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Which mac to get for advanced video editing?

Agnoslibertine

Agnoslibertine

macrumors member
Original poster
Oct 5, 2011
79
1
Sweden
Before I ask, I HAVE looked for this information, and since I have not been able to find my answers, I ask for your wisdom here.

I am into movie making, usually use Powerdirector on the PC, and it sucks donkey di*k. And I edit full HD clips, for longer movie projects, yes, scenes etc. And I want to be able to make good use of color grading and other advanced video editing options on final cut pro.

But from my experience video editing is demanding a lot from ones computer. So I just want to make sure I will get a good machine, and no I don't have any possibilities to test final cut myself, except a demo on my gf's macbook air.

I think I need the Imac, but I wonder if I should get one with a SSD or with more ram. One thing to make clear, I don't care about exporting times, I just want a stable working platform, while I edit the clips, I want fluidity while I edit my scenes. And I have trouble finding information how Final Cut pro works.

Do I need to focus on the ram, SSD or graphic card when I purchase a Imac?
Or, whats the deal with the Mac pro? Is it better or worse than Imac when it comes to final cut pro editing.

I would be so grateful for any advice.. I really hope to get good answers.
 
puckhead193

puckhead193

macrumors G3
May 25, 2004
9,570
852
NY
move your video on to a fast external drive (FW800 at the min.)
Are you going to be using FCP 7 or FCP X?
 
puckhead193

puckhead193

macrumors G3
May 25, 2004
9,570
852
NY
Final cut pro 7 is part of of final cut studio which is available if you call apple.
The difference between the two interms of getting a new computer is that 7 is 32 bit while X is 64 bit, enable you to take full advantange of your computer, but a lot of pros don't like X because it's too dumbed down and missing features.
 
Agnoslibertine

Agnoslibertine

macrumors member
Original poster
Oct 5, 2011
79
1
Sweden
puckhead193 said:
Final cut pro 7 is part of of final cut studio which is available if you call apple.
The difference between the two interms of getting a new computer is that 7 is 32 bit while X is 64 bit, enable you to take full advantange of your computer, but a lot of pros don't like X because it's too dumbed down and missing features.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I heard about that. I will find out if FCPX is enough for my needs. But what about this FW800 at the min you mentioned... will this really made the editing go smoother?
 
F

frozi

macrumors member
Apr 22, 2012
64
0
puckhead193 said:
you'll want a fast external drive for use as a scratch drive. The faster the better, FW800, eSATA or thunderbolt is preferred.
Click to expand...

with the new macbook pros... usb3.0 and thunderbolt is the only option.

I keep reading how you "have to go with g-raid"

these 4tb thunderbolt g-raid drives are stupid expensive. When is g-raid coming out with a usb3.0 or smaller thunderbolt drives?

If I am spending over 700 bucks on an external, I want raid-5 with thunderbolt.

raid-0, even though it is fast, it isnt "SAFE".
 
Booch21

Booch21

macrumors regular
Oct 13, 2010
175
69
I bought an iMac and went to 8GB of RAM and standard HD, plus I use an external HD as well. I run Premiere Pro and have had no issues with editing lengthy cuts.
 
Booch21

Booch21

macrumors regular
Oct 13, 2010
175
69
frozi said:
which external do you use?
Click to expand...

Nothing to write home about. A Seagate FreeAgent 1.5 TB. Had it before the Mac and it still works well. I'm sure there is a better option out there, but it still works.
 
M

MacBookProzak

macrumors regular
Nov 16, 2011
131
0
Like you, I too have alot of experience with the various versions of PowerDirector, it was ok... to a certain point.

However, the MBP that you see in my signature along with a Seagate 750GB Momentus XT hybrid drive totally power everything I do video editing wise with FCPX. I cut shows to shorts and this machine is bullet proof. All the video is ran off a Lacie Thunderbolt drive.

