I want to rack mount a computer in a flight case. I know what specs I want. This will just be a modest build and only used a handful of times a month. I build all my desktops in towers or mid towers.

There is not a lot our there on building a rackmount machine.

Is it just as straight forward as building a PC in a tower? Is there anything I should be aware of? Recommended vendors?

supermicro is a large vendor or rack systems and components. But rack systems are typically optimized for server type applications and workloads. So lots of disk, more expensive xeon processors, few graphic options etc. I have built a few franken systems in rack form factors. A couple of dual systems with two mini itx motherboards hacked into universal (non computer) assemble yourself 19" rack enclosures. Lots of drilling, cutting, punching and some 3d printing.
These days I typically mount something like an intel NUC to a rack enclosure. But have done Raspberry Pi and other embedded systems in that form factor also. Also have non pc systems in aluminum extrusion enclosures that mount in rugged field carry boxes. The cooling is the issue if need to be operated while closed.

Koko Chingo said:

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I want to rack mount a computer in a flight case. I know what specs I want. This will just be a modest build and only used a handful of times a month. I build all my desktops in towers or mid towers.

There is not a lot our there on building a rackmount machine.

Is it just as straight forward as building a PC in a tower? Is there anything I should be aware of? Recommended vendors?

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Typical rack mount cases are 25"+ deep and heavy, so they aren't going to be very portable and they might not fit in a typical flight case for audio equipment. There are also concerns with noise. New rack mount server cases and motherboards are very expensive from what I've found. I don't think building something with enterprise hardware would make sense in your case. You can use something like the one linked below and it will be like working in a regular pc case.

Rosewill Rack Mount Case

If it is going to move around, I would be mindful of big CPU coolers and video cards.

I like the Intel NUC. I had not heard of it before. The main tasks for this computer is to be the interface with audio and video hardware, do some very basic Photoshop, and play video clips.

Nothing is processor or graphics heavy. Photoshop is just there for last minute graphics changes or tweaks. Maybe a last minute speaker will be added so I need to add their graphic and send it to the video switcher media pool. The video clips will be short and not over 1080 resolution.

I have used a Raspberry Pi to control equipment and playback videos when my laptop was dropped (HP, Z-Book).. This is why I am looking into a rack mount system. With this kind of setup the operator be at the rack or use a cheap laptop to remote in.

The rack I am looking at has wheels (small) but should work. I currently load everything up onto a green harbor freight wagon and use cargo straps to keep it in place. I then have to un-pack and re-pack everything over and over. Worst case I can put the flight case on the wagon.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-OptiPlex-7040-Micro-PC-Computer-Intel-Core-i7-6700T-2-80GHz-8GB/193678163036?hash=item2d181e3c5c:g:kegAAOSwzIBfUB70

I would buy something like this instead of a NUC. They're crazy expensive. They usually come with an SSD onboard. You can add a 2.5" harddrive if you need extra storage for cheap, although if you're shipping it frequently, I would stick with an SSD.