What's involved in putting together a complete uncompressed HD workstation?

Because of a budget-sensitive (prices listed refers to year 2007), full-DIY post ethos, we center on Apple Final Cut Pro as a scalable, affordable, widely professionally accepted, high-quality solution. Although strong arguments can be made for Avid and Adobe Premiere Pro, as well as other NLE combinations, those are beyond the scope of this article.

This article assumes three broad categories of users:

Group 1: Just enough to get by. You can accept some risks and hassles-the classic starving indie category.

Group 2: You need something competent-and want greater workflow comforts-but you're still budget-sensitive.

Group 3: The fully professional, well-equipped individual's solution, also suitable for a small studio or small facility setup.

so: these are the systems you have to buy at least:

Group 1: Mac Pro 2.66 GHz tower, 2 GB RAM, 160 GB boot drive minimum; Final Cut Studio software; Nvidia GeForce 7300 graphics card; MacGurus 1.25 TB, five-bay SATA RAID (port-multiplying, or PM, enclosure) with Sonnet E4P host adapter; Dell 24- and 20-inch monitors; Blackmagic Design Intensity card; and $1,000 HDMI-equipped HDTV. Total: about $7,600. Increase storage for longer-form projects as needed. Bumping up to Blackmagic Design HD Extreme and a JVC HDTV adds about $2,500. Getting Blackmagic Design's 4:4:4-capable Pro card (which lacks HDMI) adds $200.

Group 2: Mac Pro 2.66 GHz tower, 4 GB RAM, 250 GB boot drive, 500 GB data drive, with Bluetooth/AirPort capabilities and AppleCare protection plan; Final Cut Studio software; ATI X1900 graphics card; Apple 23- and 20-inch monitors; two MacGurus 1 TB PM enclosure, four-bay SATA RAIDs with Sonnet E4P host adapter; Blackmagic Design DeckLink HD Extreme; and JVC TV-1710CG with component/RGB card. Total: about $12,000. Switch to twin 23-inch monitors: add $300. Increase storage for longer-form projects as needed. Bump up to two 5-drive RAIDs, for 4 TB total storage: add $1,200. Switch to a fault-tolerant G-Tech G-Speed 1.5 TB RAID with an Atto 4 Gb Fibre Channel card: add about $3,000. Bump up to a 4:4:4-capable Blackmagic Design DeckLink HD Pro PCIe: add $200. Bump up to an AJA Kona LHe: add $800.

Group 3: Mac Pro 2.66 GHz tower, 5+ GB RAM, 250 GB boot drive, 500 GB data drive, with wireless cards and AppleCare protection plan; Final Cut Studio software; ATI X1900 graphics card; Apple 30- and 23-inch LCD monitors; G-Tech G-Speed 3 TB RAID; AJA Kona3 I/O with K3-box (breakout box); and Sony 14-inch 16:9 HD CRT with analog board. Total: about $25,500. Bump up to 3.0 GHz tower (makes sense at this price point): add $800. Increase storage for longer-form projects as needed. Bump up to Apple Xserve 7 TB RAID: add about $7,000. Switch to Blackmagic Design Multibridge Extreme I/O: save $400. Bump up to 20-inch Sony CRT: add about $7,500.

Bonus round: the hybrid, best bang for the buck, indie filmmaker build. Mac Pro 2.66 GHz tower, 4 GB RAM, 250 GB boot drive, with AppleCare protection plan; Final Cut Studio software; ATI X1900 graphics card; Dell 24- and 20-inch LCD monitors; two MacGurus five-bay 2 TB RAIDs with Sonnet E4P host adapter; Blackmagic Design DeckLink HD Pro 4:4:4 PCIe; and JVC 1710CG. Total: about $14,000. With some additional software, you could edit and finish a 10-bit 4:4:4 feature with this system if you wanted to.

I hope this information helps you get started.
Remember to check all the details before you buy: this stuff changes rapidly.

HD/SD editing and finishing solutions certified from adobe
Dell T7400/AJA
HP xw8400/AJA
HP xw8600/AJA
HP xw8400/Blackmagic
HP xw8400/Bluefish444
Mac Pro/AJA
Mac Pro/Blackmagic

Real-time multiformat HD/SD editing and finishing solution certified from adobe
HP xw9400/Matrox Axio LE