Mac Mini for editing uncompressed full HD videos?

I'm thinking about buying the Mac Mini, but I don't know if it's capable or even powerful enough to edit uncompressed full HD videos. I'm looking to buy the i7 quad-core model. While upgrading the RAM myself. Or, is the i5 dual-core more than enough to edit uncompressed HD video, as well? If not, should I get the least expensive, 21.5-inch iMac instead? I will be using Final Cut Pro X to edit. Oh, and they're game play footage. Nothing like RED, which will need to have a super computer to edit.

The Mini doesn't have a real Video card, just Intel HD4000, but should work fine for "light" editing fine with the i7.
Looks like you'll not get any GPU acceration with Premiere Pro...
http://helpx.adobe.com/x-productkb/policy-pricing/system-requirements-premiere-p ro.html

Similar Messages

  • Mac mini for video / music production

    hello!
    i'm really into music and video, i currently do all my video work in premiere pro on the pc, and music is done in a combination of packages like reason, soundforge, etc.
    i'm really tempted by the offer of a mac mini for a few hundred pounds complete with garageband, imovie, etc. plus i can always get final cut on there too.
    I am serious about what i do and would want high quality results. what i'm asking is basically, consdiering the specs of the mac mini, (i'd have to go for the top of the range to get the dvd writer) will it be capable of performing well with video work and more importantly, will garageband let me do professional sounding sequencing and mixing?
    or am i kidding myself that the mini is capable? because if the option is buying a G5, i'll use the cash to upgrade my windows pc instead. it's all about tools for the job for me, i've got no brand loyalty.
    thanks for any advice / opinions!!
    -the swan

    There's no doubt that the mini CAN do what you want - it outperforms many Mac systems that have been sucessfully doing pro-level video and audio work for years. On the video side the system is very capable, and whether in iMovie or Final Cut, professional results are achievable. Indeed, being digital, there's no practical way to tell from the rsult whether it came off a mini or an old G3 iMac or a brand new G5 tower. The mini's only drawback is that rendering takes time. Less time than older systems, and more time than a G5 would. Some rendering (such as transitions or effects in iMovie) run in the background and don't prevent continuing work.
    On the audio side, I'll leave that to people who have a better knowledge of the application than I do as a rather 8th-rate amateur!
    As for the model you should buy, I would suggest NOT the $699 version with superdrive. I'd suggest you buy the $599 model, replace the 512Mb RAM with a 1Gb stick, and add an external burner. That way you would be getting enough memory to give the mini a solid performance in video work, and giving yourself the choice of DVD burner which not only would include possible dual layer devices (the superdrive is single) but also better burn speeds.

  • Which Mac mini for home server, Aperture & HTPC

    Hi,
    I'm buying a Mac mini for:
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    - Occasional HTPC usage (will be hooked to my TV via HDMI)
    - Occasional Aperture / iPhoto usage (minimal iMovie)
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    I was planing to go for Server  version (with bumped up RAM to 8GB), but now I read about video card and I'm not 100% anymore.
    I will NOT use it for 3D - gaming or similar tasks!
    Thak you all for help!
    Vasja

    I went for the non-server dual core i7 with AMD GPU and am very happy with it.  Do quite a bit of Aperture work and it never misses a beat (so far).  I'm not a fan of integrated Intel graphics and wouldn't trust it for HTPC duties.
    I'm not sure how many/much of the 'server' functionality you're going to be using as it sounds more like file transfer and other tasks that could be accomplished through normal Lion.
    Unless I'm missing something I assume the two hard drives in the Mini Server are just as much of a pain to replace as the one in the non-server Mini so I didn't see the point of having a two hard disc Mini.
    For your requirements I would definitely look at how much of the server functionality you really need to utilise, and if the answer is 'not much' I'd recommend the i5 or i7 non-server Mini with AMD GPU and some sort of NAS, plus a sensible offsite backup plan for your data.

  • Is 2 gig of ram enough for a 2011 2,3 ghz mac mini for doing some games? Like GTA IV

    Is the standard 2GB of ram enough for a 2011 2,3GHz Mac Mini for doing games? Like GTA IV.
    Or do I even have to go for the faster 2,5GHz model?

