New 13" MacBook

[for_mlove]

Just saw that Apple rolled out the 13" MacBook. Looks very appealing for those wanting to be as mobile as possible. 1" thin 1280x800 native resolution, a DualCore processor, up to 2 gig of RAM, there's a lot to like. However, no PCMCIA or Expresscard slot at all? Pretty much means you need to use your camera or a P2 store to get the footage off the P2 card... I was looking at something like this as an attractive alterative to a P2 store for about the same money, but I'm not sure now. What are some thoughts??

[holditnowfilms]

Just shot a feature and the P2 store was a god send. Simple and fast and reliable. You can train anyone to use it in no time. It tries to be idiot proof. It won't let you record over or capture cards twice. It's a great feature to have. during the chaos of a shoot when you are not 100% positive you dumped a card you can quickly double check it in the P2 store before clearing the card in camera.

I even accidently recorded onto the end of a card that had been dumped already. I was afraid the P2 store wouldn't let me dump it again but it allowed it. The lap top is great but if you have to pick one over the other I would go with the P2 store.

We never used our laptop on set after day one. I dumped the P2 store every night to multiple harddrives. Sure I risked failure of the P2 drive before making the dump and I wouldn't recomend doing things that way but we were pretty short handed. Either way it worked above and beyond.

[David S.]

The other negative is the shared video card. Don't know if Studio will install.

[Gorilla King]

I just ordered one. I'll have it and my crossgrade upgrade to Final Cut Studio by the 26th. I don't see any reason why Final Cut wouldn't work on this. Considering I've been using it since Final Cut Pro (The original!) on a 450mhz mac it seems ridiculous that it wouldn't work here.

[THE HONEST LIAR]

Some thoughts

The only visable down side is it only has one firewire 400 port. Bus sharing.
So you'll' have to capture direct to hard disk then off load, via USB 2.0 or firewire 400.
Not a great problem, on reflection.
Then you couldn't or should l say, may have problems running HD footage on a 5400rpm Hard drive.
But all things being equal it looks like a great machine.

After thought, one could capture to the internal hard drive in the field and when you get back to HQ.
Off load onto the external hard drive. Cutting out the P2 card.

Hmm... gravy...

Kind regards
THE HONEST LIAR

[David S.]

I just ordered one. I'll have it and my crossgrade upgrade to Final Cut Studio by the 26th. I don't see any reason why Final Cut wouldn't work on this. Considering I've been using it since Final Cut Pro (The original!) on a 450mhz mac it seems ridiculous that it wouldn't work here.

You had a way to capture footage to a dedicated internal drive on that.

At least if you can find a way to ingest a p2 card, you don't have to worry about actually capturing.

[for_mlove]

Gorilla King,

Definitely post your impressions here, I'd be anxious to see how happy you are with FCP on one of these.

Do FW 400 and USB share the same bus on these systems? Wondering if you could plug the camera into the FW port and an external HD into the USB port and maintain a quick transfer speed. Or capture on the fly that way.

[David S.]

Do FW 400 and USB share the same bus on these systems? Wondering if you could plug the camera into the FW port and an external HD into the USB port and maintain a quick transfer speed. Or capture on the fly that way.


Those are independent and unrelated buses.

As to capturing to a USB hard drive, it is not recommended. From what I've experienced and read here and elsewhere the capture become unreliable after a few minutes.

[jeffyjones]

Motion will not work on these new machines because of the integrated graphics. It's basically the same arrangement as the Mac Mini.

[for_mlove]

And with a 5400 rpm internal drive, I'm guessing that using one of these to capture isn't such a good idea?? There's only one FW port and no way to add another right?

[jeffyjones]

I don't think that would be an issue. I've captured 720p to my MacBook Pro, same drive speed.

[THE HONEST LIAR]

Capturing is one thing but how about editing and playing back?
I would think the 7200rpm would be the way to go.

Kind regards
THE HONEST LIAR

[k2director]

I've used 5400 rpm drives for DVCPRO HD footage, and had no problems.

[kenn michael]

Studio installs fine on the Core Duo Mac Mini... Motion even runs pretty well. The previews are not as smooth as on my MacBook Pro or my Dual G5, but Motion DOES run on the mini, and it doesn't suck... Can't do a lot of realtime effects in FinalCut on the Mini, but the basics work really well - including DVCPROHD. So this MacBook will be a pretty nice laptop for editing, etc...

[jeffyjones]

Well that's good to hear. I didn't get around to visiting the site after people said they'd try working with FCP on the Mini, so it's good to hear.

[THE HONEST LIAR]

All this sounds good. Small compact and one can edit with it.
If you use the firewire 400 HHD that would take care of the 7200rpm question.
Any how have a peek

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pealco/sets/72057594136649292/show/


Kind regards
THE HONEST LIAR

[Gorilla King]

I have some interesting news for you guys. In light of the fact that I have another ten days to wait until my Macbook arrives I've been reading everything I could find on it. There's a guy over on the Macrumors.com forums and he said the harddrive is right under the battery and easily replaceable. He's already swapped his out for a 7200rpm 100gig one. Just thought y'all would like to know!

[THE HONEST LIAR]

WOW... no need for a macbook pro, at least out in the field.
Thanks for the tip.

Kind regards
THE HONEST LIAR

[HowdyDoo]

I'm a Mac person too, but I'm glad this is finally happening:

http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/ptech/05/16/sony.bluray.pc.reut/index.html

[Justin Reade]

I don't know... everybody has their own workflow predilections, but the P2 store seems kinda silly to me. It's a huge amount of money for -- essentially -- just a hard drive. I have a g4 laptop and in addition to dumping stuff to the internal drive, I attach a 200 dollar (as opposed to 1600 dollar P2 store) bus powered firewire hard drive (80 GB). this works swimmingly in the field, gives me more GBs than a P2 store, and saves over 1,400 dollars. Plus, you can edit on your laptop in FCP... sort of speaks for itself in my view...

if you don't have a PCMCIA slot on your computer, then that's a whole other workflow animal...

Justin.

[David@Leo's Camera]

If time is of the essence, the P2 Store can verify and format your cards, so you can transfer the data and clean the cards at a faster rate. You can dump to the P2 Store and format the card before the card recording in the camera is full so you can swap and shoot pretty much continuosly. I don't think you can do it that fast on a mac and only the PC software allows you to format the card in the computer.

[Justin Reade]

I hear you. The process of verification and formatting has never afflicted me necessarily as far as a consumption-of-time factor. Not to the tune of a 2K alternative, anyway. I guess the P2 stores are more "efficient" for that process, although I have found that formatting a P2 card on the camera itself takes an average of 5-10 seconds, so I wouldn't bother attempting to confuse myself by doing that on a PC anyway...

[saneproductions]

I have captured hours and hours of 720p hd straight out of the camera live via firewire onto a usb2.0 drive (removing advanced pulldown on capture). Onto my MacBook Pro. It works flawlessly!! USB2.0 is plenty fast enough!! See here.

http://www.barefeats.com/hard69.html

aslo here is a review of the new expresscard 34 sata adapter for macbook pro (should be even faster w/ external sata enclosures)

http://www.barefeats.com/hard71.html

[The Sarlacc]

The Macbook is a great little laptop. I'm trying to get my girlfriend to upgrade her sorely dated, heavy, virus ridden, constantly failing, cracked screen POS toshiba notebook with one.

That said. This is NOT a professional machine. It is an entry level basic bareall laptop.

It is meant for people who use computers for email, websurfing, DVDs, photosharing, music...

