Macbook Pro for major video editing

Hey guys. I'm hoping you can help me out. I'm looking to invest into a notebook because im having a baby and she will be taking my office space where I currently have my 2011 27in I5 imac set up. I do some pretty major video editing in Final cut pro x and if i get graphics intensive ( Plugins, filters, effects etc) I get lag. I'm thinking of getting the 15in Retina MBP 2.7GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost up to 3.7GHz and 16GB of ram.. What I need to know is will this machine be a great machine to do motion graphics and all my editing as a main system. I dont want to upgrade for years. I have a 24 in external monitor that i'd use along side it. But what im hoping for is a much smoother user experence while editing my videos other than the lag i get when I get intensive on the graphics currently. I need a definitave answer to this question to give me peace of mind with such a large purchase. Thanks in advance.

If your going to use a laptop, your choosing the right one, get it built out with all the top shelf options. Large drive, max Apple RAM, top of the line everything. Of course you realize, by te time you get it out of the box, it will be obsolete. (But that's true with any electronics;) Congrats on your child.

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Macbook Pro for HD video -memory and external hard drive questions?

Hi!
I am a Macbook user, but I plan to purchase a Macbook Pro since I am now doing a lot of HD (not HDV) video editing. I live outside of the U.S. and cannot call the Apple Store, so was wondering if anyone can provide advice on the forum.
I'm interested in either the 15-inch: 2.53GHz or 15-inch: 2.66GHz. is there a big difference in speed between these?
-Is the 4GB memory the MBP comes with enough for HD video editing purposes, or would I opt for the 8GB? (here prices becomes a bit of an issue)
- Is the 500GB Serial ATA Drive @ 5400 rpm sufficient or would I upgrade to the 500GB Serial ATA Drive @ 7200 rpm [Add $50.00]
-I want to purchase an external firewire drive to store my media on-does anyone know if the G-Raid 500 would be good? Portability is a big issue for me since I travel very often.
Thank you all so much for your help!!

I looked at the 15inch and 17inch but chose the 17inch - and I am a filmmaker. I too travel on location extensively and usually carry a 15inch due to size-weight - but the 17inch is much better for HD. The video card and screen resolution in the 17inch is much better than than the 15inch but what clinched it for me was the 17inch has a CF reader and the 15inch only has a small SD card reader.
Most video HD cams are shooting straight to CF cards now.
I also upgraded to the 7200 rpm drive - a wise choice for $50 extra.
Yes 4G ram will run Final Cut OK - but if you go from FCP to motion a lot then you will need 8G.

What 2T external HD should I buy for my macbook pro for photos, videos and music storage?

Hello friends!!
What 2T external HD should I buy for my macbook pro for photo, music and videos storage?
Thank U!!

My personal preference is for the OW, http://www.macsales.com Mercury Elite Pro quad-interface drive...have four of them of the 2 TB size and they are very good performers. The quad-interface allows you a choice of ways to connect, eSata, Firewire 800/400, USB which is very convenient. OWC is a Mac specialist so everything has been tested and guaranteed to be Mac compatible.

Hardware to attach to Macbook pro for live video stream?

Thinking of buying a Macbook Pro for video streaming of live events and conferences we do.
My question is what video USB add-ons are compatible with Flash Media Live Encoder? I can't find a list anywhere. Are there any cheap USB video input devices that will work with the software for live streaming?
Thanks

I think anything with a properly installed driver for your OS will for in the encoder, the isight on my macbook pro works fine, as well do 2 other cheap webcams on windows.
My suggestion is to purchase a cam from a retailer that offers refunds for pretty much any reason, and you'll be OK and find something on the first try, and if not try again.

Recommended specs for MacBook Pro - beginner photo/video editing purposes

I'm shopping for my first Mac and was hoping to get some advice on the specs I would want for running software to edit photos and video. I'm a beginner/non-professional but hoping to develop some skills.
I was thinking 8 GB RAM, a mid-sized solid state drive, and a quad core i5 or i7 processor?
Any advice would be much appreciated. Thank you!

I think you've nailed them already. Buy and enjoy.

Questions about buying a new Mac Pro for 4k video editing.