    I have a MacMini Late 2011 with 2.3 GHz I5 and 4GB RAM and I use it as media center... It's enough to play FullHD movies but it uses 256 on 512 MB of (shared)RAM... I don't think that you can use a mini for hard gaming...
    But AngryBirds Space on a 60" FullHD TV looks great
    edit:
    welcome to discussions... i'm a newbie too

  • Using Mac-Mini for movie / TV entertainment center

    Hi all,
    Can someone steer me into right direction? I'd like to use my MacMini as my main entertainment center to view my movies, music,TV, etc. and would like to know what will I need to make viewing pleasurable? I'd like to get a 42" display. I'd also like to add 5.1 digital surround sound. I'll also be using my Mac mini for web surfing and emails. Thanks for your help
    Web dude

    I just finished my setup, and I'm quite satisfied. I bought a Mac Mini to use as the media center and bought the Elgato EyeTV 250+ to get digital television over the antenna, which also allows you to use your mac as a DVR. I send the video to a Sony projector via DVI to HDMI cable, and the audio goes to my old surround sound receiver via the headphone jack to RCA. If you don't have a receiver yet, I'd get one that has optical audio input since the headphone jack on the mini also has optical out. I also use a firewire external hard drive to store video.
    I continue to use my DVD player to play DVD's instead of the mini, simply because if there are any scratches (especially on rentals) the mini doesn't work through them as well as my DVD player. I plan on ripping my collection to the external drive so that I don't have to deal with disks at all though.
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  • Using a Mac Mini for DSP

    Hello!
    I am wondering how many users are there out there using a Mac Mini for DSP to allow for more processing power.
    wondering what types of experiences people have had out there/how well the machines work together. and if you would or would not recommend doing so
    i would assume that it would help out with all of the processing and makes things sound better in the end?

    I don't do it on a regular basis, but I tested out using an intel mini as a node on a G5, and it worked fine. Probably added about an additional 25% of what the quad could do (so if the quad did 100 of a plugin, the mini added 25 more).

  • Can you use logic express on a mac mini for recording

    Can i use logic exprees on a mac mini for recording? Ive seen alot of 8,12, and 16 track recorders with a cd burner and it seems like a logical and more productive gues for me to buy a macmini for the same thing of recording and then I can uses logic express, a far better program for recording. can the mac mini handle the load of processing tracks and how much ram should I uses? thanks tim

    sorry, I'd like to butt in here:
    I would like to do the same thing, so I am curious about this forum and rather than starting a new one, can I get some advice on this possibility:
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    1.83GHz Intel Core Duo
    2GB 667 DDR2 SDRAM - 2x1GB
    80GB Serial ATA drive
    Glyph External HD 250 Gig
    Mackie Onyx 1620 w/Firewire
    Logic Pro 7.2
    thoughts?
    The most number of tracks I could see at once would be 16.
    Here is something I am most curious about...
    Firewire Hard drive
    Firewire Interface/mixer
    Firewire camera for FCP
    to much firewire?
    Please let me know if you have other thoughts aswell...
    Shuke
    thanks guys, this forum is fantastic!

  • I am considering purchasing the Mac mini for home studio audio production using Adobe Audition and a USB microphone.  Will the base mini model run these programs?

    I am considering purchasing the Mac mini for home studio audio production using Adobe Audition and a USB microphone.  Will the base mini model run these programs?

    The base mini has 4GB and a 5400 RPM hard drive. It is slow to start up and slow to launch large application such as Word (and I'd assume Adobe Audition) due to the slow drive. I've not used a new 4GB model, just the 8GB model, and the 8GB model (except for the slow drive) handles everything I've thrown at it, including running Photoshop, Word, Safari, and Mail at the same time but there is sometimes a delay switching between programs as the swapfile is updated. Overall I was not happy with the 5400 RPM drive (perhaps because I have MBA and iMac with Fusion drive) so I eventually upgraded it with an SSD. Now the mini is truly a warrior.

  • Using Mac mini for storage

    Hello Folks,
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    How would this work if at all possible?
    Alternative advice on EHD that I should rather use?
    Thanks!
    JDT

    Yes, and target disk mode, or firewire over IP or setting it up as a file server are all possibilities. But given there are faster more capacious hard drives for less, I would get that instead unless there is some feature of the Mac Mini that a simple hard drive can't do that you need. I.e. Front Row, Media Central or other software can be used to see your data on a TV. An external hard drive attached to your desktop Mac together with an AppleTV can do the same thing but the media formats are more limited.

  • Should I get 2.0 quad or 2.7 dual mac mini for photography?

    I am eyeing the new mac mini for my digital photography. I am a hobbiest, but shoot with a Canon EOS 5D Mark II in raw, so dealing with pretty big raw files. I am currently using both lightroom (on a windows box) and aperture to handle photos. I am thinking I will use aperture on the new mini. I understand that aperture can be gpu intensive, but raw processing is cpu intensive. My question, get the 2.0 quad with integrated graphics, or 2.7 with discreet graphics. Other pluses with the quad are the dual 7200 hdd's, vs single 5400 on the 2.7. Any thoughts, let me know. Thanks.

    I think Aperture takes advantage of hardware acceleration, so it will benefit from the discrete graphics on the 799 mini. LR does not. The quad core will benefit LR for sure. I found this an interesting read:
    http://www.computer-darkroom.com/blog/will-an-ssd-improve-adobe-lightroom-perfor mance/
    If only you could get the quad and the discrete graphics in the mini...

