What editing setups are people using?

JohnBradbury

JohnBradbury

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Just wondering what setups others are using in terms of workstations and storage solutions?

Is mac still king?
 
I am windows based .... I find the workstations more affordable pound per performance and many more parts around to upgrade and replace as necessary. Furthermore - In my experience I have enjoyed the flexibility of changing components based on demand.

Currently I run a windows workstation with dual Xeons, 2 quadro gpus and several SSDs- long term storage is in the cloud, OneDrive for me, not amazing but comes bundled with office 365 which is useful.
 
2 Windows 10 machines...a fast laptop and a desktop. I use an external SSD so I can move between them seamlessly.

I wouldn't buy another Mac again (or any Apple product for that matter) - the combination of high price, proprietary hardware, lack of upgrade possibilities & a nasty habit of forcing upgrades which break stuff drove me away.
 
2 W10 PC's and 1 W8 PC supported by a 9T Byte NAS. Very few at my Camera Club use Mac but they do seem to have more issues than most.

Dave
 
On KDE Neon Linux with the best DAM, Digikam, and Raw Therapee is exceptional, and all very fast on an i5 CPU. No Windows or Mac here.
 
Macs were held to be the thing for graphics work back in the 90's, and I understood that they had a smaller energy requirement for doing so.

I think the playing field's levelled these days.

I only do 2D graphics (PS & LR mostly) - no video or 3D - and my home-assembled pc is c7yrs old but still works fine with 16Gb ram, a fairly modest graphics card and wide gamut monitor.

Why worry? The result's the thing.
 
droj said:
Macs were held to be the thing for graphics work back in the 90's
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In the 90's Macs had a big benefit of a more refined user interface than DOS and Windows. Even after Windows 95 came out. For serious graphics work though, at that time the Sun, Silicon Graphics and other workstations were taking over from mainframes.
Nowadays the usability differences between Mac, Windows and Linux is marginal. The more choice the better.
 
Sky said:
Windows - as a retired electronics/computer engineer I know many reasons to avoid anything made by Apple. :rolleyes:
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May I ask why you say to avoid anything made by Apple. I'm not in anyway questioning or doubting your knowledge I am just very interested to know why as I'm sitting on the fence at the moment trying to decide if I should stick with a new high end Windows laptop or move over to a Macbook pro.

I currently use a Windows laptop still running W7, and also an iPad Pro 2017 model and an iPhone 7plus and have never had a problem with anything Windows or Apple.

George.
 
We use windows based hardware. Used Macs for home use years ago but not since snow leopard. They used to run adobe software much better than windows but that isn’t the case any more and hasnt been for donkeys years.

Wouldn’t buy a Mac these days to get a half decent spec you need to got the iMac Pro which is ridiculous money.
 
I have a MacBook Pro. But it’s not handling the amount of stuff I’m throwing at it atm very well. I quite often editing in LR and PS whilst having Divinci resolve open editing video at the same time.

Considering moving over to windows but want decent battery life in a slim laptop with a 15 inch screen is difficult to find with decent spec.
 
JohnBradbury said:
Just wondering what setups others are using in terms of workstations and storage solutions?

Is mac still king?
Click to expand...

Hardware:

I got three monitors. The left hand one is usually showing open folders displaying thumbnails of the image files. The middle one is mostly the main work screen, and would have Photoshop or InDesign open and running. Usually I would drag and drop an image file from the left hand monitor into the middle monitor. The right hand one, sometimes would have a word processor open so I could type some text, copy and paste into the middle one. Or sometimes the right hand one would have a folder open to show the finished exported work, mainly to confirm if the export went well.

Software:

I have a main folder titled Workflow under my user folder. This would have three sub-folders, titled Stage I, Stage II, and Stage III. Image files are imported or saved to Stage I. Any files I am working on are saved in Stage II while still in progress. Finished work would be exported into Stage III, or the actual finished file would be moved to Stage III. Once the files are no longer needed, they're transferred to a folder called Archives.
 
I edit (photos and video) on a 2017 MacBook Pro, connected to a 27” monitor. Lightroom for photo, davici resolve for video editing.

Drobo 5D3 is my local storage / backup solution, and I edit directly (both photo and video) from it, over thunderbolt 3.

On a personal note, I’ve used Mac exclusively for the past 10 years, and will never switch back to windows.
 
Windows 10 PC with 32mb ram, 27" monitor, 2tb backup. Mainly use photoshop cc. Sometimes iridient for raw processing. Old and not that fast, but so am I, so it suits what I need ;)

*EDIT* Upped the ram, and it is flying now :D
 
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TGphoto said:
I have a MacBook Pro. But it’s not handling the amount of stuff I’m throwing at it atm very well. I quite often editing in LR and PS whilst having Divinci resolve open editing video at the same time.

