re video editing on macbookpro

[cwebb4]

few things id be very grateful if someone could shed some light-
im useing a 13 inch late 2011, planning on using fcpx and adobe cs5/5.5 or 6(will the early cs5 be less taxing on the cpu?)


1. because of the limitions of the processor will i be best served editing in pro res than h264(dslr files)?

2. im ordering 16gb ram, is corsairs(http://www.amazon.co.uk/Corsair-CMS...z-So-Dimm/dp/B006DI9PG8/ref=pd_cp_computers_2) as good as crucials(http://www.crucial.com/uk/store/mpartspecs.aspx?mtbpoid=5CE7428BA5CA7304) its 50% cheaper!!!!

3. not sure what to do regarding drives. pretty sure im gonna put a 120gb ssd in and then considering to put another ssd in the optical bay to use as the editing/scratch and to hold the media. or is it best to have a seperate drive to use as scratch/output/render to? maybe i could hook up a 3rd drive via thunderbolt(lacie little big for example) is this a decent set up as i really dont think i can afford a thunderbolt raid array.


thanks to anyone who comments....

 

[MacBookProzak]

I do all my editing in FCPX and use the 15' MacBookPro that you see in my signature for video editing about 75% of the time over any given week. This MBP stays on for 13 to 16 hours every day. I did replace the internal HD with a Momentus XT Hybrid drive though. When I originally got this MBP it had the 8GB of ram in it, which was so-so for editing, and when I saw Corsair 16GB of ram go down to $200, I put that in and it flys even better. The Corsair ram is even cheaper now around a $100, so that is a no brainer to update the ram.

I have been running this ram since November 2011 day in and day out with no issues, so there is nothing wrong with this ram at all.

I do the editing off an external Thunderbolt drive from LaCie. If you are doing any serious video editing get this external drive to put your footage on and output your project to. So between getting 16GB of ram in your machine and getting this Thunderbolt drive, these 2 upgrades will make your editing life alot better and I am speaking from experience and real world application.

It is best to have a separate scratch / output / render drive and this Thunderbolt drive works like a charm. If you are doing any serious day in and day out editing, a Thunderbolt external is a must.


When the refresh comes out I do plan to upgrade to that and hopefully I will get a 500GB SSD in it.

 

[cwebb4]

hi, thanks for your response. will definately grab an ssd and the 16 gb of ram. could you tell me which lacie you went for and what speeds you are getting, alot of them seem to be 5400rpm, i wasnt sure this was adequate for hd editing as it would be limiting the thunderbolt speed? if it is, could i not just get a small ssd for systems/apps and put my current basic hdd into the optical bay and use that as it is 5400rpm.

or am i misunderstanding things?

is your drive in RAID?

 

[MacBookProzak]

I have this Lacie Little Big Disk in 1TB with 7200rpm
http://www.lacie.com/products/product.htm?id=10549

I use this drive all day long and 1 week ago took it with me on location where I was doing video editing in a hotel room and thus I was very glad about the small size of this drive.

 

[cwebb4]

thanks.


anyone else?

 

[Alchemyy]

thanks.


anyone else?

Yep, running an early 2011 15" 2.2 i7 with 8gb ram. Have a 256gb SSD in the main bay and 1tb WD Blue in the optical bay.

I run PP CS6 and have my software on my SSD, with media/scratch/export on my 1tb drive. This is essentially the same as what the poster above me has except that he has a thunderbolt external while I have the second internal drive.

So regarding drives, if you don't use your DVD drive much you could just put a second drive in there instead of buying a Thunderbolt external. I only use a DVD drive about 5-10 times a year so I just keep an external around.

I have 16gb of Corsair ram on the way too as its only $100 or so from Amazon.

I have been considering the Retina Macbook Pro and if I were to get one I would have to get a thunderbolt external (due to only having 1 internal drive). But I'm not sure how the display would look with PS and LR, as I do a lot of serious photo editing.

 

[Mac-Tech]

thanks.


anyone else?

Check this out:

http://external-hard-drive-review.toptenreviews.com/

 

[Santabean2000]

Yep, running an early 2011 15" 2.2 i7 with 8gb ram. Have a 256gb SSD in the main bay and 1tb WD Blue in the optical bay.

I run PP CS6 and have my software on my SSD, with media/scratch/export on my 1tb drive. This is essentially the same as what the poster above me has except that he has a thunderbolt external while I have the second internal drive.

So regarding drives, if you don't use your DVD drive much you could just put a second drive in there instead of buying a Thunderbolt external. I only use a DVD drive about 5-10 times a year so I just keep an external around.

I have 16gb of Corsair ram on the way too as its only $100 or so from Amazon.

I have been considering the Retina Macbook Pro and if I were to get one I would have to get a thunderbolt external (due to only having 1 internal drive). But I'm not sure how the display would look with PS and LR, as I do a lot of serious photo editing.

This is a solid way to go. Thunderbolt drives are still mega expensive, and really you need an arrar or daisy chain to make them worthwhile. And that's expensive.

The internal SATA connection repurposed from the ODD bay for a 7200rpm drive is a good option. Greater storage capacity for video files and no messy externals to have to worry about.