GTX580 with OCZ SSD 120GB for OS.
One x2 WD Black RAID 0 1TB for Cache and Media,
One x2 WD Black RAID 0 2TB for Media Source, and a single WD Black 1TB for Media Output and Projects.
A total of 6 hardrives split into 3 separate functions.

:)

[Thomas E. Smith]

When I had the trial, I had found that, even with my 5400 rpm HD and 4GB of RAM, I could edit my GH2 footage in Premiere Pro reasonably quickly. Since I've upgraded my HD and RAM since then, I'm confident it'll be fast enough for my purposes.

Maybe eventually I can upgrade my laptop, but I'm happy with my MBP for now.

[Bart Walczak]

AVCHD is CPU intensive, but the files are pretty small, so there is relatively little need for quick HDDs in such case.

[Claire Buckley]

Originally Posted by Thomas E. Smith

When I had the trial, I had found that, even with my 5400 rpm HD and 4GB of RAM, I could edit my GH2 footage in Premiere Pro reasonably quickly. Since I've upgraded my HD and RAM since then, I'm confident it'll be fast enough for my purposes.

Maybe eventually I can upgrade my laptop, but I'm happy with my MBP for now.

Thomas,

As well maybe, but you might want to check out the issue using the 330m card - to hack or not to hack? And as already has been said about the CPU work load... No doubt (like somebody whose been smoking 50 years and hasn't got cancer... yet.) there are exceptions to the rule.

Adobe Forums: 2010 MacBook Pro and Premiere Pro CS5

But as you are happy for now - this will change as your professional client base changes and the pressure mounts with a one-hour timeline and multiple effects. Simply cutting video is different to producing a video with production value.

But I wish you well in your venture - good luck :)

[Thomas E. Smith]

Unfortunately I can't do the hack as I only have 256MB of VRAM.

I spoke with Adobe, and if I want to crossgrade later from Mac to Windows, they'll do it for free. So I think I'll try it out on my Mac for a while, and if it's not fast enough, I'll sell the MBP and pick up a faster Windows laptop.

What would you all recommend for a Windows laptop under $1200? I would consider a desktop, but I'll be starting college next year, and I need the portability.

[Sareesh Sudhakaran]

Thomas - I would advise against a laptop if you are planning this for a business. I made the same mistake once before and I now regret it 'somewhat' (luckily it worked out for me).

At the same price, you can build a PC twice as powerful as any laptop. I recommend building your own PC and go for CS5.5. So what if there's a CS6 next month?

[Thomas E. Smith]

I suppose I could buy a desktop plus a cheap netbook for taking notes and the like.
What build would you recommend for under $1000? I already have a 40" LCD that I use for a monitor, plus the LG Blu-ray burner, so that cuts down the cost somewhat.
EDIT: And I also have Windows 7 Professional 64 bit, so that's another expense I don't have to take into account.

[Sareesh Sudhakaran]

You can start with this: Videoguys Blog - Videoguys DIY8 Hex Core

It makes sense to go for the Sandy Bridge architecture to allow you to scale up more easily later on when business grows. You will need a lot more hard drives though.

[Thomas E. Smith]

Thanks for the link.
I will be picking up some more hard drives, but I'm going to wait until the prices settle down.

I'm thinking about selling my Macbook Pro and getting the following setup.

CPU: i7-2600k
Graphics: EVGA Geforce GTX 560 ti
Motherboard: BIOSTAR TZ68A
Computer Case: Antec Three Hundred Illusion Black Steel ATX Mid Tower
PSU: Seasonic M12II 520W
RAM: CORSAIR XMS3 4 x 4GB 1600
Drive: 64GB SSD boot drive, 2TB Hitachi second drive
Optical drive: LG Blu-ray burner
System: Windows 7 Professional

This whole system is under $1000, which would leave me with enough money to get a cheap netbook.
Are all of the components I listed compatible?

[Harm Millaard]

If I were in your shoes, I would look at a different brand than Biostar for the mobo, for instance Asus or Gigabyte. I would exchange the Antec 300 for a big tower like the CoolerMaster 932 HAF because of better cooling, easier installation, better cable management and more expansion capabilities. I would get a gold label PSU with around 750 W and add at least 2 more 7200 SATA disks to the equation.