Techies, please help! I am ready to buy a multimedia production PC and I need tips.

[RadiationTherapy]

I do heavy image, audio and video capture and edit. I want to use a Windows OS and Adobe Creative suite. It needs to be fast, have plenty of storage and be able to handle rigorous video production. I would like multiple cores, but have been told to be sure the OS and software I use actually takes advantage of them. I also am unfamiliar with video/audio cards, their function and measurements of quality.

I am not able to build it, so I am looking for packages or components that can be put together fairly easily.

My budget is 3K and under.

Thanks for helping.

LET'S ROCK!!

[RadiationTherapy]

1. Kickles.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

2. i have an hp that I like

got it at sams club

[PBS Poll-435]

3. Here is what you need.....

Intel Quad-core processor >2.5 Ghz
4GB DDR2 or DDR3 memory
ATI Radeon 4870 video card - Has built in decoding ability
Creative X-FI sound card


Vista or XP 64-bit Professional

[RadiationTherapy]

5. Thank you. Also, I was told to be sure that my OS and software can actually use

the 4-core. Any idea if Adobe Premiere (most current version) will work with 4-core?

[PBS Poll-435]

39. 64-bit Windows is multi-core compliant.

And I do believe that Adobe Premiere will scale up to 8 (or even 16) cores.

You can very cheaply have 16GB of memory. And 64-bit Windows can address all of it.

And as far as the PC vs Mac talk...

If you want the very latest Graphics cards, you must go the PC route. More and more decoding work is being off-loaded to the GPU.

Plus the newer Macs use basically the same hardware as PCs.

Intel chip
DDR2/DDR3

[DarkTirade]

4. I don't do anything with video myself, but if you're going to be doing any recording

into the computer you'll definitely want something better than a regular soundcard. I really like my M-Audio one, I've got the M-Audio 10/10 LT. But if you don't need that much, there are other cards and external sound devices by them that are cheaper.

[RadiationTherapy]

6. "don't need that much" what? I am unsure what an audio card actually does

and how its performance is measured.

[DarkTirade]

7. The big selling point for this card is both the quality and the fact that it has

10 lines in and out and it can process each one as a seperate channel. Plus MIDI in and out. So this particular card is for people like me who play several instruments and want to record and mix and balance and do all that stuff.

http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/Delta1010LT-main.html

However if you're just editing regular stereo sound on there, then you probably don't need anything that fancy. Their http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/Audiophile2496-main.html">Audiophile should suffice for that. Or you could go with what the poster above me suggested.

[RadiationTherapy]

11. Ohhhhhh! I record to portable digital machines and pop the tracks into the PC for post-prod.

I do most of my recording out of my house.

How do you like direct to PC recording? Is there latency?

[DarkTirade]

17. I just open up any sound program and hit record. :P

I've never had any problems with timing along with playback or anything like that. When I'm recording multi-track stuff I usually use Acid, then to do post on each individual track I'll open 'em up in Soundforge. Nothing too fancy. I also have a tendancy to save all of the original files before I do any modifications, just in case. :P Which is why I'm running out of harddrive space.

Well, that and porn.

But mostly the soundfiles. :yoiks:

[RadiationTherapy]

21. I also, now, keep all original tracks and some altered ones for use in future pieces.

I use acid BEFORE I record.

I stream porn.

[DarkTirade]

31. Er... that would be Acid 4.0, the computer program by Sonic Foundry.

:P

[RadiationTherapy]

32. Ah, shit!

[Pierre.Suave]

8. Why not a mac?

It is possible you know to get a Mac for cheaper than straight from apple.

$2599 for an 8 core 2.8ghz Mac Pro

http://www.macconnection.com/IPA/Shop/Product/Detail.htm?sku=8252536

You can upgrade the video card if you want, you dont have to.

You can get 4Gbs of ram for it here for as low as $167.95

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/Mac-Pro-Memory

You can easily install the ram yourself, or get a friend to do it. It takes all of 3 minutes and no tools.

The only thing you may need to invest in is software, I do not know if you have any of that already.

Edit, you can ALSO put up to 4 terabytes of HDDs in it. You could even buy Applecare for it and be right at your 3k limit.

edit again, you dont have to buy everything at once, and you can upgrade it as you go with more ram, more HDD, a better video card, etc...

[DarkTirade]

9. Must... resist... urge... to start... PC vs. Mac fight...

:P

[Pierre.Suave]

10. Why fight?

Just acknowledge this computer has what he needs for the price he wants.

[DarkTirade]

26. Ahah! Finally found it.

I've been looking for this one for a while and it was hiding right in plain sight on my harddrive. :P



*edit* Oh, and here are a couple more PC vs. Mac vs. Linux ones. :P

[RadiationTherapy]

12. Thanks for the tips.

I basically want to get right to work. I am not familiar with any Mac OS and I don't feel like dealing with a learning curve.

Does Adobe Premiere run on a Mac or would I have to go over to Final Cut?

[DarkTirade]

13. I thought Adobe started out on Macs before it went to PCs?

I may be thinking of another company.

