Best mac hands down??

[iSteven]

I am pretty much a beginner with editing and new to the apple communtiy. Im looking to purchase a PORTABLE mac to use fce 4 and eventually fcp studio 2. I have a hp now and use sony vegas but i experience dropped frames and skipping/glitching in my final product. Ive tried tons of crap to fix it and nothing works. Purchasing my new set up i want to make sure i get what i need to avoid this at all costs.

For editing how much better is the macbook pro vs the macbook?

What should i get??

set up recommendations?

 

[bigbossbmb]

are you editing media that is on the same physical drive as your OS? that's most likely the reason you are dropping frames, it's not usually a matter of Mac/PC or processor speed.

what format video are you attempting to edit?

if you are going to get a mac laptop for video editing. get the base MBP (5400rpm hard drive), buy RAM from crucial.com/datamem.com/owc/anyone but apple (bump it to 4GB total), and make sure that all of your media is on an external FW hard drive.

 

[-DH]

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/559095/

 

[iSteven]

are you editing media that is on the same physical drive as your OS? that's most likely the reason you are dropping frames, it's not usually a matter of Mac/PC or processor speed.

what format video are you attempting to edit?

if you are going to get a mac laptop for video editing. get the base MBP (5400rpm hard drive), buy RAM from crucial.com/datamem.com/owc/anyone but apple (bump it to 4GB total), and make sure that all of your media is on an external FW hard drive.

720p but with my new mac i wanna be able to expand my stuff (graphics card,processor, etc..) for 1080 and what not if i need to.
Whats a good FW external?
also whats up with the "glossy screen" you can get for no extra charge..does that even make a difference??
So storing all my media on an external will not be editing my media on the same drive as my OS with the MBP?
thanks

 

[321estrellas]

A lot of people don't like glossy screens because of glare that light might produce. I think I also read that colours aren't shown as accurately in a glossy screen? That said, video and graphics editors both prefer matte screens.

It's a common practice to store all media on an external drive. I got the Mercury Elite or something like that at OWC/macsales.com and I have no complaints with it other than it being a bit bigger and heavier than my other external drive. But the performance is great and has FW800 connection! 750GB seems to be the better deals nowadays.

 

[bigbossbmb]

720p isn't a format, it's a resolution... what codec is your video going to be (HDV, DVCProHD, ProRes, etc)?

and I'll ask again. Are the media files you are trying to edit right now (on your pc) stored on the same drive as your OS? If they are, then you don't need to buy a new computer to fix the problem... you just need to put the media on another drive.

 

[iSteven]

oh DVCproHD.

and to be honest i have no idea where they are stored. probably.
How can i check?

 

[bigbossbmb]

what program are you using to capture the footage? if you go into preferences/options within the program, there should be a setting for destination directory (this will be where the files end up).

how many hard drives do you have in your PC? do you have a FW port on your PC?

 

[trudd]

oh DVCproHD.

and to be honest i have no idea where they are stored. probably.
How can i check?

Buying a Mac WILL allow you to use a great NLE. Buying a mac will NOT make up for lack of experience. Browse these forums, as well as dvxuser.com and learn as much as you can. Learn how non-linear editors work before jumping ship - your current PC is probably fine.

 

[iSteven]

My current pc is fine I just need a NOTEBOOK for school and i have a several friends with macs and FCP, thats why i am looking at getting one.

yes i have a fw.
and i guess i have one hard drive.

 

[bigbossbmb]

yes i have a fw.
and i guess i have one hard drive.

BOOM!

There's your problem and your solution. Buy a FW hard drive and you can edit just fine on your PC.

Since it sounds like you want to get macbook pro, i'd suggest getting the base model, add RAM later, and make sure you get a FW hard drive. when you buy FCS2 it comes with a LOT of audio loops/motion content/templates that you can install on the external so that it doesn't take up room on the internal (plus you wouldn't want to anyway).

 

[ftaok]

BOOM!

There's your problem and your solution. Buy a FW hard drive and you can edit just fine on your PC.

Since it sounds like you want to get macbook pro, i'd suggest getting the base model, add RAM later, and make sure you get a FW hard drive. when you buy FCS2 it comes with a LOT of audio loops/motion content/templates that you can install on the external so that it doesn't take up room on the internal (plus you wouldn't want to anyway).

Is using an external HDD really necessary? I'm still using iMovie (both HD and '08) and have never experienced drop-out using a USB2.0 HDD with a Macbook. Granted, I'm still using miniDV, but would I have problems with HDV since it's still the same bit-rate?

Also, if a FW external is needed, would you suggest a 3.5" HDD or would a bus-powered 2.5" HDD suffice?

ft

 

[iSteven]

BOOM!

There's your problem and your solution. Buy a FW hard drive and you can edit just fine on your PC.

Since it sounds like you want to get macbook pro, i'd suggest getting the base model, add RAM later, and make sure you get a FW hard drive. when you buy FCS2 it comes with a LOT of audio loops/motion content/templates that you can install on the external so that it doesn't take up room on the internal (plus you wouldn't want to anyway).

alright will do.
thanks for the help.

 

[CaptainChunk]

Is using an external HDD really necessary? I'm still using iMovie (both HD and '08) and have never experienced drop-out using a USB2.0 HDD with a Macbook. Granted, I'm still using miniDV, but would I have problems with HDV since it's still the same bit-rate?

Also, if a FW external is needed, would you suggest a 3.5" HDD or would a bus-powered 2.5" HDD suffice?

Well, it's always preferable to have a separate hard drive to use as a "scratch" disk. This becomes a lot more evident when you are editing more demanding codecs that require more sustained data throughput, like DVCPRO HD.

The reason why FW hard drives are better for editing is that they can sustain data rates more consistently than USB 2.0 drives can. It has to do with the design of the bus. 15-25MB/s sustained is about the best you can really achieve with most USB 2.0 drives. Even FW400 drives are literally twice as fast.

HDV runs at the same data rate as MiniDV, yes. But in iMovie and FCE, HDV video becomes MUCH larger because it has to be transcoded to Apple Intermediate Codec. Only FCP will edit HDV natively without transcoding.

To answer the other question, I would never recommend a bus powered drive for editing. First off, just about every one of them I have seen use slow hard disks (5,400-rpm or sometimes even slower). Secondly, a lot of them drain a considerable amount of bus current under heavy load without an external adapter and can possibly damage the port. The point is that if you're going to be editing, you're likely not going to do any serious work on battery power, so you'll need to be next to a power source anyway.