The biggest issue a person faces during the transition to Premiere Pro from another NLE is the hardware configuration of their desktop or laptop computer. With the requirement of a 64-bit operating system and a graphics card compatible with the Mercury playback engine, a decision must be made whether to update an existing setup, build a new system from scratch, or adapt an off-the-shelf PC to suit. Here are some suggestions from our DV Info Net community members.
A quick note about the mobile systems… some folks on our forum are reporting considerable success using Sager brand laptops with CS5. We’ll examine that particular option in much greater depth in a future article, to follow this one very soon on DV Info Net.
Studio (Desktop) Configurations for Adobe Premiere Pro
Jay West: A desktop configuration recipe that many of us have used comes from one of the DV Info Net sponsors, Videoguys. Here’s a link to their recipe with components:
Videoguys Blog – Videoguys’ DIY7.7: Intel Core i7 with Vista 64 AND Now Windows 7
Videoguys does not assemble the things, does not sell kits, and, except for Blu-Ray burners and Quadro display cards, does not sell the components. A lot of folks use Newegg as a source for components which would be convenient for you. However, you might (or might not) find similar or better deals by wandering through the equipment stores in your town.
Three things to consider with the Videoguys specs.
(a) Their recommended system CPU is an I7/920. But the newer I7/930 CPUs seem to be less expensive and also seem to run a bit cooler than the I7/920. I’d say: get the I7/930.
(b) If you get an ASUS motherboard, ASUS has a utility program (run from the BIOS) called AI Tweaker which basically lets the motherboard automatically control overclocking. Basically, the software monitors heat and other such parameters and gives you some overclocking while reining it in if things get too hot. This allows for somewhat higher performance without having to master the details that overclocking might otherwise entail.
(c) The Videoguys’ recipe includes nVidia Quadro display cards (which Adobe also recommends). You do not necessarily need a Quadro card for what you want to do. The much higher price of the Quadro cards reflects some extra features (such as special software-hardware acceleration of encoding) and a much better telephone support team. These things are important to some folks who use this stuff to earn their living. While I use this stuff to earn my living, I’ve also been very content to use a GTX 260. Lars has recommended one of the nVidia based cards that are replacing or have replaced the GTX2xx series. Looks like a good choice.
Some folks build systems using SSD’s (solid state drives.) These are much more expensive than regular hard drives. I really want some but haven’t yet found the budget for them. They certainly can make your life with CS5 better but: (a) you can add them later when budget allows and workflow requires; and (b) you still get good performance from SATA drives which are much less expensive right now.
The recommendations we have been giving you are for the computer “box.” They have not included some things you will definitely need unless you already have a keyboard, mouse and monitor sitting around. You will need a USB keyboard, a USB mouse, and a decent size monitor. DV Info Net has a whole forum on monitors.
I’ve been running a PNY GTX260 for a year with with CS4 and now CS5. I use the machine only for video and audio editing, Photoshop and related tasks. I’ve connected a scanner (for importing photos and OCR of program handouts for cast lists and members of wedding parties, etc.), and a printer (for printing DVDs and photos), I run a dual monitor setup with an MXO2 Mini and and a Sony TV for external editing. I have Open Office for when I need it. I run WinPatrol and Norton 360 (came with the motherboard), and a couple of the motherboard apps. Never had a BSOD (blue screen of death crash).
On updates: gamer cards get frequent updates and the engineers don’t always pay attention to (or even seem to care about) anything but games. My suggestion is to turn off automatic updating of video drivers and software and only update after you’ve checked forums like this for reports of problems with your applications. If there are problems and everything is working, hold off on the update. That said, the only problem I’ve had with updating my PNY GTX260 came when I installed Avid MC5 and the software reported that it wanted an earlier version of the nVidia drivers before it would install. No such problems now that I’ve updated after installation (I’ve got both MC5 and CS5 because I’ve been editing video for a while and I accumulated relatively inexpensive upgrade rights. This won’t be an immediate problem for you.)
