Configuring An iMac For Video Editing

Larry's Blog by Larry Jordan

I bought a new 27? iMac when they went on sale Friday, specifically for video editing. And, because I’ve had a lot of requests recently, I wanted to tell you what I bought and why.

WHAT SIZE IMAC?
I bought: 27? iMac

All versions of Final Cut Pro and Adobe Premiere like large screen sizes. It allows us to see more of the image with more detail. In my case, because this system is exclusively for video and audio editing, the bigger screen was an easy decision.

I also have a second 27? Apple monitor sitting unused on a shelf that I want to experiment with. I’ve generally found dual monitor displays at client sites to be more trouble than they are worth. But, I’ve never worked with one for a long period of time, so I’m looking forward to seeing how this new setup works.

However, for my webinars, I use a smaller 21? Mac, because I find software easier to learn when the screen sizes are kept smaller.

CPU SPEED
I bought: 3.4 GHz, Quad-Core Intel Core i7

CPU speed is important, but it isn’t everything. The speed and connection of your storage play a much bigger role in overall system performance than the CPU. So does the speed of the graphics card. read more...