[Ray Sherman]

Thanks Brian, You’ve been a great help. I’ll do some searching for Andrew Devis tutorials as well as here at Cow. Other than that, if I can get my hands on Encore, I’m sure I can figure it out. Thanks again, Ray

[Ray Sherman]

Thanks for the help…. Do you know of any good instructional tutorials in regards to using FCPX and Encore together for menu output to DVD? Thanks for pointing me into the right direction. Ray

[Ray Sherman]

Anyone??

[Ray Sherman]

Thanks John, as always, you have been a tremendous help. It’s awesome to know that I can turn to a person with your expertise in this forum. Thank you for your time. Ray 🙂

[Ray Sherman]

Thanks for the info. I would probably go with either the 512gb or 1TB flash (SSD) drive for OS. In Vegas, I used two internal 2TB hard drives at RAID 0. One for raw un-edited pre-rendered video, pictures and music with the other having rendered events for final output. I’m unsure of what would be the best optimal setup for the iMac using FCP X, Motion 5, etc.. To be honest, I’m not sure what other Raid configurations would be best. This is one area that’s not my strong suit. It seems like two 2TB or 3TB external drives would be all I need. With that being said, I can see where four drives would help in regards to storage, especially with XAVC L and 4k video. I’ll read the link you sent me for better understanding of the new Thunderbolt RAID storage. If you have a description of what each drive should be used for as well as RAID configurations “PLEASE” pass it on. With that information, I could focus on it for a better understanding.
Thanks again John, you have been a tremendous help. Ray

[Ray Sherman]

Thanks for the great reply! I read through both links that you suggested…… Great information. I certainly agree that maxing out the iMac is important in regards to 4k editing.

I do realize that some type of pre-rendering would have to take place. I’ve only used Vegas Pro in which it ate up a lot of time trying to look at a very short edited event. As you pointed out, Vegas will loose the looped pre-render once you move out of it. As you know, this takes up time and the joy out of video editing. In your case along with other producers it’s much more than that $$. This is my main reason for wanting to move to Mac. Your explanation of FCP X puts the icing on the cake.

As for cooling, you made a good point; No one is complaining of failure. Apple didn’t give the iMac a 5K display on a whim. This is their entry into the 4K editing market. As long as the computer doesn’t shutdown from failure I’d say it’s working OK.

I totally agree, Apple Care is the way to go. I’ve always felt that extended warranties on workstations are important.

As for All-in-Ones, It’s a mixed bag mainly due to some future component failures that can’t be replaced. With that being said, it appears that Apple did their homework in this all-in-one. Another great point you stated earlier on, “If you look at the new iMac Retina 5K the entire computer cost about the same as you would pay for a 4K monitor alone without a PC.”

The bottom line; Smooth editing and a great UHD monitor is what I’m after, with rendering time not being an issue. The maxed out iMac with the 27″ 5k retina display, thunderbolt 2 storage and running FCP X certainly seems like it would fit my situation/use. I’m not editing raw 4K and/or using RED camera’s, therefore I don’t need a ton of processing power.
My current equipment is as follows;
Sony PXW-X70 using 10bit 4:2:2 with 4k upgrade on the way.
Canon 7D DSLR

I’m somewhat confused in regards to OS drives and storage drives. A lot of people throughout the forum are stating; Go for a SSD instead of the Fusion due to being faster. I imagine that the Flash drive is SSD, but not sure. I need to do a little homework on SSD’s. What’s your experience and/or thoughts?

Another external HD alternative at half the price of the PROMISE Pegasus2 below:
G-Technology 6TB G-RAID Studio External Storage System with Thunderbolt 2
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1048666-REG/g_technology_0g03501_g_speed_studio_r_thunderbolt.html

PROMISE Pegasus2 R4 8TB (4 by 2TB) Thunderbolt 2 RAID System
https://store.apple.com/us/product/HE151VC/A/promise-pegasus2-r4-8tb-4-by-2t…

I can’t thank you enough for your help and expertise. I have learned so much from you and this forum through the years. It’s nice to know that I can turn to people like you for solid advice and suggestions. Thanks again, Ray
P.S. I’m close to the edge, now where’s that credit card? 🙂

[Ray Sherman]

Thanks John…… Great video! Motion 5 surely looks like a great tool for effects. Coming from a PC using Vegas Pro, Apple would definitely be somewhat of a learning curve. With that being said, this is part of what I enjoy about video editing. Please correct me if I’m wrong; In regards to the configured iMac, you feel that actual 4K real time editing with effects, transitions, titles and music would run smoothly on the timeline without pre-rendering? At times, I’ll make events/movies anywhere from 20 to 55 minutes long. In Vegas, I have to loop/render out small parts of an event (build dynamic RAM preview) in order to see less than a minute of my edited event. On top of that, the preview isn’t that great. Actual rendering time for output to DVD is not a concern for me, I could actually render overnight. I just want to be able to do all my editing and previewing on the timeline without any lagging and/or hiccups. This is more than half of my battle……. A smooth editing workflow would be like a breath of fresh air and then some. I’ve listed a few things below that may be some concerns of the iMac for 4K editing. Other than that, this workstation seems to be awesome!! Thanks again for your help! I can’t tell you enough how much I appreciate it. As for my credit card….. My wife is hiding it now 🙂 Ray
Concerns;
1) Cooling – Due to 4K editing for several hours at a time. Several reviews are stating 100 to 105 degree gpu readings.
2) All-in-One – Not sure of the life expectancy of the components. For example; Wouldn’t want a great running workstation with a dead monitor.

[Ray Sherman]

I must say, after reading some about the following iMac, it is impressive. Hands down when comparing to a PC. My biggest concern would be the 4 core processor. If it’s not a concern, please explain? The only other hardware that I would need is a couple blu-Ray read/write burners. Any thoughts?

Configuration (includes everything below): $5,566.99

iMac with Retina 5K display
https://store.apple.com/us/buy-mac/imac-retina

Hardware:
4.0GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost up to 4.4GHz
32GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM – 4x8GB
1TB Fusion Drive
AMD Radeon R9 M295X 4GB GDDR5
Apple Magic Mouse
Apple Wireless Keyboard (English) & User’s Guide

Storage:
PROMISE Pegasus2 R4 8TB (4 by 2TB) Thunderbolt 2 RAID System
https://store.apple.com/us/product/HE151VC/A/promise-pegasus2-r4-8tb-4-by-2tb-thunderbolt-2-raid-system

Software:
Final Cut Pro X
Pages, Numbers, Keynote
iPhoto, iMovie, GarageBand
OS X

[Ray Sherman]

Thanks for the reply John….. Sounds like your workstation will do the job. That’s great alternatives in which I will definately search out. When comparing Mac’s with PC’s there’s always a price to pay, but I feel the way you do when it comes down to either one. As always, your thoughts and help is very much appreciated. Thanks, Ray

[Ray Sherman]

Well it’s been 9 months since I posted this thread…. I just purchased the 4K ready Sony PXW-X70 which currently shoots XAVC L (long)and AVCHD. I still need to either build a new workstation or have one made to replace my current one. I’m open to either a PC or Mac that will give me great 4K video real tiime editing/rendering without struggling. I definately agree with John that 12 physical cores and 24GB of memory would be something I would need. I’m using this mainly for personal use, but I have been known to do a job every now and then. I’d like to add that I only need it for “offline editing.” Also, I believe it’s smart to have a three hard drives. One for software/hardware C/drive, with the other two configured RAID 0 for editing, final rendering output. My final output will be DVD and Blu-ray. With that being said, If anyone has anything they would like to suggest/comment on, please do so? As always, your help is sincerely appreciated. Ray