Forums | MacLife

connerisdabomb · 2009-04-20 5:46 pm

Hi I'm am avid mac person who loves to record people with my Canan HD camcorder and I was wanting to know what laptop - preferably(Macbook, Macbook pro), or the new Mac Pro is better for editing and overall use of HD video.

I have an 2.2 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo, 2GB 667 MHz DDr2 SDRAM black Macbook and it's just not cutting it.

Im willing to pay big bucks, $3000+. So any kind of configuration like amount of Ram or Processor upgrade amounts would be appreciated.

Thanks!

ukimalefu · 2009-04-20 6:06 pm

You want more than you have now, and you camera may have Firewire, so you want a MacBook Pro with ALL the RAM you can afford to put in it.

sturner · 2009-04-20 6:15 pm

The bad news is that any of those will do what you want, handle HD video. However, if you are looking to do high end editing then you want to spend on the software, either Final Cut Express, or Final Cut. Once there, the editing would be more fluid using the Mac Pro, though the MacBook Pro would also be adequate if you maxed it out in RAM. Bottom line is if you are seriously into editing HD high quality video, then the Mac Pro with Final Cut would be what you are looking at.

Minimum 4 GB of RAM, though I believe that having 8 GB would be easier on your workflow. And having a large amounts of harddrive space on fast disks would also make things better. You would look to be getting two 500 GB up to two 1 TB sataII drives for your internal bays and run them in a RAID configuration.

Others posters will probably be able to give you other finer tuned suggestions.

Graphic Autist · 2009-04-20 6:28 pm

Can you edit HD on the MBP? Yes.

But I think editing on a laptop is just going to be too much of a pain in the ass in the long (even short) run, so go for the Mac Pro. Buy RAM from someone other than Apple, and get at least one extra internal drive for capture and projects. And yes, use FCP! If you're a student, you can get a HUGE discount on it.

Lots of other stuff you can/should do, but that'll get you by.

Good luck!

Last edited by Graphic Autist (2009-04-20 6:29 pm)

Robert B Technician · 2009-04-21 10:42 am

If you're going to use a laptop I would go MBP for sure. I would recommend getting a nice big external display, maxing out the ram and getting a 7200rpm hard drive.

I do a little video editing for the MacService site videos using FCP. I run a 15" MBP, 8GB, with a 30" Cinema (which I love btw) and it works pretty decent. In the last couple of years video editing on a laptop has become less and less painful - although it is slower than even a tricked out iMac.

Since you have a pretty current MacBook, I would go Mac Pro.

If you want to get real spendy check out: http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09 … c_pro.html

For me the screen size was the key issue so whatever you decide, leave a good chunk of the budget for a nice display.

Have fun!

Wyoming Mac Tech · 2009-05-28 11:05 pm

FYI, Professional graphics and video users lean toward the Mac Pro due to it's extreme power and video graphics capabilities. HD, or High Definition video has tons of information to process, and so takes more horsepower to load, play, edit, etc. However, a little pricey if your just taking video of your kids playing at the park. In that case, a less expensive Mac option can do. Additionally, as far as I am aware, Apple does not yet offer any Blue-Ray record, or playback drives to share your media on. Either way, the better the graphics processor card you have, and the more memory you have all weigh in how "efficiently" your computer will process your video.

Random User · 2009-08-20 10:42 pm

See my sig regarding Blu-ray support by Apple.

lol

dodgywanker · 2009-10-05 12:53 pm

If it's a laptop you must have, I'd suggest a 15" MacBook Pro from the refurb section of the Apple Store online. Then max the ram (an external hard drive helps too to keep your source files).

Buying hardware is the easy part; take some film making classes to take advantage of your gear & your brain. If you've great skills you can work wonders even with poor hardware.

Depending on your skill level, iMovie might be good enough for now & you can buy Final Cut Express later when you've learned the fundamentals or are more accomplished. If you'd like more info on editing, check out books by Walter Murch. Good luck smile

Forums | MacLife

#1 2009-04-20 5:46 pm

What Notebook do I need to handle HD video?

#2 2009-04-20 6:06 pm

Re: What Notebook do I need to handle HD video?

#3 2009-04-20 6:15 pm

Re: What Notebook do I need to handle HD video?

#4 2009-04-20 6:28 pm

Re: What Notebook do I need to handle HD video?

#5 2009-04-21 10:42 am

Re: What Notebook do I need to handle HD video?

#6 2009-05-28 11:05 pm

Re: What Notebook do I need to handle HD video?

#7 2009-08-20 10:42 pm

Re: What Notebook do I need to handle HD video?

#8 2009-10-05 12:53 pm

Re: What Notebook do I need to handle HD video?

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