MP 6,1 2013 Trashcan for video editing in 2025?

[GlynH]

I am lucky enough to have a 2013 2.7GHz 12-Core/D700/64GB/1TB plus external storage in addition to the 5,1 in my sig and was wondering whether the Trashcan would be worth using as a video editing machine in 2025?

Just need a 2019 Mac Pro for the set now!

My cameras are 1920x1080P full HD not 4K so I wouldn't envisage having to edit 4K streams.

I also have a 2019 MBP, 2.4GHz i9/64GB/5600M/2TB and wondered how that might compare to the 6,1 using FCP and/or Premiere?

Obviously not in the AS M-Series class but I don't have an M-Series so it is what it is.

Not looking to do serious video work just learn more about the process and cobble together some videos.

Also wondering what is the latest version of FCP I can use bearing in mind I am still running Monterey - no OpenCore on this machine - 10.6.8 August 2023 maybe?

Likewise Adobe Premiere & After Effects - I have a boxed CS4 Suite but guessing that is too old and 32-Bit only. Ironically I cancelled my Adobe Creative Cloud subscription a few months ago as I never used it these last couple of years but typically I am now looking to do some video editing!

Finally I can use the SD Cards in my cameras to copy the files across and import them for editing but what would be the best way to import older footage taken on DV tape and even older VHS-C/S-VHS tapes?

I still have a couple of DV cameras kicking around with FireWire out so would a Thunderbolt->Firewire adaptor work for this and would this also give me device control?

Guessing for the older VHS-C/S-VHS tapes I would been a digitiser of some sort? Any recommendations? Would be good if it were PC compatible as well as I have a HP Spectre X360 kicking around also. Too many computers...not enough time!

Anything else I might need to know about video editing on the 2013 Mac Pro if its still a viable solution these days?

Thanks & kind regards,
-=Glyn=-

 

[krakman]

You can get a free 90 day trial of FCPX from apple....

Final Cut Pro for Mac - Free Trial

Final Cut Pro revolutionises post-production with 360° video, HDR and advanced tools for colour correction. Try it now with a free 90-day trial.

www.apple.com

I use a 2013 MP and a 5.1 for simple video editing.

I use OCLP to install Sequoia and the latest version of FCPX installs and works fine. Although some of the plugins now require AVX2 so they won't work on theses old machines.

I still have a couple of DV cameras kicking around with FireWire out so would a Thunderbolt->Firewire adaptor work for this and would this also give me device control?

Yes up until Sequoia. But I read somewhere that Tahoe drops Firewire support. I haven't installed Taco on any of my computers so I cant advise further.

Guessing for the older VHS-C/S-VHS tapes I would been a digitiser of some sort? Any recommendations? Would be good if it were PC compatible as well as I have a HP Spectre X360 kicking around also.

Check your DV cameras if they have DV Input & Output.

Most cheap camcorders only had DV output, but the more expensive ones had DV In too.

This means your DV camera can act as a capture device.

You simply connect your old VHS via a specific A/V cable to the DV cam ( I recall using my Sony DVcam in his manner) and then the DV cam will output digitised video via Firewire to your computer.

 

[avro707]

I did use a similar machine to edit screen captures (which were at 4K) in Premiere Pro (the last version supported by Monterey). It wasn't terrible at doing that, but my 2019 Mac Pros are much faster.

I haven't touched firewire in a very, very long time so I cannot offer much advice on that.

 

[SDAVE]

Honestly you're better off getting like a M1 Max MacBook Pro 16" for like $1000 bux now, those are killer macbooks.

 

[Xenobius]

Just sell all that junk and buy MacBook Air 15. It will be faster and better in every way.

 

[chaosbunny]

All of your machines will be fine for editing FullHD videos. The 2019 i9 mbp will be the best one - I happily edit 4k and 6k videos on mine. No need to get the latest and greatest all the time.

Maybe try the free version of Davinci Resolve, it'll be easy to learn if you are familiar with FCP and Premiere.

 

[maflynn]

I would expect a M4 Mini priced at 500 do better

 

[Xenobius]

… and consumes 1/10 of the energy

 

[SDAVE]

I would expect a M4 Mini priced at 500 do better

This. M5 around the corner, would defrinitely wait for that tbh. Even the base model will kick butt. I hope Apple starts bumping SSDs to 512GB for base.

 

[GlynH]

Appreciate the time taken in replying guys! 👍

From the top;

@krakman I already have FCP Pro and I won't be using OCLP so stuck with Monterey for the foreseeable future and so I'm guessing if I went to download it would know I'm on Monterey and take the version that is compatible with that rather then the latest & greatest?
I still have my old Panasonic DX-110 kicking around somewhere and I *think* that has Firewire In & Out so I could probably use that as a device to grab from my old Panasonic S-VHS tape deck and other devices?
In addition I also have a Canon XM1 although I think that is Firewire Out only but as I haven't used either camera for many years now I can't be certain but I believe Firewire In came with the XM2?
I also have a pair of Panasonic SDT-750's which I think are USB & HDMI only but I have always just popped the SD Cards out and plugged them into the computer.

