What computer specs do you guys have for your Same Day Edits? I'm running CS5 on my home PC desktop, so I'm curious to see if anyone is using PC laptops to get their SDEs out.

I'm not doing SDEs, but my main editing computer is a laptop. It's a Dell Studio XPS 16 with 6GB RAM and an i7 proc. I run Adobe CS5 and Sony Vegas 10 with no problems at all. I do use NewBlueFX AVCHD Shift to convert my AVCHD files to MPEG .m2t which reduces the load on the NLE.

We are using a Quad Core 2.26 Ghz, 4Gb RAM, 1Gb video card laptop running Edius 5.5. Our SDEs are about half AVCHD and half DLSR footage. We are able to edit in realtime without transcoding. We play the SDE through a Western Digital Media Player, which has an HDMI out put. We export an m2t to a USB flash drive. Encoding to the m2t is 1:1, so it is very fast and showing a SDE in HD through an HD projector looks great.

We also have an i7 tower system and encoding to an m2t is faster than 1:1. Your NLE software greatly affects your output times. Vegas 10 just came out and it will edit DSLR footage without transcoding, but on a recent showing with an i7 laptop, it took about 45 minutes to output a 4+ minute presentation. OUCH!

You did not say what you are shooting with. If you are shooting HDV, you do not need as fast of a computer. If you are shooting, AVCHD you need a faster computer, and if you are all DSLR, you need a really fast computer, especially with CS5.

Thanks guys. I'm shoot all DSLR footage, and my laptop is a Lenovo T500 Centrino2. 4GB RAM and 256MB Video. Sadly, I cannot justify buying a new laptop for SDEs.

I'm going to try to surprise them with one this coming November.

Hi Peter,

Are you going to do the SDE on your tower system? If so, what are the specs on your tower and do you have to transcode the files before editing them?

We did our first few SDEs back in 2002 and 2003 on a tower system, so while it is not as mobile, it is totally possible. Come to think of it, our first SDE was without a computer back in 1998, but we didn't even know it was an SDE back then. ;-)

Mark,

My tower system is HUGE, although I thought about bringing it. If I had my tower, I'd have zero problem with this SDE. I've been running test edits using my laptop, and it's doable. Encoding is probably 5:1 or so, 25 minutes or so for a 3-5 minute clip. I can color correct and render as I go, and I'm running CS5.

I'm going to try and put together a fake SDE sometime this week to see if the laptop route is possible. If not, I may decide to bring the studio PC. One way or another, I want to get this SDE for the bride and groom... They have absolutely no idea what to expect from my video, and it will mean a whole lot to all of us if I can wow the entire wedding with this SDE. In fact, they are excpecting handycam type footage.

Side note: this is my first ever wedding, first ever SDE, and it's for my sister. I went on the engagement photo session last week to get some footage, and so far I'm very pleased with my first time results. Obviously, it's nothing in comparison to what's been posted on these boards, but I'm hopeful in my progress.

Mark,

My tower system is HUGE, although I thought about bringing it. If I had my tower, I'd have zero problem with this SDE. I've been running test edits using my laptop, and it's doable. Encoding is probably 5:1 or so, 25 minutes or so for a 3-5 minute clip. I can color correct and render as I go, and I'm running CS5.

I'm going to try and put together a fake SDE sometime this week to see if the laptop route is possible. If not, I may decide to bring the studio PC...

...Side note: this is my first ever wedding, first ever SDE, and it's for my sister. I went on the engagement photo session last week to get some footage, and so far I'm very pleased with my first time results. Obviously, it's nothing in comparison to what's been posted on these boards, but I'm hopeful in my progress.

Hi Peter,

Can your laptop edit the DSLR footge natively? If not, that can really eat up a lot of time, but it is still possible. If the wedding and reception are all at the same location, it may be better to just use the tower. On our first SDEs we were bringing a tower, 21 inch computer monitor (not the the little flatscreens of today, but a huge tube monitor) DV deck, and 13 inch TV. Talk about a non mobile system. ;-)

Oh wow, you last comment changes everything! Your first wedding and first SDE and it's for your sister. You are either crazy or incredibly brave. :-) Let us know how it turns out.

After thinking about it and running some footage, I'm bringing the tower and LCD. While I can edit native footage on the laptop, I'll save myself at least an hour on rendering and previews alone. Add to that the fluid workflow on the desktop, and it'll make things that much better.

I will definitely let you know how it goes. I'm very excited for this one.