Mac Pro for Video Editing?

So I have an awesome Mac Pro computer at work all well equiped with all the bells and wistles for video editing and now I'm looking to upgrade my machine at home which is currently just a macbook pro with a second monitor.
My one concern is that the Mac Pro has not been updated in sometime. Obviously the mac bro route would be best for me being in video production so I can easily upgrade component with the never ending technology that keeps changing. Now the concern about buying a Mac Pro right now is the possibilites of it being upgraded. Now I understand things are obviously always being upgraded and things are never up to date for very long. However I'm concerned that if in like 3-4 months they came out with something and changed the decision that I maybe screwed for upgrade components along the way.
Just thought I'd get some insight from some of you and what your suggestions maybe?
Thanks in advance.

budget, time-line, stomach for 1.0 revamp (every new model, 2012 could be 3x), lack of Rosetta of course.
production never = bleeding edge, go for a mature well tested proven design - expect to see firmware change, compatibility issues, and 3-4 months for a unified build and drivers rolled out, no?
a nice $2200 "hold me over the hump" for the next 6-12 months for now, W3690/X3690 DIY (the w3680 3.33 6-core is mere $620)
no easy answer that I see with all the products Intel has on their plates.

Similar Messages

IMac vs the new Mac Pro for video editing in FCPX?

Hi.
I am currently using a macbook air for all my editing and rendering of videos in FCPX. The editing process is reasonably smooth when dealing with shorter clips, but when I tried to edit multicam clips, things started to slow down. Also, the rendering and compression processes are tedious. I am planning to edit and process a much larger number of videos in the next years to come, so I have decided to do a serious upgrade of my system.
For the moment, I am torn between a maxed out iMac 27", which would be the cheapest alternative, and the 6 core Mac Pro or 4 core Mac Pro.
When I look at benchmarks of the new Mac Pro's in Geekbench, the iMac is never very far away in terms of performance. Does tests like this tell anything about how well the Mac Pro will perform in FCP? Does the hardware in the Mac Pro have features which makes it superior to the iMac, in other ways than for example the "pure power" of the CPU and GPU?
Christopher.

FCP X 10.1, Motion 5.1 Updates w/Dual GPU Support (new Mac Pros) (from Thursday)
Apple released Final Cut Pro X 10.1 Thursday with support for Dual GPUs in the new Mac Pro and more.
Long list in the Final Cut Pro X 10.1 Release Notes that also links to info on How to back up important FCP X 10.0.x files before updating. (Today's Apple docs listing also has more related to Final Cut Pro X 10.1.)
Also out today are Compressor 4.1 and Motion 5.1. Full release notes below but here's a clip from the App store Motion 5.1 changes:
Optimized playback and rendering using dual GPUs in the new Mac Pro
FxPlug 3 with custom plug-in interfaces and dual-GPU support
Faster project loading, especially for complex projects
Share directly to YouTube at 4K resolution
Spanish language localization
Dual FirePro Dxxx Rendering FCP-X
http://www.barefeats.com/tube05.html
Intel Xeon processors are designed to run 24/7 and stay cool and under load.
Mac Pro so far hold up strongly for years, easy to add and upgrade RAM and processor, and maybe, hopefully, even the twin GPUs. Thunderbolt2 for all your projects and storage as well.
6 or 8-cores is going to walk away from iMac which is breathing hard and not designed for constant heat. Haswell was designed to conserve and reduce.

IMac or Mac Pro for video editing?

Should I invest in a Mac Pro or an IMAC for my video editing needs?
I am using Final Cut Pro x (latest version) on my late 2009 model MacBook Pro (with upgrades)
the rendering is obviously slow and lags.
wondering if I should wait for the new Mac Pro (black cylinder) late 2013
Or will a IMAC top of the line (i7 chip, 16-32 ram 1tb HD) due???
Any advice ??

2-3 days a week.
4-5 hrs a day.
Future plans: 4-5 days
5-8 hrs a day
Budget $2,599-3,000

Which Macbook Pro for Video Editing

I'd like to buy a macbook pro for video editing on the go and with all the available features, I can't tell which is best.
I use final cut pro 7 and all footage is HD.
RAM?
7200rpm vs. 5400 ?
DUAL CORE vs. QUAD
INTEL GRAPHICS?
RETINA?
It's all very confusing, especially since I haven't looked into buying another mac since I purchased an iMac in '07 (which still rocks).

