Imac for NLE? at DVinfo.net

Willy Santiago · March 16th, 2009, 08:26 AM

I am planning to upgrade from my old desktop PC NLE system to iMac 24", 2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo,
4GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM. Any comments on this and what are my limitations? Thanks...

David W. Jones · March 16th, 2009, 08:38 AM

You will need some form of external disk storage.
As well as something along the lines of AJA IO / matrox MXO 2 / MOTU V4HD for professional video monitoring.
Since there is no internal space for extra drives or broadcast video cards.

Jason Livingston · March 16th, 2009, 08:57 AM

Actually even the MXO2 won't work because the iMacs have no ExpressCard slot. It would be difficult to manage your camera (if it uses Firewire), I/O box, and external storage all running on the same FW bus. You'd be better off with a Macbook Pro or a Mac Pro if you want to run Pro apps.

William Hohauser · March 16th, 2009, 09:33 AM

Final Cut Pro, DVD Studio Pro and Soundtrack all work great. Motion and LiveType should work OK but Color I wouldn't guess. A FireWire800 external drive is all you need to make the iMac work as a NLE system. While I know someone who has been successful with cutting DVCProHD (transfered from a FireStore), your best chances of success will be with DV or HDV.

Edward Phillips · March 16th, 2009, 10:09 AM

I edit FCP Studio 2 with my imac with the same specs exepct only 2gb of Ram and everything works like a charm. I have cut 720pn shot on a Panasonic HVX200 and mixed it with some SD video and some 720p shot on a MinoHD and all works well.

I use an external hardrive connected Firewire 800 for media storage and a 1 TB drive attached via USB for Time Machine back-up. I use the firewire 400 to go out to a "capture camcorder" connected to a TV for a "client Monitor". It works very well for my needs.

Boyd Ostroff · March 17th, 2009, 11:59 AM

I got a similar system last fall (3ghz processor though) and it works like a charm with FCS 2. So far I have only edited HDV and DV, and burned DVD's with DVDSP, but it has been a pleasure to use and WAY faster than my old dual 2.5ghz G5.

I have an external 23" Cinema Display with a Matrox MXO box as a monitor. I have sort of mixed feelings about this. It works fine, but the software seems pretty buggy (haven't updated for a couple months, maybe something new is available?), and I find it annoying the way the screen goes black, then redraws itself when you do certain things. For the price though it's a nice way to get color accurate HD monitoring.

If you don't need expansion slots, it's a lot of bang for the buck and the 24" screen is very impressive.

Joachim Hoge · March 17th, 2009, 12:23 PM

I have used the first 24" iMac that came out for 2 years and done a lot of HDV and XDCAM EX HD editing and it worked great.
Of course no monitoring, but since you are considering an iMac it´s probably not that important to your workflow.
It´s a great place to start, but you can´t upgrade by adding video cards etc.
So consider a MacPro as well, but I realize it cost quite a bit more

Brandon Freeman · March 19th, 2009, 10:27 AM

I bought a refurbished 20" 2.66 GHz 2GB RAM iMac for a grand. Loaded FCS 2 and Logic Studio up (and CS3), and bought a 500 GB External WD. I'm using it to re-edit my first feature, and it's working like a charm.

Using Motion, Color, After Effects, all that jazz, working fine. Maybe a little slow, but I upgraded from a four year old PC, so it's lightyears from where I was.

Dave Rochelle · March 19th, 2009, 02:07 PM

I have been working on a 24" imac with the 3.06GHz and 2GB ram (storage via Gtech G-RAID via FW800) for nearly a year with no problems. I have edited DV and HDV (720p24/30) and almost always get real-time (until you add effects, transitions, CC, of course) performance in Adobe CS3 .

I would love a real pro monitoring setup but at this price-point my work-around is simply to burn a DVD and play it on different TVs, make notes and then go back and CC accordingly...

The only change I am making is to upgrade ram to 4GB - but only because I'm getting more into AE. Basic editing in Premiere has been fine w/2GB.

March 16th, 2009, 08:26 AM	#1
Willy Santiago New Boot Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 5	Imac for NLE? I am planning to upgrade from my old desktop PC NLE system to iMac 24", 2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM. Any comments on this and what are my limitations? Thanks...