Finally, in budgeting for your system, do not forget to a battery-back up/UPS unit (our local Costco has Trip-Lite units on sale for $99 so think about that in setting your budget.)
Robert Young: I don’t think it’s necessary to build from scratch, or pay a lot of money. You can order a Dell (something like their Studio XPS 9000) Intel i7, 12 GB tri RAM, a single SATA system drive, with a low end graphics card for a pretty modest price (maybe around $1300). Then you can yourself add a RAID drive, export drive, maybe a Blu-Ray burner, and a Mercury compatable GPU for a few more dollars. So, probably the whole CS5 capable system for around $2,000 not including monitor(s). This is what I have done for many years with quite satisfactory results. Whatever you choose, you do need to be sure the power supply is adequate for the final configuration — particularly if you end up with one of the 200w nVidia GPUs.
Tim Kolb: I think it’s time for Premiere Pro users to come to the realization that if you want a video post production application that is as stable and robust as Avid or Final Cut Pro users claim theirs to be, then it’s time to start treating a Premiere Pro workstation as you would a big iron Avid or anything else. Put the thing together cleanly, within manufacturer spec, pack all the performance components into it you can (a 64-bit OS with a huge RAM allocation made a significant and well-known stability difference way back in the CS3 days)… and go to work.
If the system is stable, you can invoice out enough extra work to pay for a professional graphics card, a serious throughput storage array, and adequate RAM to give yourself a performance margin so that the software isn’t struggling.
Mobile (Laptop) Configurations for Adobe Premiere Pro
Steve Kalle: Something that no one has mentioned is that you can reduce the playback resolution so it decreases the load on the CPU. Therefore, I don’t see any problem using a laptop with an i7-m processor. Furthermore, I would look for a laptop with an nVidia GPU and 896MB of video ram (or more) so you can use the “patch” to get MPE hardware acceleration. I think nVidia released a 470m recently and I do know there is a GT330m w/1GB that comes with HP’s higher end laptops.
As far as reliability goes, at least ten people (friends & family) I know have a Dell laptop and no one has any reliability issues (I would know because I am the only person they call for their computer problems). I don’t know your budget but a 17-18″ laptop with i7, 8GB RAM, nVidia GPU w/896MB or more, two internal hard drives and a 1920×1080 display should run about $2000 from Dell or HP.
Remember to search for coupons. I commonly google “HP coupons” and “Dell coupons”. Quite often, Dell has 15-25% off laptops over $1200-1400; so, if you can wait and watch for deals, this is the way to go.
Ben Pierce: Here is the laptop I went with… an HP EliteBook 8740w (XT910UT#ABA) Notebook:
Intel Core i7 740QM(1.73GHz)
17.0″ Wide UXGA
4GB Memory DDR3 1333
500GB HDD 7200rpm
DVD Super Multi
NVIDIA Quadro FX 3800M
The laptop just got here yesterday and the hack worked with the Quadro FX 3800M. I am waiting for Adobe to send my registration info for CS5 Master Collection, so I haven’t had a chance to test any HDV footage from my Canon XH-A1s yet. With the trial, as far as I can tell, you can’t capture HDV footage. That said, I did play around with a DV clip and applied a number of effects in both Premiere Pro and After Effects and the system is running nicely with CUDA acceleration.
I will probably add some more RAM after I have a chance to test HDV footage. The computer comes with 4 GB, but has three open slots so I’m not wasting the RAM that is already in it by upgrading. It’s also got a Firewire connection for capture from my camera.
I feel the specs on the laptop are pretty good, but not exceptional for the price I paid. As Shawn added, the Quadro cards are geared for CAD and 3D work, so I may have blown some money I didn’t need to there. Newegg sells the desktop version of the Quadro FX 3800 for (yikes!) $869.99.
The build quality, speed and ergonomics of the HP EliteBook 8740w are all amazing. It also runs nearly silent, which is a nice improvement from my last machine. So far I am very, very happy with my purchase.
