Help, I need a computer.

ash housewares

ash housewares

Member
I need a computer to work with the HVX 200. Know this, I fancy myself as simply a director and consider myself a neophyte on the tech part of filmmaking. So, type slowly, so to "speak". Should I purchase a powerful (expensive) desktop and use a simple (relatively inexpensive) laptop in which to shuttle hi def info from camera to desktop? Or, is there a laptop powerful enough to handle task of acquisition, storage and the editing of my hi def info and ignore the desktop all together? And, I would like to know any brand suggestions. I am used to working with Avid on pc. However, I am willing to switch to apple and fcp if someone can make a substantive argument as to why that brand may work best. Any suggestions, including any wild suggestions, would be greatly appreciated.:badputer:
Thank you.
 
Apple Macbook Pro's are easily the best Laptops available for HD editing/capturing/exporting/rendering/etc...etc...etc...

I use a 2.0ghz as my lone HD system with the HVX200 and am making an HD-DVD series on it right now without a Hitch. A couple external Hard Drives and all is good to go. I capture most footage directly to the laptop in Final Cut Pro at 1080i 60i and havent dropped a frame yet (knock on wood)

On the side i also do live show production and all i need to take with me i can carry. Tripod, Macbook Pro bag, and HVX200 in Rolling Pelican case.

My advice: Get a Macbook Pro, then next month, get a Mac Pro tower after they are announced at WWDC. DO NOT BUY A POWERMAC G5 right now. Wait for WWDC, then either decide on an Intel based Tower, or get a G5 on the cheap thanks to the new hardware
 
Cynic821 said:
I use a 2.0ghz as my lone HD system with the HVX200 and am making an HD-DVD series on it right now without a Hitch. A couple external Hard Drives and all is good to go. I capture most footage directly to the laptop in Final Cut Pro at 1080i 60i and havent dropped a frame yet
Click to expand...

Are you using an ExpressCard/34 FW card as well?

Also what brand and speed of FW externals?

The MBP does not have a DL burner.

Are you doing DVD5 SL HD DVDs?
 
No express card. The Hard drives i am using are USB 2.0.

From the HVX200 i give the Macbook Pro a firewire feed. When out in the city i capture directly to the laptops Internal HDD. If im indoors and can plug in, i use USB 2.0 hard drives to capture to.

The HD-DVD's , seeing as there is no HD-DVD burner for the mac right now, are authored to a different external HDD and sent to the replicator.
 
Cynic821 said:
Apple Macbook Pro's are easily the best Laptops available for HD editing/capturing/exporting/rendering/etc...etc...etc...
Click to expand...

I'm a PC user and totally ignorant of the new Apple capability so, I gotta ask this . . . How many streams of HD are you able to edit on that equipment? Are you getting real time performance in 1080 (editing)? And, exactly how much are you able to capture to your laptop in 1080?

Thanks in advance.
 
Thank you for the information. It was, of course, informative. It seems as if I will be purchasing an apple mac pro. Although, has anyone considered the new toshiba qosmio or the sony vgn-art9g, as they appear to be quite powerful?
 
You can author HD DVDs using DVD SP 4 and a red dye DVD5. Will play on a Toshiba HD DVD player. We have one; it works and footage is fabulous.

MBP come with internal 2.5 SATA drives.

You can capture 1080i/60 directly via firewire to the internal or external drives. Also use a eSATA set up.

Playback will be RT, but someone has to chime in about how many streams.

I can do 7 streams of of 720/24pn on my desktop, which is about as quick as the 2.16 MBP.
 
By streams what exactly do you mean? Sorry, late and too many beers i guess.


WIth 1080i 60i im able to apply color correction and still have a realtime preview of it on my external HDTV monitor via DVI cable play without frame drops from Macbook Pro 2.0 ghz.

Its easily the only soluton. Do not buy a windows laptop, when you can get a Macbook Pro that will do windows and OS X.
 
I have read if you use a pc laptop with drives formatted to fat 32 you would be able to deliver native mxf files that would be compatible with mac and pc edit systems.
 
Cynic821 said:
By streams what exactly do you mean? Sorry, late and too many beers i guess.


WIth 1080i 60i im able to apply color correction and still have a realtime preview of it on my external HDTV monitor via DVI cable play without frame drops from Macbook Pro 2.0 ghz.

Its easily the only soluton. Do not buy a windows laptop, when you can get a Macbook Pro that will do windows and OS X.
Click to expand...

that is impressive performance mate wow! i can just imagine what the intel mac towers will be capable of. :love4:
 
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