05-28-2009, 04:33 PM

HI, I am a PC video editor. Not by choice, I just couldn't afford a Mac when I started out. I am now making the long awaited switch to Mac.....
I have used Mac off and on and I have been trying to do my homework but I really need someone who knows what they are talking about. Nobody seemed to know anything down at the mac store.
So here is my quest......I want to get a new Mac Pro but I want the Best configuration for video editing I can get. I am shooting on a Canon 5D Mark 2, HD, 2k video files. The custom Avid PC I have now cannot handle!

Can anyone help me build my machine?
Specs Please:

05-28-2009, 05:04 PM

Any mac pro configuration can handle what you are doing. If you can afford the dual processor 8 core config, it would give you more longevity as things change / upgrade.

If you're getting an older Mac Pro, get as much ram as you can

If you're getting a new mac pro, get memory in banks of 3 to take advantage of triple channel ram.

As you're running a dedicated video card in a mac pro, any will do ok. Personally I'd either look at the 4870 series radeon or the 8800gt (thats the higher end card from the early 08)

I'd probably go cheap on the HD's and just get one apple drive then populate with my own additional drives - HD's are cheap =)

both FCE and FCP will edit HD video and use multiple cores. FCP will give you more flexibility due to its greater set of features and controls. FCP is part of Final Cut Studio which has a lot of wonderful tools in it.

My system config handles 1080i without issue in my current editor (fce since I can't afford FCS atm). I use lightroom w/ stills from various cameras, and many times I have FCE, lightroom, itunes and safari open and have no problems editing my video footage. And I'm using an early '08 8 core w/ 8 gig ram, 1tb boot, 2x 320 aux drives (1 for scratch, 1 for putting things until I find a better place ), 1x 400 gig drive (bootcamp drive) and a DROBO w/ 2.6 TB worth of drives for external storage.

Basically, I'm saying you can get just about any mac pro config. The single quad core will be close in power to what I have ( a little less on some things, a little more on others based upon the numbers I've seen), but the dual quad core allows for more ram and really, a longer life as newer software comes out that may take more advantage of more cores.