Its very basic and designed that way for a reason.

Will run FCP...might...but WHY. The graphics card is not nearly good enough. The 5400rpm drive isnt a real issue. I run FCP studio just fine on my powerbook with a 80gb 5400rpm drive. But if I were buying a new Macbook Pro I WOULD opt for the 100gb 7200rpm drive.

Bottom line: A GREAT entry level mac for a computer geeks around the world.

NOT a great professional machine for people on this board...quit being cheap and get the right tool for the job, if a mac is what you are looking at.

[Nik Manning]

[quote=

NOT a great professional machine for people on this board...quit being cheap and get the right tool for the job, if a mac is what you are looking at.[/quote]
But great for prosumers! Edit video on the go much faster than you could 3 months ago on a mac laptop. I could see companies who do corporate videos,infomercials,etc. that don't need many flashy graphics to buy many of these little laptops.

[k2director]

The MacBook is hardly an entry-level laptop, and Apple doesn't present it as such. Look at the specs:

1.83-2.0 Core Duo (ie, dual core) chip with a 667 MHz bus
512 megs RAM
5400 RPM hard drive, which can easily be upgraded to any laptop drive available (160 gigs, 7200 rpm models, etc.)
1280x800 resolution (that's roughly the res of PowerBooks from a year ago)
DVD Burner in top model
Built in 802.11G and Bluetooth
Built in video camera and mic
Audio in and out
Mini DVI connector so it can drive a 23" display as a second monitor (1920x1200 res)
All for as low as $1099, and in a 5.2 pound package that's about an inch thick

This machine can easily handle "pro" level work. Other than the video card (which has no impact on video editing, sound production, DVD authoring, Photoshop work, web design, etc.), this machine has near MacBook Pro specs, for almost $1000 less.

[Life in a Box Films]

from the numbers the performance difference between a macbook and macbook pro is almost negligible with video editing. and it will be MUCH faster than anything with a G4. It will only "look" less professional, as it doesn't have the nice aluminum body and nicer looking keys. though the 13" screen might be a little small for workspace, if you want to use the DVI out for the preview monitor.

[Gorilla King]

It's quite ridiculous to think that merely because it doesn't have "Pro" in the name it can't do tht kind of work. I've been editing on an imac for the past two years and from what I understand this Macbook is twice as fast as my imac G5. The G5 had NO PROBLEMS WHATSOEVER handling whatever I threw at it. Proffessional is determined by who is using the machine, not by the machne itself.

[THE HONEST LIAR]

What are the differences between the two, Macbook and macbook pro.
As far as l can see its the video card and the express card port.
Whereas the macbook shares, what would have been its video card with the main board.

This has turned out to be a very interesting thread.

Kind regards
THE HONEST LIAR

[David S.]

As to compatibility with 5.1, FCS requires a ". . . AGP Quartz Extreme or PCI Express graphics card."

The MB has neither.

[THE HONEST LIAR]

That maybe the deal breaker.

Kind regards
THE HONEST LIAR

[The Sarlacc]

What are the differences between the two, Macbook and macbook pro.
As far as l can see its the video card and the express card port.
Whereas the macbook shares, what would have been its video card with the main board.

This has turned out to be a very interesting thread.

Kind regards
THE HONEST LIAR

Most important is the graphics card.

Next is FW800 (if we are talking about the 17" model) and I'm willing to be the next update of the 15" will see a return of FW800 as well.

There is also the lack of an optional 7200rpm internal drive.

smaller screen.

Like I said. It may very well be able to run FCP...but it wasn't designed to hold that type of a workload.

Whoever said the graphics card has no effect on programs like FCP, Photoshop, etc...are you kidding yourself? I may not be a computer expert but those types of programs are fairly dependent on a good graphics card with enough on board RAM.

Your druthers if you want to buy it for a professional applications, but the is a reason why the other line was created.

[THE HONEST LIAR]

Well first off the bat a 7200 rpm Hard disk can be added.
Then in regards to the Fw 800 the 400 is enough, right.
It will just take a little longer to do certain things.
You'll have to do one thing at a time.

The only problem i see is the sharing of RAM.

Kind regards
THE HONEST LIAR

[doccutter]

FCP's realtime effects are entirely reliant on the graphics card. When "RT Extreme" came out (I think it was FCP 4.5), the big deal was that it used the GPU to render effects. When you first run FCP, and it notifies you that it is profiling the hardware for RT ability, it's checking the GPU to see what kind of effects it can handle (as well as the CPU speed).

[The Sarlacc]

Well first off the bat a 7200 rpm Hard disk can be added.
Then in regards to the Fw 800 the 400 is enough, right.
It will just take a little longer to do certain things.
You'll have to do one thing at a time.

The only problem i see is the sharing of RAM.

Kind regards
THE HONEST LIAR

How can a 7200rpm drive be added. Not through apple. I built one yesterday and did not see the option. Actually for once it doesnt list the RPM...which leads me to guess they are all 5400 for the macbooks.

If you're talking about cracking it open and replacing yourself forget it. That is not a warranty I'd be willing to void. You do that and Apple won't even sneeze on your machine.

[THE HONEST LIAR]

I suggest you read this thread from the start.
A macbook has been purchased and had a 160GB (ok 100) Hard disk added no problem.

Kind regards
THE HONEST LIAR

[David S.]

How can a 7200rpm drive be added. Not through apple. I built one yesterday and did not see the option. Actually for once it doesnt list the RPM...which leads me to guess they are all 5400 for the macbooks.

If you're talking about cracking it open and replacing yourself forget it. That is not a warranty I'd be willing to void. You do that and Apple won't even sneeze on your machine.

I've read reports that the hard drive on the MacBook is easily accessed, much easier than previous PBs.

As to warranty, I don't ever remember that replacing a hard drive in recent Apple laptops every voided the warranty.

[THE HONEST LIAR]

But doccutter I agree the Video card is what it boils down to.

Kind regards
THE HONEST LIAR

Quote from page 2
I have some interesting news for you guys. In light of the fact that I have another ten days to wait until my Macbook arrives I've been reading everything I could find on it. There's a guy over on the Macrumors.com forums and he said the harddrive is right under the battery and easily replaceable. He's already swapped his out for a 7200rpm 100gig one. Just thought y'all would like to know!

[The Sarlacc]

I've read reports that the hard drive on the MacBook is easily accessed, much easier than previous PBs.

As to warranty, I don't ever remember that replacing a hard drive in recent Apple laptops every voided the warranty.

Sure it does. You opened up the machine are you aren't apple qualified tech its voided. Its just my aftermarket RAM...If I ever have to get warranty work done I have to remember to pop that RAM out first.

Granted it will only void it if they happen to see you arent using a factory installed HD.

They are a pain in that regard. I had a failing HD in my powerbook last year. And when it was sent in there was a shortage of the 80gb drive that I had...After talking to several people there they wouldnt even let me pay the difference and have THEM upgrade to easily found 100gb drive like the new powerbooks had at the time. They made a million excuses as to why they couldn't..all of them bunk.

[David S.]

Sure it does. You opened up the machine are you aren't apple qualified tech its voided. Its just my aftermarket RAM...If I ever have to get warranty work done I have to remember to pop that RAM out first.

Granted it will only void it if they happen to see you arent using a factory installed HD.

They are a pain in that regard. I had a failing HD in my powerbook last year. And when it was sent in there was a shortage of the 80gb drive that I had...After talking to several people there they wouldnt even let me pay the difference and have THEM upgrade to easily found 100gb drive like the new powerbooks had at the time. They made a million excuses as to why they couldn't..all of them bunk.

