Apple iMac for editing Arri footage

[Chris Koppers]

Greeting everyone.

 

I wonder if you guys can help me for getting the right iMac for editing Arri footage.

I own an Arri Alexa XT and a Codex's reader with USB cable.

 

There are some stores with used iMac's with very decent price tags and maybe you can tell me what specifications I should look for speedy editing.

 

I am aware of the USB port which comes with the new iMac's with Retina display, but thanks to an adapter I can use an older model to do the job.

 

 

I was thinking of an iMac 21.5" Core i5 2.7GHz, 1 TB HDD, 8 GB RAM.

 

Is that a prudent choice?

 

Thank you.

Best,

Chris

 

 

[Brian Drysdale]

What media are you planing to edit and using which NLE? The spec of the computer sounds suitable for editing a HD codec..usually the recommendation is for a system more powerful than you're considering.

[Brian Drysdale]

Here are the VideoGuys; recommendations, of course you don't need to buy from them, but worth reading.

 

https://www.videoguys.com/system-recommendations

[Chris Koppers]

Thank you, Brain.

I played around with Premiere and Resolve and the latter is waaaay more stable than Premiere.

That iMac should be fine for 2K the retailer noted.

[Brian Drysdale]

You can use proxy editing if need be.

[Phil Rhodes]

I feel the need to point out that your question makes the assumption that an Apple computer is the only way to go.

 

Almost any other alternative will be faster and cheaper, and both Premiere and Resolve are identical regardless.

[Chris Koppers]

Thank you, Phil.

 

The only reason why an Apple comes into play is because of the Codex cards and the reader works with Apple, unless there is, unknown for my humble person, a way for a PC data transfer.

[Brian Drysdale]

Worth checking before committing, but I gather it works with both Mac and PCs.