Dual G5 v. Intel Video editing

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OmegaSpade79

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Hey,

I'm not sure this is the right forum for this but I did not see a forum for video editing and this is more of a hardware question then software. A friend of mine has started doing some video editing. He plans to make his own movies, he is aiming for professional quality for under $3,000 on the computer hardware (not including software or camera). With this Budget he can get one nice dual G5. Right now he is using a G3 300 to edit with. So he is familiar with Macs. He has user level knowledge of PC's. My question is could I build him an equivalent system to the dual G5 for far less using a P4 or opteron based system.

Additionally, if I were to suggest the PC side, is Adobe Premier the best software for him to use?

I ask this because we all are aware PC's are much cheaper to keep up to date and has a lot more software options. I have also heard that the Mac superiority at video editing it largely BS.
 
i've never tried video editing on a G5 yet

but on my current system i love video editing on it :)
 
Just let him get the Mac since he's already familar with it. He doesn't seem to be under a tight budget if he has $3000 to spend excluding a camera and software.

Just remember to add up ALL the costs like lots of extra hard drive space, extra memory, etc and skip the unnecessary stuff like a gaming video card (except maybe the 9600XT since it's only a $50 upgrade). LOL, who am I kidding? Just a dual G5 1.8GHz with 250GB, an upgrade to 1GB and a 17" LCD monitor is over $3100, excluding tax. That doesn't even include speakers.

I'm happy editing MPEG-2 on my PC.

Good luck.
 
I really like premiere pro, and it flys on a dual xeon machine. (it was rebuilt from the ground up for the pc after they dumped mac support, and it is really optimized for netburst and HT, so 2 xeons= 4 virtual processors= Premiere pro goodness)
 
Intel with Premiere Pro rocks. I havent used Final Cut Pro, but I have used Premiere with Macs, and I prefer Intel.
 
Having done video editing on both platforms, I have to say that Final Cut Pro on the Mac blows away any other software in the same range. The G5s all have very fast FSBs, and their "advanced system controller" (a dedicated chip that connects the processors and all the other hardware of the system board) is very nicely designed, and has no equivalent in PC architecture. Though the latest versions of Premiere are better than ever, they still can't beat the total integration that's brought by having the hardware, OS, and application all designed by the same people (this is why Adobe abandoned Mac).
 
DanK said:
Having done video editing on both platforms, I have to say that Final Cut Pro on the Mac blows away any other software in the same range. The G5s all have very fast FSBs, and their "advanced system controller" (a dedicated chip that connects the processors and all the other hardware of the system board) is very nicely designed, and has no equivalent in PC architecture. Though the latest versions of Premiere are better than ever, they still can't beat the total integration that's brought by having the hardware, OS, and application all designed by the same people (this is why Adobe abandoned Mac).
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What would you suggest in terms of ram? I was thinking 512 to start and bumping to 1.5GB if he complained about memory issues?
 
OmegaSpade79 said:
What would you suggest in terms of ram? I was thinking 512 to start and bumping to 1.5GB if he complained about memory issues?
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You want as much as your budget can allow, and as much as your system can fit, whichever comes first. The 1GB I have in my computer is a comfortable amount, but I'd get more if I had money to do so. If you do order an Apple, don't buy memory from them; they overcharge for it. Other memory of the same type (I believe they use PC3200) will work just fine.
 
Yup, I planned to buy the ram from macsales.com. The reason I said 512 to start is in case he doesn't end up needing more. From what I know ram does not speed up video editing all that much. So I figured I would let him play around with 512 and if he got annoyed about the memory, tell him its $180 per gig.
 
M4d-K10wN said:
Dual Opteron will own everyone else's shorts. Cheap, too.
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not in video editing, and especially not in premiere, intel still owns that arena. Premiere is significantly faster on netburst than K8 or K7
 
Wow,

I can tell none of you are hard core video editers. if you useing Premre Pro...Lol

AVID.

If you want real answers and no bull then I can help you.

Dream@nakrulstrosek.com

out
 
ever think of dual opterons?? theyre faster and cheaper than intel...

performance per dollar they win

and yeh premiere is for amatures. avid is what you really use to edit video...and the main program alone takes up 512. if you people seriously think you can do ANY significant non linear editing with just 512...i feel sorry for you.
 
I'm going to have to say this...

It's as much about the software as it is about the hardware.

If you have the fastest processors, most memory, biggest hard drive, you are going to get nothing done if your software is hindering you.

The same if you have to re-learn everything, because you switched platforms (either way) then you are losing out on productivity time.

My suggestion to you is to keep the person on whatever platform they know, with the software they are familiar with.
 
Its a matter of personal preference and opinion. If I was doing video editing all the time I'd want a G5, just because that's what i would like. If your friend would be at ease using the G5, then tell him to get that. Especially if he's not familar with the PC software.
 