- Get either a 7200 or SSD internal drive
*You'll need an external hard drive that runs at least 7200rpm for your media (scratch disk)
- If you can affor it, go with a Quad Core
- For graphics, I believe all the new MacBook Pros come with Intel HD Graphics 4000
- As for CPU speed and RAM, they really go hand in hand with video editing.
- CPU speed doesn't help if you do not have sufficient RAM cover all of needed video/audio/effect editing and rendering processes.
- Slower CPU with more RAM means that procesess get covered by the additonal RAM, but will take longer to render and preview during editing.
*So when choosing CPU and RAM, do not sacrifice one for the other.
You can always upgrade RAM later if you can't afford it now.
- Retina? Doesn't make much of a difference for you. You're not editing 4k video so chose what you like better, or can afford.
Here a post that goes over some basics

What is the best macbook pro for video editing dslr footage?

what is the best macbook pro for video editing dslr footage?

It is the GPU that is important. All the CPU's will be fast enough. If you can affords it, the 15" with the NVIDIA GPU is the best.
Ciao.

Which 2013 Macbook Pro for Video Editing? "Help"

Hello, I am new to the Apple forums and this is my first post. I'm a 19 Years Student and I'm actually attending a cinematography and television school
I am looking for a Macbook Pro 15" for Video Editing, the sowftware I'm be using and studying are Avid Media Composer, Adobe AE and Premiere , and Photoshop.
My budget is around 2500 - 3000 Euros, And I've been reading every kind of post about the Macbook Retina 2012 and Macbook Pro 2012, but I Really don't know what to get, and if some video editors here can help me would be awesome! So, Let's getting started:
( Both models "Costs" the same, I don't mind paying 100-200 more Euros for a 2500 Macbook so i'd love to have to find the perfect balance with Performance/Design and everything else!)
I'd Like to get a Retina to be honest, but I know every kind of problem that the retina has at this moment: Expensive Repair Costs, High Framerate Drops, Choppy Interface, Burn-in screen and ghosting. I've seen by myself these errors and I don't know if there's a true fix, my opinion is that the GPU is not enough to use smootly the Retina Resolution, and I'm afraid that If I'll buy a macbook retina, the low and suffering GPU will decrease a lot the performance of these software when Rendering, Exporting, and when working with big files. ( I'm asking you if this is true, because I don't have a macbook so I couldn't test by myself how a rMBP works under pressure for atleast 3 hours with one of these softwares, my experience with retina is limited to an Apple Store Experience ). Happy that Final Cut X and CS6 Suit now Supports Retina anyway!
But, Since the retina has all these problems, I'll not be buying THIS version of the retina. I've readed every kind of rumor and even talked to some Genius in my Apple Stores, in June 2013 the New Haswell processor might come, I don't know exactly how it works but Intel says that the GPU performance might be increased by 20 - 40%. Do you think it will resolve all the problems that this rMBP has? In The apple store I've also heard that in June 2013 the Macbook Pro Line will be RETINA ONLY, and this is going to be a issue for me if the retina will still have all these little problems, because I don't want to buy a machine that makes me work bad
The Macbook Retina I'd Like to get by now is the 15" Quad 2.7Ghz 16 Ram 512 SSD = 2800 Euros
The Other Macbook is the Macbook PRO 2012, It still good looking, but placing inside it an SSD makes it so **** expensive, and apple won't put inside more than 8 GB of Ram inside of it, so, If I'd choose to buy one and buy the 16 GB of Ram from 3rd Part, and is aroudn 200 euros, Plus a 600 Euros Samsung 512 SSD since the Apple one costs 700 euro. And it doesn't come with retina display, remember, it's not needed I know and the screen is gorgeus, but I feel and fear that the Macbook Pro hardware is outdated, and might not catch the other in the next years ( I might be wrong, but I believe that Retina motherboard and Retina Chipset are more Fast/Good than the 2012 Macbook Pro, even if everything is glued in there and is not user-friendly )
If I buy the 2012 Macbook Pro By following Apple Products, I'd be spending 3000 Euros, and I found it too much since It doesn't come with retina, I might be wrong.
If I buy the 2012 Macbook Pro By placing the Ram and SSD by myself i'd be spending 2800 Euros, but 3rd part hardware is not under apple warranty.
If I buy the 2012 Macbook Pro WITHOUT SSD, but a 750 GB 7200 and by placing 8 GB Ram It's 2500 Euros.
So, here it is, I don't know what to do :\ Actually I don't like the retina and I hope that in June 2013 they'll change the Processor, Fix all the problems, and maybe add a solid Graphic Card, ( I doubt the'll change the graphic card, just the integrated intel graphic card might change, not the Nvidia for sure, because the rMBP thin )
But, If I wait June 2013 I Fear that the 2012 Macbook Pro will disappear, and if there's only a Not-So-Good Retina left, I'll really not know if to buy it or wait more monts.