I also looked at some of the high-end ASUS laptops that have better specs for less money, but lacked compatible graphics cards with the Mercury Playback Engine or didn’t have a Firewire connection (or room to put one in) or didn’t have the screen I was looking for, etc. The HP EliteBook 8740w has all the stuff I need, though a second hard drive might be nice.
I later read on DV Info Net about Sager laptops which look really nice and I might have purchased one if I’d known about them earlier. Some of them look very well set up for mobile video editing.
I work as an outdoor writer and photographer for a small newspaper in Bozeman, Montana, and just started to get interested in video recently. So far I have just made a few shorts for our website and my blog. My old computer was just not cutting it to produce even 3 or 4 minute clips. My paper is celebrating its 100-year anniversary in 2011 and I’m working on a documentary about the town and how the newspaper covered events in our area like the Yellowstone wildfires of 1988 and the outbreak of WWII. It will be a significantly larger project if I can pull it off.
(update): I’ve had a little over a week working with the HP EliteBook 8740w now and I’ll tell ya, it is pretty fast. After installing Premiere Pro CS5 and adding the NVIDIA 3800M to the list of Cuda supported cards, the system has no problem handling the HDV mpeg-2 files from my Canon XH A1s. I get good performance with up to 4 layers of video playing simultaneously on the timeline. It renders so much faster than my old machine it is laughable.
I haven’t set up additional hard drives yet, but the two USB 3.0 ports should work nicely when I have the cash to invest.
Bob Krieger: I am a computer technology teacher and just attended the ISTE 2010 convention/conference in Denver last week. Adobe had a big booth there as did Dell and a number of other manufacturers. The conference is geared toward teachers who use technology in their classrooms and is a big draw each year. Just think NAB for geek teachers (I am one, so I can say that)!
Adobe showed their CS5 Production Suite there using a MacPro laptop. The footage they used was native RED. It sailed through the demo (I realize, though, that demos are just that — a demo of what may be possible.)
Dell was really marketing their netbooks to schools, but I asked a few of their reps about CS5 on a laptop and their recommendation was NOT Alienware, but Precision workstations. We went through a few rounds of, no it’s not possible, to yes, it is possible.
I used my wiles as a teacher who makes the final decision, to get the two together and the Adobe guys installed Premiere Pro CS5 on the lone Dell Precision laptop. It ran 64 bit Win 7, with 6GB of RAM and had a simple 250GB 7200 RPM single HD. It also had an nVidia 1800m video card. The system worked realitively nicely. We had no external RAID (G-RAID, or other device for video), nor was I able to “tweak” the list of Mercury GPU’s to add the 1800M. I had shot a number of scenes using my Canon T2i at 1080 mode and we directly copied them to the Precision using the built-in SDHC port.
Once we set the resolution at playback on the device to its minimum, I was able to edit as normal and produce, without undue hiccups, a final five minute piece. Basically, I just cut and pasted a bunch of shots; added random transitions, generated an AVI movie and played it back. It wasn’t bad at all! I can’t see editing a feature with this setup, but for newsgathering, short and quickie edits, even a seven minute film for the 48 hour Film Project, yes I can see it being very useful!
My observations only… your mileage will vary… Enjoy!
Adobe maintains a series of PDF documents covering Premiere Pro workflow using various HD video acquisition systems as well as a couple of transition guides for those who are considering the switch to CS5 from other NLE applications. Here are their direct links.
Using Adobe Premiere Pro CS5 with Canon Digital Video Cameras
Using Adobe Premiere Pro CS5 with tapeless Sony XDCAM content
Adobe CS5 Production Premium end-to-end editing workflows with Panasonic AVCCAM cameras
Adobe CS5 Production Premium end-to-end workflows for Panasonic P2 and P2HD cameras
Adobe Premiere Pro CS5 Quick Start Guide for Apple Final Cut Pro and Avid users
Editing with Adobe Premiere Pro CS5 if you’re a Final Cut Pro user
And for active discussions covering all aspects of Adobe Premiere Pro and other CS5 software components, please join us in our Adobe Creative Suite forum. See you there!
