RAM for P2?

[Sannekita]

Hey,
I own a Macbook Pro from feb 2008 (the cheapest one)
It came with 2 GB RAM.
I'm about to edit a music video that'll be recorded on HD with P2 cards. I'll record with 720p.
Should I get more RAM? Can I put more in the laptop than 4 GB?
What RAM do you guys recommend?
Thank you
Sanne

[tcgjeukens]

Sannekita,


4Gb is the maximum for your early 2008 MacBook Pro. This model comes with two slots. Each can be filled with max 2Gb each.
For any HD editing try to max out on RAM.
In case of P2, your files will be BIG in size, but have little compression. So editing is not so much CPU intensive as it is I/O throughput intensive.


Coen

[Sannekita]

Beste Coen,
I'm not very good with the computer language... what is I/O ?
Do you think it is usefull to upgrade my RAM?
Do you know what brand/type will be best?

Groetjes uit België

[Cromulent]

Beste Coen,
I'm not very good with the computer language... what is I/O ?
Do you think it is usefull to upgrade my RAM?
Do you know what brand/type will be best?

Groetjes uit België

I/O stands for Input / Output and is normally used in reference to your hard drives.

From HD editing you will need a lot of hard drive space. Look into a Firewire 800 drive that is at least 1TB. You may even want to go with an external drive enclosure with more than one drive in it.

I'm not sure on what the options are for the MacBook Pro but you should be able to get an eSATA Express Card and then an external drive enclosure with 2 or 3 drives in a RAID 0 array. That should help you out.

Then max out your RAM. I would buy your RAM from http://www.crucial.com/ if I were you.

[LethalWolfe]

Before you spend money on upgrades I'd work w/the footage first to see if your machine is being responsive enough for you. As a point of comparison, G4 laptops w/FW400 HDDs can work adequately w/DVCPro HD.


Lethal

[tcgjeukens]

Sannekita,

I/O stands for Input/Output.
A P2 camera uses the DVCPro codec and will generate a datastream up to 100mBit/second.
Compare this with HDV at 25mBit/s and AVCHD at 24mBit/s.

AS Cromulent says: the files will be BIG. This means that

Your hard drive needs to be big
The computer needs a fast access (I/O) to that disc to get and put the data.


Depending on the amount of data (footage) you have, your internal hard drive will be sufficient in size or more likely ... be too small.
Most video editors use multiple discs for editing, some of those will be external. In the latter case they will need a fast connection. With P2 data rates do not opt for a USB/USB2 disc but go straight for a FireWire 800 (not 400) connection.

Before starting spending money: get a few sample DVCPro clips from your P2 camera. Try then on your MBP.
Since DVCPro is not so CPU intensive it might very well work at acceptable performance on your current MBP with 2Gb Ram.
In case of larger projects and complex video transitions, you may look around for expansion.

Coen

[bigbossbmb]

Depending on the amount of data (footage) you have, your internal hard drive will be sufficient in size or more likely ... be too small.

never capture to the internal drive of a laptop... never... ever...

With P2 data rates do not opt for a USB/USB2 disc but go straight for a FireWire 800 (not 400) connection.

FW400 is sufficient for DVCProHD. FW800 drives allow for a good speed increase, but probably won't be noticeable with simple playback/editing.

[tcgjeukens]

Bigbossbmb,

never capture to the internal drive of a laptop... never... ever...

Maybe you can explain why using the internal HDD of a laptop is not wise.

Any heavy video editing user will not be tempted to use a laptop with a single internal only HDD, but :apple: is shipping each laptop with a single internal HDD plus iMovie.
By default iMovie uses the single internal HDD for everything. Are you saying :apple: is giving the wrong message here?

Coen

[LethalWolfe]

Bigbossbmb,



Maybe you can explain why using the internal HDD of a laptop is not wise.

Any heavy video editing user will not be tempted to use a laptop with a single internal only HDD, but :apple: is shipping each laptop with a single internal HDD plus iMovie.
By default iMovie uses the single internal HDD for everything. Are you saying :apple: is giving the wrong message here?

Coen
Using a single HDD to run your programs and capture/store your media isn't a good idea because it works the drive extra hard (the HDD is trying to run all the apps while also trying to playback a continuous stream of video) and can lead to dropped frames on playback/capture. This goes for towers and laptops but can be more of a problem for laptops because they usually ship w/slower HDDs.


Lethal

[Sannekita]

Hey Guys,
I have the Mybook Studio edition harddrive by Western Digital. It's 1TB and I use the firewire 800. I considered eSata, but I've seen so many bad reviews on many of the expresscards, that I'm quite afraid of buying one.
So the harddrive space shouldn't be a problem; it's a music video, not a shortfilm. I'll be backing up on a regular USB hardrive too.
Many editors have told me that my laptop should handle it just fine, but I might go do a test (I don't own the camera myself)...
I'll probably update my RAM... can't do anything wrong with that, can I? I'm just a bit afraid I'll buy the wrong type... what should I look for?
Sanne

[bigbossbmb]

go to macsales.com and select your model of MBP... the site will tell you the type of RAM to buy.

[CaptainChunk]

Hey Guys,
I have the Mybook Studio edition harddrive by Western Digital. It's 1TB and I use the firewire 800. I considered eSata, but I've seen so many bad reviews on many of the expresscards, that I'm quite afraid of buying one.
So the harddrive space shouldn't be a problem; it's a music video, not a shortfilm. I'll be backing up on a regular USB hardrive too.
Many editors have told me that my laptop should handle it just fine, but I might go do a test (I don't own the camera myself)...
I'll probably update my RAM... can't do anything wrong with that, can I? I'm just a bit afraid I'll buy the wrong type... what should I look for?
Sanne

The CalDigit FASTA-1ex is an excellent eSATA ExpressCard. I've never had problems with mine. But FW800 (and even FW400, in a pinch) has plenty of throughput to handle DVCPRO-HD streams. You probably wouldn't notice much of difference with eSATA (aside from faster file copy rates) using that codec.

And just about every MBP is plenty fast for editing DVCPRO-HD. And FYI, the Early 2008 models can go up to 6GB of RAM (one 2GB module, one 4GB module), unofficially.

[iPhoneNYC]

Yes, it would be best if you max out your RAM. Put you footage on an external harddrive. Aside from this forum check out 2-Pop and Creative Cow - both offer very good advise in digital editing.