Hello Andrea,
I edit video and am familiar with the MacBookPro models. Both the 15" MBP and the 15" rMBP will be fine for editing with Avid Media Composer, Adobe AE, Premiere and Photoshop. But there are some differences that may be important to you, depending on the external equipment you plan to use:
The regular MBP has the following i/o ports:
1 FW800 port
1 Thunderbolt port
2 USB3 ports
1 SDXC slot
Audio line-in port
Audio line-out/headphone port
The rBMP has the following i/o ports:
2 Thunderbolt ports (no native FW port)
2 USB3 ports
1 SDXC slot
Headphone output port (no audio-in)
HDMI output port (output, not input)
The lack of audio line-in port and native FW800 in the rMBP rule out that model as far as I am concerned.
Also, you need to be aware that you cannot upgrade the RAM memory after purchase. There are no RAM slots in the current MacBook Pro models (rMBP included), so no after-market upgrades are possible.
I would not recommend purchasing the very expensive SSD. I suggest configuring a MBP with the 750GB, 7200rpm SATA hard drive and invest the savings in external hard drives - you are going to need them for video work & backup.

External storage for early 08 mac pro for video storage and editing

Early 08 Mac Pro mod 3.1, 2x Intel 2.8 Quad Core Processors. Bus speed 1.6 Ghz. 10 GB DDR2 FB-Dimm 800 MHz. USB2, Firewire 400, 800. ATI Radeon HD 2600 PCIe 256 mbVRAM. Currently running OS 10.6.8.
I use machine for photo and video storage and editing. I tried using 2x 3TB and 2x1TB HDD internally ( 8 TB total). All are Seagate Barracuda SATA 7200. Experienced constant spinning wheel and lockup requiring manual shutdown. I had upgraded to Lion and to Maverick. Did not help so I did a clean install of primary with Snow Leopard and did not install past 10.6.8. Works now if I don’t exceed 3.5 TB internally. I also discovered that my Disk Permissions experienced voluminous corruption that could not be repaired if I installed Java for Mac OS 10.6 Update 17 as suggested each time I check for software updates.
I need to be able to have a total of about six TBs available in my system for storage and editing of video via Imovie. I don’t know the maximum of HDD storage that can be used in the four internal bays without causing lockup and corruption. If 3.5 TB is about the max, then I would like to have some ability to have external storage via firewire 800 if that would facility fast enough transfer for either video edition and or playback. I don’t know if thunderbolt can be installed via PCI card. I could add a SATA PCI card. However, I assume that would cause the same problem as experienced with 8 TBs installed internally in the four bays.
I would appreciate any suggestions.

olderguy1 wrote:
Do you mean 2x2TB and 2x3TB for a total internal capacity of 10TBs? Are you running Snow Leopard or something else? Actually, I took it to an authorized repair facility who ran checks and said nothing is wrong with the hardware.
Yes, I've got a total of to TB and I'm running Snow Leopard. If your hardware checks out, that pretty much makes it a software problem,,, reinstall the OS?
Does the High Point Technologies SATA3 PCIe connect to eternal drive enclosures or does it somehow connect to drives in some of your four internal bays?
Highpoint makes several RocketRAID 2700 series SATA3 controllers for Mac with external mini-SAS connectors, probably the cleanest/least expensive external hook-up. They also offer a combo internal/external board that (for marketing reasons) is listed as not working for internals with Mac Pro. I believe that this is due to pressure from Apple (who apparently does some business with High Point Tech) but to the best of my knowledge it will. Technically, the "not supported" statement is true since all the internal bays are tied to the motherboard SATA 2 controller, but this can be remedied with a special cable. HOWEVER... the boards are not bootable, so your system disk needs to be on the motherboard controller.
In truth, I bought one of their 8-port "internal only" boards designated for PC only and flashed it so the Mac Pro sees it as a 2722 board, so I have 8 internal ports. I'm not recommending you do the same unless you're pretty geeky, but the 2721 would give you half-and-half or the 2722 would give you 8 external with no mods to the board.