[Pierre.Suave]

15. I think you are thinking right...

right?

:P

[DarkTirade]

19. Which is why the versions they make for PC usually end up bloated and buggy.

They're originally made for a different OS.

Although since I've never had much of a chance to use Adobe products on a mac, who knows... they might be just as bloated there too. :P

[Pierre.Suave]

20. I do not know

I use Final Cut.

[DarkTirade]

30. I suspect the buggyness is due to the fact that it's made for a different OS...

but the bloatedness is just 'cause Adobe feels the need to cram everything in there from start to finish whether you want or need it or not.

[Pierre.Suave]

14. I do not know if Adobe has a Mac Version

But I know that the Windows version will not run.

The thing I will tell you is this. There will be virtually NO learning curve. Don't let the peanut gallery around here tell you that Macs are hard to use, that there will be a learning curve, etc..

they are just mad that their PCs suck so much and they got suckered into buying them...:P

Also, unlike a windows machine, the Mac will work, unlike a PC.

You really should go to the apple store near you and play with a Mac Pro for a while, what you want to do is what the Mac was designed for, they are very intuitive and problem free allowing you to get MORE work done easier.

You owe it to yourself to go look.

edit: a quick google search confirms that Adobe does indeed have a Mac version.

[RadiationTherapy]

16. I use Adobe with Windows all the time.

Did you mean something else?

[Pierre.Suave]

18. Yes

I meant the disk you have for windows will not work on a mac.

[RadiationTherapy]

23. Ah. Yes. Well, through the miracle of bittorrent

I don't have "disks" per se, but, yeah, I would have to acquire the right version.

With the student discount I get, I am thinking of going legit like Michael Corleone.

Of course, GF3 sucks dead, decapitated horse nuts, but still...

[RadiationTherapy]

25. Jason. If you have time, please see my reply #24. Thanks. g.

[begin_within]

22. I know I'll get pounded yet again for this, but for the work you want to do,

the best choice is a Mac. From day one, the Mac has been a graphics machine and I believe it is still better than Windows for work in graphics, multimedia, publishing, audio and video production. It's a better computer overall than a PC and especially in the area of graphics and multimedia. Adobe Creative Suite is available for either Windows or Mac, so it doesn't really matter which in your case, but the Mac also comes with great software that (although entry-level software) does allow you to do a lot of complex stuff easily, even the complete production of a ready-to sell DVD.

[RadiationTherapy]

24. Can you tell me how or why Mac is better?

I understand that that has been their angle for some time, but, aside from reputation, why would I want a Mac for video production?

[Pierre.Suave]

27. reason number 1

8 processing cores. ALL available for work, regardless of the software. (I am 99% sure of this)

reason number 2: If you wanted you can also put up to 32GBs of RAM in the machine. Not that you want to spend that much, but normal flavors of Vista only take 3GBS of ram. More ram is better, you can easily put 8GBs into the mac for a very modest investment of $334.99 and all of it will be usable by the OS.

Mac Pro ram: http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/Mac-Pro-Memory

[RadiationTherapy]

28. Whoa, That may be enough right there.

And the software doesn't have to "know" or "be able to handle" 8-core?

[Pierre.Suave]

29. I believe on the Mac Pro

it is done in hardware, not software.

[RadiationTherapy]

33. Hmm. I am also majoring in Graphic Desig/Computer Animation

Is the industry SO Mac, that I need to start working with it?

[Pierre.Suave]

34. YES!

Absolutely.

[begin_within]

