HD Video/Compositing System help

[Boke in Japan]

First post, read the stickies.So hopefully I can give you all the info upfront.

1. I'm an "edutainment" designer , which basically means I make videos, games and some audio for education, the "tainment" part simply means I have to make it fun and interesting. I use a HD prosumer camera (Canon Xh-A1) with a lot of greenscreen work, which leads me to After Effects, Premiere Pro and pretty much the whole Adobe CS4 suite. I occasionally mess around with some 3D-motion tracking software (Boujou) and I'd like to get into a little 3D, Maya or 3DS max, but if/when I do I think it will mostly be for text animations. I also do my own audio work, I have an audio interface (Focusrite Saffire 4in /10 out Firewire) that I use. As games are basically my crack I try to stay away if I can.

2. My budget is 600-800$

3. I probably will be ordering from Japan (as I live here)

4. No brand preferences

5. I only have the OS, I've been editing and rendering out HD video with a 5 year old Toshiba Satellite Laptop. As you can imagine render times are quite insane.

6. I read thru most of the stickies

7. Don't know much about over clocking, so I don't really know if I should or shouldn't

8. If possible within the month

Also this will be my first self made computer.


My problems are my render times in AE and I can't really edit with Premiere, and my camera is HDV if that helps. I've been editing and rendering out HD video with a 5 year old Toshiba Satellite Laptop. As you can imagine render times are quite insane.

Appreciate all replies

 

[Fox5]

Well, we probably can't help you that much on part selection as I doubt anyone has any idea what the price situation is like in Japan. We can give advice though.

Look for the cheapest Core 2 or Phenom II quad core processor you can find. Intel's chips perform comparatively better in Adobe products than AMD's, but you might be able to find an AMD quad core significantly cheaper.
Go for a DDR2 motherboard with 4 slots (I'm assuming DDR2 prices are a good bit lower than DDR3). Pick up 4x2GB of DDR2-800 since Adobe products love ram, especially if you have the 64 bit versions.
Get Vista 64 bit.
Overclocking isn't that hard and is a way to get some extra performance for free. You could probably read some guides (or ask around) to get help overclocking and get at least a small overclock out with too much hassle.
Get an nvidia video card, I believe the adobe products have some built in acceleration for them.

 

[Boke in Japan]

Would a Quad be much difference to a duo?

Should I be worried about how much RAM my video card has?Is 512MB enough?

Japanese prices are in general about 5-10% more than the states.

 

[Fox5]

You could probably find a quad for around $150, at least a Phenom II if prices are similar to the states.
A quad would roughly double performance over a duo.
Don't worry about RAM on the video card unless you're playing games. 512MB is more than enough for all but the most extreme gamers. On the other hand, 256MB would not be nearly enough for many games.

 

[Boke in Japan]

Thanks a bunch that will definatley help. Once last question, sound cards? Like I said in the OP I do a lot of sound work with semi-pro equipment, what should I be looking for in a sound card?

 

[elconejito]

You definitely want to go quadcore, either AMD or Intel for the video rendering. Someone else can chime in on AMD parts, but for Intel I would look for something like:

- CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200 $165 at newegg.com (US prices). They can sometimes be had on sale for cheaper (They can be had for as low as $120 here). I wouldn't look at the higher models unless they are at a very competitive price, because then I think you'll find AMD offers the better performance/price ratio. But at this price, I think the Q8200 is a good choice.
- Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R ($120 US). Solid board, very stable, lots of features. If you choose to overclock, this is a great board for that too.
- RAM: Load it up with 8GB of RAM (4 x 2GB) ~$100).
- Video Card: A low end, relatively recent video card either ATI or Nvidia (List of tested cards by Adobe) for maybe $50-75. For CS4, the card really only influences displaying things such as zooming, and rotating canvas. It will also help with decoding video. Neither of these functions require a lot of power, so there is no need for a high performance part, especially if you're on a strict budget. (If you're doing 3D work, then you could spend a bit more here)
- Hard drive: a WD 640GB $60-70. Very good performance and lots of room. If you can afford it, multiple hard drives will give you a little performance boost.
- Audio: Honestly, if you were using a laptop audio for your work and it was OK, the onboard audio of the motherboards today should be more than sufficient. Onboard audio has come a long way in recent years and is no longer an automatic "needs to be replaced". If you do need something more high-end, someone else will have to give that info.
- Power supply: With just the parts I have listed, if you're not going to overclock, you can probably use something like the Antec EA380 (380W) or the Corsair 400W (or is it 450?) which are around $50. If you're going to overclock I'd say bump up to something in the 500-600w range for $75-100.

Total, in US dollars $580 (~$640 if it's 10% higher in Japan), not including a case which you can spend $50-100 depending on how "nice" of a case you want. Also, I don't know how much Vista costs there it's $100 for an OEM version here (OEM meaning, not in a retail box), but I think Microsoft charges different amounts depending on the country. You could also use Windows 7 and that's FREE for a year. Definitely 64-bit though so you can use all that RAM I suggested you purchase.

That should be a WORLD of difference compared to your laptop.

Don't forget to budget for a backup solution. At a minimum, an external hard drive that is big enough to hold your work.

If you can spend a few more dollars than I've listed here, the first thing I would upgrade is the hard drives. Ideally, you'd want 3 drives. One for OS/apps, the 2nd for storage, and the 3rd for scratch disk for AE, premiere, PS, etc. If you can't do 3, then 2 will do (OS/apps/scratch and storage). The next thing I would upgrade is the CPU.

But with that budget, and the fact that your coming from a laptop I'd say you'd be very happy with the setup above (or something very similar depending on your prices locally).

Someone else can probably give you an AMD variant for the CPU/motherbaord that would give very similar performance/cost.

 

[Fox5]

If prices are close between AMD and Intel quad cores, it's hard to recommend an AMD for Adobe work, Intel cpus have the advantage throughout the suite.

BTW, WD has 750GB drives in the $60-$70 price range too.

As far as the sound card goes, it depends on what you're doing. Sound effects? Don't worry about it, use the built in stuff. If you're recording from external line ins or need exotic inputs/outputs (say for a MIDI controller) then you'd do well to purchase something that meets those needs. Avoid Creative though.