Hi everyone,
I'm currently looking into buying a new mac pro and I have a few questions. I'm a filmmaker/freelance editor looking to get a system that can handle any/at least most 4k formats that I might throw at it, and will hopefully last me around 7 years or so, like my last mac pro has. I've saved up about $5,300 and am becoming more obsessed with getting it asap, but am willing to wait a bit and save up more if necessary. I also play the occasional elder scrolls or civilization game, and might run windows on the new system as well. So here are my questions:
1. I've read rumors that a newer build could be released this year, with newer processors and graphics cards. Is there anything to point to when? I tend to buy things a month before a newer version is released, and I'd like to prevent myself from doing it this time around..
Here's the Build I'm looking at:
6 core
2 D700s
base ram to be upgraded myself to 32Gb (2x16Gb cards leaving 2 slots empty to expand to 64Gb later)
512Gb-1Tb internal hd
2. Should I be considering the 8 core? I'm not too excited about the additional $1500, but I want a system that will last.
3. Is getting the two 16Gb chips of ram and leaving two slots empty a bad idea?
4. I currently work with FCP studio 2 and love it. Not sure whether to go with FCP X, or adobe. Any thoughts?
5. I'm not finding many deals for cheaper ram and hard drives. OWC's prices seem to be comparable to Mac's. I want to do the ram so I have room to upgrade to 64Gb later, but are there any hard drives out there that would make it worth upgrading it myself?
I appreciate any insights you might have. I plan on getting a decent raid and 4k monitor in the next year or so, but for now just want a base system that will keep me editing and will be ready for 4k when I take that next step.

The late 2013 Mc Pro uses Intel Xeon ECC processors (error correction), and as far as I know Intel has not announced any newer Intel Xeon processors than those in the late 2013 Mac Pro. I would not expect to see an update to the 2013 Mac Pro until the end of 2015 at the earliest and probably later than that.
If time is not an issue, then you should be quite happy with the 6 core 2013 Mac Pro. It will do an excellent job with 4K video footage. And, yes, I would suggest getting the best raid system you can afford. That is actually more important than processor speed since I/O is frequently the bottleneck when doing multi camera video or 4K video.
I have the latest version of Adobe's Premiere Pro 2014 CC installed on my late 2013 Mac Pro and i have used it a bit without problems. However, I find it much much slower to edit with than FCP X. Also be advised that if you Google you will find several individuals on the Adobe Forums who purchased the late 2013 Mac Pro and have not been able to use it with Premiere Pro CC because of either a hardware incompatibility or software issues between Premiere Pro CC and BMD's Resolve. It is quite possible that I have not experienced these problems because I have not made very demanding projects with Premiere Pro CC on my 2013 Mac Pro.
I strongly recommend FCP X. Apple released FCP X before it was ready, and many early users were unwilling to take the time to learn how to use this very different NLE which is not track based. Apple has over the last 3 years since FCP X was released, issued more than 10 updates (all free), and the program is stable and blazingly fast. I urge you to check out the FCP X training offered by Ripple Training and/or Larry Jordan. Both are inexpensive, and worth every cent. Watch their training videos and you will be up to speed in FCP X in no time at all, and you will wish you had switched a long time ago.
If you can afford the 1 TB of PCie internal flash storage on your Mac Pro, then by all means get it. For me 1TB is well worth the cost.
As far as editing 4K video, the format of the video will be important to the ease of editing. For example, I am able to edit in its native format (XVAC S) several streams of 4K video form my Sony FDR-AX100 with no problems. If I were editing Sony's XVAC format used in their professional 4K cameras, that might pose a problem that would require transcoding. Similarly for other 4K formats. XVAC S is an easy format to edit natively because it is essentially a high bit rate h.264 format.
Best of luck on whatever you decide to do, and happy editing.
Tom

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

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:

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.

Using SSD for FCP Video Editing on Macbook Pro

Hi,
I am looking to get a Macbook Pro 15" which i will be using for some video editing related work (definitely HD, might include some 3K footage at times). I was earlier considering getting a 512GB solid state drive for some fast performance, but I have been hearing that they are not great for video editing and that video editing will suck through the lifetime of the SSD, I could use some clarity or confirmation on the subject. Ideally, I would love to have a solid state drive in my laptop for just the overall performance boost and I love the idea of a less heating and power consuming drive, however I do know, that I will be doing video editing related work with large files frequently and would like my drive to last for at least 3 years. Should I expect that from a SSD?
Will it be wise to get a SSD in my case? I'll appreciate your suggestions. The more you can explain your reasoning, the better.

I also read somewhere that the old SSDs might have been a bit problematic but the new ones have 'load balancing' which makes sure you don't use the same bits of electronics all the time and spreads the memory around. Does this mean that video editing playback will be good? Or any improvements of SSD lifespan?

How to download a DVD movie into Premiere Elements 12 using my MacBook Pro so I can edit the video?

How to download a DVD movie into Premiere Elements 12 using my MacBook Pro so I can edit the video?

