Mac Pro for video editing

[FidoPhoto]

I'm starting to do a lot of video with my DSLR and my MacBook Pro takes an eternity to render them, sometimes 10-15 minutes for a single video. I'm doing the editing in Photoshop because it's familiar and because it's good enough for my purposes, but I'm wondering how I can speed up the process. I'm guessing that a Mac Pro would be faster, but what are the important specs?

 

Edited May 11, 2016 by FidoPhoto
added file

[Brian]

Mac Pro would definitely help, but at a huge price-point. It doesn't surprise me one bit about your laptop taking 10-15 min to render a single video. As far as the current specifications you uploaded in your post, you kinda are at a bare minimum and when it comes to a laptop, you are maxed out. 

In reality, you are looking for a

• Fast i7 CPU chip
• 32GB RAM (or more)
• 4GB Video Card
• A Thunderbolt EHD drive configured in a RAID0
• A fast internal HD.
• Dual IPS based Displays. (Either two 24" or two 27" displays.)

Price point, we are looking at being around $5000, give or take. You should also ditch Photoshop for video editing (didn't even know that was possible) and use a proper 64-bit Video Editing Software package.

[Brian]

I did a quick configuration on a Mac Pro. Man, I could spend even more. Mac Pros are not cheap.

[Brian]

You might also want to consider a "SuperFast" 27" iMac, which will run you $2999 to start out with.

 

Then you'd upgrade the RAM to 32GB from Crucial.com. Man, RAM is CHEAP now, $62!!

Then add a Thunderbolt Based EHD, configured in RAID0 (RAID Zero.) This EHD is meant to be your "working" / "cache" drive for rendering. It is NOT MEANT FOR STORAGE WHATSOEVER. For that, we will need another EHD.

[Brian]

So it boils down to price, really...and how much video are you going to do. You are either spending around $4000 or $6000+.

[FidoPhoto]

Thanks for the advice!

Video is a steady income for me right now, much more so than custom stills so I'm willing to invest a bit. I could spend $4000. Anything more than that might be painful. I have a 4 TB G-Drive Thunderbolt drive, but I'm not sure how to use it just for processing. I have 3 other 4 TB G-Drive EHDs that aren't Thunderbolt that I mirror with SuperDuper regularly. I already have a good monitor (NEC PA271W) so I was thinking the iMac wasn't the right choice, but I'll think more about that.

I know CS6 isn't ideal for video, but what I'm doing isn't much beyond white balance, brightness, adding a bit of text or an arrow and then a tiny bit of sharpening so it's okay for now. (The quality "bar" is shockingly low for the customers I'm serving—they're impressed that I use a tripod.) I'll look into final cut pro and then maybe shoot 4K video.

[Brian]

Honestly, video is where it's at. Lots of Cutesy Name Photography businesses out there...but how many of them do video? Even the old "Professionals," like Clay Blackmore, told me personally that video is what is sustaining him now; that the phone doesn't ring much for still photography.

I've even toyed around with the idea.

You could use your current monitor with a SuperFast iMac, especially if you get a version that has 4GB of Video Memory (Or more.) You'd simply use the Thunderbolt Port and get the correct adapter. Believe it or not, PS runs slower on a Mac Pro. The reason is the architecture. Programs like Final Cut Pro are designed to be run on a Mac Pro. PS doesn't take advantage of the features that makes a Mac Pro a Mac Pro. So if you are just running CS6, look towards a iMac. 

But I am serious about that RAID0 EHD. (Two HDs work in unison creating one HD. The main benefit, SPEED. You want to crunch video on a Thunderbolt RAID0 EHD.)

[FidoPhoto]

I think you're right about video being the where the money is. I'd never considered it until I was asked if I did it and I said yes because I figured I could learn.

I don't know anything about RAID0 so I'll do a little research while I'm waiting for B&H to deliver the EHD you linked to. It's not hard to set up, is it?

I downloaded a trial version of Final Cut Pro X so maybe I'll be able to pick between the Mac Pro and the iMac based on what I'm going to use to edit. Do you think a new computer (either one) will be a lot faster than my laptop once I get the new RAID0 hooked up? I read that Adobe Premiere is better than Final Cut Pro X, but you can't buy a stand alone copy of Premiere anymore.

