From PC to a mac. What is the best option ?

S

senne

Active member
First i 'ld like to say, that i did a search ! I found lots of different answers. But i need a clear one.

Hi,

i am making the step from a pc to a mac. Ihave no experience with mac yet, therefor I don't know which setup will do the job.

First off all i need a notebook because i shoot on location a lot. So i need to store footage to it ( with external harddisk).
Second important feature is that i need to be able to edit it at a decent speed. And continue to do so, for the next 2 years ( at least ).

I have two options.
1) Get a macbook pro
2) Get e regular macbook ( for capturing only ) and a macpro for editing at home

So the question is... is there a macbook pro which is good enough to edit lots of 720p footage ? The other question is... Is a regular macbook good enough for capturing the footage and maybe do small edits ?

Due to budget issues i cannot buy a macbook pro and a mac pro.

Thanks,

senne

edit : If you can tell me what the minimal specs are for a mac that would be cool to. Just so i know what i have to add to the basic versions.
 
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Just for capture the macbook is fine. the big advantage of the macbook over anyother laptop is a very long battery life.
I upgraded to a bigger size 7200 rpm drive and 2 gigs of ram. I capture with final cut pro without dropouts to the system drive. When full i transfer to an external usb drive. I never tried capturing direcly to an external drive but i think i remember people saying they did on the forum....

Another option would be a cheaper pc laptop with dvrack, capturing to quicktime(then edit directly in fcp directly). With dvrack you can get accurate focus too. The pc laptop would also allow you to do p2 offloads trought the pcmcia slot...
I think you can find similar capturing software for macs as well, maybe try a forum search...

Btw i can edit 720p without problems on my macbook. Just cutting will be fine.
 
so you capture and do minor editswith 720p in fcp on a macbook without any other software ?
I guess the macbook pro 15" 2.4 ghz with 2gb ram will be sufficient for serious editing. No ?
 
have you done all your homework regarding a MAC

have you done all your homework regarding a MAC

I was just wondering if you have done all your homework regarding a MAC switch over?

The adapters?
Editing program limitations? and or caveats?

I have been contemplating in using a MAC in my workflow, but it seems like there are many reasons not to.

The only thing that I covet about a MAC is it's instant cool factor.
I know alot of people around here who wants to get a MAC because they say its what all the Pros use. These very people that I hear from has no clue about content creation , yet they say they're gonna get a MAC because its the best and its cool to own one.

Not downing the MAC , just I am often curious about what some people actually think of when they prefer a MAC over PC.
 
FYI - Final Cut Studio requires a MacBook Pro not just a macbook- it needs the upgraded video card.As far as Mac/ PC I use them both well actually I just use the mac becaise the pc usally doesn't work
 
pinakbeth said:
I was just wondering if you have done all your homework regarding a MAC switch over?
Click to expand...

No, I haven't. That's what I am doing now. It's is not about the cool factor. That is just an extra. I often work together with different people, like graphic designers. They all have mac's, so it is easier to work together. My pc crashes from time to time using premiere pro.
The instability of my current pc and the negative comments on the upcomming Vista made me want to change. As you indicated, i still have some homework to do, so the purchase is not 100% certain to happen.
I am just looking around what possibilities are with mac.

A friend of mine has got a macbook and it runs final cut pro. We tried to capture live images, but we failed. I guess I 'll better do a search about that.
 
there isnt a big huge difference in workflow between a mac and windows. especially in cross platform apps like the adobe suite - macs are however less bothersome in general, and WAY less prone to viruses and other online bullcrap. plus a mac ships reasonably clean and isnt burdeoned down by all the useless-ass third party demo and promo software. unless youre just a neurotic power user (i always reformat and do a minimal install on any new computer) you just bring it home, install your apps and GO!

macbooks are smaller and dont have express card slots, so offloading your p2 cards will be firewire only and thus will leave your camera non useable during transfer, or you'll have to get a p2 store or other external device like that and they are around $2 grand.

