MacBook+FC Express+4GB of Ram?

[acfusion29]

I want to add 2x2GB sticks into my MacBook (not Pro), and I'm wondering if it will make a difference in Final Cut Express? Will it render videos faster, or whats the deal.

Could people post their experiences please, it's really annoying having a 3minute clip take 25minutes to render... unless there are any alternatives?

 

[cmcbridejr]

I think that the processor will make the biggest difference with rendering.

That is why pros will use the Mac Pros, since time is money and the extra processing power speeds up the process.

Still, I am surprised that 3 minutes of video takes over 20 minutes to render.

I have both an iMac G5 with FCS and Macbook with FCE, and neither take that long (both have 2 GB RAM).

Are you using lots of effects?

 

[acfusion29]

I think that the processor will make the biggest difference with rendering.

That is why pros will use the Mac Pros, since time is money and the extra processing power speeds up the process.

Still, I am surprised that 3 minutes of video takes over 20 minutes to render.

I have both an iMac G5 with FCS and Macbook with FCE, and neither take that long (both have 2 GB RAM).

Are you using lots of effects?

Nope, just a regular clip... I needed to render it so I could cut it properly and THEN add some effects.

I have the newest MacBook, 2.2GHz

Do you have any idea what could be the problem?

 

[Digital Skunk]

Well, rendering is a three or four fold problem with computers. Cutters need the best everything to not waste time rendering because REAL TIME needs more and more RAM with each level of video you have. Also, you need a fast HDD to get better playback. The processor needs to be good as well as the GFX card but not to the extent of the HDD and the amount of RAM.

For Rendering, you need as much RAM as you can get so 4GB will do you good as a start (and finish since it's a laptop). You processor is good so no worries about that, but your HDD is slow. You might want to look into getting a portable, FW400, 7200 rpm drive to use as a scratch disk.

macsales.com has some really good ones with multiple ports and you can go backwards down the HDD lineup and get a cheaper 60GB or 80GB 7200 rpm drive.

p.s. only 25 minutes for 3 minutes..... 😀 I wish. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7K__bxZpRpU every 10 seconds took about 15-20 minutes. At the end, my cheezy but wonderful MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo couldn't even convert it to 8bit NTSC for final output. Had to convert it to normal DV. (yeah... I know... it's a cheezy promotional video 🙄 )

 

[acfusion29]

Well, rendering is a three or four fold problem with computers. Cutters need the best everything to not waste time rendering because REAL TIME needs more and more RAM with each level of video you have. Also, you need a fast HDD to get better playback. The processor needs to be good as well as the GFX card but not to the extent of the HDD and the amount of RAM.

For Rendering, you need as much RAM as you can get so 4GB will do you good as a start (and finish since it's a laptop). You processor is good so no worries about that, but your HDD is slow. You might want to look into getting a portable, FW400, 7200 rpm drive to use as a scratch disk.

macsales.com has some really good ones with multiple ports and you can go backwards down the HDD lineup and get a cheaper 60GB or 80GB 7200 rpm drive.

p.s. only 25 minutes for 3 minutes..... 😀 I wish. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7K__bxZpRpU every 10 seconds took about 15-20 minutes. At the end, my cheezy but wonderful MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo couldn't even convert it to 8bit NTSC for final output. Had to convert it to normal DV. (yeah... I know... it's a cheezy promotional video 🙄 )

I have a 500GB HDD (External) which has 7200RPM.

http://www.pricegrabber.ca/search_getprod.php/masterid=20877024/

It's that one right there. So if I use that as the main disk, will it speed things up?

 

[Digital Skunk]

I have a 500GB HDD (External) which has 7200RPM.

http://www.pricegrabber.ca/search_getprod.php/masterid=20877024/

It's that one right there. So if I use that as the main disk, will it speed things up?

Yes. If you aren't putting ALL of your scratch files on this drive then do so. The speed of the drive alone will speed things up greatly. Keep your main drive as empty as possible and it will help a little bit as well, and keep your computer very happy.

 

[acfusion29]

Yes. If you aren't putting ALL of your scratch files on this drive then do so. The speed of the drive alone will speed things up greatly. Keep your main drive as empty as possible and it will help a little bit as well, and keep your computer very happy.

I guess I'll start doing that then.

Someone helped me on the Apple discussion boards. They told me to convert the video to .mov using some settings in MPEG Streamclip, and I did that. When I put my file into the timeline, no rendering was needed (which is perfect!)

But thanks, I'll do what you said 🙂