What computer and monitor setup do u have for Post Production?

Status
Not open for further replies.
I have an i7-2500k, 8GB RAM, a pair of Asus VH242H displays, an i1 Display Pro calibrator, and a Wacom tablet. It is fine for looking at photos but editing a 25MB .dng with lots of brushstrokes in LR4.1 can run it into the ground.

A faster processor and 12 or 16GB of RAM would be a better idea, as would one good monitor; The panels I have are remarkably inconsistent for brightness and color temperature.

The calibrator and the tablet are swell once you figure them out, applying adjustment brushes is much easier with the tablet.

The only other thing I'd change on this setup would be a faster drive array. I have for storing photos a RAID5 array of older mechanical drives on a proper 3Ware card but a bundle of SSDs would sure give it a kick in the pants. Win7 runs on its own Velociraptor, which is enough.

Jim
 
Upvote 0

KKCFamilyman

Capturing moments in time...
CR Pro
Mar 17, 2012
555
33
44
Orlando
www.allofamily.net
Jim Saunders said:
I have an i7-2500k, 8GB RAM, a pair of Asus VH242H displays, an i1 Display Pro calibrator, and a Wacom tablet. It is fine for looking at photos but editing a 25MB .dng with lots of brushstrokes in LR4.1 can run it into the ground.

A faster processor and 12 or 16GB of RAM would be a better idea, as would one good monitor; The panels I have are remarkably inconsistent for brightness and color temperature.

The calibrator and the tablet are swell once you figure them out, applying adjustment brushes is much easier with the tablet.

The only other thing I'd change on this setup would be a faster drive array. I have for storing photos a RAID5 array of older mechanical drives on a proper 3Ware card but a bundle of SSDs would sure give it a kick in the pants. Win7 runs on its own Velociraptor, which is enough.

Jim

Thanks,

I was thinking of I7 3770k, 16GB 1600mhz ram, 240GB Samsung 830 SSD, Nvidia gtx550 and 23" HP IPS Monitor of course calibrated. My concern is the monitor quality. As far as true storage. I have a full Domain Controller running a dedicated Raid card. So storage is really not an issue. With the cost of SSD's going down and rotational drives so high I cannot see an os drive being anything other than that. Just looking for a quality monitor suggestion with accurate colors under $500. Otherwise the above setup would surely handle 5d3 Raw workflows thru PS and LR4. Also render HD Video. I am not a pro but want to make my edits accurate in case I do go that route.
 
Upvote 0
Have a GIGABYTE X58A-UD5 MotherBoard
2nd Gen i7-950 @ 3.07GHz
6GB of Corsair Dominator-GT DDR3 RAM 1866MHz
EVGA GTX460 X2 SLI Graphics
SSD's on OS Boot, PR Install, Games, Photos, plus a few HDD's for Everything else. + External backup.
Lightroom 4, Win7 Ultimate.

Dell SX2210 21.5" 16:10 Monitor + Samsung SyncMaster 940n 19" 4x3 Monitor both Spyder4 ELITE Colour Calibrated. Standard Keyboard & Mouse. That's about it.
 
Upvote 0
KKCFamilyman said:
I was thinking of I7 3770k, 16GB 1600mhz ram, 240GB Samsung 830 SSD, Nvidia gtx550 and 23" HP IPS Monitor of course calibrated. My concern is the monitor quality... Just looking for a quality monitor suggestion with accurate colors under $500.

I did a lot of monitor research before I got an external monitor (I have a MacBook pro 13" with 16gb RAM) and from what I found almost all 23" IPS monitors (under $400) use basically the same pannel from LG. There are slight differences in antiglare or inputs but they are almost all 6-bit e-IPS monitors made by LG.

I got one and it is fine, there is some light bleeding in one of the corner that I can deal with but I wish mine was 8-bit rather than 6-bit. In gradients I can see dithering that bugs me. The true 8-bit monitors aren't cheap and were way out of my price range.

Im happy with what I got and I have it on a wall mount that can rotate to portrait and the monitor still looks good in that orientation. I hope this helps as I too am not a pro
 
Upvote 0
That's a really good question. Not to be a whiner again but I find the current offering somewhat frustrating. My main computer for LR and PS is still my 14" IBM Thinkpad from 7 years ago. Why? Because I like the screen and because I like the handling of that thing. Even at home I prefer this one over my Franken-Dell XP PC with a 24" Dell screen. I actually just replaced the screen in it and was lucky enough to find an as-new replacement as Lenovo doesn't sell them any longer. It's 14" 1400x1050 screen and I really like that resolution. Colors are likely not perfect but it works for me.

So my next step will be to get a new desktop. And given how poor all the new Windows laptops are (just got a brand new HP Elite Book at work and it is awful) I'm actually thinking about switching to Apple in the long-run. But even then I'm not really thrilled with the screen options. I can't stand the shiny screens and the all-in-one concept makes me a little uncomfortable also. And the new laptop offering make me cringe also. The MBP retina has a great screen of course but the HD is just too small for my needs and can't be upgraded.

So I'm torn now between a Mac Mini with one or two nice third party screens (NEC for example) or a 27" iMac with the glass removed. Also the thing has to double as the center piece of a homerecording studio so specs have to be pretty good and the Mac Mini might be on the edge there.

I'm interested to see what new iMacs Apple might present in the Fall. If that's not appealing I can always take my cash and really go for that 50L first...
 
Upvote 0
I'm still running an older ASUS i7-920 system with a GTX260 card and 12 gigs of ram, but have adapted a 27" Apple Cinema display to it at 2560x1440 resolution.

Here's the link to the adaptor you need to run any of the Apple Cinema Displays off any modern video card on a PC.
http://www.amazon.com/ATLONA-AT-DP400-Dual-DisplayPort-Converter/dp/B003CWEXWO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1338329038&sr=8-1

With many folks upgrading their monitors to the newer Thunderbolt, the older 27" Apple Cinema Displays can be found for $600 - $800 in the local classifieds. It's s super cost effective way to make a big step up in your diplay on the PC.

Cheers,
Pete
 
Upvote 0
Status
Not open for further replies.