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Best way to video edit without hurting the HD?

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Poisonivy326

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Nov 25, 2012
485
97
I just got a cMBP a month ago. It was my first ever Mac machine and it sounds weird but I love this laptop so much. I had a history of troublesome laptops including my last Sony Vaio nightmare. I decided to go with the cMBP instead of the Air because I have a lot of media files (all six seasons of Lost for example) and thought the cMBP would be a better fit since I don't have another desktop computer. I have an iPad for email, games, web surfing etc.

But one of the reasons I got the cMBP is that I do a lot of non commercial ballet video editing. In particular, I use iburn and convert PAL files to NTSC and do some editing (minor stuff) and then burn it to a DVD for my trading friends.

I tried to do that on my Sony but it absolutely killed the machine. For that reason I've only done sparingly on the Mac, like maybe 10 times. Is there any way to do thus kind of video conversion and editing while not burning up the HD?
 
Last edited:
Poisonivy326 said:
I just got a cMBP a month ago. It was my first ever Mac machine and it sounds weird but I love this laptop so much. I had a history of troublesome laptops including my last Sony Vaio nightmare. I decided to go with the cMBP instead of the Air because I have a lot of media files (all six seasons of Lost for example) and thought the cMBP would be a better fit since I don't have another desktop computer. I have an iPad for email, games, web surfing etc.

But one of the reasons I got the cMBP is that I do a lot of non commercial ballet video editing. In particular, I use iburn and convert PAL files to NTSC and do some editing (minor stuff) and then burn it to a DVD for my trading friends.

I tried to do that on my Sony but it absolutely killed the machine. For that reason I've only done sparingly on the Mac, like maybe 10 times. Is there any way to do thus kind of video conversion and editing while not burning up the HD?
Click to expand...

Ay type of extensive writing to the HDD is going to be rough. If you are worried about the lifespan of your harddrive, I suggest you make frequent backups and have spare blank new ones to swap out in case your harddrive dies.

But even if you do a lot of video editing, you should still be able to get a good 1-2 years off of one drive.

Edit: typos
 
Macbooks are tools that are designed with video editing in mind. Unless you're running the encoding process 24/7 and your Macbook is constantly hot, I wouldn't worry about it. You should be able to encode thousands of hours worth of video without suffering any failures. Even if the HD breaks within the next year or two, you can replace it with an SSD.

Just make regular backups and enjoy the machine.
 
That's the thing. When I tried to do this on my SONY with Nero my machine heated up so much and froze after awhile I just couldn't do it. On my mac it feels warm but never hot and it does everything so quickly. I've downloaded HD transmissions of ballet performances, converted them from PAL to NTSC, and popped them into my blu-ray player just fine. I just sort of want it to stay that way, I honestly love this computer so much.

Different question: will it be easier on my computer if I get more RAM? I only have the 4 GB base.
 
Was it a cheap Sony with a desktop processor? That would explain the heat. I used to have one myself.

How about an external drive?
 
No it was a Sony Vaio from around 2009. That thing always lagged and gave me trouble from day one.
 
You don't have to worry about your HDD, that's what it's designed for. With video editing the drive will be doing minimal work compared to one working as a file server with constant reading and writing.

In reference to your memory question, for video editing, more memory would be a definite benefit as it would greatly reduce the number of disk accesses. You should see a difference with 8GB. It will all depend on how your editing application uses memory, and whether it can use every byte available.
 
I see the usage and I'm always using about 3.2 or so GB. I'm not even doing that much -- Powerpoint and Word open, a couple of Safari tabs.
 
Ok think I am going to give it 8 GB of RAM. It looks pretty easy from the Apple manual. I just don't want a redux of what happened to my Sony Vaio machine, which absolutely died when I tried to do any video editing.
 
You can get up to 16 GB for that MBP, it will cost less than 100 USD nowadays.

As for video editing, it is recommended to use an external Fireiwire 800 or USB 3 HDD for that and not the internal SSD or HDD.
You could also go the Optibay route and use an SSD for OS and applications and the HDD for storing video files to edit with.

Now for some links to overload your brain and one video to pass the time:

MacBook, MacBook Pro: Replacing the Hard Disk Drive, transferring data to the new HDD

the guide includes:
  • 0. Identify your MacBook or MacBook Pro
  • 1. Getting a new HDD
  • 2. Guides to replace the internal HDD with a newer one
  • 3. Transferring data from the old HDD to the new HDD
  • 4. Using the optical disk drive (ODD) slot for placing an SSD or HDD inside the MB/P (OPTIBAY)
​





Video Compression
Why It Matters & How To Make The Most Of It
 
Do I really need 16 GB of RAM though?

If I get 8 wouldn't I just need to get another 4 GB of RAM? If I get 16 I'll have to take out all the RAM and put in two 8 GB slots? (Sorry, not very computer savvy about these things.)
 
Poisonivy326 said:
Do I really need 16 GB of RAM though?

If I get 8 wouldn't I just need to get another 4 GB of RAM? If I get 16 I'll have to take out all the RAM and put in two 8 GB slots? (Sorry, not very computer savvy about these things.)
Click to expand...

You Mac has two RAM slots and comes with 4 GB using two 2 GB modules, thus getting 8 GB will require for you to get two 4 GB modules.

As for needing it or not, depends on the editing application and the extent you want to use it. If the editing application is 64 bit, more RAM does not hurt. FCP X, Premiere Pro and Avid Media Composer are 64 bit, iMovie is still 32 bit and will not use more than 3 GB of RAM anyway.
 
simsaladimbamba said:
You Mac has two RAM slots and comes with 4 GB using two 2 GB modules, thus getting 8 GB will require for you to get two 4 GB modules.

As for needing it or not, depends on the editing application and the extent you want to use it. If the editing application is 64 bit, more RAM does not hurt. FCP X, Premiere Pro and Avid Media Composer are 64 bit, iMovie is still 32 bit and will not use more than 3 GB of RAM anyway.
Click to expand...

I use Burn for now. I wish they made Nero for Mac.:(

Only thing I miss about Windows is Nero.
 
I also use DVD Shrink to burn ISO images onto the HD. I go to this place a lot:

www.balletoman.com. It's a Russian website and all the videos are formatted in PAL. What I mainly do is convert it into NTSC. When I had the Nero suite I liked to reorganize the videos into chapters and snip out wasted time in the videos.
 
Ok just bought 16 GB of Crucial RAM from Amazon. It was only $30 more expensive than the 8 GB and I have a gift card.
 
Poisonivy326 said:
No it was a Sony Vaio from around 2009. That thing always lagged and gave me trouble from day one.
Click to expand...
That's the thing. The Sony you had was the problem -- not video editing. I've done tons of editing on much older equipment that thrashed the drives without any problems. Don't assume that your experience with the Sony is indicative of some general trend with video editing.
 
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