So i'm in quite the conundrum. I will be in the market for a new Mac by next month. I am stuck between a new iMac or MacPro. I am going to be doing a lot of Photoshop, after effects, FCE and others. I am also going to be running vista via bootcamp to handle Softimage XSI. I am wondering if an iMac would suffice for these applications. I am well aware that a MacPro would be the preferred choice, however if I can save a fews bucks here and there, I'm always up for that! Will the iMac be waste of a purchase? Thanks guys!!
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which mac to buy?
- Thread starter dengar169
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A large part of it depends on how much ram you have in the iMac. I personally own a MacBook with 2gb of ram and can run vista via bootcamp and Photoshop CS3 perfectly. So, an iMac should suffice, so long as you upgrade the ram.
Great info, yes I do plan on upgrading the ram as soon I as place my order (as always, not from Apple). I'm wondering how much processing speed you put Photoshop through? What are you main uses for the program? I am concerned mostly with running After Effects, Final Cut and XSI (animation program). thanx for your help
The format of the video matters. Is this standard definition or something bigger? Editing the higher data rate video formats can tax any computer.
I think the iMac does OK with SD. If you are using FCE get the 24" imac because you will need the screen space. With an iMac you will need a fast external FW800 disks for video but the MP can use internal drives.
my iMac does OK with Photoshop CS3. Large files (those close to 100MB) take maybe 10 seconds to load but the editing goes mostly smooth after loading. Now and then the spacebar scroll will lag on those larger files
I'm curous why you need softimage. What is it that FCE and Photoshop can't do?
Softimage is a modeling/animation program. I will mostly be using SD video, but hoping to bump it up in the future. Thanks for mentioning the F/W 800, thats what i have all my files in. Took them from by pwr book g4
R.I.P. Also yes a few of my photoshop projects to get up in the 100mb+ so I'm glad to hear that they will still run at a good pace.You should probably go with the 2.8ghz processor if you are going to get the iMac. I did this and am greatly happy. Rendering is fast in Cinema 4d and Photoshop/Dreamweaver run like a dream!
I also have 4gb of ram, too, so that helps also.
I also have 4gb of ram, too, so that helps also.
an imac will handle it all quite well, however, the expandability that the Mac Pro offers is ideally suited to you. Any video edit will eat up HDD space, so having 4 HDD bays will be great. The improved graphics of the MP will also help with XSI and any other graphics software you want to run.
I started out with a 20" intel core duo iMac in 2006. It was my first Mac and served me well until the end of 2007 when I found I needed more memory and hard drive space. I sold the iMac and bought a MacPro. In retrospect, I should have bought the MacPro from the start.
haha great, I was starting to get convinced on the iMAC, now you are making me second guess. What do you use your MacPro for?
If you are going to be doing a lot of video I would go the Mac Pro route. You can customize it to your needs and upgrade it as you go. I love my iMac, but I only use it for print design and a little web.
I am a Graphic Designer and Photographer. I often edit very large files that contain multiple high resolution layers.
I use Bridge, Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, Acrobat, Quark XPress and Aperture on a regular basis.
My MacPro currently has 12 gigs of ram and 2 terabytes of hard drive space and I still have room for expansion.
holy cow! i would love you see some of your work. I'm interested in seeing what 12 gigs of ram and 2 terebytes of storage can produce!!!