Considering moving over to windows but want decent battery life in a slim laptop with a 15 inch screen is difficult to find with decent spec.
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I've just bought a Huawei Matebook X Pro and am very impressed. OK, it's a 13.9" screen, but the bezel is so diminutive it looks bigger. Stunning screen, 10-hour battery life, 8th Gen i7, 16gb, etc, etc....
It may be a MacBook Pro rip off, but more bang for considerably less buck.
 
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Still going strong iMac 27 2012 with secondary 24" screen. Using LRCC and PSCC for editing not many issues with internet complaining about slow Application and no thoughts of upgrading anytime soon until this machine goes busts. Yes, a little slower when editing my 5DsR files but it is manageable.

Although a super-fast 9th gen Intel processor Macbook to replace the desktop with 32" 4k screen came to my mind but it is another £5k unjustifiable spending, maybe if I am working fulltime Pro but not at the moment.
 
iMac 27” and MacBook Pro Affinity and just purchased Capture one old LR and old PS still running atm I try to do as little PP as I can since moving to Fuji X system and 4/3 Olympus
Storage is a 3Tb WD plus 8x 2tb plug in portable WD drives and various other drives
 
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A totally insane Z800 and some older programs but with AI Gigapixel from Topaz.

Monitor is my 40 inch TV but for final editing a NEC MultiSync LCD 2690WUXi

Storage is a couple of 5TB external drives and the cloud and DVDs and Blu-Rays
 
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5YO Dell XPS 15 and 24" monitor.

I still own a unibody MacBook, but it was slow for editing even using contemporary software, and at 10 years old is tedious to use. The Dell is a much better machine at 5 yo than the MacBook was at the same point - upgrading would be nice, rather than essential.
 
ancient_mariner said:
5YO Dell XPS 15 and 24" monitor.

I still own a unibody MacBook, but it was slow for editing even using contemporary software, and at 10 years old is tedious to use. The Dell is a much better machine at 5 yo than the MacBook was at the same point - upgrading would be nice, rather than essential.
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Interesting. I want rid of my MBP 13 inch and a 15 inch XPS is high on the list. Seems much cheaper than the equivalent MBP. You recommend them?
 
Nowadays both Mac and pc are based on the same hardware indeed the insides of a mac and pc based laptop can be almost identical with only two things separating them the operating system and a significant price difference.
 
Brazo said:
Nowadays both Mac and pc are based on the same hardware indeed the insides of a mac and pc based laptop can be almost identical with only two things separating them the operating system and a significant price difference.
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And the appearance, and better trackpad, and screen quality...

The things I’m trying to find now whilst looking for a windows laptop.
 
TGphoto said:
And the appearance, and better trackpad, and screen quality...

The things I’m trying to find now whilst looking for a windows laptop.
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Yes your right the screens on the macs can be overly glossy, the other aspects you mention are of course subjective.

Personally I don’t like the power/speed limitations of a laptop from either brand and I don’t think laptop screens are great editing platforms.
 
Apple all the way for me, has been for years. If it works then why change ????

OK, most apps that we (I) use are available for both platforms but it is the usability that makes MacOS far superior to windows. I find that even Win 10 is still very clunky on the odd occasion I have to use it, nowhere near as smooth as working on a Mac. As they say "its horses for courses" some hate Apple some hate Microsoft, but whichever platform you care to choose, if it works for you, then stick with it.
 
TGphoto said:
Interesting. I want rid of my MBP 13 inch and a 15 inch XPS is high on the list. Seems much cheaper than the equivalent MBP. You recommend them?
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Yes with caveats. The trackpad on a Mac is better, ditto battery life. Case is equivalent quality although I prefer the carbon fibre lower shell of the Dell because it gets less hot when working hard and isn't cold like Ali at first touch. Internals are well laid out and upgrading is easy.

Mine is the 9530 model, and I'd put the QHD screen up against any MacBook of the same age for appearance.
 
Setup in signature + 1TB Toshiba external drive for backups, and Lightroom.
 
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DekHog said:
I've just bought a Huawei Matebook X Pro and am very impressed. OK, it's a 13.9" screen, but the bezel is so diminutive it looks bigger. Stunning screen, 10-hour battery life, 8th Gen i7, 16gb, etc, etc....
It may be a MacBook Pro rip off, but more bang for considerably less buck.
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Is it a 3:2 ratio screen with the ability to replace the battery model?
 
shapeshifter said:
Is it a 3:2 ratio screen with the ability to replace the battery model?
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Sorry, not getting notifications! Yeah, 3:2 screen but no battery replacement, or at least not by yourself..... glued together I believe, so has to go on a heating pad to split it.
 