It depends if the hard drive is a user serviceable part, and my guess is given the easy access in the MacBook, it is.

Also from an Apple Service memo:

"All unauthorized modifications will void the Apple Limited Warranty unless it is clear there is no relation between the modification and the product failure. Any modification that permanently alters the basic module and makes it unfit for the module "exchange pool" will void the Apple warranty. For example, attempts to rework the power supply at the component level will void the warranty on an Apple product."

[The Sarlacc]

It depends if the hard drive is a user serviceable part, and my guess is given the easy access in the MacBook, it is.

Also from an Apple Service memo:

"All unauthorized modifications will void the Apple Limited Warranty unless it is clear there is no relation between the modification and the product failure. Any modification that permanently alters the basic module and makes it unfit for the module "exchange pool" will void the Apple warranty. For example, attempts to rework the power supply at the component level will void the warranty on an Apple product."

Well, yes. Its just like modifying your car and then trying to get warranty work. Knowing all the rules can save your butt, but many times people employed by Apple won't even know these, and it can just be a downright hassle to deal with.

[C. Keiser]

"If you're talking about cracking it open and replacing yourself forget it. That is not a warranty I'd be willing to void. You do that and Apple won't even sneeze on your machine." If you are concerned, take it to your local Mac shop, not an Apple Store, and have their authorized service guy install a HD. Should only cost a little, it's very quick.

I have changed HDs on every generation of Mac laptop since the Lombard PowerBooks. The titaniums were the most difficult, but these MacBooks look like a breeze.

-Christopher

[The Sarlacc]

If you are concerned, take it to your local Mac shop, not an Apple Store, and have their authorized service guy install a HD. Should only cost a little, it's very quick.

I have changed HDs on every generation of Mac laptop since the Lombard PowerBooks. The titaniums were the most difficult, but these MacBooks look like a breeze.

-Christopher

Ah...good idea.

I am swinging by Melrose Mac today to pick up a G-Raid drive..I shall inquire on this.

[jeffyjones]

Warranty and upgrade considerations aside, someone posted on here yesterday that they could run FCP on a Mac Mini, which hardware wise, is about the same as these new MacBooks, including the low-end graphics hardware and 5400 rpm drive.

[The Sarlacc]

Stopped by Melrose Mac. Bought a 500gb G-RAID :D

They will upgrade HDs in the laptops.

For my powerbook going from a 80gb 5400 to a 100gb 7200RPM would be $350 w/o file tranfers or $400 w/ files transfers.

A bit on the pricey side.

[THE HONEST LIAR]

SARLACC
HATE TO SAY IT!
THAT'S HOW!

SARLACC QUOTE
How can a 7200rpm drive be added. Not through apple. I built one yesterday and did not see the option. Actually for once it doesnt list the RPM...which leads me to guess they are all 5400 for the macbooks.


Have a little faith, where there's a will there's always a way.

By the way the G-Tech rocks l have one myself.

Kind regards
THE HONEST LIAR

[David S.]

Well, yes. Its just like modifying your car and then trying to get warranty work. Knowing all the rules can save your butt, but many times people employed by Apple won't even know these, and it can just be a downright hassle to deal with.

My point is that if when the specs come out this is a user serviceable part, then it doesn't void the warranty.

Hey, don't shoot the messenger.

I'm just relating Apple's policies on warranty. It isn't like your car, it's what rules Apple establishes.

[The Sarlacc]

I'm just relating Apple's policies on warranty. It isn't like your car, it's what rules Apple establishes.

What I meant is Apple's policy is same as most car service depts...if you modify your car a lot of dealers try and deny you warranty work.

But they CANT unless they prove the modification was part of the failure.

I get the whole HD thing...not sure I love the idea of deviating from the factory...but the idea is tempting.

[The Sarlacc]

Just realized another thing.

The MB displays are glossy...nice indoors sans reflections...HORRIBLE outdoors on location.

The MBP have a matte display...now with the option of a glossy screen.

I also never mentioned the lack of any card slot PC Xpress or otherwise on the MB...figured that one was just a "duh" factor.

[Jarred Land]

Just picked up a new macbook from Hollywood Apple store.. so far pretty nice.

[callan]

Hey Jarred,

Any chance of you installing FCP and seeing if it runs on the macbook for just basic DV editing ?

[THE HONEST LIAR]

According to Macworld

Also worth noting is the MacBook’s graphics system. These new portables use integrated Intel graphics that share the main memory, as opposed to the ATI Mobility Radeon graphics with dedicated memory found in the MacBook Pro models. The MacBook Pro tallies 63 frames per second, compared to a little less than 18 for the MacBook. The 1.67GHz PowerBook G4 tallied a score of 21.4 frames per second in that test.
[James Galbraith is Macworld Lab director.]



It would be interesting to see what kind of experience you have in relation to FCP.

[Jarred Land]

ust installed 5.1 on my macbook pro on monday.. works incredibly well, its a G5 experience minus the screen real estate.

Will try and put 5.1 onto the macbook, and let you know how it goes.

[Jarred Land]

one thing to note is that the nice, small, petite little magsafe power adapter that comes with the macbook wont work on the macbook pro. I was really crossing my fingers for that one, as the macbook pro power block is stupidly large.

[The Sarlacc]

I checked them out at the glendale apple store today. They are definitely nice. I was trying to get my girlfriend to buy one...but she has to think about it...sigh.

[Jarred Land]

One thing clear though so everyone knows.. if your wondering between getting a macbook pro or a macbook black, get the pro.. The extra $500 is really evident.

[THE HONEST LIAR]

I got a little excited about the prospect of using the macbook with my HVX.
However, as you've said the pro is the best bet.

Kind regards
THE HONEST LIAR

[liquidigital]

I just ordered a Macbook yesterday and was told the FCS would work fine. Does anyone know if they sell the crossgrade/upgrade at a store (rather than just mailin in), e.g. Hollywood or Glendale? I'm going out of town and want to get it before I leave. :)

[The Sarlacc]

I just ordered a Macbook yesterday and was told the FCS would work fine. Does anyone know if they sell the crossgrade/upgrade at a store (rather than just mailin in), e.g. Hollywood or Glendale? I'm going out of town and want to get it before I leave. :)

They sell them in the configurations you see on the online apple store...the only in store add ons they can perform are memory.

bigger harddrives are mail order only.

[The Sarlacc]

One thing clear though so everyone knows.. if your wondering between getting a macbook pro or a macbook black, get the pro.. The extra $500 is really evident.

Thank you. This is the point I was trying to make.

[Jarred Land]

you are right Sarlacc.. there are some huge differences. Here are a few i have noticed:

-The build quality of the Macbook Pro is easily twice as better than the Macbook

- No lighted keyboard on the macbook , and the keys on the macbook are flat.. Really strange. Trackpad seems to be the same though.

- Bevel around edge on Macbook pretty thick... didnt think i would notice but it is noticable.

- Resolution higher of course, but not by that much.. the macbook is pretty capable. I cant do 1028 anymore, but can deal with 1280 just fine.

- Macbook runs way way cooler.. like a notebook does. I supposively have a newer macbook pro which the heat issue has been fixed, i cant imagine how bad it was before, but the macbook pro is hot.. like you cant put it on your lap hot.

- Graphics are horrible on the Macbook.. big time. Everyting feels very slow compared. Shared memory sucks.

Mini DVI plug.. dont know how i feel about that.. your pretty much screwed if you dont bring an adapter with the macbook.. and its not included in the box.