March 16th, 2009, 09:33 AM	#4
William Hohauser Inner Circle Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: New York City Posts: 2,650	Final Cut Pro, DVD Studio Pro and Soundtrack all work great. Motion and LiveType should work OK but Color I wouldn't guess. A FireWire800 external drive is all you need to make the iMac work as a NLE system. While I know someone who has been successful with cutting DVCProHD (transfered from a FireStore), your best chances of success will be with DV or HDV. __________________ William Hohauser - New York City Producer/Edit/Camera/Animation

March 19th, 2009, 10:27 AM	#8
Brandon Freeman Major Player Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Boise, ID Posts: 226	I bought a refurbished 20" 2.66 GHz 2GB RAM iMac for a grand. Loaded FCS 2 and Logic Studio up (and CS3), and bought a 500 GB External WD. I'm using it to re-edit my first feature, and it's working like a charm. Using Motion, Color, After Effects, all that jazz, working fine. Maybe a little slow, but I upgraded from a four year old PC, so it's lightyears from where I was. __________________ Canon EOS 7D, Final Cut Studio 2

March 16th, 2009, 08:38 AM	#2
David W. Jones Trustee Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Little Rock Posts: 1,383	You will need some form of external disk storage. As well as something along the lines of AJA IO / matrox MXO 2 / MOTU V4HD for professional video monitoring. Since there is no internal space for extra drives or broadcast video cards.

March 16th, 2009, 08:57 AM	#3
Jason Livingston Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Maryland, USA Posts: 71	Actually even the MXO2 won't work because the iMacs have no ExpressCard slot. It would be difficult to manage your camera (if it uses Firewire), I/O box, and external storage all running on the same FW bus. You'd be better off with a Macbook Pro or a Mac Pro if you want to run Pro apps.

March 16th, 2009, 10:09 AM	#5
Edward Phillips Regular Crew Join Date: May 2008 Location: Memphis, TN Posts: 118	I edit FCP Studio 2 with my imac with the same specs exepct only 2gb of Ram and everything works like a charm. I have cut 720pn shot on a Panasonic HVX200 and mixed it with some SD video and some 720p shot on a MinoHD and all works well. I use an external hardrive connected Firewire 800 for media storage and a 1 TB drive attached via USB for Time Machine back-up. I use the firewire 400 to go out to a "capture camcorder" connected to a TV for a "client Monitor". It works very well for my needs.

March 17th, 2009, 11:59 AM	#6
Boyd Ostroff Wrangler Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Mays Landing, NJ Posts: 11,802	I got a similar system last fall (3ghz processor though) and it works like a charm with FCS 2. So far I have only edited HDV and DV, and burned DVD's with DVDSP, but it has been a pleasure to use and WAY faster than my old dual 2.5ghz G5. I have an external 23" Cinema Display with a Matrox MXO box as a monitor. I have sort of mixed feelings about this. It works fine, but the software seems pretty buggy (haven't updated for a couple months, maybe something new is available?), and I find it annoying the way the screen goes black, then redraws itself when you do certain things. For the price though it's a nice way to get color accurate HD monitoring. If you don't need expansion slots, it's a lot of bang for the buck and the 24" screen is very impressive.

March 17th, 2009, 12:23 PM	#7
Joachim Hoge Major Player Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Oslo, Norway Posts: 402	I have used the first 24" iMac that came out for 2 years and done a lot of HDV and XDCAM EX HD editing and it worked great. Of course no monitoring, but since you are considering an iMac it´s probably not that important to your workflow. It´s a great place to start, but you can´t upgrade by adding video cards etc. So consider a MacPro as well, but I realize it cost quite a bit more

March 19th, 2009, 02:07 PM	#9
Dave Rochelle Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 58	I have been working on a 24" imac with the 3.06GHz and 2GB ram (storage via Gtech G-RAID via FW800) for nearly a year with no problems. I have edited DV and HDV (720p24/30) and almost always get real-time (until you add effects, transitions, CC, of course) performance in Adobe CS3 . I would love a real pro monitoring setup but at this price-point my work-around is simply to burn a DVD and play it on different TVs, make notes and then go back and CC accordingly... The only change I am making is to upgrade ram to 4GB - but only because I'm getting more into AE. Basic editing in Premiere has been fine w/2GB.