2010 Mac mini & Final Cut Studio
- Thread starter MLCinema
- Start date
Did you see this review from PC magazine about the new Mac mini? They gave it a really good review. 4.5 stars out of 5 for the $699 model.
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2365162,00.asp
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2365162,00.asp
handsome pete
Well-known member
I don't know why you'd want to run software on something that just runs it ok. Especially on a system that limits your RAM, video card options, connectivity to external storage, etc.
After I realized the iPhone launch is tomorrow and not today I went up to our Apple store, they did not have FCP installed on any mac minis, the guy said to give him a week when things slow down and he will install it for me and let me try it out.
I couldn't believe all the people on the sidewalk camping out over night to get the new iPhone tomorrow, there were no less than 50 people at 6pm this eve and this is in Leawood Kansas.
I couldn't believe all the people on the sidewalk camping out over night to get the new iPhone tomorrow, there were no less than 50 people at 6pm this eve and this is in Leawood Kansas.
MLCinema
Well-known member
That's....
That's....
That's what I was thinking. I am running FCS 3 on an older MBP and it's a little slow, but not bad. The minis keep getting faster and I think it might make a nice little editing system.
Thank you
That's....
That's what I was thinking. I am running FCS 3 on an older MBP and it's a little slow, but not bad. The minis keep getting faster and I think it might make a nice little editing system.
Thank you
MLCinema
Well-known member
Actually that was the plan. The server and an external DVD drive.
MLCinema
Well-known member
Real slow means what?
The cpu is a core 2 duo.
Issues relate to video card support which affect Motion performance, and certainly Color.
I just installed FCS3 on a Macbook unibody 13-inch 2009, and did some DVCProHD ingest. No problems.
Barry_Green
Moderator
I've seen an older version handle DVCPRO-HD full-screen, full frame rate on a 1.3GHz G4 laptop. Surely the mini would run circles around that...
obi1jacobi
Active member
I tried running Final Cut Studio 3 on a 2009 model Mac Mini since my company couldn't provide me with anything better at the time (and I didnt want to use my own gear for company work). It installed the software fine, but couldn't really get past the log and transfer phase. Id be happily logging my hmc40 avchd footage and FCP would crash randomly. Meanwhile on my Nov. 2006 Macbook Pro, I wasnt getting any of these issues. I'll also add it was a factory fresh Mac Mini with nothing else besides Final Cut Studio installed.
So, long story short, I got my company to get me a 2010 macbook pro and havent had any of the mac mini issues. As far as the newly released Mac Minis, I'm curious to see as well.
When I asked Apple and a B&H employee about it (referring to the 2009 Mac Mini) they both said that the integrated graphics were what was causing the issue, but who knows.
So, long story short, I got my company to get me a 2010 macbook pro and havent had any of the mac mini issues. As far as the newly released Mac Minis, I'm curious to see as well.
When I asked Apple and a B&H employee about it (referring to the 2009 Mac Mini) they both said that the integrated graphics were what was causing the issue, but who knows.
Many users run heavy intensive programs on a laptop and Imac which basically have the same limitations. The new Mac Minis while maybe not the best can definitely handle FCP, especially when users such as myself who are using FCP with older hardware.
Mac Mini now has a pretty good graphics card with 256mb of ram. The Mini also has a firewire 800 port that could easily run a raid drive. Also the Mac Mini supports up to 8gbs of ram which is no slouch either.
Ultimately we would all want a Mac Pro so we can have the best, but money is always an issue so I think it's something we all have to deal with.
According to the Apple website, the NVIDIA card still only has 256mb of shared SDRAM. It is impossible to say whether that meets FCP 7's required 128mb of VRAM without somebody installing the program on their new Mac Mini and testing it out for awhile.
I believe the new Macbooks have the same graphics card with the same 256mb of shared SDRAM as the new Mini, so that could also be a place to test it.
Hopefully someone can test it though so we can all be 100% sure :happy:
Good,
I used to be into tweaking MacMini's and the number one fault outside of intel GMA graphics was lack of secondary SATA, which helps in editing, people sold brackets to adopt the then ATA Superdrive to get another channel of storage.
There is a good resource called 123macmini on the net for all this.
My only gripe with the minis now are lack of I/O, or express card/pcie bus such that you can add something to it, but you get what you pay for, and minis are great machines.