Tied to firewire 400.. no other option to bring stuff in.

Macbook is noticably smaller in size, but is the same weight, or very close to it.

Havnt put FCP on the macbook yet, but i suspect for all but Motion it should perform well. I have 2gb ram in my macbook pro and only 512 in the macbook so i should wait till i get more in the macbook before i make any conclussions. I would imagine the speed should be about the same.

[Gorilla King]

Te reason everything i so slow is because of the 512mb of ram. That'sbarely enough to allow OSX to be fully functional. Why Apple makes that their standard, I have no clue, but I just received notice that my machine with 1 gig of ram just shipped so I'll post my impressions when I get it. Just out of curiosity, did you pick up the 1.83 or the 2ghz? You may have mentioned it befre but may have missed it.

[jeffyjones]

Because I didn't buy until BootCamp (the day it came out ;)), I apparently got a later revision MBP. That said, there are a couple of interesting posts here and there describing that the heat problem can largely be attributed to gobs of cheap thermal paste. Guys have taken the thing apart and replaced the paste with good Arctic Silver 5, and reported it runs really cool, albeit with the fan running more frequently. I've been toying with the idea of doing this myself so as to eliminate the toasted nuts syndrome. :)

[liquidigital]

Honestly, I'm just getting mine to write with, not for the field. I did get 1gig of memory. Hope that helps for some applications. May hold off on FCS for now anyway.

[Alon99]

Looking forward to the "FCP 5.1 on the Macbook" review Jared, I'm interested to see how well it runs. I've heard everything from "You are crazy!" to "You are not crazy!" but so far nobody has any personal experience with it.

Can we convince you to pull the RAM from your Macbook Pro and try right away? :)

[Gorilla King]

Check this out...Over on the macrumors.com forums one of the guy sjust said that on a mac mini dual 1.6 core duo with one gig of ram he could run everything flawlessly EXCEPT for Motion 2 which was a bit slow. Considering the macbook is basically like a mini with a more powerful processor I think that pretty much gives us our answer right there.

[Alon99]

Thanks for that info Gorilla King, here's a direct link to the thread:
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=201937

MacRumorUser is the guy who has it installed on the mac mini.

Interesting!

UPDATE: Here's a report of another guy who installed FCP 5.1 and Motion on a Mini Core Solo, with 512 MB RAM. He said that both of them ran fine, though Motion was slow.

http://xlr8yourmac.com/

[callan]

I'm with you Alon,

Dying to see what the macbook can do with FC studio.
Thanks Jarred!
:)

[Jarred Land]

well maybe i will install FCP with the 512 then and give it a go.

[Geosch]

I'd be psyched to see how it works too... Got a shoot deep in the woods coming up and need to do some basic field editing. I'd love to spend the money I'd save from a MBP on audio...

[darwinandpaine]

I agree that the MBPro is the way to go, but you have to appreciate the elegance of how easy they've made the RAM/Hard Drive swap. If this voids the warranty, so should touch typing. Check it out...
http://youtube.com/watch?v=8c6ckjy-gdY

[THE HONEST LIAR]

That was a cool video thanks for posting that.
It couldn't be easier.
It will be of interest to many of us how FCP runs on this baby.

Kind regards
THE HONEST LIAR

[darwinandpaine]

Honest Liar,
You seem like the nicest guy on the planet, but your avatar frightens me. Where the heck did you get that thing?

[THE HONEST LIAR]

The question is ?
ls he looking in or is he looking out?

Kind regards
THE HONEST LIAR

[The Sarlacc]

The question is ?
ls he looking in or is he looking out?

Kind regards
THE HONEST LIAR

:rofl:

[callan]

Any Luck Jarred?

I literally have my wallet out, but really want to know if FCP installs and is usable on the macbook.

Anyone else tried it?


Thanks!

[liquidigital]

Maybe I'll run Sony Vegas on it with Bootcamp/WinXP. :) Seriously, I'm interested just to try Vegas just because everybody gives it such good reviews. System requirements look good too.

FYI, I found out from WriteBrothers that Movie Magic Screenwriter will run with Rosetta, so I'm happy.

I checked the MB out first hand yesterday and I'll tell you the things I like... I like the glossy screen. It's saturated and easy to read and see. The keyboard is perfect for me. And I like that it runs cooler. I dig the flat black, but I feel foolish spending the money for a black one. I just like black.

I'm going to save my big purchase and FCS crossgrade for a new PowerMac when they release.

[David@Leo's Camera]

Here's a benchmark test. Kinda interesting.
http://www.macworld.com/2006/05/firstlooks/macbookbench/index.php

[goober542]

will final cut pro run under rosetta? on a macbook? Just until I can get the crossgrade?

[Jared Meyer]

No it will not.
You can always go straight to the source.

http://www.apple.com/rosetta/

[HybridCreations]

Originally I was gonna wait for the Macbook. I made the mistake of reading the rumor sites for a month while I was thinking it over. They got me crazy about the MBP so I bought a refurbished one two weeks ago. It's been insanely great (mac nerd joke, I guess I am one now). As I read the specs of the Macbook on Tuesday, I started to sweat thinking about how I wasted my money, but after thinking about it some more, the few differences that there are between the top end Macbook and low end MBP are actually kinda substantial. I don't want a glossy screen, I don't want to squint at a tiny screen, I don't my graphics to look sub-par, and I don't want to pay extra for black (yeah, yeah and 20 gigs). I like thin, I like aluminum, and I like my lighted keyboard. My refurbished MBP is pretty damn close to perfect for my needs (slight aluminum warping by the latch) and I don't regret the decision to get it anymore. I dunno, maybe this'll help somebody who's deciding between the two. The refurb MBP's now are only about a hundred bucks more than the top Macbook.
-Ryan

[Jarred Land]

sorry.. had to catch a flight to NY and cant get to it till monday.. i have been playing with it in other programsw and after a hefty memory upgrade i can see it working pretty damn fast.

[callan]

I bought a Macbook today, got it home, installed Alias Sketchbook (a drawing program I use for doing storyboards) and it didn't work at all. It turns out that because it's OpenGL based it wouldn't work at all without a dedicated videocard (and this program runs fine on a very old eMac).

I couldn't help thinking that this problem would keep popping up down the road, so I raced back to the store and swapped it for a tweaked out macbook pro. THey were kind enough not to charge me the restocking fee, and I have to say this computer kicks so much ass. It just rips. Got my program installed and it worked great, my final cut arrives this week.


Spend the extra cash if it's in within the realm of possibility.

p.s. the macbook was uncomfortably hot on my lap to. (not just the pro although the pro is hotter)

[ecking]

Both the hd and ram are user servicable parts, I've seen pictures off the apple site walking you through how to do that. It's not a warranty void.

[ecking]

one thing to note is that the nice, small, petite little magsafe power adapter that comes with the macbook wont work on the macbook pro. I was really crossing my fingers for that one, as the macbook pro power block is stupidly large.

From macworld:

I already own a MacBook Pro—can I use the power supply that came with it on a MacBook?
If you hold the two power supplies side by side, you’ll notice that the MacBook Pro’s is larger. That’s because the MacBook Pro uses an 85-watt power supply, while the MacBook uses a 60-watt power supply. Apple says you can use the more powerful, 85-watt power supply with a MacBook without any problems, and that in 80 percent to 90 percent of situations, you can use the MacBook’s power supply with the more-demanding MacBook Pro as well. If you’re really taxing the MacBook Pro’s processor with some heavy-duty work, the MacBook’s adapter will still be able to power the MacBook Pro—but it may not have any power left over to charge its battery.

http://www.macworld.com/2006/05/firstlooks/macbookfaq/index.php

[HybridCreations]

One thing I can say about the heat...I got this Radtech bag (http://www.radtech.us/Products/Tekmod.aspx) for the MBP. I leave it in there pretty much all the time, even on my lap, and the heat is no issue whatsoever. Its even raised up off the surface of the bag itself, and has a built in stand for further cooling and better angling for typing. I'm very happy with it.

