Hi,

I currently own ProspectHD and will be purchasing both a new system and also upgrading to Premiere CS4 within the next week.

I really am not up to date (or even well-versed for that matter) regarding current systems, but know that Windows 7 likely will be a default OS for most new systems i purchase.

If anybody has the time, would you mind listing the most optimum system specs I could purchase currently that would facilitate an optimum work flow between Propsect HD and Premiere CS4. My final output usually is DVD/Blu-Ray. I also utilize After Effects/Photoshop in my workflows.

And what vendors would you recommend I purchase from?

Thanks in advance for any help on this subject, I really appreciate it!
-Marc

You don't mention if you are currently set up with anything else.

If you are currently functional with CS3, stay there until CS5 and purchase your system as those specs become more firm.

Prospect and CS4 do not play well.

Search this board for and the Premiere board for the Mercury Playback Engine, and that will clue you in on the latest news for CS5.

What he said ^^^^^^^^^^^

You don't mention if you are currently set up with anything else.

If you are currently functional with CS3, stay there until CS5 and purchase your system as those specs become more firm.

Prospect and CS4 do not play well.

Search this board for and the Premiere board for the Mercury Playback Engine, and that will clue you in on the latest news for CS5.

Woops, yes I am currently editing on a Quad Core XP machine which i bought from Circuit City before they closed down. And basically, it's been a nightmare on this machine, so I NEED to buy a new machine ASAP.

So, say I stay with CS3 and Prospect HD, then would it work with most any high-end machine that's out there?? Will that combo work the current version Windows 7 that is available?

Thanks again

PHD + CS3 has been upgraded to work with Windows 7 (even 64-bit -- which I recommend -- required for CS5.) Get an i7 with triple banked memory (6GB minimum, 12GB if you have the budget.)

First, you need to check this out:
The Genesis Project: Technology Sneek Peek: Adobe® Mercury Playback Engine (http://blogs.adobe.com/genesisproject/2009/11/technology_sneek_peek_adobe_me.html#more)

I've never been one to be anxiously awaiting anything that Adobe does, but this could be a true game changer.

IF the conflicts that existed between CS4 and Cineform continue on into CS5, it is not going to be as much of a performance problem. Cineform is always going to be invaluable because of First Light, not to mention the technical benefits of having a true interframe codec for the NLE, robust encoding for multi-generational work, etc..

Build to host CS5. Spendy, yes.... but robust enough that even Premiere may be able run smoothly and reliably on it.

PHD + CS3 has been upgraded to work with Windows 7 (even 64-bit -- which I recommend -- required for CS5.) Get an i7 with triple banked memory (6GB minimum, 12GB if you have the budget.)

Thanks for the quick responses again.

So to sum up what i'm learning: Avoid any CS4 upgrades, wait till CS5 comes out. And when I purchase a system now, buy something with Windows7/64 bit with triple banked memory (I will google this, cause I have no idea what that means). Then, I will just reinstall all my current software on this new system, and just wait until CS5 comes out.

Btw, any recommendations for graphics cards if I am using PHD/CS3???

Thanks again, Marc

Certain processors like the Core i7 and the upcoming Core i9 require memory in banks of three DIMMs for full speed. Older processors used banks of two. Checking the task manager during transcoding shows 8 cpus running at 85% on the Core i7.

I'm using CS4 and NeoScene on a Core i7-920 with 12 GB of RAM, 6 DIMMs of 2 GB each. It transcodes HDV for BD-R faster than realtime (1.33X). I'm using an ATI Radeon 4850 graphics card. With the new CS4 workflow, I edit in Premiere and don't render the timelines. I then open Encore and import the Premiere timelines and author a BD-R disc. After I burn the BD-R, I have Encore take the same project and burn a DVD without changing the Encore project. CS4 uses the same transcoding engine, the Adobe Media Encoder, in both programs, so there's no advantage to transcoding in Premiere, unless it's to export a WMV or Flash video file.

Btw, any recommendations for graphics cards if I am using PHD/CS3???

Thanks again, Marc

Buy according what what is required for the CS5 suite. Basically, the fastest NVidia graphics cards made. And keep a fire extinguisher handy to blow the fire off your credit card.

Hello David,

So this means that Adobe Premeire pro cs3, will work fine under Windows 7 64bit? Which version Premiere Pro 3.1.1 with the latest Prospect HD Beta?

Thanks,

Leo

PHD + CS3 has been upgraded to work with Windows 7 (even 64-bit -- which I recommend -- required for CS5.) Get an i7 with triple banked memory (6GB minimum, 12GB if you have the budget.)

The good thing as of now is that with CS5, it doesn't appear you need to get a Quadro graphics card in order to do faster rendering/exporting. It appears that even a Nvidia 285 will work. I'd get a i7 processor, 6+GB of memory, Windows 7 64bit, couple of hard drives (SSD if you have the $) in a RAID 0.

So this means that Adobe Premeire pro cs3, will work fine under Windows 7 64bit? Which version Premiere Pro 3.1.1 with the latest Prospect HD Beta?


