Specs for editing on MacBook Pro.

Question

Just got CS6. My old MacBook isn't up to the task of editing HD with it. (I used to use Final Cut Pro 6 with little problem). I'm considering getting a new MacBook.
Anybody else editing on a MacBook? What do I need to make it run smoothly, and not have to render all the time. (Edting on a desktop isn't an option at the moment).

Answer 1

Hi,
If you want a solution that can get the job done, but not an extreme pro level, you could try proxy editing/offline editing.
(Pasted from another reply I made to another similar topic.)
I keep checking out these forums from time to time and there has been a rapidly rising trend for people asking more and more about editing on laptops. I myself posted in the past quite a bit since I also needed a laptop. The very fact that they are considering laptops for editing and not going for more powerful AND cheaper desktop alternatives means that they need systems that are not going to be used for very heavy duty editing and for general usage as well, and a laptop is ideal due to comfort using it for general computing.
I have also personally met and seen people who have configured systems with nVidia non-supported cards WITHOUT the hack and are more than happy not knowing whats going on and that their card has never really been used by premiere without the file modification.
However, even RED4k footage can be (theoretically) edited EFFECTIVELY on a minimum requirement PC if the experts here start recommending people how to do proxy/offline edits. Even for the extremely non-technical folks, there are youtube links with easy to understand directions on how to do that.
http://forums.adobe.com/message/4290664?tstart=0
http://www.homedvd.ca/2010/12/19/offline-hd-proxy-editing-at-work/
http://helpx.adobe.com/speedgrade/using/proxy-files.html
I will post links later as do not have access to youtube now, or anyone can simply search for 'proxy edit' or 'offline edit' on youtube.
People with even terrible systems with 1 hdd and 4 gigs ram can merrily hack away at footage without much worries. Yes, there will be a few additional steps and time required, but they can still pull off something acceptable this way.
Another thing, there are caddys on ebay for $10 that swap out the optical drives of the laptops with an internal enclosure which allows another harddisk to be added. I am using this myself on a lenovo W520 and have 2 7200 RPM harddrives. I can even add in a 3rd MSATA SSD drive as this laptop allows that (you can even order one from lenovo with RAID already installed and 2 drives).
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid=p5197.m570.l1313&_nkw=w520+cadd y&_sacat=0&_from=R40
Therefore, yes, I do believe that it is possible to edit just about anything (save very high bitrate footage that needs to be done quickly) on just about anything (if the transcoding time and disk space are available).
I once again wish to clarify that the above is geared towards non-professionaly like myself (or even for professionals having a really bad day) but this technique can become even more effective if intel's Quicksync transcoding engine is used, which is the fastest at video transcoding at this time. (have not checked this out myself yet)
I hope this was helpful. I would be more than happy for any criticism and advice from the experts here because I learnt a lot through them and hope to learn more.
Cheers.