[RaySigmond]

Final Cut Studio is not supported on MacBook

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=303782

[Rasquachemedia]

i wonder if you just used fcp, focussed on logging and basic editing how it would work. i prefer to do my editing on my desktop, but some minor stuff on a macbook would be nice.

also if you do offline editing on fcp i wonder if all would be good. maybe get some good speed too.

[Gorilla King]

Final Cut STUDIO isn't officially supported because of motion. It's already been verified by several people that everything else works flawlessly. Even motion works great though it does have some slowdown when things get complicated.

[darwinandpaine]

Final Cut STUDIO isn't officially supported because of motion. It's already been verified by several people that everything else works flawlessly. Even motion works great though it does have some slowdown when things get complicated.

Do you have any links on this?

And, does anyone know if the RAM in the Macbook and MacBook Pro has to be installed in pairs? I'm wondering if I can buy 1GB now and 1GB later.

[krestofre]

And, does anyone know if the RAM in the Macbook and MacBook Pro has to be installed in pairs? I'm wondering if I can buy 1GB now and 1GB later.

Since the video memory is shared with the RAM, pairs is going to give you better performace as the computer will be using one channel and the graphics card will be using the other (that's an oversimplification, but you get my meaning.) Doesn't mean it won't work with a single stick, it will just decrease performance.

Edit: that only applies to the Macbook. The Macbook Pro doesn't share the video memory so it doesn't have the same situation.

[Rasquachemedia]

where do you all buy your RAM?

[Biz]

Does anyone know if Final Cut 3 (which i still use because it takes up a lot less drive space and gets the job done for me) will work on the black Macbook?

Final Cut Pro 3 is a PowerPC based program.. Will it work on an intel processor machine??

[The Sarlacc]

Does anyone know if Final Cut 3 (which i still use because it takes up a lot less drive space and gets the job done for me) will work on the black Macbook?

Final Cut Pro 3 is a PowerPC based program.. Will it work on an intel processor machine??

I don't know the compatiblity off hand.

So it either

a) won't work (i think this is the answer)

b) Will run off rosetta and be much slower then the intel native version.

[The Sarlacc]

where do you all buy your RAM?

Where do you live? If you are the west coast then Frys is a good place.

Or check out www.dealram.com

[They are Them]

so can you use this laptop to view dailies on-set with an external HD monitor? (Samsung 24" HDTV monitor/tv) is this lil guy powerfull enough to display the HVX hd footage...no editing just viewing all your footage that you shot in a day, dumped on to hard drives and view on a nice big monitor?
i dont think it has a DVI out on it actually, use an adapter? quality loss?

[Jared Meyer]

Does anyone know if Final Cut 3 (which i still use because it takes up a lot less drive space and gets the job done for me) will work on the black Macbook?

Final Cut Pro 3 is a PowerPC based program.. Will it work on an intel processor machine??

Dude! Seriously! This EXACT question was just asked and answered 2 pages back.

For questions regarding Apple hardware and software, you can always go to the apple website!

It's all there, I promise - besides which, it just makes more sense to get your Apple questions answered in Apple's support documents (which are easily searchable) than on the dvxuser website.

[The Sarlacc]

i dont think it has a DVI out on it actually, use an adapter? quality loss?

It has miniDVI out...just need get the adapter to full size.

[THE HONEST LIAR]

Any word from Jarred Land.
On the macbook FCS.


Kind regards
THE HONEST LIAR

[Jared Meyer]

Yes, on page 9.

[THE HONEST LIAR]

sorry.. had to catch a flight to NY and cant get to it till monday.. i have been playing with it in other programsw and after a hefty memory upgrade i can see it working pretty damn fast.

This is not clear at all.
Is it fact or conjecture?

And take it easy jaustere we're all in the same boat.

Kind regards
THE HONEST LIAR

[Jared Meyer]

This is not clear at all.
Is it fact or conjecture?

And take it easy jaustere we're all in the same boat.

Kind regards
THE HONEST LIAR


It's perfectly clear:

According to his post, Jarred is busy right now and can't monkey around with FCS on the MacBook until Monday. Not sure what you mean about fact or conjecture!

Also not really sure what you mean about "take it easy"....I think all I did was point you back to the most recent relevant post for your question.

[Jarred Land]

This is not clear at all.
Is it fact or conjecture?

And take it easy jaustere we're all in the same boat.

Kind regards
THE HONEST LIAR
well i have 60 people that went to the NYC bootcamp this weekend to verify I was there and im not lying to you.. I just landed back in LA this afternoon so chill out dude...

[THE HONEST LIAR]

well i have 60 people that went to the NYC bootcamp this weekend to verify I was there and im not lying to you.. I just landed back in LA this afternoon so chill out dude...

WOW... No one suggested that you were lying!
Apple claim that the Macbook cannot support FCS.
But if you and 60 people have run it and it works that's good enough for me.

And l suggest you take your own advice.

Kind regards
THE HONEST LIAR

[Jared Meyer]

WOW... No one suggested that you were lying!
Apple claim that the Macbook cannot support FCS.
But if you and 60 people have run it and it works that's good enough for me.

And l suggest you take your own advice.

Kind regards
THE HONEST LIAR

Dude, it's really not cool to tell the guy who runs these boards to "take his own advice."

You are completely misunderstanding what's going on here...
Bottom line, though, is that Jarred's reference to 60 people has NOTHING to do with his possibly testing out Final Cut on the MacBook.

He will post something if and when he has the time. You have access to the same exact information as everyone else reading these boards, but you need to chill out and you need to read the posts more carefully.

[THE HONEST LIAR]

From the horse's mouth.

http://www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/specs.html

Kind regards
THE HONEST LIAR

[THE HONEST LIAR]

Dude, it's really not cool to tell the guy who runs these boards to "take his own advice."


Well, if he says l called him a liar, when l clearly did not.
There seems to be some confusion here which l 'm trying to clear up.
If you can't take it you shouldn't dish it out.

Kind regards
THE HONEST LIAR

[Jarred Land]

this is your second warning Honest.. i can handle you calling me out but if you start picking on my repected members like jaustere im going to kick you to the curb.

[THE HONEST LIAR]

Cool.

[Jarred Land]

thanks man for understanding.

now back to the macbook thing.. give me a couple minutes.

[Jarred Land]

ok.. just messed with it.

FCP works very well on the macbook.. and remember mine still has 512mb ram. I was cutting and playing back a DV project with 2 tracks of video and 4 tracks of audio without any issues... its alot quicker than i imagined.. but i think i had a thing in my mind that Macbooks like the old ones were underpowered.. the macbook seems to be just as snappy with FCP as it is on my Macbook pro, which it should cause its the same processor.

Motion... well people keep saying motion wont even install on the macbook.. it installs just fine, you can open it up and it does work.. just is slow as hell. You could still operate with it, but you wont be flying.

[Rasquachemedia]

Jarred,

you have no idea how much you made my day. i just recently ordered one. couldn't afford the macbook pro and needed a laptop like crazy so i "settled." but now i feel crazy happy that it works. i even plan to upgrade the memory, but to here it fcp work with the standard RAM is super cool.

gracias!