Bob Perez
Please review and consider the following which works for me in Premiere Elements 12 Window 64 bit.
From what you wrote, I suspect that you have DVD-VIDEO widescreen on DVD disc. For now I will assume that you are working in a NTSC setup.
Premiere Elements DVD-VIDEO on DVD disc is characterized as interlaced video with field order lower (bottom) field first. I am not sure how your DVD-VIDEO on DVD was produced - upper (top) field first or lower (bottom) field first. We may have to apply Field Option Reverse Field Dominance at the Timeline level, but for now let us put that aside for a later time.
Insert your DVD disc in the DVD burner tray.
Open Premiere Elements to the Expert workspace and set the project preset manually for NTSC DV Widescreen. How to details for manual project preset setting are found
ATR Premiere Elements Troubleshooting: PE11: Accuracy of Automatic Project Preset (New Project Dialog) Setting
Then, Add Media/DVD camera or Computer Drive/Video Importer.
The video files from the DVD-VIDEO will be the larger size files and will probably start with VTS_01_1.VOB.
In the Video Importer designate the save location for video file VOB(s) and select Add to Timeline and hit Get Media
to put the files on the Timeline for editing.
If you have more than one DVD disc to "rip", please set up the Video Importer Save In location so that the save in location has a folder for each disc. The fact that all DVDs have the same VTS_01_1.VOB name etc will cause problems if you saved all to the same place as individual files.
Determine how that works for you in your Mac computer environment. We will be watching for your progress.
Others may tell you that you need to convert the VOB to another format before import into Premiere Elements. That is no necessary for Premiere Elements.
Thank you.
ATR

Best macbook pro for gopro editing

hi. i am new to the editing world and would like to get a macbook pro, i would use it for homevideo editing from a gopro, holding music and possibly watching the odd movie on it.
i have no clue on what sort of macbook pro id need but id like a retina display? what are the pros and cons of retina? and i would also like the macbook pro to not be slow or lag or crash while im edititng.
so if someone out there could write back with exact specifications to what they think would be the best macbook pro for me that would be great.
thanks
Ross

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

Considering dumping my iMac for a PC used for DSLR video editing on Premiere CS6. Help!

So I edit mostly 1080p DSLR footage taken from my canon T3i camera. I purchased a 2011 (the latest model) iMac a little over a year ago, upgraded the RAM to 12GB and it has worked reasonably well. I purchased the base model for $1200 which has a quad core i5 processor, 512mb of video ram, and a measly 500gb hard drive. The past couple of days I have come to the realization that I only use Adobe Programs for graphically intensive work (premiere, after effects, etc). I originally bought my iMac for final cut, but FCPX SUCKS and I switched to Premiere CS6 which works like a dream. Anyways, I'm a senior in high school and do lots of video editing (going to major in video production in college). I'm likely going to differ college for a year and continue my video production business (pretty informal) as well as video production internships at a couple companies (so don't suggest that I get a laptop for portability, not an issue). I just shot an entire wedding with 2 DSLR's and the footage takes up over 20% of my hard drive which is unacceptable. This is very troublesome for me and has been clogging up my computer considerably. I have realized it would make a lot of sense to sell my iMac and purchase a PC that's not only faster, but has much more space. I was ideally looking to sell my iMac for $1000, and from that get a better and faster PC setup for my video editing. $200 would be allocated for a 24" 1080p LED 5ms Asus monitor (from newegg) which would leave $800 remaining for the PC. Ideally it'd be nice to have a little cash left over. Some things that sound appealing to me are: an intel i7 quad core proccessor at least 3.0+ Ghz, 16 GB of ram (maybe 8 to start), 1 GB of video RAM (here is where I'm stuck, my Imac had a Radeon 512mb video card in it, but I've heard premiere runs especially well with nVidia CUDA cards? Don't really know too much about this stuff.) I have no idea what type of card to get, and if I would even see a performance upgrade from my iMac. For storage I'd like at least 2TB of space, should I get two seperate 1 TB drives? One for boot and software and another for video files? Anyways, I assume I can benefit from selling my 2011 i5 iMac to get a faster PC equivalent at a lower price since I mainly edit videos (which is pretty graphically intense) from an HD DSLR camera. I've noticed premiere rendering times on my mac are starting to get pretty slow these days. Ideally it'd be nice to buy a desktop (already assembled) maybe from HP for around $600 (not including the monitor). I'm not completely against building a PC from parts (since I know a friend who can do it for me) I just need help figuring out WHAT exactly it is that I need and would benefit from.

