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macbook - finalcut - imac

M

macfriend1

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 14, 2007
143
0
Stockholm
Hi there

I possess a macbook (2 GHZ, Intel core 2 duo, 80gb harddrive, 2GB RAM, Tiger) barely one year old (11months). I bought it cause it was my first mac and I’ve been traveling a lot (and will in the next 1-2 years, thus I need a laptop). Now, I have lots of music and my 80GB Harddrive is almost full. Furthermore I wanna buy the final cut pro to enter the world of videoediting (in the past I edited with windows machines. I’m like a semi-pro videocrack and I intend to go further)
Anyways, as you can imagine the harddrive is way too small and the macbook as a video-editing-machine is kinda lame.

So what I’d like to buy is a mac (desktop preffered, cause they’re sooo awesome) with 160/320 GB or even more. I saw the new imacs and they look pretty cool to me. The cheapest version is ok and would probably suffice for my needs… though I would have to boost the RAM up to 2GB.

What do you think? I need your advice. Is this typ of mac appropriate for final cut etc.? It’s just sooo difficult to make up my mind and make a decision… any other ideas?

Note: I thought about selling my macbook and buying a macbook pro, but this option is canceld for the following reasons: macbook pro too heavy and big to travel with, I wanna have an imac, I love my macbook.

Note2: I am still student and don’t have a lot of money… but I can afford a new machine.. or better I wanna afford a machine. But always include the question of price as well… therefore I played with the thought to buy a refurbished machine but the difference in price from a new machine is not that much and therefore would a new machine probably be better..

Thanks for your help, it’s muchmuch appreciated.
 
I don't know whether they've fixed the 20" iMac's screens or not, but if they haven't you may want to consider the 24" (assuming you're picky about colors as a video editor) as it has a better screen that is truly capable of millions of colors. I know there was a thread about the class-action lawsuit over the 20" screens somewhere around here.

I'm sure someone else can answer better.

Good luck in whichever direction you choose!
 
MacBook Hard drive

Hi there,

Far be it from me to talk anyone out of buying a new Mac but in all your planning you may wish to consider that the hard drive in a MacBook can be replaced very easily. So long as its SATA and 2.5 inches, you can fit a HD up to 320 GB and the actual replacement is also very easy.
 
Cave Man said:
Before getting my MBP, I ran FCE on my 2 gHz MB without any problems. I just used an external FW drive for editing and connected it to a 22" DVI display. Worked great. Why is yours lame?
Click to expand...

you can't really edit on a macbook... this is not fun :)

I would need a new machine.. ahhh this is soo difficult..
 
thanks for your advice. but I would really need an imac. the question is only what type?! or better a cube?! (macmini)

noidea
 
There won't be any significant difference in footage editing on Macbook with second monitor+external hard-drive and iMac+external hard-drive, if we consider both computers having 2+ GB of RAM. Though, if you still need a power-horse for video editing, you might consider buying MacPro with huge screen(s) and huge internal disks. :)
 
YIKES ! You're getting some poor advice here. Clearly there are people who don't run FCS giving pointers.

Your Macbook is fine as a computer however for running Final Cut Studio you CANNOT run all the apps on your Macbook. Color does not support Integrated graphics. They must be AGP or PCI Express meaning an iMac is the ONLY way for you to take advantage of the whole suite.

From Final Cut Studio's Tech Specs Page:

Minimum Requirements to Install All Final Cut Studio Applications

* A Macintosh computer with a 1.25GHz or faster PowerPC G4, PowerPC G5, Intel Core Duo, or Intel Xeon processor
* 1GB of RAM
* An AGP or PCI Express Quartz Extreme graphics card (Final Cut Studio is not compatible with integrated Intel graphics processors)
* A display with 1024-by-768 resolution or higher
* Mac OS X v10.4.9 or later
* QuickTime 7.1.6 or later
* A DVD drive for installation
Click to expand...

Always buy the beefiest machine you can afford expecially when working with vertical markets like Audio or Video production. Good luck!
 
macfriend1 said:
thanks for your advice. but I would really need an imac. the question is only what type?! or better a cube?! (macmini)

noidea
Click to expand...

Definitely not MacMini. In general, the MacMini is less powerful than the Macbook and still has integrated graphics. Go with the iMac if you're really serious about it.
 
alaceo said:
Definitely not MacMini. In general, the MacMini is less powerful than the Macbook and still has integrated graphics. Go with the iMac if you're really serious about it.
Click to expand...