[Jarred Land]

hey no problem man.. sorry it took so long to get a simple little statement out.

Its kinda a different apple world.. i uses to look at ibooks as underpowered little toys good for checking email and thats about it.. these dual core machines are pretty impressive. The only thing really weak is the video card, and if you get the cheapest model you cant burn DVDs

[Gorilla King]

Well that should put an end to THAT debate lol. :Drogar-BigGrin(DBG)
Thanks Jarred.

[ecking]

Some more confirmation:

" Mike, Apple confirmed for me that the MacBook won't run Aperture because its graphics card is unsupported. The MacBook Pro does support Aperture.
(I replied to him that after the report on running Final Cut Studio and Motion on an "unsupported" Intel CPU Mini earlier today, I'd not trust that comment unless it was proven. He later wrote)
I apparently was mistaken about Aperture on the MacBook. I found this post on Apple's Aperture Discussions Forum.
-Thomas

"Aperture does run on the new MacBooks, but it is NOT officially supported, due to limitations with the graphics card. This means if you call AppleCare, you'll simply be told that you're running Aperture on an unsupported configuration. It's an "at-your-own-risk" experience.
That being said, Aperture will install and run on a MacBook...at least you're not disallowed from using it. No hacks needed!
And of course, Aperture is fully supported on all MacBook PRO models.
Joe Schorr
Sr. Product Manager, Aperture
Apple"

http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/index.html#S21166

That's exactly how motion works and because motion is part of studio, studio as well.

edit: Here's another example as well from the same page on xlr8yourmac:

" Just for the fun of it I installed Final Cut Studio 5.1 on my daughters Mac Mini w/1.5GHz Intel Core Solo processor with 512MB RAM. I have only tried FCP and Motion. I started SoundTrack but have not used it.
Final Cut starts and runs fine. I can capture from my VX2100 camera and edit in the timeline (just basic stuff so far).
Motion also works on this machine (it kicks the crap out of my Powerbook 1.25GHz). Ran the update for Final Cut Pro 5.1.1 and it also starts and does basic edits. So far so good on basic stuff.

(I asked if he had exercised Motion on the Core Solo Mini (i.e. rendering, previews, etc.-Mike)
Done one render of a template I edited, changes text and speed of some assets. All templates run fine. Previews are really slow on first pass but run at decent speed after. Will be testing more things this coming weekend.

Have only used the Mini on a LCD minitor at 1280x1024 will be connecting it to a Dell 2005FPW this weekend also and test at 1680 x 1050.
To say it installed and worked is an understatement, I was blown away it worked!!
I wanted to try it to see if I could use a Mini to edit some basic stuff during the summer here in Phoenix. My two 2x-2GHZz G5's create too much heat so if I could have a solution to capture and do basic edits to cut down on the heat indoors.
Next step is to test a Mini Core Duo.
-Richard M. "

So there is no reason you can't use a macbook for FCP.

So unless you need motion the 1299 model(because of the superdrive unless you use external) macbook and up is A-OK!

[Jarred Land]

So unless you need motion the 1299 model(because of the superdrive unless you use external) macbook and up is A-OK!

good post ecking.. you can run motion though, its just slow.

[darwinandpaine]

Jared, can you try some Hi-Def in FCP (720 and 1080)?

[MLCinema]

"Jared, can you try some Hi-Def in FCP (720 and 1080)?"

I was just going to ask the same question!

I have a G5 as my main computer, but I really want a laptop and I don't want to spend the money on a MBP.

MLCinema

[Jarred Land]

is DVCpro HD good enough test?

[darwinandpaine]

is DVCpro HD good enough test?

Yeppo!

[MLCinema]

For me it is!

I don't have an HVX yet, but soon hope to have one! I only plan on shooting 720p V. Frame rates.

It would be great if I could do a little bit on HD editing on the road on a Macbook, again which I don't have yet, but soon....very soon :)

THANK You
MLCinema

[darwinandpaine]

BTW, not to be a complete pest, but I'd love to know how Motion runs once you get the 2 gigs of RAM in there.

[The Sarlacc]

I have a G5 as my main computer, but I really want a laptop and I don't want to spend the money on a MBP.

MLCinema


Dude, its only $500 more for an entry level MBP. Thats not a whole considering the advantages you get over the macbook...like say a 15" NON-glossy screen. That huge right there if you plan on using it long term for editing.

Since FCP seems to run well on MB. I would say its a great on set resource tool. I still wouldn't replace a MBP with one for serious work.

[darwinandpaine]

Dude, its only $500 more for an entry level MBP. Thats not a whole considering the advantages you get over the macbook...like say a 15" NON-glossy screen. That huge right there if you plan on using it long term for editing.

Since FCP seems to run well on MB. I would say its a great on set resource tool. I still wouldn't replace a MBP with one for serious work.

Actually, it could be as much as $900 difference. And for some of us schmucks that's no small amount of money. It's another nice light, a couple lenses, a matte box, etc... No need to condescend. It's all about choices. Obviously, no the one you'd make (probably not me either), but I'm not shocked that someone might want to save $500-900.

[MLCinema]

Yep, that $500 - $900 will be used for my HVX200....now I need to figure out how to get the rest of the $8,000.00 :)

MLCinema

[The Sarlacc]

Actually, it could be as much as $900 difference. And for some of us schmucks that's no small amount of money. It's another nice light, a couple lenses, a matte box, etc... No need to condescend. It's all about choices. Obviously, no the one you'd make (probably not me either), but I'm not shocked that someone might want to save $500-900.

Sorry, I didn't think I was being condescending.

$500-900 is no small amount of money...but its not much more when you already talking about a $1400 computer. And when you are about to spend $8000-9000 on a camera...its not much money extra money to throw at a computer that is better designed to handle the programs needed to edit with.

Its like people who buy a $9000 dollar camera, and then keep in a $50 backpack because they don't want to the spend the extra money for a good case. Then, they cry foul when their camera breaks during transport.

Sometimes it means cutting back on certain spending and waiting a little bit to save someextra money.

[shAi]

just ordered my (white - im not paying extra 200 bucks for black!! cant afford being cool) MacBook with 2GB RAM and hopefully 7200/120GB HD. i will use it mainly for making music though... i expect it to be really good for that. and.. i use my savings from selling the DVX100 for that.. after realizing that the camera i really want to buy will come only next year (RED..?)
was happy to see this discussion here. dvxuser supports me all the way :)

[darwinandpaine]

Sorry, I didn't think I was being condescending.

$500-900 is no small amount of money...but its not much more when you already talking about a $1400 computer. And when you are about to spend $8000-9000 on a camera...its not much money extra money to throw at a computer that is better designed to handle the programs needed to edit with.

Its like people who buy a $9000 dollar camera, and then keep in a $50 backpack because they don't want to the spend the extra money for a good case. Then, they cry foul when their camera breaks during transport.

Sometimes it means cutting back on certain spending and waiting a little bit to save someextra money.

I hear you, and I totally agree. I just understand how when you have spent that much, saving every little penny starts to get really important --- especially when the wife (who's been pretty tolerant up to this point) is wondering why you need to spend that extra $500-$900. Can I get a witness?

[Jared Meyer]

I hear you, and I totally agree. I just understand how when you have spent that much, saving every little penny starts to get really important --- especially when the wife (who's been pretty tolerant up to this point) is wondering why you need to spend that extra $500-$900. Can I get a witness?

Yes you can :)

A year ago, before I was married, I wondered why all of you guys would almost always mention your wife when talking about video equipment investments.