Buy a Desktop Video Editing PC
http://www.adkvideoediting.com/
-ADK Kudos http://forums.adobe.com/thread/877201
Build a Desktop Video Editing PC
-http://ppbm7.com/index.php/intro-part-1
-http://forums.adobe.com/thread/1098759
-http://forums.adobe.com/thread/878520?tstart=0
-http://forums.adobe.com/thread/815798
-http://www.shawnlam.ca/2012/premiere-pro-cs6-video-editing-computer-build/
-http://www.videoguys.com/Guide/E/Videoguys+DIY9+Its+Time+for+Sandy+Bridge+E/0xe9b142f408a2 b03ab88144a434e88de7.aspx

Which MacBook Pro for imovie?

I've had my 13 inch MacBook for over 7 years and the old girl won't die, but has been running slow with all the gopro and other HD video footage I edit for a long time.
I only use my laptop for imovie video editing and storage of photos on iPhoto (no editing). My question is which which model should I buy? I'm happy with the 13 inch size, but also happy to go to 15 inch should the specs warrant it. I'm also considering Final Cut Pro x in the future as I'm starting to look for more than imovie has to offer.
Any suggestions or up specs required?
Thanks,
Glen

Hi Glen,
The obvious: 15" has conisderably more screen realestate to work with. It also has considerably more processing power than the 13" with a quad core i7 vs a dual core i5. Will the 13" work for now? Sure, but given that you keep your MBP for such a long time, the large speed difference is a huge factor to consider; it's useful life should be at least a year or two beyond the 13", and all the while you'll be enjoying the faster speed. You might also want to consider upgrading to 16GB of RAM. While that's a lot for now, in the future, as OSs and apps become more and more RAM hungry . . . . I think you can tell which one I'd recommend.

Laptop for Photo/Video editing via Photoshop CS5/Premiere

I am currently seeking a laptop strictly for photo/video editing. I desire an i7 processor (Ivy Bridge is better from what I'm hearing but am not sure), dedicated graphics card (at least 3G video memory), a minimum of 8GB ram that is still expandable, a 17" 1920x1080 matte display with a wide color gamut, a 7200rpm drive and would absolutely love to find one with Windows7 as I personally cannot stand the new Windows8. One other thing, I need the necessary ports available to hook to a larger monitor for more detailed work. I was looking at the ASUS G75VW that BestBuy was carrying, which I hear has gotten good reviews (other than the sound driver issue that I hear is fixable) and here begins the other half of my dilemma.
At two local stores, I have went and looked at computers on display, and, although nice personalities abounded, when I started mentioning the above mentioned desires, every single employee I spoke with stood there and looked at me like a cow looking at a new gate before handing me a printout of "specs" off of the BestBuy website. I pointed out several inconsistencies I had noticed on the "specs" (ie information left out, inconsistent information) and the looks only got worse, as if I had suddenly started speaking in tongues from planet "what the f...??".
All of this being said, I realize I could purchase a "designer" laptop from a myriad of other sites. However, I was recently given a sizeable gift card, from BestBuy, and am limited in this aspect. So, with an open mind, any suggestions, experience, recommendations anyone?
P.S. I have also considered the MacBook Pro, as well as the iMac 27" (yes, I know it's not a laptop but it's freakin' cool looking). Despite the PC vs Mac MMA cage fights to the death, I don't care if it's a pc, apple, orange or a grapefruit as long as it's fast, reliable, upgradeable to a degree, repairable when it breaks and does what I need it to do.
Thanks in advance!

I've only seen Windows 8, never used it, and it looked like a pain. But if I'm not mistaken, isn't there an option for it to function like a normal Windows machine with Desktop and Start menu/ bar?
The laptop you linked looks fine for running CS5. I'd max out that RAM for rendering reasons thats about it. The only thing is the graphics card is mid-range, and being a laptop you can't upgrade it. I don't know what your work load for file size is or what type of video your doing in Premiere though.
I like iMacs and everything, but when it comes to upgrading stuff, don't count on it. Depending on what your workin' on, I'd rather invest in a MacPro and pick my own monitor.
As far as Windows or Mac goes, you can obviously use either one, but I personally like the workflow on a mac. Windows seems to be more worried about being 'flashy' and not concerned with the user experience. Unfortunetly Macs are gettin there too. For some stupid reason people are thinking the workflow on a tablet and phone are the same on a desktop.
Former BBY Home Theater Associate 2010 - 2012. Now I work as a graphic designer in the print and prepress industry.

Macbook Pro for major video editing

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