If I was going to start all over again I would get a G5, because to get a PC to the same level as a G5 you have to spend more $$$$. I know people say that Apple products are expensive, but most of them don't realize that a lot of features are integrated very nicely into them where you don't have to add expensive add-ons (hardware & software). Although the PC is starting to get better in this area, but in my opinion is still behind Apple.
 
kronchev said:
ever think of dual opterons?? theyre faster and cheaper than intel...

performance per dollar they win

and yeh premiere is for amatures. avid is what you really use to edit video...and the main program alone takes up 512. if you people seriously think you can do ANY significant non linear editing with just 512...i feel sorry for you.
Click to expand...

Opterons are not cheap, by any means, and Premiere Pro is HEAVILY optimized for Intel architecture.
 
A good chunk of the professionals that do video editing use macs because (1) Apple sort of took over that niche an so there machines have a lot of advantages when it comes to video editing and (2) Video editing professionals don't have the know-how or the time to go build a dual xeon or dual opteron system. Besides, even if the hardware was slightly better on a PC the operating system your using is still windows.
 
kronchev said:
ever think of dual opterons?? theyre faster and cheaper than intel...

performance per dollar they win

and yeh premiere is for amatures. avid is what you really use to edit video...and the main program alone takes up 512. if you people seriously think you can do ANY significant non linear editing with just 512...i feel sorry for you.
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frankly, i think avid is for amateurs, but what ever ;)

Apple definately took over back in the IIc and even the G3 days. But after they couldn't raise the clockspeed on the G4 by much, many vid edit. devs went to the PC platform.
 
rayman2k2 said:
Intel with Premiere Pro rocks. I havent used Final Cut Pro, but I have used Premiere with Macs, and I prefer Intel.
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Premiere Pro isn't out and never will be out for the Macintosh. Apple and Adobe had a falling out concerning Premiere. Adobe is pissed because Apple has Final Cut, Apple won't give Adobe critical information needed to write code for Premiere Pro on OS 10.x and make it decent.

So in short there will be no Premiere Pro for the Macintosh. So if your software preference is for Premiere Pro the choice is clear.

All this information comes from our Adobe software rep.
 
Sir-Fragalot said:
Premiere Pro isn't out and never will be out for the Macintosh. Apple and Adobe had a falling out concerning Premiere. Adobe is pissed because Apple has Final Cut, Apple won't give Adobe critical information needed to write code for Premiere Pro on OS 10.x and make it decent.

So in short there will be no Premiere Pro for the Macintosh. So if your software preference is for Premiere Pro the choice is clear.

All this information comes from our Adobe software rep.
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oops, i didnt mean to imply that Premiere Pro is out for Mac, my bad.


and johnie, yes, you are wrong. the [h] has concluded time and time again that opterons rock in certain areas, and xeons rock in the others. but to state that dual xeons have nothing on dual opterons, is, well, completely false.
 
agreed they are actually very comparitive currently in most aps

the Xeons weakness is memory scalability (and few run aps & tasks that can employ quads and up) and long term architecture
(the opterons with the on die controller, which the xeons lack and make up for with the L3) not a long term solution for the Xeon

Xeons strengths lie in HyperThreading
 
If your going to do video work on a PC, then use Avid and nothing else.

Me, I would go with the G5 and Final Cut Pro. Since he is already using a G3 it will be a brease for him to learn Final Cut Pro with OS X.
 
Final Cut Pro is a pig. Theres a big difference between Final Cut Pro on a G3 and Final cut on a G4/G5.
 
If you are not doing it for living, I say just stick to which ever he feels comfortable. If its for living, we are talking about HW support for rendering etc to reduce time wasted, etc. I would concentrate more on HDD space and memory than anything, min 1GIG, 2 GIG preferable with 2-300gb hdd total to start off with. Work reverse from here for rest of system spec :p

As for MAC being preferred with current bases of people is the stability of windows. Until XP, it was pretty much given that MAC is more stable. It doesn't sound like much but when your 1-2 hours of creative work is in peril, well choice is obvious. Reason I see more PC based video editing semi-pros now that systems are much much more stable and comparible (and cheaper)
 
The fact that your friend is already familiar with the Mac platform is a big factor. I use FCP and DVD Studio Pro for work on my Dual 1ghz G4, and the thing is SMOKIN fast. I suppose everything is instantaneous with the top end G5 boxes, I dunno. Bottom line is that for this kind of work the G5s are absolute monsters. Just get a gig of ram with enough hard drive space and you're good to go.
 
We've got Dual G5's with Final Cut Pro. But we've also got Avid Adrenaline's which are PC's which kick the G5's asses.
 
Avid Adrenalines are great, but at $25,000 to $45,000+ for the hardware and software suite (depending on how you deck it out) I'm afraid it's probably way out of his budget. Let's forget the fact that you're comparing a general purpose workstation with a heavily customized, special purpose PC. Apples and oranges, no pun intended.

That's the thing I like about FCP, especially for my purposes (I'm not an editor by trade, I just use it to cut my demo reels). You get a lot, it works great, and it's very very affordable.
 
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