Now I fully understand...

I too wonder about the necessity of moving up to the entry-level MacBook Pro...
It seems to me that the only significant differences are the smaller, glossy screen (there's always the option to use an external display, no?) and the lack of a dedicated graphics card.

Now, especially given Jarred's fairly positive experience with Final Cut on the MacBook, like you, I'm not sure if these features are worth the $700 price difference.

You're right - it is a tough decision for those who are operating on a smaller budget.

[Jarred Land]

i can see the price difference... and im happy i went with the pro.

Pluses for Macbook pro:

1.aluminum body.. the macbook is plastic.
2. better, backlit keyboard.. the macbook keys are oddly flat, dont know how i feel about it.
3. DVD burning (vs the low macbook)
4. Graphic card way better
5. bigger hard drive
6. better sound, way better speakers.
7. expresscard slot
8. real monitor port, not mini dvi
9. bigger screen, more pixels.

Pluses for Macbook:

1. Cheaper
2. smaller if that is what you want
3. better battery life (up to 6 hours)
4. black or white
5. smaller power adapter
6. easier upgrades on drive and memory
7. runs cooler than macbook pro.

[MLCinema]

I'm looking at it for the size. I guess 2in isnt that huge but its still bigger.

I just need it for quick on the set edits, and smaller is better.

Now if Jarred can test out that HD footage on the Macbook....My name will be on the order list :dankk2:

MLCinema

[RaySigmond]

Here are some benchmarks from creativemac.com

http://www.creativemac.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=43717

[Jarred Land]

Brilliant Ray, thats what alot of people wanted to here.

Nice to know my $1000 macbook can kill my $3000 G5 desktop. lol

[Sinsemilla]

COMPLETE DISASSEMBLY GUIDES for Macbook and Macbook Pro...

http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/86.0.0.html

http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/85.0.0.html

[MLCinema]

POOP are those benchmarks real!!!!!!!!!!!!!

NICE.

Getting ready to order :)

MLCinema

[darwinandpaine]

Those benchmarks are REALLY impressive. I'm blown away by the performance, and the fact that Apple didn't cripple their "consumer" laptops a bit more. I'm now finding the extra $500-$900 really hard to justify.

[Jarred Land]

yeah im impressed.

[darwinandpaine]

Now, if MLCinema and I can just get The Sarlac's blessing, I think we can drop some cash and feel totally good about it (along with the wife). ;-)

[Jarred Land]

ha ha buying the macbook for my girl was the best move i made last week.. definate points.. I thought i could buy it for her and then just use it cause she would get bored of it after a day, but she wont put the damn thing down and i think she wants to paint it pink to keep me off of it.

[darwinandpaine]

I met you at the bootcamp, so I know you're man enough to endure the pink paint. Just let her try it. I dare her!

[Jarred Land]

ha ha ha.. http://www.colorwarepc.com baby.

[The Sarlacc]

Now, if MLCinema and I can just get The Sarlac's blessing, I think we can drop some cash and feel totally good about it (along with the wife). ;-)

You don't need my blessing ;)

I'm not dissing the macbook. I am dying for my girlfriend to get one. I personally, just wouldnt want it as my end all be all editing computer.

[darwinandpaine]

I personally, just wouldnt want it as my end all be all editing computer.

The Sarlac,
Agreed. But it would still be nice to have your blessing. Did you take a look at those benchmarks, btw? In the words of Larry David, "Pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty nice."

[Jarred Land]

ha ha ha.. yeah im on Sarlaccs side as well.. the macbook is very very capable.. but the extra real estate the macbook pro gives you makes FCP alot easier to handle.

[darwinandpaine]

Jared,
Have you tried hooking the MB up to something like a Dell 2405 or Apple 23 inch Cinema display? I'd love to know if the lack of a graphics card makes that unbearable.

[The Sarlacc]

The Sarlac,
Agreed. But it would still be nice to have your blessing. Did you take a look at those benchmarks, btw? In the words of Larry David, "Pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty nice."

I dont need to see the benchmarks to know the macbook is a VERY impressive and desirable machine...why do you think I want my girl to get one so bad? :D

I also know trying to edit on a 13" GLOSSY screen would drive me up a wall. With editing or even photoshop I don't always love having ONLY a 15" screen. Hence my using my XBR as a monitor when using FCP.

[MLCinema]

I think I will order one soon :)

Maybe 2 weeks....I can't wait!

MLCinema

[Gorilla King]

Been using mine for two days now. Best computer I've ever owned. And I can verify that it CAN NOT run Final Cut Pro...4.5:Drogar-BigGrin(DBG) Luckily for me my crosgrade discs are on the way as we speak.

[Gorilla King]

Benchmarks on FCP and Motion compares Macbook, Macbook pro and Dual 2 Ghz Powermac:

http://www.creativemac.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=43717

In the words of Han Solo, "She's fast enough for you old man."

Look at the macbook crushing the competition in the third compressor test!

[darwinandpaine]

Who you callin' "old man?"

[Joe Kocsis]

Here are some benchmarks from creativemac.com

http://www.creativemac.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=43717

Makes sense since the CPU is doing the work,

but what about the "rt extreme" playback? How dependent iare playback and realtime effects rendering on the video card?

[kenn michael]

Jared,
Have you tried hooking the MB up to something like a Dell 2405 or Apple 23 inch Cinema display? I'd love to know if the lack of a graphics card makes that unbearable.

I have a Core Duo Mac Mini that runs a Dell 2405. No sluggish graphics at all. Very snappy and in normal usage is just as responsive as the MacBook Pro connected to the same monitor.

[RaySigmond]

Contour Design releases drivers to use ShuttlePRO v2 with Final Cut Pro on Intel driven Mac

http://www.contourdesign.com/shuttlepro/shuttlepro-press.htm

http://www.contourdesign.com/shuttlepro/shuttle_downloads.htm#unv

[RaySigmond]

13-Inch MacBook Benchmarks Part 2

Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and After Effects in Rosetta


http://www.digitalproducer.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=44258

[Rasquachemedia]

wow, i'm really impressed with its performance with photoshop.

also i finally got to to see the black macbook and have to admit it looks pretty sweet, but i won't forking out that kinda money, right now.

[adaml]

How much battery life are ya'll getting with the macbook?

[Joe Kocsis]

Any chance someone with a Mac Mini dual core, or macbook and macbook pro could run some DVCPro "RT Extreme Tests"

As I see it, unless Final Cut uses the Video Card GPU for "RT Extreme" the mini and macbook, will be just as fast as mbp.. In which case mb and mbp will have essentially the same Final Cut Performance.

My guess is that mb and mbp will be close to identical..

[Gorilla King]

I get a little over four hours on average and that's with wifi and bluetooth turned on.

[adaml]

Thanks Gorilla.

[Q media]

is DVCpro HD good enough test?


Any update on editing with DVCpro HD on the Macbook? Have you tried to capture DVCpro HD from HVX directly into FCP on the new Macbook?

Results?

[for_mlove]

Just in case this hasn't been posted yet. (I don't remember seeing it)

http://www.macvideopro.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=43717

[RaySigmond]

13-Inch MacBook Benchmarks Part 4

http://www.digitalproducer.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=45099

[Rasquachemedia]

heat issues with macbook:

http://www.appleinsider.com/article.php?id=1790

[translumination]

Guys sorry to extend the thread any longer but can someone tell me if the future editions of FCP be making use of the graphics card to accelerate rendering vidoe effects? I'm not sure where I heard it from but I'm deciding between the mb and mb pro and that could sway me. My understanding has always been that graphics cards were only useful for games and motion rendering but not for video/photoshop work so I have never bothered worrying about the video card.
I assume that the type of graphics card has no effect on the smoothness of playing back high definition video?

