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Mac Book Pro for a camera and editing noob?

D

dylanpipe

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 28, 2011
10
0
Hey guys,
I need a Mac book pro ( or any other type of mac) for editing. I am getting a canon t2i, and my current laptop PC, wont be able to edit the files cleanly I dont think. Since I am a broke ass high school student I am looking for a fairly cheap one, used is fine by me. But primarly what should I be looking for in a good fast mac, primarly for editing videos. And, if it matters I am going to be editing snowboarding and skateboarding...
thanks
 
What application do you want to use for editing?
iMovie or Final Cut Express or Final Cut Pro 7 (or earlier) or even Final Cut Pro X or some other video editing application?

Know, that the Canon you want to get, uses a very compressive codec to store the footage (as all DSLR that have video recording capabilities do) on the flash memory card.
iMovie (or MPEG Streamclip) will transcode that footage properly, to make editing easier and less CPU intensive.
But FCP X and Adobe Premiere Pro can edit such files natively, meaning the source footage does not need to be transcoded, but this will result in more CPU usage during the editing.

If you use iMovie or any other editing application which needs the footage transcoded properly, you can get any Mac from 2007/8 onwards (with a C2D CPU or higher).
When you want to edit natively, you should get a fast Mac, the fastest you can afford, unless you only want to edit once a week or so, then a slower Mac will do too.
 
you don't need a mack for editing videos especially at the amateur level. Unless you're heart is set on using FCX I dunno if the older boxes will run it.

Can you specify what you mean when you say "cleanly"? The OS won't matter as much as the editing suite will.

But i'll tell you now you won't be able to get 1. Good 2. Fast AND 3. Cheap. You have to pick 2.

Perhaps a used macbook/pro (2009 variant) might work as long as it's got Applecare.
 
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You can edit on any mac. Just be shure you reformat the video from the dslr to an edit format such as prores or intermediate
 
What I mena by fast is, that it can edit the video with out it being choppy and takes a while to play a clip, which I think has to do with ram and your hardrive?
 
dylanpipe said:
What I mena by fast is, that it can edit the video with out it being choppy and takes a while to play a clip, which I think has to do with ram and your hardrive?
Click to expand...

With heavily compressed footage you are recording, it has to do with CPU, as the H.264 encoded video needs to be decoded for playback, but any Mac since 2007/8 should be able to do that.
RAM is for storing temporary data for faster access, videos will not be stored in there (completely).
The HDD is fast enough for playing H.264 encoded video, as it has a measly bit rate of 24Mb/s, which is 3MB/s. The HDDs I work with (7200RPM HDDs) deliver 110 to 120 MB/s, the ones used in Macs can deliver that too, unless you have a slower 5400RPM 2.5" or 7200RPM 2.5" HDD, which "only" offer speeds of 70 to 95 MB/s, which is still fast enough to play highly compressed video.
But as you didn't mention what editing software you want to use, we can only guess.
 
simsaladimbamba said:
With heavily compressed footage you are recording, it has to do with CPU, as the H.264 encoded video needs to be decoded for playback, but any Mac since 2007/8 should be able to do that.
RAM is for storing temporary data for faster access, videos will not be stored in there (completely).
The HDD is fast enough for playing H.264 encoded video, as it has a measly bit rate of 24Mb/s, which is 3MB/s. The HDDs I work with (7200RPM HDDs) deliver 110 to 120 MB/s, the ones used in Macs can deliver that too, unless you have a slower 5400RPM 2.5" or 7200RPM 2.5" HDD, which "only" offer speeds of 70 to 95 MB/s, which is still fast enough to play highly compressed video.
But as you didn't mention what editing software you want to use, we can only guess.
Click to expand...

I would probally start with Imovie, because that comes with the mac, correct? then I would probally get FCP, cause i heard the one that just came out isnt amazing. and isnt worth 300$
 
dylanpipe said:
I would probally start with Imovie, because that comes with the mac, correct? then I would probally get FCP, cause i heard the one that just came out isnt amazing. and isnt worth 300$
Click to expand...

Then iMovie will work with transcoded video, thus even an older Mac will work.
FCP X is quite good software, just from the view of professional editors and people working with FCP it is missing a lot of features and is still buggy. But it is the first version of a completely new application, thus it will take some time to get started.
For its power, 299 USD is quite nothing. For its bugginess, 299 USD is a scam.
 
I wont really start editing till around Novemberish. since thats when the shred season begins.. Will there be any new macbooks released? IE the ones from last year will drop in price? Or should I just pick one up once I have the money?
 
not to take a shot at your confidence, but are you really willing to spend the money on a mbp for editing if you claim that you are a "noob?" you also mention that you are low on funds, so why not just get a windows laptop with a decent cpu? it'll work for your video editing, and in reference to your camera, just install gimp if you want to do some photo editing.
 
Yes, I am a noob.
But I did just make a 20 minute snowboard movie, and have created 10+ snowboard and skate videos. And thought that if I get a better camera, that if I get a better laptop for editing and just in general it would also help me progress editing wise. Also, seems that everybody who makes videos now a days has mac's and they seem like the way to go... maybe im wrong?
 
it's just a preference thing, macs are no better than pcs for video or photo editing, you can produce the same outcomes.
 
dylanpipe said:
What are the main diffrences between macbook air and pro?
Click to expand...

the air is a lot more portable and doesn't have an optical drive. they're pretty similar despite the size and optical drive. hardware would be the only thing rendering them different besides aesthetics.
 
Eddyisgreat said:
you don't need a mack for editing videos especially at the amateur level. Unless you're heart is set on using FCX I dunno if the older boxes will run it.

Can you specify what you mean when you say "cleanly"? The OS won't matter as much as the editing suite will.

But i'll tell you now you won't be able to get 1. Good 2. Fast AND 3. Cheap. You have to pick 2.

Perhaps a used macbook/pro (2009 variant) might work as long as it's got Applecare.
Click to expand...

And the OP is supposed to trust your opinion when you can't even spell "Mac"? :mad:
 
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Lol haha
 
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