Baseline Macbook Pro 13" For HD Video Editing, Pro Tools, Photoshop and more.

[trialsjames]

Hi everyone, im new to the forum. I've been searching the forum looking for many threads on Macbooks and whether they can handle HD Video editing or not. I got answers but never really the answer i want, so i signed up and thought id ask myself.

So, heres the breakdown. Ive been Video editing for about 6 years, so im quite experienced. I currently use Sony Vegas 12 and After Effects on my PC but i recently got a HD Camera (about a year ago) and it can handle the 540p on the camera and sometimes the 720, but never 1080. With colour correction to, its hopeless. I start University at the end of septemeber, doing media production. Im living at home as university isnt that far away from me so portability isnt vital, but id prefer it for my placement year.

Im also in a band, we have all our own recording equipment and stuff, but no editing software. I did a College Course of Music Tech so im experienced with both pro tools and Logic Pro.

Finally, ill be using Photoshop everynow and then, very lightly as im not experienced with it.

So, sorry for the huge wall of text but ill get down to the point. Im not made of money, so if i dont need to get the next one up from the £999 macbook then im not going to consider it. Will the baseline macbook pro handle HD editing, will it freeze? Lag 24/7? Or will it be smooth and just take a while to render and be able to do it? Ill be editing alot on it so its important. Would it help if i maxed out the ram in it?

Thanks for your time, james.

 

[terraphantm]

With video editing, generally the more power you've got, the better.

If you don't need the machine to be portable, an iMac or even a hackintosh might serve you better.

 

[trialsjames]

It would be better if it was portable, as in the UK at University you get a placement year, meaning i could be working away which means i'd then need it to be portable. BUt its not vital.

So would the baseline Macbook edit HD or not? How much of an improvement would i see in the one up, with then Intel i7?

 

[joeysarks]

I have last years baseline sandybridge 13 inch. It's ok if you edit in proxy. Editing regular with efx can be draining after a while. Currently I use a USB 2.0 drive which is packets so yeah it's prolly not smart, hopefully the USB 3.0 will be better when I get my MBPr. I'm actually exporting a 1080p 10:45 video right now, with an extreme amount of effects. Been a lil longer than an hour or so and it just moved over the halfway point:/ I'd say at least get an i7 with 8gb of ram, those are two big factors.

 

[macmastersam]

i too would say spend that extra £250 more on the i7 - the macbook pro also comes with 8GB of RAM standard, plus a 750GB hard drive for all your files too so there is really no need to upgrade unless you want an SSD

 

[batlogic]

The Base model is fine as long as you work smart

As a forward, I was using a base model iMac core duo 1.8 to edit movies and short film until when I got the 13' base Mac BookPro.

I was editing fine on the iMac but the video card became a draw back. Those who tell you that you must have the biggest and baddest. 1) Don't have a budget or 2) Don't work smart. The easiest way to say this is to do things like edit your video and then set it up to render while you are away from the machine.

If you can imagine, we were doing video on old G3's. The new MacBook Pro seems so fast. You will always want more speed but do you need it?

The biggest piece of advice, get the biggest hard drive that you can so you don't have to have an external & max the ram. The external will drain your battery and is just extra space (the weight is nothing) you don't want to waste. Use that space for a camera and lens.

Everyone has a different expectation. But if the question is can you make professional video on the current 13' 2.5gz MacBook Pro... the answer is yes.

 

[trialsjames]

Thanks for all the advice, i think ill go for the i7 model as its only 250 more. Plus with student discount, its only just over £1000. As long as they do the job im happy. Im used to waiting 12 hours to render a 10 minute 1080p clip on my computer and im very patient so thats no problem. Aslong as its smooth with editing!