You can read through this thread I started when I got the new 2012 MBP-non retina and you will learn how hard I push this machine.
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1386040/

I am using this MBP as a hold out effort till they/if ever refresh the MacPro.... but this MBP sure does accomplish whatever I put through it. The iMac fully loaded is a nice non-portable choice as well.

Happy editing!
 
Agnoslibertine

Agnoslibertine

macrumors member
Original poster
Oct 5, 2011
79
1
Sweden
MacBookProzak said:
Like you, I too have alot of experience with the various versions of PowerDirector, it was ok... to a certain point.

Happy editing!
Click to expand...

Powerdirector really blows in my opinion, and I have really tried to please that program as far as hardware goes, but I just get jerked around, and I am fed up.

Do you think that the graphics card makes a difference in the smoothness of FCPX?

as a creative person, making movies, I need fluidity to try different scene aproaches. And I just really hope the Imac is up for the challange.
 
M

mBox

macrumors 68020
Jun 26, 2002
2,361
86
Say no to internal hd!!

Sorry for the yelling but keep this in mind for all you budding editors.
Do not use your internal drive period!!
Ive been doing this for a long time and you would think I would practice what I preach :p
I was in a rush with my new HERO2 and dumped a few hours of trail footage on to my home system using FCPX. Well I didnt check which drive I was ingesting in (good lord I have 3 extra internals) stupidly put it in my main drive.
Well its beach ball central now.
After all my posts about not doing this I fall into it easily.
So yea dont do it, do not use your internal HD even if its an SSD and Blackmagic Disk Speed Test app states it does 4k video :p
Sure you will get nice speeds during playback but the consistent read/write being the main drive will drive (pardon the pun) you batty :p

----------
Agnoslibertine said:
Do you think that the graphics card makes a difference in the smoothness of FCPX?

as a creative person, making movies, I need fluidity to try different scene aproaches. And I just really hope the Imac is up for the challange.
Click to expand...
it always helps but Apple made FCPX to run great on the lowest graphic card possible. its your cpu and drives that tends to slow down file reading.
 
Macman45

Macman45

macrumors G5
Jul 29, 2011
13,197
135
Somewhere Back In The Long Ago
I certainly agree with the views regarding HDD's Thunderbolt or USB3 (even that's not fast enough IMO) Is where you want to be. It all comes down to cash...My current setup is a 27" iMac, maxed out with 16GB RAM, and the fastest (Mid 2011) CPU with 2GB graphics.

My next logical upgrade is to a Mac Pro, and hope to do that next year. I really don't think the RMBP has enough real-estate, but that's just my take. I have a 17" MBP for studio work.

If you do have to buy now, go to an Apple store and get hands on with all the available hardware before you make a firm decision on what you buy. My setup uses a 4TB Pegasus via Thunderbolt in a configuration I created myself. Cheaper thunderbolt drives are available of course, but if you want real time speed it's the way to go. Let us know what you get!:)
 
M

mBox

macrumors 68020
Jun 26, 2002
2,361
86
Macman45 said:
...I really don't think the RMBP has enough real-estate, but that's just my take. I have a 17" MBP for studio work...
Click to expand...
I have a 2009 Uni 17" for field work. Runs amazing. However, reading up on the rMBP articles is tempting. OWC did a display test that was mind blowing and Light Iron has been testing it as an ultimate DIT workstation for RED footage.
Here is the Light Iron thread:
http://www.reduser.net/forum/showthread.php?81179-New-15-quot-MacBook-Pro-Performance
 
Macman45

Macman45

macrumors G5
Jul 29, 2011
13,197
135
Somewhere Back In The Long Ago
mBox said:
I have a 2009 Uni 17" for field work. Runs amazing. However, reading up on the rMBP articles is tempting. OWC did a display test that was mind blowing and Light Iron has been testing it as an ultimate DIT workstation for RED footage.
Here is the Light Iron thread:
http://www.reduser.net/forum/showthread.php?81179-New-15-quot-MacBook-Pro-Performance
Click to expand...

