Budget video editing set up using 13" macbook pro 2010

[Cloudsky]

I'm looking to upgrade my 2010 core 2 duo macbook pro so that I can do video editing on it. I want to be able to use final cut studio and adobe after effects cs5 on it.

I'm guessing I would probably need to upgrade my hard drive to a bigger one (my current one is 320gb 5400rpm). Would I be able to upgrade to a 1TB 7200rpm hard drive? What is the best hard drive brand? Would buying an external hard drive be necessary in order to render videos? I've heard that using an external hard drive as the scratch disk would be a better option.

What other options should I consider? I can't get an SSD at the moment as they are too expensive.

 

[arjen92]

He,

I have the macbook pro 13.3". Bought it in the summer of 2010. It's the basic model with 320 GB.

I'm running Final Cut Studio and After Effects on it. Although AE is not as fast (with rendering the video) as my iMac.

I made these videos: (FCP) http://www.youtube.com/arjen92#p/u/4/Ou_uT3154Kk
I edited prores here.

(AE) http://www.youtube.com/arjen92#p/u/0/0g9YjlH0gxk (I was just trying out AE here).

so yes, a faster hard drive would be nice, but it would be better to just leave the hard drive you have with the software, and get a fast external hard drive and put all your render files and footage on there.

 

[zblaxberg]

Well you will need a 7200rpm hard drive but until recently 1TB laptop drives cost hundreds. Do yourself a favor and get a 7200rpm drive upgrade but edit your footage off of an external FireWire hard drive. Once Final Cut X comes out as 64bit you'll be able to take advantage of more than 4GB of ram but until then any more than 4GB of ram is useless.

 

[Cloudsky]

Thanks guys, any idea what particular brand/model I should buy?

 

[arjen92]

Well, you could just do a forum search (or just use google). But well known trusted brands are LaCie, Western Digital, Seagate.

Personally I just have some Iomega hard drives. They work. I had some bad experiences with LaCie, but apparently everybody has problems with different brands. So any of these brands should just do.

I can't help you with monster external hard drives (like RAID ones), I just don't have any experience with those.

 

[RubberShoes]

I'm in the same arena with you in terms of the 13" MBP, although I think mine is the 2009 (9400m not the 320 GPU)

Don't edit your footage from your internal hard drive. I mean you can and its nice and all but it can get very messy.

I went all out and bought this enclosure
http://www.amazon.com/Macally-Hi-Speed-FireWire-Enclosure-G-S350SUAB2/dp/B003VTZFN4/ref=pd_cp_e_1

with a 2TB 7200 Western Digital, I've had Maxtor crap out on me while my 2 friends with 2 lacie drives have had nothing but problems. And if im not mistaken Maxtor and Seagate have ties to maybe stay away from them too? My dad stored all his writings on a 40GB Seagate and he's got a paperweight in the drawer now :/

Although many hate western digital so ill keep you posted. But yea I built my own because it gave me the most future proof setup with the most control. And if youre really serious, a great external HDD is your best investment.

Dont want to build your own? A lot of my professors only use G-Drives. Great heat management and good build quality too.

 

[WestSt]

I'm looking to upgrade my 2010 core 2 duo macbook pro so that I can do video editing on it. I want to be able to use final cut studio and adobe after effects cs5 on it.

I'm guessing I would probably need to upgrade my hard drive to a bigger one (my current one is 320gb 5400rpm). Would I be able to upgrade to a 1TB 7200rpm hard drive? What is the best hard drive brand? Would buying an external hard drive be necessary in order to render videos? I've heard that using an external hard drive as the scratch disk would be a better option.

What other options should I consider? I can't get an SSD at the moment as they are too expensive.

If you are like me (most people), and not dependant on having an internal optical drive at all times, get an OptiBay like this: http://cgi.ebay.com/2nd-HDD-caddy-A...C_Drives_Storage_Internal&hash=item2c599f7799 (do some research and make sure it's the right model for your specific Mac!!). Install a good 2.5" HDD in the optical bay, and just keep your original drive for OS and software (you'll do fine with 5400 rpm, unless you're REALLY serious - in that case you'll need a Mac Pro anyway).

Get a USB Inclosure for your optical drive - its plug and play, so no worries: http://cgi.ebay.com/External-USB-ca...C_Drives_Storage_Internal&hash=item53e2b3d893 (make sure its the right one for your specific optical drive!!)

Get a cheap external for backup only.

You'll have an extremely portable setup, with all the advanteges of the drives being internal with fastest possible connections