Upgrading my MBP for quicker video editing

[neekagain]

Hi,

I have a MBP from work that I use for video editing. I recently started filming with a Canon DSLR video and the HD footage seems to slow down my rendering time. I have little knowledge of computer hardware (what's a cache or a core?) and don't know if my MBP can perform better. I just would like my MBP to work as quick and smooth as possible.

I have 2 questions:

1. How do you rate my current setup and what possible hardware upgrades do you propose to improve it?
2. What's the ideal workflow for video editing on the MBP? I usually save all HD footage on the internal hard drive but wonder if it works quicker if I save all footage on an external drive?

Thanks for all suggestions,
Neek

Model Name: MacBook Pro (250GB hard drive)
Model Identifier: MacBookPro7,1
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2.4 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache: 3 MB
Memory: 4 GB
Bus Speed: 1.07 GHz

 

[Eddyisgreat]

Using the internal drive for video editing really is the bare minimum you can go, and your experience will be garbage especially when dealing with HD. The reason it's going to be slow with one disk (your internal one) is because the OS and all the associated background stuff on your machine will compete for disk I/O. Unless you have an SSD, this will be a waste.

For the cheapest solution that will yield decent results you will want to get two separate firewire 800 drives (build or buy your own), one for storing the media, another for using as a scratch disk (so your NLE has somewhere to save as you work). You can get into the more exotic solutions such as striped raid disks but this actually won't be necessary if you get a drive+enclosure that's over 1TB (for most disks) because recent most 1TB to 2TB disks can saturate the firewire 800 bus easily.

 

[alust2013]

Unfortunately, there really isn't anything you can do about rendering times. That's all about CPU, which isn't upgradeable without a new computer.

 

[neekagain]

:REUpgrading my MBP for quicker video editing

Thanks for the advice. I understand you suggest I connect 2 external harddrives to my MBP. Do you have any suggestions of good firewire 800 drives to buy?

Also, besides adding these external hard drives. Is there anything else that needs an upgrade when you look at my MBP hardware configuration?

Neek-

Using the internal drive for video editing really is the bare minimum you can go, and your experience will be garbage especially when dealing with HD. The reason it's going to be slow with one disk (your internal one) is because the OS and all the associated background stuff on your machine will compete for disk I/O. Unless you have an SSD, this will be a waste.

For the cheapest solution that will yield decent results you will want to get two separate firewire 800 drives (build or buy your own), one for storing the media, another for using as a scratch disk (so your NLE has somewhere to save as you work). You can get into the more exotic solutions such as striped raid disks but this actually won't be necessary if you get a drive+enclosure that's over 1TB (for most disks) because recent most 1TB to 2TB disks can saturate the firewire 800 bus easily.

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Hey, I'm really new to all this. Thanks for your reply. Are you saying that based on my hardware configuration there's nothing I can do to improve the speed/performance of my MBP when I use it for video editing?

Which Mac would you suggest for optimal use for video editing?

All suggestions are welcome.

Somebody else just suggested getting 2 external drives to alleviate the internal hard drive and improve performance.

Neek

Unfortunately, there really isn't anything you can do about rendering times. That's all about CPU, which isn't upgradeable without a new computer.

 

[Titanium81]

Upgrading your RAM to 8GB couldn't hurt.

Check out http://www.crucial.com/ I think you could get 8GB for under $50.

A pretty inexpensive upgrade.

 

[thekev]

You might tell us what software you're editing on. Using the internal drive as mentioned is going to be slow. I would glance at activity monitor during editing to see how much ram is being addressed.

 

[neekagain]

You might tell us what software you're editing on. Using the internal drive as mentioned is going to be slow. I would glance at activity monitor during editing to see how much ram is being addressed.

I'm using Imovie 09 but want to learn to use FCP. I see the Mac "wheel of death" to often and want to optimize my hardware.

Thanks
Neek

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