Building the best possible video editing & VFX workstation

[seaoflyons]

I'm looking to build the best computer that I can for video editing and creating visual effects. My budget is around 3000 quid (I'm from the UK).

I usually work with Premiere and After Effects simultaneously. I often create fairly heavy-duty VFX clips, and I'm looking to speed up my work flow as much as possible. My current set-up (now about 4 years old) takes far to long to generate even low-res previews, and takes up to 6 hours to render out some of the more complex clips.

I'm also looking to start incorporating more 3D modelling into my work.

I'm also looking to start working with RAW video, and possibly 4K footage.

So in short, I'm looking to build something that will let me do serious work with compositing, 3D and super-large footage, with good rendering times and fast previews. For 3 grand (UK - I don't know why there's no pound symbol on this keyboard).

I'm not a massive computer tech-head, so would really appreciate some advice from knowledgable folks. I've got a friend who can put the components together, but he's more of gamer.

Thanks very much.

seaoflyons.com

[themaster1]

You'd need something like this imo:
http://www.magicpc.fr/station-de-travail/workstation-bi-xeon-e5-2620-quadro-4000/p-26326/#bundle

server grade processor

[redwudz]

What themaster1 linked to is probably similar to what is used professionally, but I would separate out the components and build something myself.

CPU. A fast CPU is a must. I generally work with H.264, so I prefer multicore CPUs for both encoding and filtering. I presently use a overclocked water cooled six core AMD as in my computer details. AMD or Intel, they both have good CPUs.

RAM: Enough for your OS. I suggest a 64bit OS with 8GB or 16GB or RAM Lots more may not make any improvement in performance.

DRIVES: I use a SSD drive for boot. Very fast. 120GB seems about right, with plenty of headroom. For DATA/ARCHIVE drives, 1.5TB are at a good cost point at present. I use at least three. For archival storage, I have a server in the other room. But I might suggest a RAID 5 external setup for your backup. eSATA does that fairly well.

For filtering or encoding, fast drives are not that important, IMO. My regular drives are much faster than my encoding or my filtering software. But for working with RAW video a RAID array just for speed may help. I'm not that knowledgeable about that format.

If you save enough money by building a PC, you might put together a second one and link them for better performance.

Just suggestions. I'm sure others here may have different ones.

And welcome to our forums.