macbook PRO is larger much more expandable and all you'll need is the duel systems express to pcmcia adapter $120 and you'll be set. and unles syoure doing serious graphic or effect work, id bet that you'll find the mac book pro fine as your main edit machine for at least the near future. then you can buy a big bad macpro as you get more work and can justify the costs.

if youre going to go macbook pro as your main machine you should also get a higher performance external drive setup. firewire800 or eSATA.

i injest and edit p2 footage in the field on my old-ass mac powerbook G4. its slow but it works. so your macbookPRO should be great!

as a side note - i have a higher end HP laptop that for some reason shipped with XP media center, so i installed a clean XP pro on it an dit took me several days to locate all the drivers to get the machine to full functionality. for a MAC however, there arent a million drivers for the "buid of the day" machines like there are for windows boxes. the OS is the full OS, install and go. then add what you like.
 
I am getting a macbook pro. Having a pc for download and then using the mac to edit is, for me is the best way to go. I don't feel the camera should be used as an offloading device as the primary workflow. It ties up the camera.

There is an adapter now for the mac, I am not sure how it is working at this point, but if it works, I will use the macbook exclusively. The macbook is really fast and they just upgraded them.
 
Capturing to a MacBook (not Pro) is problematic.

There is only one FW bus on that Mac, as in all Macs, and you cannot add a second one.

Nor do you want to capture to the internal boot drive.

A MBP is a better choice, and has the option to add a second FW bus, or a eSATA drive, or even a second hard drive internally
 
pinakbeth said:
I was just wondering if you have done all your homework regarding a MAC switch over?

The adapters?
Editing program limitations? and or caveats?
Click to expand...

What "adapters" are you referring to?

Although FCP does not handle MXF data directly (and Raylight for the Mac solves that), it is every bit a robust as the PC NLEs I've read about.

I edit on a Mac not because of the "cool factor" but because for me it is the best integration of hardware and software out there.

But you might want to be a little more specific when giving advice.
 
David S. , sorry but I wasn't giving any advice, but rather just commenting about some issues like as quoted below.

Just my opinions. What I was trying to realize is if Senne has figured out a complete workflow system concerning a MAC.

wgzn said:
there isnt a big huge difference in workflow between a mac and windows. especially in cross platform apps like the adobe suite - macs are however less bothersome in general, and WAY less prone to viruses and other online bullcrap. plus a mac ships reasonably clean and isnt burdeoned down by all the useless-ass third party demo and promo software. unless youre just a neurotic power user (i always reformat and do a minimal install on any new computer) you just bring it home, install your apps and GO!

macbooks are smaller and dont have express card slots, so offloading your p2 cards will be firewire only and thus will leave your camera non useable during transfer, or you'll have to get a p2 store or other external device like that and they are around $2 grand.

macbook PRO is larger much more expandable and all you'll need is the duel systems express to pcmcia adapter $120 and you'll be set. and unles syoure doing serious graphic or effect work, id bet that you'll find the mac book pro fine as your main edit machine for at least the near future. then you can buy a big bad macpro as you get more work and can justify the costs.

if youre going to go macbook pro as your main machine you should also get a higher performance external drive setup. firewire800 or eSATA.

i injest and edit p2 footage in the field on my old-ass mac powerbook G4. its slow but it works. so your macbookPRO should be great!

as a side note - i have a higher end HP laptop that for some reason shipped with XP media center, so i installed a clean XP pro on it an dit took me several days to locate all the drivers to get the machine to full functionality. for a MAC however, there arent a million drivers for the "buid of the day" machines like there are for windows boxes. the OS is the full OS, install and go. then add what you like.
Click to expand...
 
Understood and thanks.

But "adapters" are you referencing in your original response?

That's what I was interested in. We don't use "adapters" for anything on a Mac as I commonly understand the term
 
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