Basic Computer Build For For After Effects And Camtasia?

[Campbell503]

I'm shooting green screen videos of me talking and then combining/editing them in with screen records in Camtasia.


Exporting my green screen videos from After Effects and then putting in Camtasia and then finally exporting again just takes forever. (4 hours for a 1 minute video from After Effects)


My computer also runs slow when editing.


It is just a default Windows 8 laptop from Walmart with these specs:
Processor: AMD E2-1800 APU with Radeon HD Graphics 1.70 GHz
Installed Memory(RAM): 4.00 GB (3.60 Usable)


What type of computer do I need to do this editing quickly and export quickly? Any help greatly appreciated. Keep in mind I am not a full-time video producer and only use simple green screen videos and screencasts from camtasia.

[redwudz]

Faster processing isn't likely to happen with a laptop. You really need a desktop PC with some CPU processing power. The laptop I'm using at the moment is a AMD E-350 @ 1.60Ghz and 8GB RAM running W8/64 and I only use it for net surfing and word processing. The PC I use for video is in my computer details.

I would recommend a 4 core CPU, either AMD or Intel. Speed 3.2 - 3.6Ghz and 4GB of RAM for Windows 32 bit OS's or 8GB or so for Windows 64 bit OS's. Three hard drives minimum. A smaller, faster drive for boot. I've used a 120GB SSD and 150GB WD 10K RPM Raptor and they both work well. Add a couple of large hard drives, 1.5TB are reasonably priced and fast at present. I use one for edit and one for archive. Video card, not that important.

I'm sure other's here can add or modify what I have suggested.

And welcome to our forums.

[Brainiac]

Redwudz's advice is spot on. A desktop is the best option from an upgrade perspective too.

Coincidentally, I just did a green screen shot and processed it in After Effects CS6. The clip was 1 minute 22 seconds long. It took After Effects 1 hour and 24 minutes to render the clip with the Keylight effect to a file with an alpha channel and sound. My setup is an Intel 3770K CPU @ 3.5 GHz, 32 GB Ram, 1 TB SSD main drive, 4 internal SATA drives, 3 USB 2/3 external hard drives, 1 DVD Burner (internal), 1 BR Burner (internal), 1 BR Burner (external) and 2 NVidia GTX 660 Graphics Cards.

Brainiac

[budwzr]

Well, that's the conventional wisdom, but I like to work in the field too. So I use an i7 Toshiba Qosmio. But I don't render the whole kitchen sink at one time, so for me it's fine. Do your passes separately, that helps a lot. i.e., Beauty, Ambient Occlusion, Highlights, etc.

I render out the fx by themselves then "ADD" back in. Like in PhoShoppe. That cuts the number of calculations at final.

[Brainiac]

Budwzr, that Toshiba looks killer! What are the specs?

For the record, I have a laptop too that I take "on the road". When I was looking at specs prior to purchasing it, I came here to ask for advice. What I got were a number of posts telling me how foolish I was for spending so much money on a laptop. I purchased it anyway (after all, it's MY money), and I am glad I did. I am not anti laptop in the least, but if I HAD to choose between a laptop and a desktop, it would be a desktop.

And I have NEVER had a problem with overheating issues, even when the laptop was on all night doing heavy renders.


Brainiac

[budwzr]

The specs are two years old, but it was top of the game back then. It's the X505 model. I have a slick powered cooling pad for it too. I love it.

[poisondeathray]

Hahaha but some "laptops" can't really be called "laptops" when they weigh 11 lbs and fit across 3 people's laps.

[budwzr]

And the pricing is radikalus too. I have to wait longer to upgrade. I'm not Rockefeller.

Hey, Apple is expected to release an iWatch today. Think it will happen?

[Brainiac]

Budwzr, that is a nice machine.

I bought mine earlier this year. It was made by a company called Sager. Here are the specs:

i7 3740QM @ 2.7 GHz
24 GBs ram
Windows 7 64 bit
C and D drive - 750 GB each, not SSDs
NVidia Geforce GTX 670 MX-3 GBs ram
Blu-ray burner (internal)
17.3" Full HD LED-Backlit Display with Matte Finished Surface

Like you, I love mine! Not a gamer; I just use it for my video editing work.
Yeah, the pricing was more than I would normally spend.
And the quality of construction is extraordinary...you could decapitate someone with this laptop!

Brainiac

[budwzr]

What do think of those SSD drives? Or the Seagate hybrid drives? My hard drive is the bottleneck. At the time I purchased SSD's were still a bling item.

[Brainiac]

And they STILL are a bling item (in my opinion); that is why I did not purchase one for my laptop.

But for my desktop (that I use far more often than the laptop), I bit the bullet and changed my C: drive to an SSD. The difference in boot time was significant...the time went from over 3 minutes to 45 seconds!

Windows Experience Index went from 5.9 to 7.7. All ratings are 7.9 except my processor score, which is 7.7.

Brainiac

[budwzr]

Whew, that's not bling then. All my ratings are 7ish too, except harddrive is 5ish, so pulls down everything. I'm considering doing what you did. Adding an SSD as a boot drive. Is any particular brand any better?

[Brainiac]

When I did research, Samsung drives were highly regarded. My drive is the Crucial seen here:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148696

So far, it has performed very well for me.

Brainiac

[budwzr]

Holy Smokes! That's pricey. Looks awesome though. I might get a smaller one. I already have a NAS for massive storage. I wonder if Vegas would speed up, or just boot time.

