best mac to learn editing

I guess the big question is how large is your budget? Because on top of the computer, you will need to buy your editing software, RAM upgrades, external hard drives, and a good monitor or two.

Obviously the best choice is a Mac Pro. Most will say that if you are doing this for a living, it's a must.

Not much less expensive, there's a Macbook Pro. A 17" is nice for the extra screen space but a 15" is doable, and it can double as a laptop for high school and post-secondary.

The cheapest solution is probably the iMac. It'll handle FCP fine but I'm not sure about Motion or other graphic intensive programs. It's a fine option on a low budget, and when you start getting paid for your work, you can use that money to upgrade to a Mac Pro.

I don't think anyone can recommend a Mac Mini or 13" Macbooks (I still can't call them Pro, lol)

 

It sounds like you're asking strangers to make a very complicated spreadsheet for you, because you don't want to do your own research or be more specific about what kind of editing you're going to do.


Why don't you narrow it down to what you'll be doing and we'll tell you what Mac will work best.

 

I guess I should have been more specific. I meant what you will use it for, as in the production quality you're looking for, how long you want the machine to last, and the production quality you think you'll be at toward the end of your computer's life. What sort of cameras do you use? What audio equipment?

 

Well I would work out a budget if I were you and aim as high as possible. You don't really need a great graphics card, if you decide to go pro, but scratch drives and RAM are pretty important.

 

if you just want to learn to edit , any intel mac + Final cut elements, or Adobe Premier ( if that what you using as school)

if you want to learn motion, after effects etc.. you be needing to look at something hi end like a 17 macbookpro or a macpro, + Final Cut Studio

I use a 2.7 DP G5 , a 2 year old 13" Macbook , and a quad core MacPro to edit on, they all edit fine , but if i start working on a lot of effects or motion i can only really do it on the MacPro.

 

My 2 cents is to get the least expensive Mac that will run your software adequately. Learning how to edit is basically learning how to tell a story and this can be done on the most remedial machines running the most remedial software.

I would also strongly suggest to get a job working at a local post/production facility near you so you can learn the right way to do things and hopefully have the chance to pick the brains of actual working editors.


Lethal

 

Mac mini
2.4GHz : 320GB

* 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
* 2GB memory
* 320GB hard drive1
* 8x double-layer SuperDrive
* NVIDIA GeForce 320M graphics
* Mac OS X Snow Leopard
Price:$699

Plus a monitor

Acer X203H bd 20-Inch LCD Monitor

Price: $124.50

Total $823.50

Perfect to learn and continue editing with it until you get better and learn after effects too and then you'll want a 2013 Mac Pro which will process and write to a Magical Quantum Drive. Magical

I learned on a Cube, way back then...
Damn I'm getting old

Oh and... Get as much RAM as you can afford

or get the $1,499 21.5" iMac w/3.06GHz Core 2 Duo if you can.

That's a good deal too because it has the Radeon, more RAM, faster processor and mor HD space.

and again, Get as much RAM as you can.

 

If you can get FCS through amazon it's only 830.....

 

I second what Lethal is saying here. Learning to edit is not about what tools you use, just like learning to play drums isn't about how big a kit you have.

You need to understand the elements of telling a story, and then the basics of nonlinear editing systems (NLE's). That doesn't take much at all.

You could learn the core principles of good editing with iMovie... seriously. But, I don't suspect that anything beyond Final Cut Express would be necessary at this juncture.

The problem is, Final Cut Pro is OVERWHELMING in terms of functionality. You won't master the basics of editing/storytelling if you get mired in the 900 zillion little functions that FCP makes available for complex broadcast and feature film productions involving the management of dozens, sometimes hundreds of hours of raw footage and audio.

Since Apple has a pretty solid software upgrade path, I would start with the minimum necessary to understand the job, and get a job where you can learn on the employer's tools rather than spending a fortune. There are many people trying to get into this business, and most of them do not make their investment back because they don't start small. They're often conned into maximum investment for minimum return.

Do it the other way around, and upgrade as you gain the financial justification to do so. The fundamentals are still the same. If you can edit together crap footage on Final Cut Express, iMovie or with a customized potato peeler and scotch tape, and tell a great story, you can translate those aesthetic skills to FCP and Avid.

 

My only small input is that I'd definitely agree with the post above mine in that I'd definitely go for Final Cut Express first.. It still offers you a wide variety of tools to make great films but is not extraordinarily expensive and doesn't overload you with features and functions as FCP does.

 

If you're thinking about Avids keep in mind that it will run about $2700US for the software alone. I got lucky with mine as someone was selling an older version on craigslist so I bought/upgraded for half the cost. =)

If you're looking into which systems to buy, Avid actually maintains a list of qualified machines that will run Avid Media Composer and be eligible for support.

Here: http://www.avid.com/US/products/Media-Composer-Software/system-requirements
You'll find a list of qualified Windows machines and a list of qualified Apple machines. For me, the Apple route has so far been significantly cheaper.

I run a macbook pro + Avid Mojo SDI (editing accelerator) for capture (I'm trying to sell the unit as I aim to go HD soon). My secondary editing machine is a 27" iMac (quad core), but I must warn that it's not as ideal as the Macbook Pro or a MacPro because of the ports and expansion slots are quite limited.

As for monitors I used to run dual monitor, but now with the 27" and I find that this is currently enough to edit with. I use a 47" preview monitor to see the project(s) as well.

Storage is pretty straight forward, I use a combination of Firewire and ESATA drives to get the work done.

I find personally (through employment) that we prefer using Avid for the important stuff and whatever else we want for the quick stuff such as client DVDs and promo materials.

If you're looking at learning or even simply mucking around with Media Composer, there IS a 30day trial download. As an Editor I work in what I'm asked to work in, but for VFX and animation it's been 100% Avid for me.

I suggest not investing huge amounts of money into systems and hardware until you've had a few paying jobs and are ready/have projects lined up. Work is pretty slim right now in Toronto and Vancouver.

 

The student version is only $299 though and you get free upgrades for 4yrs from the date of activation.


Lethal

 

a year and a half ago I was about to purchase a mac pro because I was getting into video editing. I decided to go for an iMac and it was definitely the better choice for me. Mines plenty fast and its a C2D, if you go for the i7 which I would suggest, it should be quite speedy. Comes with a great screen and you can add external hard drives for more storage, I have 2 FW800 drives daisychained and another one sitting in its box on my shelf that I could add. Thats almost 4tb of storage itself. Also 6-8 for an editing machine is a joke! If you're serious about it you'll need/want to upgrade about every 3 years at the least. Technology moves fast, theres no way to avoid it.