NOW is the time to splurge a little on new software and hardware – December 31st is coming soon so here are my recommendations. Just the best of the best, no filler shit that you don’t need. THESE recommendations will make a difference for you. If not, it’s not the software or the hardware, it’s YOU….

1) Adobe Production Premium CS 4

More of less drastic improvements to Adobe Photoshop, Premiere Pro, Flash Professional, and After Effects. If you’re editing AVCHD video footage this is a must buy: Premiere Pro CS 4 now natively supports AVCHD codecs. Most other professional video editing programs do not. And you’re past the consumer software stuff, right?

As with Adobe CS’ previous versions, the integration between programs is very tight. If you have not jumped onto the Adobe wagon I strongly suggest you do that now – your workflow will drastically improve.

Adobe Production Premium CS 4 – WINDOWS

Adobe Production Premium CS 4 – MAC (with Intel chips only!)

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2) Intel Core i7 965  3.2 Ghz Processor; DDR3 Memory; Motherboard

One of the most dramatic speed improvements you can treat yourself with doesn’t come cheap. But Intel’s new Core i7 processor platform frankly kicks the shit out of everything I have ever encountered when it comes to processor speeds.

You could go a step lower (and cheaper) with the 940 and you’ll experience greatly improved speeds and efficiency in your workflow. But hell, why not go all the way and really squeeze out some power to shave off those extra seconds of rendering and encoding time, right?

Buy the boxed Intel Core i7 965 Extreme Processor here.

Important Note: the Core i7 processors do require a different motherboard and memory. You can NOT use your Socket 775 motherboard with this. You’ll need to upgrade to the Socket LGA 1366 platform. A good mobo is the Intel Extreme Series X58.

(Writing all this I really wish Intel would drop that silly “Extreme” moniker on their products. What is this, 1990’s New Jersey?)

Finally, you’ll need DDR3 memory to run this beast. The Corsair TR 3×6G set of memory sticks are decent, it’s a total of 6 Gigs and the price is acceptable too, particularly considering the performance. However, if you are running a 64 bit version of Windows Vista or XP then do take advantage of the fact that you can use more than the 4 Gig (yeah, yeah 3 plus) older 32 bit versions can.

You can probably get DDR3 memory cheaper if you shop around but be sure to skip the “value” memory junk you might encounter. Newegg.com is one of my favorite shopping sources.

Regardless, you’ll be spending a good chunk of cash for all this but the increased efficiency (and enthusiasm I might add) when it comes to your video and photo editing, animations, or Flash stuff, should make up for this. Did for me.

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No Final Cut Pro recommendations. Sorry, Adobe finally took the crown and is now the top choice for this current generation of serious video and photo pros. I tried ‘em all. All of them. Final Cut Pro, Avid, Sony Vegas, and Adobe’s Premiere Pro. Premiere Pro wins for me, hands down.

Please read very carefully and understand that this workaround may or may not work for you depending on your editing program, installed codecs, and other factors. Also, read the Comments for more info.