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.
So guess what, I didn't buy it. I've got the order placed online though. Can't wait for it to be delivered, should be about 7 days apparently.

Looking to buy a refurbished MacBook Pro for video editing. Need suggestions on what to look for.

Hey Everyone,
I already own a 2012 Mac Pro Desktop. I do some pretty advanced video editing on it, using FCPX and After Effects, with FXFactory and many other plugins.
I need to invest in a MacBook Pro so I can transfer my projects and edit at different locations.
I'm looking for a refurbished or used model to save some money where I can.
My budget is not too large, but I can probably manage $1,000 - $1,500
Can anyone suggest a good model (im guessing 2011-2012) and a good graphics card to look for, so it can handle this type of stuff. I will obviously max out my RAM also.
Thank you so much for all the suggestions in advance!!

Hey BobRzand OGELTHORPE
Thanks for your reply! BobRzJust looking to clarify.. When you said "Also, that's typically not on the 13" models but is on the 15" (or the 17..." were you referring to the onboard graphics memory? Should I stay away from a 13 inch? I'm going to follow OGELTHORP''sadvice and go for the 2011 model. The 13 inch are the most affordable and I've found ones with a 2.8GHz Processor that is right in my price range. Thanks again for your help guys!

How to optimize macbook pro for video editing and 3d animation

Hello Everybody - I've had a macbook pro for about 5 years now. It works great, havn't had any issues with it yet, but I've started doing more video editing and 3D animation work on it with FCP7 and Blender (usually using photoshop at the same time). Even when I quit all other programs, it's not really able to handle many things I try to do in Blender (for example cloth simulation) and I end up waiting a while with the wheel of death and then having to force quit. I'm not in the position to buy an entirely new macbook pro right now - so I'm wondering if there are any ways I can modify my current macbook to render it more able to handle the heavy processing load?
Here are its specs:
Processor - 2.53 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
Memory - 4 GB 1067 MHz DDR3
Graphics - NVIDIA GeForce 9400M 256 MB
Startup Disk Macintosh HD 320 GB
Software - Mac OS X Lion 10.7.5 (11G63b)
Greatful for any advise, thanks!

so I'm wondering if there are any ways I can modify my current macbook to render it more able to handle the heavy processing load?
Honestly, IMO, no. Even if you were to upgrade your HDD to a SSD, and increase your RAM, your CPU and GPU just aren't equipped for the tasks you ask of it (and there is no way to upgrade either your CPU or GPU). It would improve performance to upgrade these parts on your machine, no question, but ultimately, the processors would act as a bottleneck for performance/
The latest high end 15'' Macbook Pro vs your model:
The CPU is 7X faster in Geekbench 3 64bit multicore benchmarks
8X the dedicated VRAM as your GPU
Almost 2X the RAM speed for compatible DIMMS.
PCIe storage = 7X the RW speed of your HDD
From Geekbench:

New mac suggestions for video editing

I have been looking at getting a new mac to do mostly video editing and DVD authoring. I currently have a 450mhz g4 sawtooth that I thought about upgrading, but figured with the costs to just retire it. I have about a $1200 budget so I am unable to splurge and get a mac pro. Does anybody have any suggestions on what would work best for the money i.e. G5, G4 DP MDD, Macbook.
Thanks
Jamie