Have any of your apps speeded up?

[Brainiac]

Yeah, that price was what I was referring to as bling!

I cannot tell if my applications load noticeably faster or not. Too little sleep to notice I guess. But I did reload 3DMark11 and noticed quite a difference in frame rates.

Brainiac

[budwzr]

Hmmm...You had me going, but now I'm back on the fence. If a throw money on something that's not worth it I go into a depression. I start feeling like Tom Hanks in Money Pit.

[Brainiac]

I should have done some sort of benchmark BEFORE I replaced the platter drive. But I can tell you this: I do not regret moving to a SSD.

Using After Effects CS6 (installed on both my desktop and laptop), I compared load times. The specs for both systems are similar enough for me to believe that a comparison is fair. Here are the results:

Desktop load time: 10 seconds (SSD)
Laptop load time: 36 seconds (Platter Disk Drive 7200 RPM)

I ran the tests multiple times to get a better idea of load times.

Brainiac

[budwzr]

You're still dancing around the main issue . Is editing all-around peppier? Is it a magic bullet?

Can you do a real world test? Like open an iPhone5 .mov and see how much frame skipping during scrub/playback? I guess if it was awesome, you would have mentioned that first.

Hahaha, never ask the chicken owner if the eggs are any good, ask the neighbor. You SSD owners aren't going to say you plunked down a bunch of money and got mixed results.

Like when I had a Canon camera, I extolled the virtues of Canon. Now that I have a Sony....

[Brainiac]

Do you have an iPhone5.mov file for me to download or a site to download a clip from? I'd be more than happy to test playback and report results back here.

And any other testing you'd like me to do just let me know.

By the way, I don't like eggs .

Brainiac

[budwzr]

Yeah, that would be cool. When I open an iPhone .mov in Vegas Pro 12, I get extreme lag and have to build a proxy. Once I build the proxy it's smooth. Note: These iPhone5 videos are extremely compressed much more so than anything else I've encountered. Also, can you let me know, is your editing software installed ON the SSD? Or do you just render to the SSD?

Thanks for testing. Here's an unmolested .mov from an iPhone5: http://files.videohelp.com/u/135518/IMG_0305.MOV

[Brainiac]

Ok, I just tested the video in Premiere Pro CS6 and Sony Vegas Pro 12.
My editing software is installed on the SSD, which is my C: drive. The C: drive is used only for the O/S and software.

There was absolutely NO lag in either program. I even sent playback to the preview monitor (a 47 inch Vizio TV through a Blackmagic Intensity Pro) and played the clip simultaneously on the preview monitor and the main monitor. No playback problems whatsoever.

By the way, I downloaded the clip to one of my internal SATA drives and not one of my external drives.

Edit: Scrubbing in PP CS6 was as smooth as a baby's bottom!

Brainiac

[budwzr]

Wow!

So the clip was on a regular SATA platter drive? And 5400 or 7200? Just a regular harddrive basically, right?

That's impressive.

I may have to take the plunge. I'll have to slip that in during the holiday madness UPS deliveries. Or I'll get the "You bought more computer stuff ????" routine. The trick is to order it TOGETHER in the same box as a gift for her relatives, then a little "slight of hand" when opening. Hehehe.

We don't open each others mail. I started that rule pretending it was to respect her, hehehe.

[Brainiac]

Yes, the clip was on a regular SATA platter drive, 7200 RPM, internal. External drives give playback problems as you would imagine they would, unless it's an eSata drive.

My...sneaky, arent we?

Brainiac

[budwzr]

Sneaky? No, after 20 years you learn how to avoid landmines.

Hey, thanks for the testing. I'm excited to maybe breathe new breath into my laptop. I can't buy another one for a while, and don't really want to either. $1300+

[Brainiac]

Nice comeback. Landmines...yeah, they should be avoided alright!

Brainiac

[budwzr]

Once you get the gear you didn't know you needed it's a breeze. The first two years are the toughest because you go from $99 camera to $300 camera to $1000 camera.

So you take your lumps, do some extra honey-do's, donate the old stuff to her relatives, and all is fine again.

Nowadays when she asks about something new I just say I've had it for a long time. They go for it. And then you have the secret weapon when you really get in a jam.

"Babe, I don't cheat, drink, gamble, or do anything against the Fam. Can't I enjoy my life a little?" Works EVERY time.

[Brainiac]

Budwzr, just wanted to let you know that I upgraded the C: drive on my laptop and then ran the Windows Experience Index again. Here are the results:

Processor Before 7.7 After 7.7
Memory(RAM) Before 7.7 After 7.7
Graphics Before 5.3 After 7.4
Gaming Graphics Before 6.8 After 7.4
Primary Hard Disk Before 5.9 After 7.9

Brainiac

[budwzr]

Thanks for that. Yeah, you got a nice boost. Now the question is can you, or did you, get that "whoo-hoo-hoo" feeling?

[Brainiac]

Yes, I did get that "whoo-hoo-hoo" feeling. Not having to wait forever for bootups and snappier performance all around helped to get me there.

Brainiac

[budwzr]

So you got the WHHF! Now that's convincing.

I'm gonna check that stuff out again after Xmas. That's when all the real sales happen. Around Jan 31st, when the zero sales icy cold winds are-a blowin', har har har.

My other consideration is that I can use that SSD elsewhere if I have a major computer problem. Having a laptop is like having a Mac, that you may have to junk the whole thing if something serious goes wrong.