Video Editing on the new Macbook Advice?

[jcjcjc87]

I am planning on buying a MacBook soon...most likely the White 2.0Ghz version - i would have been happy with the 1.83 but i need a superdrive not combo.

I am mainly going to use it for Video Capturing using iMovie, iDVD and a minor use of FCP. I will be editing DV but not HD DV. I do not want to buy a MacBook Pro as i already have a 15.4" (LG) notebook and want something more portable so i can also take it to Uni.

Just wondering whether i should capture to the laptop Hard Disk (5400rpm) or an external HDD connected via USB2 (7200rpm) - i have heard that this can cause issues in terms of video capturing.



Hope someone can help

Cheers

 

[MovieCutter]

EDIT: Final Cut Pro apparantley will install, but I wouldn't run it if you want to do anything beyond very simple and basic cutting, in which case you'd want to use iMovie anyway. And unless you use an external screen, FCP is gonna be awfully cramped on there.

 

[jcjcjc87]

Thats where i am confused?!?

On other threads people are saying it will definitely work.
Others say it will but Motion wont.
And then others like yourself simply say it wont work.

I dont know who to believe.

I dont mind only being able to use iMovie (if thats the case) just wondering what the overall video quality is like - i.e Dropped frames, Lip-Sinc, and general video quality?

Cheers

 

[Kalns]

I THINK you need a dedicated graphics card for full REALTIME effects. If you don't mind some rendering (which I don't) it shouldn't be a problem at all. I'll be able to let you know more in a couple days when mine arrives.

 

[MovieCutter]

Dropped frames, Lip-Sinc, and general video quality will be fine...if you can get it installed. You may be able to hack the software to allow you to install it, but I'm not sure. Based on Apple's tech specs on FCP, it doesn't list the Mac Mini, which is basically a MacBook without a screen, but if other people have it installed on their MacBooks, you shouldn't have a problem.

 

[jcjcjc87]

Dropped frames, Lip-Sinc, and general video quality will be fine...if you can get it installed. You may be able to hack the software to allow you to install it, but I'm not sure. Based on Apple's tech specs on FCP, it doesn't list the Mac Mini, which is basically a MacBook without a screen, but if other people have it installed on their MacBooks, you shouldn't have a problem.

I was actually referring to iMovie as an editing program. I dont need anything to advanced than it i will most likely use it but wondering what people think of the program in terms of quality?

Also any video editing would be done on an external 20" Widescreen...coz 13" is a little cramped

 

[MovieCutter]

I was actually referring to iMovie as an editing program. I dont need anything to advanced than it si i would moat likely use it but wondering what people think of the program in terms of quality?

Also any video editing would be done on an external 20" Widescreen...coz 13" is a little cramped

DV is DV. It's pretty much the same no matter what you're editing on. Image quality doesn't differ noticeably between NLEs (Non-linear editors).

 

[OldCorpse]

I'm using an iBook (see sig) with an external 7500RMP Seagate, and FCP 4.5 right now to edit a dv project. I captured to the external. No problems so far (been editing for about a week).

 

[MRU]

MovieCutter, that's simply not true.

As long as your capturing your DV to an external Firewire 7200rpm drive your machine 'MacBook' will be more than capable of running Final Cut Studio.

We have a dualcore Mini 1.66, with only 1gb 2x512mb Ram, with FCP Studio installed, and EVERYTHING except motion (Final Cut, Soundtrack, Livetype, DVDStudio Pro etc..) works FLAWLESSLY.

All footage is captured to an external Lacie. There are NO DROPPED FRAMES.

Final Cut isnt the hog Apple or others would have you believe. Yes you will have to wait longer for renders, but thats all.

In fact it works as well as our Powermac G5 1.8 with 3gb ram for basic editing. Only time I notice the real difference is renders and motion....

THERE ARE NO PROBLEMS RUNNING FINAL CUT!!!! STOP THE ELITIST PROPAGANDA.

MacBook & Mac Mini will run FCP Perfectly well.......

 

[4God]

Well, Final Cut Express HD was just announced as a Universal Binary, so that should work fine.

 

[4God]

I was actually referring to iMovie as an editing program. I dont need anything to advanced than it i will most likely use it but wondering what people think of the program in terms of quality?