A refurbished MacBook Pro is a little more than your budget (at $1,449), but I think it's a better choice than the MacBook, as the MacBook has no expansion slot and an inferior graphics card.
I eliminate the iMac for the same reason - no expansion slots.
Basically, it's not recommended to capture video to your built-in drive, so you'd need to connect either a FireWire drive or an eSATA drive (with an ExpressCard adapter). However, your video camera is also likely to be FireWire, so you'd be trying to daisy chain a camera through the FireWire drive which is likely to cause performance problems. Even if the MacBook had two FireWire ports (the newest models do, a FW400 and a FW800, but the refurbs are the previous generation) they still share the same FireWire bus, so it's wise to get a FireWire ExpressCard adapter to add a second FireWire bus to the computer. That way, the drive can use one bus and the camera can use the other. Most cameras operate at 100 Mbps speeds, and slow everything else on the same bus down to those speeds as well. While DV is only 25 Mbps, you still have much less headroom to work with if the bus is operating a 100 Mbps speeds.
If you go with a MBP (or any Intel Mac) and you don't already have Final Cut Studio 5.1, you'll need to order the crossgrade. For users of Final Cut Studio 5, it's only a $49 upgrade, but you have to take advantage of it before the end of the year.
Adobe's CS suite will run slower on an Intel Mac than on a PPC due to having to run under Rosetta, but most of those apps should still be tolerable. I don't think I'd want to use After Effects under Rosetta, however.

Best MacBook Pro for video editing

Any suggestions - I would like to purchase a MacBook Pro but I want to some video editing with it -which is the one to look at? Thanks

The best one is the model without the word "Book" in it...
You don't say what you want to edit, but in general, editing is a horsepower game so you'll want a lot of RAM, a fast system disk/SSD and the fastest processors and video board available. Don't expect to do much on the battery because all those resources (plus your external media drives) will severely limit your battery life.
You may also want an external monitor and plan on either USB 3.0 or Thunderbolt external drives for media and scratch storage. The bigger, the better.
Hope this helps

Best Mac configuration for video editing

I am going to be getting into video editing at work and have about a $6000 budget for the software (Final Cut Studio) and the hardware to do the work on. I'll be doing short 3-5 minute videos as well as some lengthier 20-30 minute videos. Those of you who have a lot of experience working with FCS, what would be your recommendations for my Mac configuration? Memory, Drive, Storage, etc. Thanks!

Buy the best MacPro you can afford. Go for the best ATi video card that is an option, try to get at least a gig of RAM per CPU core, and don't skimp on your storage.
At that budget I'd say 8 core 2.4, 12gb RAM, 1tb boot drive, 2x 2tb editing drives, the ATi 5870, and a single 27 inch window. That comes in at about 5700 without FCS. The cuts I'd make if that's too much are 8gb RAM and 1 2tb drive for editing to get down to 5100, 6100 with FCS. If you can wait Final Cut X comes out this summer for about $300. We don't know a whole lot about it yet, but the better specs with FCX will be a lot faster than the lower specs with FCS. Whether or not you can wait is a question you need to answer for yourself.
If you don't need the monitor change your boot drive to the SSD.

I want to purchase a MacBook Pro for video editing as well as college.

I am interested in becoming a YouTuber, and I would be using Final Cut Pro. I need a MacBook Pro because I need it to be portable for school, but be powerful enough to handle video editing up to 1080p. Which one would you suggest?

A 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display with the best available processor, 16GB RAM, and as much storage as you think you'll need. Of course, this is just my personal recommendation.

2010 Mac Pro for video work: ATI 5770 or 5870? performance vs. fan noise

I'm planning to swap my old Mac Pro (2006 2 x 2.66 GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon, 4 GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT) for a 2010 Mac Pro model, because I need more speed for video (FCP 7, Color, Magic Bullet Looks) and photo (Lightroom 3, Photo Shop CS5) work. I'm thinking of the 6-Core (3.33 GHz) Mac Pro with 24 GB RAM and ATI Radeon 5870. I read a first review which said, that the 5870 is VERY noisy (fans), and now I'm little afraid. Is the 5870 really that loud, and will it bring clear advantages over the ATI 5770 (I dont't do 3D work yet)? I'd really appreciate your help. Thanks in advance.

I've got the 6-core w/5870 on order, so don't yet have it myself. I've been looking into this issue also, as noise is a concern.
This (http://techpowerup.com/reviews/ATI/RadeonHD5870/29.html) test showed me that the card is pretty typical at idle, but fairly loud when loaded.
I don't expect I'll be loading my video card much with the work that I do right now, so wasn't as concerned. In the end, I guess I'll find out when my new machine arrives.
Mark

Mac Pro for Video Editing?

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for