Choosing the Perfect Computer
Written on September 20, 2008 at 8:06 am, by Jeff McIntosh
Category: Articles
It is very important to have a well tuned computer when working with high end motion graphics and video production work. Every part of your setup needs to be configured to provide maximum speed and power. I currently run a Mac Pro workstation and I have done what I can to increase performance.
Fast Processors and Lots of Cores
Computers today come with fast processors and multiple cores. When looking for a workhorse of a station it is best to find one with a fast processor and lots of cores. Currently Intel Xeon processors are rated to be very fast and an eight core processor is ahead of its game.
RAM
If you have a lot of cores, you will need a lot of RAM. After Effects can render files quickly by utilizing each core in your computer, however each core needs a minimum of 500MB of RAM to complete its job successfully. For example if you have a eight core machine you would need 4GB of RAM just for multi-processor rendering, plus more RAM for the OS and applications running.
Graphics Card
You want a graphics card that is fast, powerful and with a lot of memory. I think it is standard to find cards with 512MB of on-board memory. After Effects uses OpenGL for faster screen render times so make sure your card is supported by Adobe to make the most out of your system. Here is the compatibility chart.
Hard Drives
As for hard drives this can be very important because they are usually the slowest component of your work-flow. When rendering AE is reading and writing from your hard drives. This is why I like to keep one for reading (source drive) and one for writing (render drive). Currently I am using one fast Raptor drive for my OS and programs, one fast Raptor drive for my renders, one standard drive for personal files, one RAID 0 for my digital assets.
Operating System
Mac OS X is a great operating system and works well with the Adobe Production Suite. If you are working on a PC you might want to keep your workstation from being connected directly to the Internet. From my experience little peices of software from the Internet tend to get hijack your OS no matter how careful you are. The safest way to go would be to not have your computer exposed online at all.
Written by Jeff McIntosh