Interesting link, but the real game changer is the SAS array....That's where the real speed comes from....Probably faster than my Pegasus, but I can edit in real-time....If I want more multitasking, it's got to be a Pro I think. Thanks for sharing the link!:)
 
Z

Zwhaler

macrumors 604
Jun 10, 2006
7,094
1,567
mBox said:
Sorry for the yelling but keep this in mind for all you budding editors.
Do not use your internal drive period!!
Ive been doing this for a long time and you would think I would practice what I preach :p
I was in a rush with my new HERO2 and dumped a few hours of trail footage on to my home system using FCPX. Well I didnt check which drive I was ingesting in (good lord I have 3 extra internals) stupidly put it in my main drive.
Well its beach ball central now.
Click to expand...

----------

When you say do not use your internal drive, I assume you're talking about the boot drive only? Despite what others have said I never had any problem playing back native AVCHD at Full HD on my OS drive... but then again I'm on a decked out 12 core Mac Pro. This year I moved my footage onto its own separate internal drive, and my project files on its own separate internal drive as well. Performance is really good for a 7,200 RPM drive.
 
B

b0blndsy

macrumors 6502
Nov 9, 2010
277
1
Illinois
Booch21 said:
I bought an iMac and went to 8GB of RAM and standard HD, plus I use an external HD as well. I run Premiere Pro and have had no issues with editing lengthy cuts.
Click to expand...

This is a good response. Have you tried rendering motion graphics + video in Adobe After Effects using your iMac?
 
J

jordymac5049

macrumors newbie
Jun 27, 2012
6
0
DC Transplant
My editing setup

I have the 2nd gen aluminium iMac "24 with 4 gb of RAM and FCX works fine. I also use the Lacie rugged 1 tb drive to store/export everything via FW800.

My best advice would be to preview your footage and mark which clips you want to bring into FCX. For example, I quick look the raw footage in finder and highlight good clips in green, clips that need stabilized in yellow, and unusable in red. The highlights will show in your browser window when you import the footage in final cut. Also, do your rendering/analyzation/trans-coding before you start to edit or wait until the very end. The "background" tasks of FCX don't really save any time because they only compute when FCX is idle and really demand computing resources. It will save you hours of beach ball watching and keep your system (FCX) running at max speeds/ preserve fluidity when working the playhead in timeline.
 
H

handsome pete

macrumors 68000
Aug 15, 2008
1,725
259
Zwhaler said:
----------

When you say do not use your internal drive, I assume you're talking about the boot drive only? Despite what others have said I never had any problem playing back native AVCHD at Full HD on my OS drive... but then again I'm on a decked out 12 core Mac Pro. This year I moved my footage onto its own separate internal drive, and my project files on its own separate internal drive as well. Performance is really good for a 7,200 RPM drive.
Click to expand...

Yeah, basically don't use your system drive. Obviously you can use other internal drives, especially if you have them configured as a RAID.
 
M

mBox

macrumors 68020
Jun 26, 2002
2,361
86
Zwhaler said:
--When you say do not use your internal drive, I assume you're talking about the boot drive only?...
Click to expand...
Yep and this is on a Mac Pro 2.66. The boot is an Apple stock SSD which reads 190/130 (read/write) on the BM DiskSpeedTest.
The format is ProRes422 HD converted from GoPro CineForm clips.
At work for FCPX, I use an ATTO SAS R380 with GTech eS Pro 12TB (spoiled at work) so you get where Im coming from :)
Again the original post was more direct to the iMacs and MBPs.
Skies the limit with Mac Pro's even as old as a 2006 tower :)
 
Booch21

Booch21

macrumors regular
Oct 13, 2010
175
69
b0blndsy said:
This is a good response. Have you tried rendering motion graphics + video in Adobe After Effects using your iMac?
Click to expand...

I have only dropped AE stuff into Premiere. At times, it isn't pretty until I force a render. Generally, I'll work on the AE project and once done, I'll open Premiere and add the sequence into my project there, while AE is still open. I haven't done anything where I've dropped video into AE along with my graphics. I'm still green with AE except for simpler animations.
 
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