I use Final Cut Express on my 1.66 gHz Mac Mini on a weekly basis. It works just fine. It's not blazing fast like my MBP (2.4 gHz), but it is more than adequate. The integrated graphics have very little to do with FC performance. CPU speed is king with FC.
 
Cave Man said:
You clearly are unfamiliar with the FCE/FCP. It uses the cpu, not the gpu for its work. The gpu requirement is for Motion, etc., from Studio. If he's only using FCE/FCP, then a MB is perfectly fine.
Click to expand...

LOL. Did you not read his post? He say "Final Cut Pro" which cannot be purchased alone you "must" purchase Final Cut Studio. Motion will run on Integrated Graphics but Color will not. Nothing in my post was incorrect. You chose to look at a scenario that simply cannot happen (Final Cut only purchase) and attempt to discredit my post. Sloppy. Why would anyone purchase Final Cut Studio and only to use half the program? That's silly. Please employ a little common sense next time if you're going to attempt to recommend some solutions. I do this for a living and clearly you do not.

All things considered if one is choosing between a Macbook and an iMac the iMac allows a person to run the full suite of programs whilst the Macbook does not. End of story.
 
nuckinfutz said:
LOL. Did you not read his post? He say "Final Cut Pro" which cannot be purchased alone you "must" purchase Final Cut Studio.
Click to expand...

Yes, I know. After all, I just made this decision myself in the last year.

Motion will run on Integrated Graphics but Color will not. Nothing in my post was incorrect. You chose to look at a scenario that simply cannot happen (Final Cut only purchase) and attempt to discredit my post. Sloppy.
Click to expand...

There are a few features in FCP that are not available in FCE. The OP clearly stated he wanted to use FCP, thus he must buy FCS. You can still install it on a MB (or a Mini) and you can use it on a MB (or a Mini). When Apple released Aperture 1, it said you had to have a Mac with a discrete graphics card, yet I've been running it on my Mac Mini since v.r. 1.0.2.

Why would anyone purchase Final Cut Studio and only to use half the program? That's silly.
Click to expand...

It might be "silly" to you, but this is what the OP wants, so if you have an issue with silliness, take it up with him, not me. In addition, there have been many on these forums who have bought FCS solely to use FCP.

Please employ a little common sense next time if you're going to attempt to recommend some solutions. I do this for a living and clearly you do not.
Click to expand...

You do common sense for a living? That's a good one.

All things considered if one is choosing between a Macbook and an iMac the iMac allows a person to run the full suite of programs whilst the Macbook does not. End of story.
Click to expand...

No one disputed that in this thread. Why are you even bringing it up?
 
nuckinfutz said:
YIKES ! You're getting some poor advice here. Clearly there are people who don't run FCS giving pointers.

Your Macbook is fine as a computer however for running Final Cut Studio you CANNOT run all the apps on your Macbook. Color does not support Integrated graphics. They must be AGP or PCI Express meaning an iMac is the ONLY way for you to take advantage of the whole suite.

From Final Cut Studio's Tech Specs Page:



Always buy the beefiest machine you can afford expecially when working with vertical markets like Audio or Video production. Good luck!
Click to expand...

Thanks a lot for this post! it really helpt. finally someone with a straight, clear advice.
But please, this should not be a dispute, since I only asked for advice what mac i should buy.
I'm a apple-cutter-starter. anyways, after this post I might purchase a imac (24'' cause they have better graphics) and maybe a boost of RAM!? what do you think?
Since I'm still student I might also go with the cheapest vresion but as you said, i should buy the beefiest machine I can afford.. this is a contradiction... uahh
what do you think of the second model?

* 2,66 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo (enough?)
* 2 GB RAM (enough?)
* 320 GB HD
* 8x SuperDrive (Double-Layer)
* ATI Radeon HD 2600 (BAD isn't it?!)

thanks.
 
macfriend1 said:
Thanks a lot for this post! it really helpt. finally someone with a straight, clear advice.
But please, this should not be a dispute, since I only asked for advice what mac i should buy.
I'm a apple-cutter-starter. anyways, after this post I might purchase a imac (24'' cause they have better graphics) and maybe a boost of RAM!? what do you think?
Since I'm still student I might also go with the cheapest vresion but as you said, i should buy the beefiest machine I can afford.. this is a contradiction... uahh
what do you think of the second model?

