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monkeyrebirth

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 14, 2010
2
0
I'm totally new to the world of Mac, so please be understanding if I'm asking a stupid question! :D

After a frustrating 2 years of video editing on a PC (crash/freeze/loss of work etc), I'm looking to switch to Mac and Final Cut.

Even editing high quality SD video (720p/720i), would it be insane to buy a Mac Mini? Would it not be powerful enough?

My other option is waiting for the next iMac refresh.

It's a whole new world for me, so some advice would be welcomed.
 

advres

Guest
Oct 3, 2003
624
0
Boston
It is not the best option but is useable. I bought one as an assembly edit station in my suite for assistants to log footage, make assembly edits and do light work.

For giggles to see how well it would work after setting it up, I cut one of the episodes of a tv series I am working on, on it. I did everything from start to finish on it (I onlined it on a different machine though) including all the after effects work (easy lower 3rds with alpha stuff). It was a half hour show shot 1080p working with the DVCPRO HD codec. I was floored by how well it actually worked. The station now has an 22" lcd for the main monitor and a 23 LCD TV hooked via hdmi as a dedicated viewing monitor.

I think you will be surprised at what this little guy can do. I say pull the trigger.
 

ADent

macrumors 6502a
Sep 9, 2007
504
0
Biggest weakness is the hard drive. Small and slow.

Mac mini Server is actually better here with the 7200rpm drives and a total of 1TB of space.

For a regular mini, try it out and see if the size and speed are OK for you. Otherwise think external FW800 for holding the video (and possibly booting) or internal SSD upgrade or even just 7200rpm internal drive.
 

advres

Guest
Oct 3, 2003
624
0
Boston
For a regular mini, try it out and see if the size and speed are OK for you. Otherwise think external FW800 for holding the video (and possibly booting) or internal SSD upgrade or even just 7200rpm internal drive.

There should never be any "otherwise". You should never edit off your boot drive. This is probably rule #1 when working with an NLE.
 

monkeyrebirth

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 14, 2010
2
0
It is not the best option but is useable. I bought one as an assembly edit station in my suite for assistants to log footage, make assembly edits and do light work.

For giggles to see how well it would work after setting it up, I cut one of the episodes of a tv series I am working on, on it. I did everything from start to finish on it (I onlined it on a different machine though) including all the after effects work (easy lower 3rds with alpha stuff). It was a half hour show shot 1080p working with the DVCPRO HD codec. I was floored by how well it actually worked. The station now has an 22" lcd for the main monitor and a 23 LCD TV hooked via hdmi as a dedicated viewing monitor.

I think you will be surprised at what this little guy can do. I say pull the trigger.

I haven't pulled the trigger just yet.

Also, from your other post, should I always have the files on an external drive, rather than on the main internal one? I currently use the external drive, but only for space reasons. So, this shouldn't change in the future?!

Thanks very much for your feedback.
 

advres

Guest
Oct 3, 2003
624
0
Boston
I haven't pulled the trigger just yet.

Also, from your other post, should I always have the files on an external drive, rather than on the main internal one? I currently use the external drive, but only for space reasons. So, this shouldn't change in the future?!

Thanks very much for your feedback.

Yes, files you edit with should always be on a dedicated drive. Your OS and other crap can love on your internal drive but media files should be elsewhere so the drive isn't trying to run your apps, Os and media units while editing.
 

opeter

macrumors 68030
Aug 5, 2007
2,677
1,596
Slovenia
There should never be any "otherwise". You should never edit off your boot drive. This is probably rule #1 when working with an NLE.

Can someone tell me, why not?

I mean, you could make two (or more) partitions on you boot drive and use the second/third one for the editing/scratch. Or not?
 

advres

Guest
Oct 3, 2003
624
0
Boston
Can someone tell me, why not?

I mean, you could make two (or more) partitions on you boot drive and use the second/third one for the editing/scratch. Or not?

Partitions have nothing to do with it. It is about speed and throughput. Think of it like this, your system drive can only access data so fast. If it is running your OS, running the software, blah blah blah the throughput for video is reduced. When you work from a media drive, you will find much smoother video especially when doing many streams of HD footage (depending on codec).

That said with a 7200RPM you could technically do fine editing DV from your system drive but it isn't ideal.

Here, read this in it's entirety if you are interested in storage recommendations for nle editing and WHY they suggest this. This is just the basics and don't think everything in this article is set 100% instone. For example they suggest a 1TB raid0 where I use a 8TB raid5

http://videoguys.com/Guide/E/Videoguys+NLE+Video+Storage+FAQ/0xc0dc681654a5dba55ca08f303a6c38df.aspx
 

bluedevils

macrumors member
Sep 7, 2007
42
0
I just installed final cut studio on the 2010 mini server. I only had time to do a couple of 2min clips together at 1080p pro res. final cut pro looked fine with cross dissolves. Render time was not too bad (maybe close to 1min render = 1min clip). It'll be a while before I have time to really test it out.

BTW I found the card slot at the back immensely useful to log and transfer the files in.
 
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