DekHog said:
Sorry, not getting notifications! Yeah, 3:2 screen but no battery replacement, or at least not by yourself..... glued together I believe, so has to go on a heating pad to split it.
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Thanks. it is getting really difficult get a proper laptop for photography now.
 
I have a homebuilt desktop with i5 processor, 16Gb RAM, 480Gb SSD and a few internal spinning large HDs. Win 7 64bit Ultimate. I recently bought a Dell UP2716D 27" Ultrasharp QHD monitor, which meant I had to buy a graphics card, a Radeon RX550, for a Display Port, as it didn't have the DVI connection I was using from the motherboard graphics on the previous monitor, and the HDMI is going to the TV. If the new monitor had a DVI connection I would still be using the motherboard graphics, which I had no problem with. :)

I also have Novatech custom laptop for travelling, 14" screen, i5 processor, 8Gb RAM, 500Gb SSD, 1Tb internal drive. Win 10.

Both run Photoshop CC, and Lightroom.

Images are backed up to a Lacie 4Tb Rugged, and all files (including images) are backed up to a Seagate 8Tb Backup Plus Hub.

Both these computers are easily powerful enough for the image editing I do. :) I don't do any video editing other than occasionally making a timelapse.
 
I have to use both. I use lots of different machines at the Archive where I volunteer and at home. We have a couple of Mac Minis at the Archive which work far better than the Windows machines though our server has issues with Macs. At home I'm now exclusively Mac and can't understand why anyone uses Windows. Macs just work, yes Apple is a pain in the backside, especially when they withdrew Aperture, far and away the best DAM programme. But the interface and the whole system just works, probably as they make the PCs and the software. Previously I've used Dells when I was working, very solid machines but the Windows software was terrible. Macs all the way for me.
 
Custom build PC:
Intel i5 (coffeelake)
970GTX
16GB DDR4
250GB SSD
Windows 10
and 3 monitors

I also have 2 USB 3.0 hard drives which I work from plus 3 other 2.0 hard drives for additional back up.

I store everything for sharing with Gdrive. Easy to share with other people.
 
Wow, some really lovely high-end set ups here. Mine is not quite so impressive but does the job. I was given one of the old tiny MacBooks (now discontinued); it's pretty slow but will run Photoshop (well, actually, Camera Raw is all I use). I've got an old Seagate HDD for storage but really need to get another for a backup.
 
Custom built PC:
AMD Threadripper 1920X (4GHz)
32GB ram
Vega 56 / GTX780 (for cuda)
RME HDSPe AIO audio interface
AJA Kona LSe framestore
3x SSDs (256GB, 240GB, 512GB)
3x HDDs (1TB, 4TB, 8TB)
Windows 10
10Gbe via Intel X710 & OM3 fibre

Home laptop
Dell XPS 15 9530 (2014)
intel i7 4702HQ (3.2GHz)
16GB ram
512GB SSD
3200x1800 display
Windows 10

Work laptop (Does C1 and basic davinci work ok)
Apple macbook air (2015)
intel i5 1.6GHz
8GB ram
128GB SSD
OS X 10.12.6

Work desktop (Does CS6, davinci and avid ok)
HP Z800
Dual intel Xeon 5650 (2.6GHz)
24GB ram
Quadro 4000
1x 1TB SSD
3x 1TB HDD in RAID 0
Windows 10

Custom built backup server (Handles media conversion, plex and network monitoring in addition to being a NAS)
intel 9600k
16GB ram
LSI MegaRAID 8888ELP + Intel RES24SV240 SAS expander
7x 2TB WD enterprise disks in raid 5
1x 128GB SSD for OS
Fedora 30 workstation linux
10Gbe via Solarflare 7122F & OM3 fibre

I primarily use Adobe CS6, so bridge and photoshop. For fuji x-trans raw, I use C1 express. I also use avid media composer and davinci resolve for video. The backup server is also duplicated to portable disks periodically and I make an LTO 6 tape in work once I have sufficient data to fill one.
 
Thanks all, very helpful, as always.

I've gone the traditional route... picked up a new Mac 27" (Intel i9, 8 Cores, 32GB RAM, 2TB SSD).

I haven't yet finalised my storage solution, bouncing between a QNAP and local Thunderbolt 3 drives.
 
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