* 2,66 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo (enough?)
* 2 GB RAM (enough?)
* 320 GB HD
* 8x SuperDrive (Double-Layer)
* ATI Radeon HD 2600 (BAD isn't it?!)

thanks.
Click to expand...

Looks good. Next step would be to bump the RAM and storage but yo'd be able to get started right away. The Radeon isn't a barn burner but it'll run everything you throw at it.

Cave Man- We're just coming from two different angles. I do see where you're coming from.

You guys have a great Friday and weekend.

Nuk
 
so, for the beginnint it would be quite good. I mean you can run the app without any problems.. and speed should be ok right?!

* 2,66 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
* 2 GB RAM
* 320 GB HD
* 8x SuperDrive
* ATI Radeon HD 2600
 
Definitely

I totally agree with Cave Man FCP is more CPU Bound than anything and a Dual Core 2.66Ghz is going to perform nicely.

I have the same decision to make. I was thinking about getting a Macbook as my next Mac purchase but I think I need a bit more grunt for FCP and I'm going to be adding Logic Studio as well for Audio work.

Ok I know this is a bit off the beaten path here but. I'm pretty jazzed about Final Cut Studio offering color grading.

Hopefully someday I'll get good enough to be able to justify one of these

http://www.tangentdevices.co.uk/products_wave.asp

Keep in mind Tangent makes controllers for grading that are $10k and above so having a $1500 controller for near broke video pro wannabe is nice.
 
If your already well versed in the art of editing and your thinking of moving to Final Cut Pro your going to spend a ton of time using Motion and Color to evolve your capabilities and your productions

Final Cut Pro - the editing program part of the package per se will not represent that much of a jump from say Final Cut Express in terms of technique but Motion and Color are totally new animals and will force you to move towards FX and professional broadcast grade finish. They need a powerful computer with high end GPU and lots of Ram. New iMac 2.8 with 4 GB of ram is my recommendation. You'll be happy with that rather than 'satisfied'.

Don't worry too much about Logic studio unless your planning on creating music yourself - Soundtrack Pro will manage your multi-track comps well enough. Spend the 'Logic money' on a better mac.
 
surferfromuk said:
Don't worry too much about Logic studio unless your planning on creating music yourself - Soundtrack Pro will manage your multi-track comps well enough. Spend the 'Logic money' on a better mac.
Click to expand...


Me personally I will be doing more work beyond what STP does. I'm dreaming about this making it easier some day.

http://www.euphonix.com/artist/

MCcontrol.jpg


Sweeeeeeeet. I believe it'll control some mixing functions for Final Cut Pro/STP as well.
 
I would recommend getting the one up from the baseline imac, and using your student discount. The better graphics card, faster processor, bigger hdd, and more RAM will be an advantage to you. I would also look into buying 4gb of third party RAM to max it out with.

If you can't afford that then buy the baseline, but buy the 4gb of RAM as well.
 
macfriend1 said:
so, for the beginnint it would be quite good. I mean you can run the app without any problems.. and speed should be ok right?!

* 2,66 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
* 2 GB RAM
* 320 GB HD
* 8x SuperDrive
* ATI Radeon HD 2600
Click to expand...

No, you really have to buy a 24" iMac. The display on the 20" is appalling for photo/video editing. So that means either a new 2.8 GHz or a refurb 2.4 GHz if money is really tight.
 
nuckinfutz said:
Me personally I will be doing more work beyond what STP does. I'm dreaming about this making it easier some day.

http://www.euphonix.com/artist/

MCcontrol.jpg


Sweeeeeeeet. I believe it'll control some mixing functions for Final Cut Pro/STP as well.
Click to expand...

I'd try Logic 8 for a few weeks before you buy that thing - the super fast new 'all-in-one' window approach in LS8 may surprise you over the inefficiencies of the old Logic 7.

Logic 8 is like a racing car - dedicated H/W control panels mean letting go of the mouse and keyboard and looking away from the screen which is like letting go of your steering wheel and foot pedals and looking into the footwell.

Only saying because I've been there with dedicated H/W CP and it didn't work for me - I just got really slowed up by it and annoyed and this was with Logic 7 - but I understand different folks - different stroke and all that.

Again, I'd suggest spend the money on a better mac :- higher CPU = more plugins, higher sample rates (better Q), more VI's...
 
thanks for your comments. I'll prolly go with a baseline imac (second model, 20inch with boosted ram and hd)
 
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