Also any video editing would be done on an external 20" Widescreen...coz 13" is a little cramped

Just make sure to max out the RAM.

 

[MRU]

Just make sure to max out the RAM.

Agreed. More ram the better - but that applies to everything...

I can capture DV on Imovie on a G4 800mhz ibook without problems. If you have trouble with a 2GHz Core Duo I'll be Astonished....

Just Hardware Snobbery going on, with missinformation.

iMovie, FC Express and FC Studio (apart from motion2) Will all work flawlessly.

 

[Rower_CPU]

According to an Apple Systems Engineer I know, Final Cut Studio is not supported on any machine with integrated graphics - the minimum requirements specify a dedicated video card.

What "supported" means in this case is unclear. Apparently you can install it fine, but how the apps will behave is uncertain until people do some tests.

 

[OutThere]

I don't know wtf people are talking about here...

Final Cut Pro and all associated apps except Motion will run gorgeously. Super-awesomely.

Don't listen to the knuckleheads.

 

[MovieCutter]

MovieCutter, that's simply not true.

As long as your capturing your DV to an external Firewire 7200rpm drive your machine 'MacBook' will be more than capable of running Final Cut Studio.

We have a dualcore Mini 1.66, with only 1gb 2x512mb Ram, with FCP Studio installed, and EVERYTHING except motion (Final Cut, Soundtrack, Livetype, DVDStudio Pro etc..) works FLAWLESSLY.

All footage is captured to an external Lacie. There are NO DROPPED FRAMES.

Final Cut isnt the hog Apple or others would have you believe. Yes you will have to wait longer for renders, but thats all.

In fact it works as well as our Powermac G5 1.8 with 3gb ram for basic editing. Only time I notice the real difference is renders and motion....

THERE ARE NO PROBLEMS RUNNING FINAL CUT!!!! STOP THE ELITIST PROPAGANDA.

MacBook & Mac Mini will run FCP Perfectly well.......

Dude, back off. I already said it would work fine for the basics. Compositing with filters, keyframe animation, and actual pro editing on the other hand, that's another matter due to some realtime effects and GPU requirements. If your read my posts, you would also notice that I too recommended an external FW hard drive and that dropped frames in that case wouldn't be an issue. You're right, they will work perfectly well as long as your aren't cutting advanced stuff. And it's not elitist propaganda, it's experience. I've been a FCP Editor since the day it came out with 10 years experience in video editing, I'd like to think I know a bit about what I'm talking about. Maybe I'm so used to the professional environment that I'm talking over some people's heads for their needs. But for what this guy is doing, it's adequate. However, future versions of FCS apps will have features that take more advantage of GPU tasks, in which case your computer that is fine now, won't be fine then. Take a chill pill man.

 

[MRU]

Dude, back off. I already said it would work fine for the basics. Compositing with filters, keyframe animation, and actual pro editing on the other hand, that's another matter due to some realtime effects and GPU requirements. If your read my posts, you would also notice that I too recommended an external FW hard drive and that dropped frames in that case wouldn't be an issue. You're right, they will work perfectly well as long as your aren't cutting advanced stuff. And it's not elitist propaganda, it's experience. I've been a FCP Editor since the day it came out with 10 years experience in video editing, I'd like to think I know a bit about what I'm talking about. Maybe I'm so used to the professional environment that I'm talking over some people's heads for their needs. But for what this guy is doing, it's adequate. However, future versions of FCS apps will have features that take more advantage of GPU tasks, in which case your computer that is fine now, won't be fine then. Take a chill pill man.

ohh grab your handbag ladies

I wasnt being agressive, but telling him that he will get drop frames was a bit missleading.

I have a BA Hons Degree in Media Production since 1998 - specialising in Editing with both Avid & Final Cut so yes I do know what i'm talking about too

-------
Confirmation on Macbook running FCS perfectly

http://xlr8yourmac.com/

 

[MovieCutter]

ohh grab your handbag ladies

I wasnt being agressive, but telling him that he will get drop frames was a bit missleading.

I have a BA Hons Degree in Media Production since 1998 - specialising in Editing with both Avid & Final Cut so yes I do know what i'm talking about too

-------
Confirmation on Macbook running FCS perfectly

http://xlr8yourmac.com/

Yay for you. When did I say you'd get dropped frames?

