Advice needed for a video editing decision

[apocolibri]

I currently have a 2015 15" MacBook Pro Retina, 2.5 GHZ, 16gb RAM, 500gb SSD and dual graphics cards including the AMD Radeon R9 M370X (2gb Vram). I'm looking for something used, and have found a 2014 5K iMac with the following specs and am wondering if anyone could advise as to whether this would offer a significan't improvement, apart from a much better/larger screen?
iMac Retina 5k 27" w/
- 4GHz Intel Core i7
- AMD Radeon R9 M295X 4GB
- 32gb Apple Ram
- 256gb SSD
Any advice would be much appreciated.
Lawrence

 

[docmoore]

Lawrence,

Perhaps detailing your video requirements, software (FCP Resolve PP?) and output (H264 vs 265 vs ProRes?) would help folks decide.

Does not seem to me like much of an upgrade ... still limiting you with only 4Gb VRam.
You are stepping backwards with the SSD.

 

[apocolibri]

Thanks Doc,
I haven't yet decided on FCP or Resolve, though I have FCP and Resolve is free. Most of what I shoot is H.265 (underwater footage on an Olympus EM5 Mk2) but I'll also have some H.265 (shot on my NX1) converted to Pro Res.

The iMac may only have 4gb VRAM but my laptop only has 2. It would be nice to have better specs but money is an issue and that places constraints on my choices. The iMac also has a 4.0 GHZ CPU vs the 2.5 on my laptop. Wouldn't that make a significant difference?

I'd be storing my footage on an external drives so I'm wondering if a larger SSD in the iMac would make much of a difference? I do have 1TB Samsung 850 Pro external SSD's that could be used for external storage... if that would make a difference. I understand that is it possible to swap the internal SSD on the iMac for a larger one, though I don't know how difficult this might be.

I guess the big question is whether the iMac would be fast enough to justify the additional expense, given that I do have an external 24" monitor for my MBPro?

Lawrence

Lawrence,

Perhaps detailing your video requirements, software (FCP Resolve PP?) and output (H264 vs 265 vs ProRes?) would help folks decide.

Does not seem to me like much of an upgrade ... still limiting you with only 4Gb VRam.
You are stepping backwards with the SSD.

 

[AdalynnRitter]

Hey! What machine did you end up building?

 

[katherinewings]

I know it's been quite a while since you posted about your video editing decision, but let me chime in with some advice. Having a powerful machine can greatly impact your video editing experience.
The iMac Retina 5k you mentioned from 2014 seems like a solid option. With its 4GHz Intel Core i7, AMD Radeon R9 M295X with 4GB VRAM, and 32GB RAM, it should offer a significant improvement over your 2015 MacBook Pro in terms of processing power and graphics capabilities.
If you're looking to add subtitles to your videos, you can check out tool to add subtitles to video. Their guide can help you enhance your videos with subtitles.