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Will Macbook Pro 13 inch i5 be suitable for HD video editing?

iLeW

iLeW

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 17, 2009
22
0
England
Hi all, just wanted to see if some people who have the macbook pro 13 inch i5 could let me know how it performs when editing HD video. I have a canon t2i which I use to shoot 10 minute clips at 1080p.

I'm planning to get the new final cut when it's released but wondering if buying the i5 macbook will make editing that video slow & annoying to the point that it would make me wish i'd got the i7.

I currently have a mid 2009 13 inch macbook pro 2.26ghz & using iMovie is just about bearable however on my latest project (which is around 15 minutes) the macbook chokes when the project is opened, meaning I can't finish editing it. So I really have maxed this one out.

So do you think the i5 is going to be a decent enough upgrade to allow me to edit my videos smoothly, without constant hangups etc. I'd really appreciate anyone with some experience of this laptop to let me know how they've found it.

Thanks guys :)
 
xxBURT0Nxx

xxBURT0Nxx

macrumors 68020
Jul 9, 2009
2,189
2
it will edit the movies and run the current final cut... an i7 will be faster at rendering the movie or if you encode it after, no reason an i5 won't be able to edit movies though.

Only downfall is the poor HD 3000 graphics in the 13" but you have to upgrade to a 15" or get an iMac to get away from the integrated graphics.

If you are doing basic home editing I think you will be fine, if you are looking to run the full FCP suite (color, motion, etc.) you may want to get an iMac or the 15"
 
M

Mac-key

macrumors 6502a
Apr 1, 2010
673
100
Alabama
I have an 09 13inch MBP as well - except with the slightly faster processor (2.53)

I don't have any problems using FCP, and I too shoot with a t2i. I do have 8GB of RAM though. I suspect if you upgraded the RAM you might be able to get a little more life out of your machine.

But, I do think the i5 would be a nice upgrade. Yes, I've been hearing the graphics aren't the best. BUT again, I use the full final cut suite on my machine and it handles it just fine. It could definitely be much faster when it comes to renders, exports and transcode... but ever since I upgraded to 8GB of RAM - no lagging whatsoever
 
xxBURT0Nxx

xxBURT0Nxx

macrumors 68020
Jul 9, 2009
2,189
2
Mac-key said:
But, I do think the i5 would be a nice upgrade. Yes, I've been hearing the graphics aren't the best. BUT again, I use the full final cut suite on my machine and it handles it just fine. It could definitely be much faster when it comes to renders, exports and transcode... but ever since I upgraded to 8GB of RAM - no lagging whatsoever
Click to expand...
I thought running Color required a screen with a minimum resolution of 1680x1050? Do you have to hook up an external monitor?
 
G

gameface

macrumors 6502
Sep 11, 2010
472
0
Boston, MA
Are you editing the files raw? You shouldn't be editing h.264 which is what that camera shoots. It is a very processor intensive codec so a single stream is fine but editing is not. Try transcoding the footage and maxing out te ram before you buy a new machine. When the 5DmkII first came out I was editing the footage on a 2007 2.4Ghz MBP which is whoa-fully underpowered compared to your 2009 and it handled it fine. You just need the proper workflow. Your machine is fine.

So the footage and imovie is your bottleneck, not your machine.
 
M

Mac-key

macrumors 6502a
Apr 1, 2010
673
100
Alabama
gameface said:
Are you editing the files raw? You shouldn't be editing h.264 which is what that camera shoots. It is a very processor intensive codec so a single stream is fine but editing is not. Try transcoding the footage and maxing out te ram before you buy a new machine. When the 5DmkII first came out I was editing the footage on a 2007 2.4Ghz MBP which is whoa-fully underpowered compared to your 2009 and it handled it fine. You just need the proper workflow. Your machine is fine.

So the footage and imovie is your bottleneck, not your machine.
Click to expand...

^^^ This

I use MPEG streamclip to transcode my t2i raw footage into AIC. Works beautifully...
 
iLeW

iLeW

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 17, 2009
22
0
England
I thought when you imported video into iMovie it was automatically transcoded into the AIC. So what is the best tool to convert to AIC for my t2i? I see MPEG stream clip mentioned here. Is that the best or does anyone have another recommendation?

Thanks for all the replies :)
 
M

Mac-key

macrumors 6502a
Apr 1, 2010
673
100
Alabama
iLeW said:
I thought when you imported video into iMovie it was automatically transcoded into the AIC. So what is the best tool to convert to AIC for my t2i? I see MPEG stream clip mentioned here. Is that the best or does anyone have another recommendation?

Thanks for all the replies :)
Click to expand...

not sure if MPEG streamclip is the best, BUT it is TONS better than using Compressor. Streamclip is MUCH faster

you can download it HERE
 
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