[Brian]

That WD drive I linked to makes it straightforward. There are instructions and the controller software these days is easy to deal with. This isn't the 1990's. LOL!! Basically, two HDs act as one big drive. Don't overthink. RAID0 is great for crunching video. Especially if you get a Thunderbolt version.

On 5/12/2016 at 11:13 AM, FidoPhoto said:

Do you think a new computer (either one) will be a lot faster than my laptop

YES!!!

Laptops are great for portability. It's when you use them in place of a desktop, do you find out its limitations. Sure you can edit video on one, but as you have found out, 20 min here, 30 min there...it all adds up. Time is money. Especially if you are doing this professionally. Oh, one thing I forgot to mention. Before anyone decides to chime in and say 16GB is plenty, that's just for one program. It's the plug-ins to help you edit video that can eat up your memory. So get as much RAM as you can, preferably 32GB or more.

If you got the Thunderbolt RAID0 EHD now, there would probably be some sort of performance gain. But it's a laptop, so I'm thinking it will be "better," but not "earth shattering." Since you are going to need that EHD either way, I'd purchase that 1st. You can always use it on a Mac Pro or SuperFast 27" iMac, so it's an investment.

[FidoPhoto]

Okay, the RAID0 is installed and set up. I downloaded a trial version of Final Cut Pro X and watched a good set of tutorials by Izzy Hyman and it seems like it'll be an improvement over using CS6 for video editing.

My question now is, what plug-ins do I need to help me edit video? Isn't Final Cut Pro X sufficient?

I'm struggling with the Mac Pro vs. iMac decision because I don't want another monitor on my desk and the Mac Pro is a LOT of money. Ugh.

[Brian]

I don't edit video. No idea about which plug-ins to use.  But I have found some by doing this:

http://bfy.tw/5n1F

[FidoPhoto]

After a few hours of Final Cut Pro X video tutorials and trying some stuff, I'm sticking with CS6. What I'm doing is repetitive and the better video software is designed for flexibility, not efficiency. If I ever get into making creative videos I'll switch, but no need for it right now. So it'll be the super fast iMac with the RAID0 EHD. Thanks again for your help!

Karen

[FidoPhoto]

Was I supposed to get 2 of the Crucial RAM memory thingies? I only ordered one so I have 2x8GB. My new iMac is in its box in the other room. (I'm kind of afraid of it.)

 

[FidoPhoto]

The iMac came with 2x8GB though so I'm just going to add the 2 I got from Crucial. Right?

[Brian]

3 hours ago, FidoPhoto said:

The iMac came with 2x8GB though so I'm just going to add the 2 I got from Crucial. Right?

Correct.

Give this video a watch. Even though the iMac is from 2012 on the video, Apple hasn't changed the design for the current iMacs. It goes in the same way.

[FidoPhoto]

Okay, my new iMac is up and running, RAM is installed and rendering videos is way faster, as promised. One little glitch though—CS6 is behaving badly. When I hit Q to go into quick mask mode, paint an area and then hit Q again, nothing happens. I have to either use my mouse to click on the icon or go up to the select menu and choose to exit quick mask mode. Same sort of thing with the brush tool and the clone tool. I can use them, but then cmd+z doesn't work, the [ and ] don't work to change the brush size and basically it just refuses to respond to anything except menu commands or icons.

Any ideas what might be going on? I've restarted several times and my caps lock is not on. I don't know what else to try.

 

[FidoPhoto]

After a bit of googling, I reset all the preferences, restarted the iMac in safe mode and now I give up.

[FidoPhoto]

It's the Wacom tablet that's causing the problems. They emailed me the latest driver because their website wasn't working right, but there's some incompatibility with with Photoshop. (The internet is nice in that whatever issue you have you can find out exactly how not-alone you are.)

[FidoPhoto]

If anyone else has the same issue, here's the solution that worked for my problem: https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/kb/photoshop-menus-turn-white-mac.html