 

[alon99]

MacRumorUser - thanks for reporting based on your actual experience, not just speculation. There are so many people who are saying "NO WAY, IT WON'T WORK!!" with no actual proof, including the guy I spoke with at the Apple store yesterday. He just laughed at me and acted like I was crazy for wanting to run a Pro app on the Macbook.

Did you have to pull any sort of hack / workaround to install Final Cut Pro? I've read about the trick using a program called Pacifist.

Also, what is it like to use Motion? Does it not even load or install? Is it just very slow? Could you leave something rendering all night, or is it completely locked out?

Thanks!

 

[MRU]

Dropped frames, Lip-Sinc, and general video quality will be fine...if you can get it installed.

LOL! Sorry I bow to you. I read your original post wrong way round and I wasnt being agressive, yet you seem to be - but then if I'd quoted you wrong that explains it, so I'm sorry....

 

[Pistol Pete]

MovieCutter, that's simply not true.

As long as your capturing your DV to an external Firewire 7200rpm drive your machine 'MacBook' will be more than capable of running Final Cut Studio.

We have a dualcore Mini 1.66, with only 1gb 2x512mb Ram, with FCP Studio installed, and EVERYTHING except motion (Final Cut, Soundtrack, Livetype, DVDStudio Pro etc..) works FLAWLESSLY.

All footage is captured to an external Lacie. There are NO DROPPED FRAMES.

Final Cut isnt the hog Apple or others would have you believe. Yes you will have to wait longer for renders, but thats all.

In fact it works as well as our Powermac G5 1.8 with 3gb ram for basic editing. Only time I notice the real difference is renders and motion....

THERE ARE NO PROBLEMS RUNNING FINAL CUT!!!! STOP THE ELITIST PROPAGANDA.

MacBook & Mac Mini will run FCP Perfectly well.......

but not aperture?

 

[MRU]

but not aperture?

You can run aperture. There's an install hack which basically bypasses the system requirement on install.

It apparently runs grand too, as long as you have plenty of ram of course.


For tips and latest help try

www.xlr8yourmac.com it's a very useful source...

 

[LethalWolfe]

I think some of the confusion stems from the fact that Apple only provides "general" system requirements covering the entire suite. AFAIK they don't provide program specifc system requirements anymore. Technically speaking my machine doesn't meet the FCS requirements, but that's only 'cause my GFX card isn't supported by Motion. So I can't run Motion, but everything else runs fine.


Lethal

 

[shazammy]

Speaking of FCP and iMovie and Macs...

I have an iMac G5 2.0 ghz with 2.0 gigs of RAM that I bought last August (boy, it's a dinosaur now, right?). I edit on FCP (version 4.5), but before I got that program, I imported all of my footage into iMovie from the camera. I had to give the original tapes to someone in New York (I'm in LA) and won't see them again. What I've found is that if you import iMovie .dv files into FCP, they don't play well. They drop frames, and eventually freeze, while the audio continues to play. So, what I had to do to get around this (and this was a real pain) was "Export to Camera" from iMovie back onto the camera (like it was being shot again), and then reimport it BACK into FCP. What I want to know is, has that been fixed in subsequent versions of FCP? It was a real problem for me, and given that they are both Apple software, I thought they would play well together. For the record, I love the way iMovie imports video and slices it all up by your start/stop times. I haven't been able to get FCP (at least my version) to do that.

 

[jcjcjc87]

Not Another FCP Debate

Hey Guys,

I didnt want to turn this into another Running FCP or not Debate...there are already heaps of those.

Put it this way when i get my Mac i will try FCP if it works...cool if it doesnt then its not the end of the world.

Back to my first post, not sure whether i should capture video straight to the laptop hard disk (5400rpm) or to an external HDD (7200rpm).

Thanks guys for your help

 

[LethalWolfe]

Hey Guys,

I didnt want to turn this into another Running FCP or not Debate...there are already heaps of those.

Put it this way when i get my Mac i will try FCP if it works...cool if it doesnt then its not the end of the world.

Back to my first post, not sure whether i should capture video straight to the laptop hard disk (5400rpm) or to an external HDD (7200rpm).

Thanks guys for your help

Everything but Motion should w/o a hitch. I'd capture to an external HDD if possible. If you get errors/dropped frames then capture to the internal and move it over by hand.


Lethal