# Internal vs External HD's for video editing



## fadeout32 (Jan 19, 2011)

I see a lot of people relying more and more on external HD's for video editing. How important are read/write speeds in general for use in programs like Final Cut or After Effects? As far as I know internal SATA cables provide the fastest speeds and thus make internal drives more "ideal" but is there any way to match internal SATA speeds on a mac? As far as I know both iMac and Mac Pro only come with USB2.0 or FW800 ports. And if this is the case, wouldn't that make a Mac Pro more ideal for editing because you can have many Internal HD's and thus faster read/writes all around? Thanks for any help here!


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## MisterMe (Jan 19, 2011)

The reason that external hard drives are used for video editing is that video editing consumes enormous capacity. You simply cannot keep-up with he capacity demands of video within the physical dimensions of a Mac Pro CPU case. External drives allow you to add as much hard drive capacity as you need within the limits of your budget. Of course, you go with FireWire 800 as your connection protocol.


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## fadeout32 (Jan 19, 2011)

MisterMe said:


> The reason that external hard drives are used for video editing is that video editing consumes enormous capacity. You simply cannot keep-up with he capacity demands of video within the physical dimensions of a Mac Pro CPU case. External drives allow you to add as much hard drive capacity as you need within the limits of your budget. Of course, you go with FireWire 800 as your connection protocol.



Mac Pro as far as I know can get an eSATA adapter. For iMac though, is lack of eSATA/USB 3.0/extra HD options a problem for video editing? Are the read/write speeds that significant?


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## ElDiabloConCaca (Jan 19, 2011)

Depends on what kind of video editing you're doing.  If you're using a lot of real-time effects, then CPU speed and memory are important.  If you're editing hours and hours of DV footage, then hard drive space is important.

Yes, with a Mac Pro you have many more expansion options than you would with an iMac or other Mac computer.  You can add PCIe cards, like eSATA cards, etc. to use technologies that aren't available on the iMac or MacBook line.

For hard-core video editing and expandability, there is no other option than a Mac Pro.


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## fadeout32 (Jan 19, 2011)

ElDiabloConCaca said:


> Depends on what kind of video editing you're doing.  If you're using a lot of real-time effects, then CPU speed and memory are important.  If you're editing hours and hours of DV footage, then hard drive space is important.
> 
> Yes, with a Mac Pro you have many more expansion options than you would with an iMac or other Mac computer.  You can add PCIe cards, like eSATA cards, etc. to use technologies that aren't available on the iMac or MacBook line.
> 
> For hard-core video editing and expandability, there is no other option than a Mac Pro.



The iMac I was looking at getting would have the following specs:

# 2.93GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7
# 16GB 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM
# 2TB Serial ATA Drive
# 8x double-layer SuperDrive
# ATI Radeon HD 5750 1GB GDDR5 SDRAM

Which seems pretty comparable to the significantly more expensive Mac Pro. Space won't be a problem I think for any computer as it looks like I can run up to 4 different external 1-2 TB drives at once in addition to the 2TB internal HD, but would the limitation of FW800/USB2.0 be a snag on the workflow or general quality due to the lower read/write speeds in comparison to the eSATA externals/SATA internal HD's?


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## ElDiabloConCaca (Jan 19, 2011)

What kind of video are you editing?  DV?  HD?  Some other kind of acronym?

That iMac looks to be a pretty bad-ass machine right there.  If you're doing medium-range video edition (sorry, not a video editor, so I'm not up to snuff with all the acronyms and types), then I would think it would handle it nicely.

Firewire 800 should be adequate for all but the highest-end video editing.


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## fadeout32 (Jan 19, 2011)

ElDiabloConCaca said:


> What kind of video are you editing?  DV?  HD?  Some other kind of acronym?
> 
> That iMac looks to be a pretty bad-ass machine right there.  If you're doing medium-range video edition (sorry, not a video editor, so I'm not up to snuff with all the acronyms and types), then I would think it would handle it nicely.
> 
> Firewire 800 should be adequate for all but the highest-end video editing.



Yeah I'll mainly be editing HD footage. I'm pretty much all set to buy the iMac just trying to understand the overall significance and nuances in the different r/w speeds for HD's. Also it sucks that USB 3.0 is on the verge of coming out but unfortunately I can't wait another half year for that to happen and be adopted by Apple, have to make due now


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## Satcomer (Jan 19, 2011)

Well if you get an iMac then look at OWC's Turnkey Upgrade program.


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