All versions Premiere Pro CS3 work. The Win7 patch came to Prospect came in version 4.1.6.

Keep in mind that if you are building for CS5 you need to use an approved Nvidia card. ATI's stuff won't work for the Mercury Playback Engine, which is what everyone is looking forward to. See the link above for more info on that.

I just built an i7 machine and it is fantastic. Such a huge upgrade over my Core2 Quad. Definitely go with 12GB RAM, it's worth the upgrade.

Craig,

What are the specs of your new system? I'm using a Core2 Quad and suffering a good bit at the moment. What Nvidia card did you put in there: Are you aware of anything coming down the road in the immediate future that would be worth waiting for?

Many thanks,
David

David..... just to clarify, acceleration from the approved Nvidia cards will not be integrated until CS5. CS4 does not benefit.

I may be being redundant a bit here, please bear with me, since i'm a novice when it comes to computer tech stuff:

So.. the smart move now would be to bypass the upgrade to CS4, wait till CS5 comes out.

And Premiere CS3 and ProspectHD will work fine on the new Windows 7 64bit I7 machines?? Would it be satisfactory to purchase one of the high-end i7 machines at a retail store, like say Frys or compusa?? Or is it better to get a custom built system??

If custom is the way to go, other than a recommended Quadro card, are there other pieces of hardware that would be recommended??

Finally, do any of you guys know of any reliable companies that sell custom built workstations?

Thanks, again

I buy all of mine from HP's Remarket/Refurbished division. Anything in their "Workstation" section should be fine for your needs. HP's systems are vendor "Certified" for most media tasks (Adobe, Avid, Matrox, AJA, BMD, etc.) which mades it easier to get support from all involved parties if you are having issues. Dell Outlet is a similar option, but Dell's workstations are not usually as good. (I buy my laptops from Dell and my desktop systems from HP) You will probably want to upgrade your GPU for CS5, once Nvidia releases their next generation of cards, so I would't stress over an exact model right now.

Awesome, thanks for the info!!! I'll check it out HP's later tonight.

Hello All,

Thanks for all the advice and tech info, i definitely have learned ALOT-including realizing to allocate more time this year 2 studying the more technical aspects of post-production ( btw I hope this thread will be of some use in the future to tech novices like myself)..

Anyway, after careful studying of info both in this thread and also thru google searches, I've decided to hold off on my initial urge to splurge on the CS4 upgrades and also the purchasing of the nvidia cx card + workstation and basically wait out the [expected CS5 release date of] 2-3 months (giving me more time to become more knowledgeable)... in the meantime, I will be going with a more cheaper, temporary solution that I hope will accomodate my existing software combo of Premiere CS3 + Prospect HD.

In the past year, i've been editing on an AMD Phenom 9550 Quad Core 2.20gHz with 3GB of RAM, an ATI RAdeon HD 3400 Graphics card using XP Pro SP2. And although i've produced some really awesome projectsl, it's been a genuine pain in the A$$, to say the least.

Anyway, if anyone has the time, patience and goodwill, would you mind analyzing the following customized Hewlitt-Packard Customized Purchase breakdown and give me either an "OK", "NOT FIT", "Overkill", or "It can be improved (with accompanying notes)" in relation to whether or not the computer customization would be fit to run the combo of Premiere Pro CS3 +ProspectHD? (Btw, all of my source footage is shot on the JVC HD200, and I do a lot AE work too) Bear in mind, this is a temporary solution, and i'm planning on buying a whole new system for the CS5 release. The system was priced to just under $1300.

Again many thanks to anyone who can enlighten me, I truly appreciate it.
-marc


Operating system Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit edit
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-920 quad-core processor [2.66GHz, 1MB L2 + 8MB shared L3 cache] edit
Memory 8GB DDR3-1066MHz SDRAM [4 DIMMs] edit
Hard drive 1TB RAID 0 (2 x 500GB SATA HDDs) - performance edit
Graphics card 1.8GB NVIDIA Geforce GTX 260 [2 DVI, HDMI and VGA adapters]

While your gathering information... this article may be of some help...

Videoguys Blog - Videoguys' DIY7.7: Intel Core i7 with Vista 64 AND Now Windows 7 (http://www.videoguys.com/Guide/E/Videoguys+DIY77+Intel+Core+i7+with+Vista+64+AND+Now+Windows+7/0xe07f65920351fbf3ed8f9892355dfda0.aspx)

Operating system Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit edit
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-920 quad-core processor [2.66GHz, 1MB L2 + 8MB shared L3 cache] edit
Memory 8GB DDR3-1066MHz SDRAM [4 DIMMs] edit
Hard drive 1TB RAID 0 (2 x 500GB SATA HDDs) - performance edit
Graphics card 1.8GB NVIDIA Geforce GTX 260 [2 DVI, HDMI and VGA adapters]

You might as well go for the GeForce 285 if you can, since they already say it will be supported in CS5.

Also--the 920 has 3 memory channels meaning you want to install ram in set of 3. The 4 DIMM config will actually make your computer degrade performance by switching back to dual-channel operation.