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MacBook Pro questions

U

UglyLittleSpud

macrumors member
Original poster
May 31, 2009
49
0
Hi,
I'm looking to get a new 15'' MacBook Pro as soon as they are updated, so I'm in no hurry to get one right now. What I need to know is, how suitable would this be for editing a feature length HDV/AVCHD movie? I know something like an iMac would be preferably due to screen size etc, but honestly I prefer notebooks. Has anyone ever done this? Editing a big project like a feature on an MBP?
 
Yes, actually on the road I use a MacBook Unibody with a 64 SSD drive with 4GB of ram. SSD give me quick access to run programs and get ever bit of power I can. Externally I use a USB OWC RAID. USB isn't the quickest but for HDV and AVCHD it can work.

I work mostly with AVCHD it provides me to log and capture footage. For those extra long flights I can get a rough cut done.

The MBP your looking at has firewire 800. This will have a greater advantage over USB and speeds that you can easily edit with.

You may want to get a second monitor to view your footage. Since your computer screen is not full resolution, you'll want this to screen the footage while editing.

Opt for 4GB of ram, optimize where you can.
 
It can be done, but the 1440x900 display might be a little bit small for this task, the 17" model with 1920x1200 (24" iMac resolution) would be much better suited.

HDV/AVCHD would be no problem, if you have a fast external FW800 HDD and converted the footage to ProRes during capture (if you edit with FCP).
If you use Avid, there is the DNxHD codec for such tasks.
 
First of all, let's define what you mean by full length feature film? If you mean a movie like Titanic or Sicko, you will need massive external HD storage devices. HD (1080) consumes alot of HD space. If you want to shoot and edit in uncompressed HD format, you will require a Mac with at least 32gb of ram, and many many terabytes of storage capability, as well as other peripherals. All consumer camcorders shoot in compressed mode. The quality is good but not great. For this format, any Macbook Pro/iMac will do very well. At the end of the day, it all depends on your market. Are you shooting for theatre distribution or something in house?
 
The ergonomics of editing on a laptop would make me want to kill myself. If you have it hooked up to a decent sized external display, keyboard and mouse it would be fine, but of course that kills the portability somewhat.


baypharm said:
HD (1080) consumes alot of HD space.
Click to expand...
It depends on the codec used. HDV consumers the same amount of space as DV.

If you want to shoot and edit in uncompressed HD format, you will require a Mac with at least 32gb of ram, and many many terabytes of storage capability, as well as other peripherals.
Click to expand...
At least 32gigs of RAM? Not really. As long as you have fast enough HDDs you can edit uncompressed HD on something as lowly as a MDD G4 tower.

All consumer camcorders shoot in compressed mode. The quality is good but not great. For this format, any Macbook Pro/iMac will do very well. At the end of the day, it all depends on your market. Are you shooting for theatre distribution or something in house?
Click to expand...
Almost every camera (be it consumer, prosumer or pro) shoots compressed and the quality depends on the camera and the codec.


Lethal
 
It's not ideal but I wouldn't say its impossible. My biggest issue with using these laptops for editing is rendering times. Something like a Mac Pro or even a Quad Core iMac is much more logical.
 
TH3D4RKKN1GH7 said:
It's not ideal but I wouldn't say its impossible. My biggest issue with using these laptops for editing is rendering times. Something like a Mac Pro or even a Quad Core iMac is much more logical.
Click to expand...

You're not kidding.. I decided to sell my Mac Pro this week and try to use just my 13" MBP as my main computer. Capture/editing was fine, but omg did it choke when it was time to export to MPG2 via compressor, and then mux in DVDSP when it was time to make the disc.. I honestly can't believe how slow it was.. painfully slow.. My MP is a quad core 2.66ghz, with 5GB RAM; the 13" MBP is a 2.26ghz with 4GB RAM. I was exporting from an external drive to an external drive, not using the internal.
 
I frequently Edit HD footage from a xacti HD2000 on my MBP 15" 2.8

To the guy who suggested hooking to an external monitor & keyboard kills the portability WTF?

Its not like the dude is going to edit walking all over the place. I edit with a 24" Cinema display keyboard and a Wacom, but love having the MBP as I can edit anywhere and also take my whole editing system in a backpack. OK I won't have the big screen if I am away from home but I can edit on the built in display without too much trouble.

If you get a firewire external and a 1080p or above monitor then you have an awesome and if needs be portable editing system.
 
Dale Campbell said:
I frequently Edit HD footage from a xacti HD2000 on my MBP 15" 2.8

To the guy who suggested hooking to an external monitor & keyboard kills the portability WTF?

Its not like the dude is going to edit walking all over the place. I edit with a 24" Cinema display keyboard and a Wacom, but love having the MBP as I can edit anywhere and also take my whole editing system in a backpack. OK I won't have the big screen if I am away from home but I can edit on the built in display without too much trouble.

If you get a firewire external and a 1080p or above monitor then you have an awesome and if needs be portable editing system.
Click to expand...


i'm thinking of buying an HD2000, would i be able to watch what i film on it on my macbook pro 2.33 intel core 2 duo without any problems? i also have a g5 2.5 dual?
 
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