35. Here's what I can come up with:

It always comes down to the question of what software do you want to use. Then, buy the computer that can run that software. In your case, you have determined in advance that you want to use Adobe Creative Suite, which is available for Windows or Mac, so it doesn't really matter for you. If you are already familiar with PCs and Windows and that's what you already know well, then the Windows PC with the Windows version of Adobe Creative Suite would probably be better for you because you would have little or no "getting up to speed" time except with Adobe Creative Suite if you've never used their programs. The only suggestion I would have for video work would be to study what your entire system will be, from beginning to end, including all cameras, microphones, scanners, any other type of input, your computer, the interface between the camera and the computer, what software you will use to capture the video from the camera to the computer's disk, what software you will use for editing the video, what other software you will be using, including for your final output, whether that is a DVD, a web site, online video clips, whatever.
Make sure that at every step along the way each part will be compatible with the next part along the chain, so that there won't be any unexpected blockades and you won't have to make your data jump through any hoops or do any unnecessary conversions. Plan out your entire workflow and make sure everything you buy is compatible with that workflow. For example, I think the most common video standard now is probably DV, so if you buy a DV camera or miniDV camera, it probably has a IEEE1394 output. (IEEE1394 is the same standard that Sony calls iLink and Apple calls FireWire. I don't know what it is called on PCs.) If you can use a FireWire cable to plug the camera directly into a FireWire port on your computer that will make the transfer of video data far more efficient and with less or no loss of image quality. The video capture and editing software you use will have to be compatible with that same format (and it probably is, but it's good to study the specifications before buying the program). The process of video production involves moving the data through so many processes (recording with the camera, capturing to disk, editing, rendering, authoring and then encoding to the final product) that you want to make sure the process is smooth and there are no incompatibilities along the way.
The beauty of Apple's scheme for this is that all of those worries are already resolved for you before you even buy the computer, as long as you use their software. You would just have to make sure the camera you use is compatible and has a FireWire output (and most do). Apple designed their software to make it easy for a beginner to go through the whole process without having to worry about the technicalities, and the iLife software that comes with every Mac includes programs to do these and they all work with each other. You would capture and edit your video using iMovie, capture and work on still images using iPhoto, collect and organize music using iTunes, or even create your own music using GarageBand, then bring all of these together in iDVD to author, encode and burn your DVD. All the individual elements such as video from iMovie, music from iTunes and stills from iPhoto all magically show up in the menus in iDVD and you just drag them to where you want them. Apple has made it easy to get through what is actually a complex process, and you can literally produce a playable DVD within hours of taking your Mac out of the box the first day. I don't believe any version of Windows has that same out-of-the-box capability at that level.
However those are generally considered "beginner" programs, even though you certainly can produce high-quality output with them, they lack the full feature set of professional-level programs. Eventually you will probably "graduate" to professional-level programs, and then want to buy such programs as FinalCutPro or FinalCutExpress instead of iMoive, Photoshop instead of iPhoto, any number of music and sound programs instead of iTunes and GarageBand, and DVD Studio Pro instead of iDVD. Or you could buy an integrated package such as Adobe Creative Suite, which probably has just as good integration as Apple's programs have. But for someone just starting out, who doesn't really know what software they want to use, I try to steer them in the direction of buying a Mac and using the iLife suite to get their feet wet in the whole process, and easily get quality results without tearing their hair out, and then when they feel more comfortable, move on to pro-level software if they want to or have a need to.
Another reason I like the Mac environment for working with video is the community of software developers and the tradition of producing elegant, quality software that does what it says it will do and is compatible with the standards of the Mac environment. It goes back to Apple's original Human Interface Guidelines and general concepts for the computing experience. The other big plus is the online community of people working in the same area, including the discussion fora at Apple's own web site - I have found them to be helpful and knowledgeable and quick to respond to questions - and these are just other users and video professionals, not getting paid for participating in those fora. I'm referring to http://discussions.apple.com
That's just my opinion on all of it, and you could get more opinions and advice at this web site:
http://www.videohelp.com/

[RadiationTherapy]

36. Thanks for the well thought out post.

I am going with Adobe CS3 because I am already fairly proficient with PShop, Audition and Premiere.

I am majoring in Graphic/website Design and Computer Animation. I have been advised that the industry is Mac saturated, so that is another consideration.

I am not sold on PC, I just don't want to spend too much time getting up to speed. This will also double as a family computer, so I have to consider others.

[begin_within]

37. If you know Adobe CS3, Photoshop, Audition and Premiere, then

you can probably work on either Mac or PC, as I assume the programs are fundamentally the same no matter which platform you are using them on. So if you know how to use them on both, you would have valuable skills that people will hire you for. Yes, I belive the graphic design and publishing industries are very much dominated by Macs, and Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop and QuarkXpress are hugely popular programs in the print publishing industry. For web site design of course there are other programs, some of which are Adobe's and others are from other companies. And for animation that's a whole different genre of software, I don't know much about those programs, though they may also be using Photoshop and Illustrator for some tasks. I believe that graphic arts, design, publishing, music, video, web design and education are fairly dominated by Mac software, to varying degrees. All other areas are PC-dominated by default. The basic advice is still the same: decide on exactly what software you want to use, then buy the computer that can run that software.

[RadiationTherapy]

38. Thanks so much, man. This is all so helpful. nt

[begin_within]

41. You're welcome - and as a footnote,

Adobe Premiere was at one time fairly popular on the Mac, perhaps even the dominant video editing program on the Mac. But when Apple came out with FinalCutPro, Adobe suddenly (and quietly) stopped upgrading Premiere, and just let it die on the vine. I thought that was a big mistake and the market share they had with it probably was lost forever. They didn't keep up with the updates of the Mac OS, and people pretty much quit using it and went with FinalCutPro (or FinalCutExpress) instead for video editing. Now, FCP has a huge market lead in the video editing area on the Mac, but I see that Adobe has resurrected Premiere as Adobe Premiere Pro, included in CS3. I don't know what they have done to the program but I don't think a huge number of people are still using it. FinalCutPro is hugely popular and Adobe will have its work cut out for it if they hope to make a dent in FCP's market. I don't see how people are going to drop FCP and go back to Premiere at this point in the game. So if you really want to be "in the loop" on video editing on the Mac platform, you pretty much have to know FCP, or at least FinalCutExpress, which is exactly the same program but with some high-end features disabled and a lower price tag.

[Sancho]

40. I'd buy a Mac....

You describe the perfect Mac user...