Also what is the highest resolution for an external monitor that the macbook can support? I plan to edit photo's on an external crt monitor and this is critical to me.

thanks

[Mike McNeese]

Just FYI, I got a 13" MacBook last week...Love it. This is in addition to a 2.0DP G5, and a 1.8G5 iMac. I've yet to have any heat or fan issues, we keep it on a desk most of the time. I will be installing FC Suite on it here in the next day or so. Will report back.

[Yardsale]

Is there any benchmarks comparing the macbook to the latest rev powerbook?

I have a 1.67 G4 powerbook with final cut pro I'm hoping I can get by on until the powermacintels roll out...

[Policar]

For FCP, it's about 3-4 times faster likely; probably just slightly edging out a dual G5. Except it won't install.

[RaySigmond]

13-Inch MacBook Benchmarks Part 5

http://www.digitalproducer.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=45392

[DennisP]

I want to thank everyone who has posted the articles & benchmark tests!
I decided to buy a macbook w/superdrive and will be installing Final Cut Studio in the very near future.....I just bought a dvx100b, so all the pieces to my film making puzzle are coming together!

[for_mlove]

Congrats Dennis! I look forward to hearing how things work for you.

[Q media]

FYI

I used a new Macbook to capture directly from HVX200. Amazing!

Using a stock 2GHz model with 512MB memory and stock SATA HD, it captured DVCPRO HD 720P30 without any problems!

Can edit in final cut pro without any problems! Very nice to actually see what you just shot. I transferred the Quicktime files over to a larger system for editing, then cleaned up the files on the Macbook for further Capture. Very slick.

I plan on a Hitachi Deckstar 7K100 upgrade on the drive as well as added memory.

For those wondering if a Macbook can be used in place of a Firestore type device for DVCPRO HD, the answer appears to be yes. At least at 720P

I will post further updates as more tests are done.

[ttxsushi]

FYI

For those wondering if a Macbook can be used in place of a Firestore type device for DVCPRO HD, the answer appears to be yes. At least at 720P



Hi! Just wondering that a MB could perfoms so great. Really can it be used like a Firestore device? How does it works?

[Jarred Land]

yes of course.. you can use log and capture in final cut pro to capture live.

[ThePhage]

It would be nice to see some pictures of the Mac Book mounted to the HVX somehow for mobile capture.

Great news about HVX capture on the MB. Can someone post how well it does with RT effects in 720? In 1080?

[ttxsushi]

It would be nice to see some pictures of the Mac Book mounted to the HVX somehow for mobile capture.
Oh, yes. It would be very interesting.

Ok, i confess, i'm not an expert in that field... Direct capture allows you to avoid compression? It's a step-up in terms of image quality or only in time saved?

thank you

[Mike Medlock]

Just used a MacBook (stock black model) the other night to capture a live event at 720P30 - directly onto the system drive using FCP log and capture. I had about 60GB available and managed to get just under an hour and 45 minutes recorded - then switched to P2 cards to finish up the last 15 minutes of the show. I could have probably gotten the entire two hours onto the MacBook, but I thought it would be prudent to leave some empty space on the system drive. Worked like a champ!!! I've done a bit of testing at 1080i, and that seems to work as well...

[Rasquachemedia]

mike, how much memory do you have?

[Mike Medlock]

Right now just the base 512MB.

[Kholi]

Ready to purchase a MacBook and had this same question. Glad to see that it's possible.

What about 720p/24p and the like? Is capturing straight to the MacBook a possibilty?

[Jon Oskar]

Stupid question, will DVC Rack run on MB?

[Kholi]

Bump for answers.

[Kholi]

Anyone? 720p/24p direct to Macbook Pro with newest FCP?

[Jarred Land]

capturing to macbook works just fine.

I just packed up my macbook pro.. Apple today deemed it defective. I will look forward to what they say when they get it.

[Nathyn]

Hey can I put a 500gb drive in one of these things? I just got a 400gb drive through OWC and it's working like a charm. I use it for nothing but storage. I'm thinking I can partition my drive and have 100gb for system software and the programs ect, and 400gb left for storage for either the HVX or an HDV camera.

-Nate

[Joe Kocsis]

Hey can I put a 500gb drive in one of these things? I just got a 400gb drive through OWC and it's working like a charm. I use it for nothing but storage. I'm thinking I can partition my drive and have 100gb for system software and the programs ect, and 400gb left for storage for either the HVX or an HDV camera.

-Nate

Surely you bought a 3.5" drive which will NOT fit in a laptop.. As far as I know the biggest laptop (2.5") drive you can get is 160GB.. Around 200-$250

Joe

[Nathyn]

Yes, the 400gb drive was for my desktop. Too bad. I'd have to get an external then.

-Nate

[Hunter007]

You can just make that 400gb drive an external. Go to NewEgg.com or something and buy an external casing for under $40 and just stick the drive in there. Instant external hard drive.

-Kegan

[Nathyn]

Looks like I'm going to be doing a lot of external driving. I have to get one for my DVD burner.

-Nate

[ProfessorChaos]

Recording straight to the hard drive would be something that could save me hours :)

I'm seriously considering the Macbook.... if it wasn't for the heat issues and white discolouration...I would have already bought one...Macbook Pro anyone?

[Rasquachemedia]

yeah the heat issue is annoying!

[Adam_Levins]

Hi All,

I have tried capturing to the macbook 13" from the HVX here in Pal land. Since 720p is not an option in FCP I am forced to use 1080i capture (but I set the camera to 1080p) Capture seems to work fine, but pay back freezes at times. So I have ordered 1 gig or ram and a 100GB SATA 7200rpm drive. will get it all this week and test again.....

Adam
www.levinspictures.com

[THE HONEST LIAR]

Hi Adam wouldn't it be better to insert 2 sticks of 1GB's!

I would really like to know how you get on.
I have been holding out for a number of months now. Waiting for the Merom Macbook pro.
First l thought about the macbookpro then came the macbook which is a little more compact and easier to carry around. And like you in PAL land, we only get to capture 1080p/25 and 1080i/50.

Kind regards
THE HONEST LIAR

[RaySigmond]

Intel Macs, iPods Boost Apple Profit 48 Percent

Strong sales of Intel-powered Macintosh computers and iPods helped Apple Computer report third-quarter net income of $472 million and earnings per share of 54 cents on revenue of $4.37 billion.
Officials of the Cupertino, Calif., company said that with revenue up 48 percent from a year ago in 2005, Apple was able to report the second-best quarterly results in its history.


http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,1991677,00.asp

[Jon Oskar]

So was there a final verdict, is it ok, to use the macbook 13" to captur from HVX? Are there any limitation vs. the macbook pro?

[Adam_Levins]

Hi guys

Sorry for the delay, have been a bit busy.

Yes I have had no problems with capturing and paying back all file types from the HVX to my Macbook 13 inch after the upgrade!

I think the Hard drive was the the main psroblem but with the 7200rpm it really flies. Of course 2 gigs of ram age better but I asure you 1 gig works fine for 1080i and 720p carpture and playback. do not expect multiple timelines of playback, but really solid with capture and basic viewing/editing.

Hope this helps,

Adam

[Adam_Levins]

Also I think you have to set the camera to 1080p and FCP to 1080i as FCP does not have a 1080p for PAL

[Jon Oskar]

thanx