Imac 27" I7 at DVinfo.net
DV Info Net

Go Back   DV Info Net > Apple / Mac Post Production Solutions > Final Cut Suite

Final Cut Suite
Discussing the editing of all formats with FCS, FCP, FCE

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old August 12th, 2010, 02:19 PM   #1
New Boot
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Toronto, Canada
Posts: 5
Imac 27" I7

Please give me advise if the below configuration is good enough to edit basic HD video using the latest version of Final Cut Pro,

Thanks for your input.

Imac 27"
2.93GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7
8GB 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 4x2GB
2TB Serial ATA Drive
8x double-layer SuperDrive
ATI Radeon HD 5750 1GB GDDR5 SDRAM
Willy Santiago is offline   Reply With Quote
Old August 12th, 2010, 04:37 PM   #2
Major Player
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Maryland, USA
Posts: 220
Yes. That is an excellent machine and with a quad core processor you shouldn't choke with h.264 or AVCHD footage I don't think.

In fact, some people that are interested in RED's Scarlet camera due out sometime (hehe) in the next few months are eyeing this particular iMac as an possible editing machine given its quad core processor and 27" 2560x1440 (beyond 1080p HD) display.

For "basic HD," yes, you're covered.
Ryan Farnes is offline   Reply With Quote
Old August 12th, 2010, 05:58 PM   #3
DVCreators.Net
 
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Seattle, WA
Posts: 892
That's a great system. What type of HD footage? Different CODECs can still choke a fast machine for a variety of reasons.
__________________
Guy Cochran
DVinfo Sponsor, Cool Gear - DVeStore!
Guy Cochran is offline   Reply With Quote
Old August 12th, 2010, 08:35 PM   #4
New Boot
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Toronto, Canada
Posts: 5
Mostly are wedding video and once i set up the imac for editing. the next step is to acquire a HD camera.
Willy Santiago is offline   Reply With Quote
Old August 13th, 2010, 12:31 AM   #5
Trustee
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Posts: 1,313
Just ordered one yesterday. I'll let you guys know how it goes for AVCHD in FCP.

If the benchmark scores say anything, it should absolutely scream to the level of a quad Mac Pro :D
__________________
Nate Haustein PXW-FX9 / FCPX
www.flightcreativemedia.com
Nate Haustein is offline   Reply With Quote
Old August 14th, 2010, 08:34 PM   #6
Trustee
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Honolulu, HI
Posts: 1,961
These machines should do a decent job. Still, no matter how fast your machine, you should convert to an intermediate codec for editing like ProRes or Cineform. The very fastest machine available will still seem sluggish with some HD codecs use in cameras.
Marcus Marchesseault is offline   Reply With Quote
Old August 16th, 2010, 01:47 PM   #7
Inner Circle
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Tucson AZ
Posts: 2,211
You might want to also think about a G-Raid drive or something similar.To a large extent Cineform etc trade off data rate for processing power so faster devices are a good idea IMHO
Jim Andrada is offline   Reply With Quote
Old August 17th, 2010, 02:58 PM   #8
Trustee
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Posts: 1,313
Just got it, and it's fast. Converts 720p AVCCAM footage to ProRes at about 4-5x realtime. Screen is amazing. Solid, and has 8 virtual cores to work with compressor. Quite happy so far.
__________________
Nate Haustein PXW-FX9 / FCPX
www.flightcreativemedia.com
Nate Haustein is offline   Reply With Quote
Old September 2nd, 2010, 04:54 AM   #9
Trustee
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Posts: 1,313
Ok, thoughts so far: it's nice, and I like it very much.

With 6GB of ram the i7 runs FCP, Photoshop, iTunes and Motion very well. Things are fast when it utilizes all the cores such as with Compressor, however renders out of FCP6 are a bit disappointing because it only uses 2 of the 8 available virtual cores for the render from the timeline. That being said, it does a decent job of realtime playback with a few filters on–color correction doesn't even give a hiccup. This limitation is a known issue, but only makes me want a 64bit Final Cut even more.

4GB G-Raid seems to be keeping up just fine; I made it a RAID1 set instead of the factory RAID0 so it's a little wonky, but still supports 4-5 streams of 720p ProRes. Perhaps I'll reformat after this project into RAID0.

For what I paid, this should certainly do the job for a year or two, until I feel I need to upgrade to some other silly piece of technology. Even then, the delicious screen is certainly worth saving for a second monitor.
__________________
Nate Haustein PXW-FX9 / FCPX
www.flightcreativemedia.com
Nate Haustein is offline   Reply With Quote
Old September 2nd, 2010, 09:12 AM   #10
Major Player
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Jupiter, FL
Posts: 241
FYI, for mid 2010 iMacs, OWC OWC TurnKey eSATA Add-On/Upgrade Program for Apple iMac 27" '2010' (iMac11,3) - also options for additional memory and drive ugprade offers an eSata upgrade.

I'd love to hear some feedback from anyone who has done this. Specifically, do you notice a great increase in speed using a RAID 0 over the eSata vs. FW800.

I'd suspect it voids the Apple warranty too.
Josh Laronge is offline   Reply With Quote
Old September 6th, 2010, 11:23 AM   #11
Regular Crew
 
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Cincinnati, OH
Posts: 25
I do mainly web video production and I've been using the 27" I-Mac w/ 2 TB internal hard drive, 2.8 GHz i7 processor, 8 GB of memory and the ATI Radeon HD 4850 graphics card running FCP 7 for over 6 months now and have had excellent results. I have an external 2 TB drive that I use for media storage and Scratch Disk. I shoot on a JVC GY-HM700 camera that records to SDHC cards and can import the clips directly into FCP which is a great time saver. The 700 may be out of your price range for weddings but if not I highly recommend this camera/edit system combo.
__________________
Producer/Director/FCP Editor
Dan Magnafichi is offline   Reply With Quote
Old October 20th, 2010, 09:34 PM   #12
New Boot
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Texas, USA
Posts: 7
I7

Hi, I just started with the Imac 27 I7 16 gig ram, 256 gig solid state primary with 2 gig 2ndary, with Final cut Suite. It still feels like the indy car is idling.
David Kuespert is offline   Reply
Reply

DV Info Net refers all where-to-buy and where-to-rent questions exclusively to these trusted full line dealers and rental houses...

B&H Photo Video
(866) 521-7381
New York, NY USA

Scan Computers Int. Ltd.
+44 0871-472-4747
Bolton, Lancashire UK


DV Info Net also encourages you to support local businesses and buy from an authorized dealer in your neighborhood.
  You are here: DV Info Net > Apple / Mac Post Production Solutions > Final Cut Suite

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

 



All times are GMT -6. The time now is 12:50 AM.


DV Info Net -- Real Names, Real People, Real Info!
1998-2024 The Digital Video Information Network