Will my Mac be good for it?

By Glassed Silver
in Editing Studio

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Grand Master

Glassed Silver

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Hey guys!

I have a quick question, will my iMac (late '06, 20") Core 2 Duo 2.16GHz, 2.5GB RAM, latest OS X, Windows 7 available, too, be any good for these kinds of work?

  1. Up to 18MP RAW Photoshop CS5 jobs. I tend to use about 5-20 layers mostly.
  2. What about the same in 12MP RAW
  3. 1080p movie editing non-linear of cause. Final Cut Express (or would FCP be better regarding performance on older hardware?), maybe I'd even give iMovie '11 or iMovie '09 a try as well. (Alternatives: Sony Vegas/Adobe Premiere/avid, would they perform better?) - I gotta say that I know my Mac will not be the "machine born for it", just wanna know whether it's DOABLE, somehow or not. Considering to buy a MBP next summer anyways... :D But for the time being...
  4. How sweet would ProRes perform, Apple's hi-def editing codec?

Thanks a lot in advance!

Glassed Silver:mac

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Grand Master

offroadaaron

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Posted

Hey guys!

I have a quick question, will my iMac (late '06, 20") Core 2 Duo 2.16GHz, 2.5GB RAM, latest OS X, Windows 7 available, too, be any good for these kinds of work?

  1. Up to 18MP RAW Photoshop CS5 jobs. I tend to use about 5-20 layers mostly.
  2. What about the same in 12MP RAW
  3. 1080p movie editing non-linear of cause. Final Cut Express (or would FCP be better regarding performance on older hardware?), maybe I'd even give iMovie '11 or iMovie '09 a try as well. (Alternatives: Sony Vegas/Adobe Premiere/avid, would they perform better?) - I gotta say that I know my Mac will not be the "machine born for it", just wanna know whether it's DOABLE, somehow or not. Considering to buy a MBP next summer anyways... :D But for the time being...
  4. How sweet would ProRes perform, Apple's hi-def editing codec?

Thanks a lot in advance!

Glassed Silver:mac

This is already yours right? the iMac that is..... Why don't you try it out for yourself and let us know how you went?!

Grand Master

Glassed Silver

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This is already yours right? the iMac that is..... Why don't you try it out for yourself and let us know how you went?!

Yes it is, but I want to be able to be prepared and maybe try to save up some extra cash if I had to buy like additional RAM (I know 3GB is the maximum, but there are reports 4GB could be adressed as well... somehow... idk...)

This is also a request for help on how to tweet things a little bit, if needed, from those, who are in the same or similar situation! :)

Glassed Silver:mac

Grand Master

Glassed Silver

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I think you're gonna need a wee bit more horsepower than a 4 year old iMac with only 2.5GB of RAM.

It might be doable but it might not be a pleasant experience.

What exactly, the photo part or the video part?

Photo is way more important to me atm... Video is actually something that I'd probably need serious editing for in a few months time actually I suppose.

Glassed Silver:mac

Grand Master

Glassed Silver

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Atm my iMac is performing fine in PS CS5 with jpeg's @12MP...

Thanks @ iKenndac, I already thought so, just wanted to hear what the community has to say. :)

So, video...? Anyone? ^^

Glassed Silver:mac

Grand Master

Glassed Silver

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3gb limit? I thought OS X was always able to address the 4gb

OS X is able to address way more, the limiting factor is the Logicboard.

Glassed Silver:mac

Grand Master

.Neo

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This is already yours right? the iMac that is..... Why don't you try it out for yourself and let us know how you went?!

Considering the iMac is already yours and not about to be purchased this is pretty much the best advice any one could give you. Fire up Photoshop and see for yourself.

With files that large having only 2,5 GB of memory is definitely going to be an issue. How the CPU will hold up you'll have to see for yourself.

I think 1080p editing on a four-year-old dual core iMac won't be a smooth experience. Especially not when having to render things.

Grand Master

Glassed Silver

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Photos or video? I have a bunch of large RAW files, either 18MP from my EOS 7D or 13.5MP from my Nikon P6000. Would you like me to upload a couple?

18MP photo would be much appreciated!

Glassed Silver:mac

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