@avro707 Yup I could very well end up with a 2019 Mac Pro at some point now that the prices have and are tumbling and it would be nice to complete the Mac Pro set as I am a bit of a collector at heart but I'm not looking to spend any money at this time.

@SDAVE @Xenobius @maflynn Not looking to spend any money at this moment in time so that rules out any M-Series Mac for the time being but thanks for the suggestions!

@chaosbunny That's what I want to hear! Friend of mine used to use DaVinci Resolve and rated it but I'm just looking to edit with my existing hard/software if I can which means I am leaning towards FCP as I already own it. If I went down the Premiere road it would mean signing up to Adobe Creative Cloud which I am loath to do currently but I do have some genuine earlier copies kicking around somewhere although they may even be too old for Monterey!

At least I have a little inspiration now for taking a closer look at what I've got...

Thanks & kind regards,
-=Glyn=-

 

[krakman]

@krakman I already have FCP Pro and I won't be using OCLP so stuck with Monterey for the foreseeable future and so I'm guessing if I went to download it would know I'm on Monterey and take the version that is compatible with that rather then the latest & greatest?

Yes software update will give you the last version compatible with your OS.

I do very little video editing these days but, ironically, the latest version OF FCPX finally has scrolling timeline....after 14 years of wishing for it!!! 😤

I still have my old Panasonic DX-110 kicking around somewhere and I *think* that has Firewire In & Out so I could probably use that as a device to grab from my old Panasonic S-VHS tape deck and other devices?

Yes thats what I did back in the day (probably 25 years ago!)
I used Sony Camcoders and I recall there was a specific AV in Cable with standard RCA plugs on the other end, yellow for video and red/white for audio.

In addition I also have a Canon XM1 although I think that is Firewire Out only but as I haven't used either camera for many years now I can't be certain but I believe Firewire In came with the XM2?
I also have a pair of Panasonic SDT-750's which I think are USB & HDMI only but I have always just popped the SD Cards out and plugged them into the computer.

Good Luck getting it to work!

 

[GlynH]

I'm still thinking about how best to go about this.

The heart says I should get a loaded 7,1 especially when you see how much they are selling for now and it would be great to complete my Mac Pro collection but of course I have to balance that against the performance of the M-Series and the fact that although the 7,1 is still supported it is basically on life support at this stage and even best case scenario says Tahoe might well be the last MacOS update.

The head is asking how would a 28-core 7,1 with W6900X and Afterburner card compare to the M-Series chips when it comes to video editing? As I have already mentioned I am only interested in HD not 4K (at this moment in time anyway) although I would like to purchase a 4K camera at some point next year maybe so need to have one eye to the future and not be a dinosaur for the rest of my life!

Thanks & kind regards,
-=Glyn=-

 

[padams35]

The head is asking how would a 28-core 7,1 with W6900X and Afterburner card compare to the M-Series chips when it comes to video editing? As I have already mentioned I am only interested in HD not 4K...

M-Series chips tend to be CPU heavy, GPU light when compared to CPU + discrete GPU systems.

On the CPU side there isn't much difference between a 16-core 7,1 and a 28-core 7,1 unless you do scientific computing or similar massively parallel workflows. Geekbench clocks both at about the same speed as an M2 or M3.

On the GPU side the W6900X benchmarks on par with an M2 Ultra or an M4 Max. They are also total overkill and marketed for 8K video editing.

Afterburner didn't age well. Most of what it did (ProRes RAW hardware accelerated encode/decode) an Apple Media Engine (M1 Pro and faster) can do better.

 

[SDAVE]

M-Series chips tend to be CPU heavy, GPU light when compared to CPU + discrete GPU systems.

On the CPU side there isn't much difference between a 16-core 7,1 and a 28-core 7,1 unless you do scientific computing or similar massively parallel workflows. Geekbench clocks both at about the same speed as an M2 or M3.

On the GPU side the W6900X benchmarks on par with an M2 Ultra or an M4 Max. They are also total overkill and marketed for 8K video editing.

Afterburner didn't age well. Most of what it did (ProRes RAW hardware accelerated encode/decode) an Apple Media Engine (M1 Pro and faster) can do better.

There's actually a huge difference between the 16-core 7,1 and 28-core. 28 core runs at much lower speeds, so the 16-core is "snappier" and has better single core performance. I went with the 28-core because at the time I was doing a lot of multi-threaded work, but I am beginning to feel the pains of single core especially compared to the M class chips

 

[reader50]

There's actually a huge difference between the 16-core 7,1 and 28-core. 28 core runs at much lower speeds, so the 16-core is "snappier" and has better single core performance. I went with the 28-core because at the time I was doing a lot of multi-threaded work, but I am beginning to feel the pains of single core especially compared to the M class chips

From the Xeon spec chart, I was under the impression that 24/28 core CPUs only have lower base clock speeds while using all cores. That when you use fewer cores (like 1-16) the actual clock will be just as high as the lower-core chips. The max clock under Turbo Boost max 3.0 is 4.6GHz for all 16-28 core CPUs in the family.

If my impression is correct, the single-core performance should be identical for 16, 24, and 28 when using 16-or-fewer cores. Single-core performance should only decrease when using more than 16 cores. During those maximum multi-core jobs.