  • Mac Mini for audio recording using LOGIC X

    Has anyone had experience using the latest Mac mini for audio recording? I'm thinking of purchasing the 2.6GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7 16GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x8GB 1TB Serial ATA Drive @ 5400 rpm  model. I'll be using Logic X along with Reasons, Wave, UA plugins with a Apollo I/O  I'd appreciate any feedback and or suggestions.

    I'd work off of another hard drive as much as possible.  Install the applications to your boot drive, but keep your data on a separate external hard drive.  If you try to run OS, apps and big audio data off of that 5400, I foresee performance issues even with 16GB of RAM.  Also, don't forget a second external hard drive for your backups.

  • Can i use my mac mini for some users at the same time?

    can i use my mac mini for some users at the same time? i mean with their own screen, mouse, and keyboard

    If you're asking whether more than one user can use the computer at the same time with multiple displays, the answer is no. Other users can log in over a network with Screen Sharing, but each one will need his own computer (not necessarily a Mac.)

  • Mac mini for video editing

    I have just started to video edit and need a new machine. As of now I have a late 2006 black MacBook.  It is very slow and lags in iMovie. I am considering getting a ssd but I know that won't help entirely. I will use this machine to run final cut pro x or possible final cut 7. I will also be doing stuff involving special effects and what not. I am still new too this stuff. I love film and want to make a couple short films. I am going to college for history and communicatins and want to get my noise wet before hand. Would you consider a Mac mini good for a starter and something that will last a couple of years. Also what model. I want to put a ssd in it and want to know of toi is hard to do. I want quad core so I am looking into the server model. Is the server worth the money? Please don't tell me to get an iMac I don't like them. The glossy screen hurts my eyes and besides I have a grat set up. I have a 23" apple cinema display, keyboard, mouse, and magic trackpad. Or do you think I should get a 15" MBP.

    I went to the Apple Store last night after work to by the Mac Mini, but they wanted to charge me an extra £80 compared to the online price. I wanted the 1gb memory upgrade and apparently they was going to charge me for the 500mb they would have to take out to put the 1gb in.
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  • What is best mac mini for easy video editing? Late 2012 quad-core or late 2014 double core?

    Hi!
    I want to buy Mac mini and don't know which one is best for me. Please don't tell me to buy anything else, because it is my choise. I only need to know what is better:
    Upgradable late 2012 version with quad core i7, 2.3GHz, 8gb of RAM and Intel HD Graphics 4000
    or
    Non-upgradable late 2014 version with dual core i5, 2.6 GHz, 8 gb of RAM and Iris graphic card.
    I do short videos with a few effects, transactions, fades, titles, sometimes add CC. So which Mac mini do you recommend, guys?

    as a windows/premiere user i can only speak to the hardware. 8gb ram in either should be fine for short & simple projects. the i7 is alot better, however the hd graphics 4000 is not as good as the iris and may require running the mercury engine as software only. this means no using the video card to help premiere run faster. anything outside of premiere using the cpu for day to day tasks would also appreciate the i7.  depending on the model of the iris graphics, it may be a couple times faster than the hd 4000 and therefore might work in premiere. according to adobe it lists the Intel Iris Graphics 5100 and 5200 as working  System requirements | Adobe Premiere Pro  if you get into other adobe apps, the graphics wont matter as much and the i7 will run faster.  it is faster video vs faster cpu, which to pick...

  • Mac Mini for Parents (photo editing)

    Hello all and thank you in advance.
    My parents (for reference in their mid 60s) have finally decided to come to the mac universe.  They are asking for assistance in buying a computer. I was thinking of getting them a mac mini.
    In regards to their needs, they are pretty light computer users.  They like to facetime, make photo collages, web surf, email, etc.  Though I should mention my dad needs to have a virtual PC to log into the VA (was going to use VirtualBox). Also they would like to start doing some photo editing, note that they are very much an amateurs and will not being running super complicated workflows (he has a Nikon D700 (12MP full frame) with a ton of RAW files he has never yet bothered with). In terms of photo software, I was thinking either Aperture or the upcoming Photos app and possibly Pixelmator.
    Cost is a consideration, but if the performance increase is great enough it will also be weighted justly.
    I am debating between a 2014 version vs a 2012 that I would upgrade myself (add a SDD to make a fusion drive and max out the ram). If I did go with a 2012, would the cost difference to get a i7 quad core be worth it, or would the dual core i5 be more than sufficient?
    thanks!

    Various points:
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    4. In general, provided you have the RAM (8GB), any mini will do - assuming they have a decent monitor with the right connections. If they want to get serious with photos, they absolutely need a decent monitor.

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