Pro Video Editing Desk Setup

  • Post category:General

Let’s get a little personal today.  I’ve recently had a few different people ask about my personal video editing setup.  Specifically the computer, but also the other gear that helps me make a freelance business out of crafting flashy rectangles.  If you’re looking for a deep dive into the reasons why I built my system the way I did, check out the Advanced Workflows course which devotes an entire chapter to the video editor’s computer  Now without further ado, here’s a behind the scenes look at Better Editor and Chris Salters LLC.

Workstation Workhorse

Without a solid machine, the peripherals are worthless, so I went were the best PCs are built:  Puget Systems.  Their research is unparalleled.

Puget Workstation:

  • 14 Core 3.10GHz Intel i9
  • 128GB Ram
  • Nvidia RTX 2070
  • Nvidia GTX 1070ti

My specific system I needed to be a sort of hybrid computer that would work well in both Premiere Pro and After Effects (not to mention DaVinci Resolve).  As of this post it’s about 2 years old and eats 8K media for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

RAID Storage

The tool’s only useful if it has something to work with and that media needs somewhere safe to live.  Why not let it be happy and stretch out on a really big, really fast G-Speed Shuttle with Thunderbolt 3?  This 48TB RAID 10 drive is my media raid.  Also attached to the system is a 16TB Promise Pegasus R4 in RAID 6 that I use as cold storage before dumping projects to LTO.

G-Speed Shuttle

48TB RAID 10

Promise Pegasus R4

16 TB RAID 6

Uninterruptable Power

There’s a lot of electronics floating around this desk and high end projects that I can afford to have jeopardized by electrical issues.  This 650 volt APC UPS ensures that an electrical surge doesn’t fry my goods.  The cherry on top is that the battery backup keeps my machine going long enough after a power outage to save my projects and power down properly so I never lose my work.

Multiple Monitors

I love the look of a ultra widescreen monitors, but I’ve honestly found that I prefer working on a dual setup.  These 27 inch BENQ PD2700Q monitors are crisp and have great color accuracy.  The two of them combined give ample real estate for working on edits or motion graphics.

Above those is a gorgeous TV I use as a reference monitor. 

The 43 inch Samsung 4K HDR QLED TV is great for letting clients review cuts and also color grading. 

A Datacolor Spyder X Pro keeps the colors across all of these monitors in check.

 

 

 

Peripheral Smeripheral

On the input side of things I rock a tablet instead of a mouse, specifically a Wacom Intuos 5 – medium.  I appreciate its dexterity and truly feel like it makes me a quicker video editor.  It also makes jumping in and out of After Effects and Photoshop that much easier too.  To be fair, I do keep a mouse around for a few tasks…but not many.

My keyboard is just a keyboard.  No dope lights or mechanical keys.  I love its low profile though.

iPad’s can be workhorses too and thanks to Touch Portal, I use my iPad mini as a glorified Premiere Pro remote control.  I’ll have a dedicated post to this combo later.

Last up is the Tangent Ripple, an incredibly tiny control surface that is perfect for a video editor that occasionally needs to throw down a color grade.

Crank It to 11

Any good editing system needs a decent pair of speakers and though it’s easy to drop a ton of cash here, these modest Mackie CR3 studio monitors do a nice job without breaking the bank.
 
 
When bookshelf speakers aren’t an option, I grab a trusty pair of headphones.  They’re not sexy, but they resonate and are a staple in post-production.  These Sony MDR-7506 headphones are an editor’s best friend.

More Computers?!?

 

If one computer is good, then 3 computers is great!  I keep a Mac mini around for those times when I need a Mac to do, you know…Mac things…  I picked up my little guy from the wizards at Other World Computing. 

 

And to finish things off, let me introduce my traveling companion, the MSI Creator 17.  It’s a sweet laptop that has enough juice to let me edit on the road or remote back into my workstation at home.

MSI Creator 17

  • 6 Core 2.6GHz Intel i7
  • 32GB Ram
  • Nvidia RTX 2060

Tour’s Over

That wraps up my video editing setup.  If you’re just dipping your toes into the editing world, don’t be overwhelmed.  It’s easy to get wrapped up in all of the gadgets and gizmos, but great work can be made with just a laptop.  As your skills grow your toolset will too.  If you need help growing that skillset into a blossoming video editing career, make sure to check out Advanced Workflows with Premiere Pro.  It’ll give you the real-world workflows to jumpstart your career.

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