Macbook powerful enough?

diego1235467

diego1235467

Well-known member
I'll be going to college in the fall, and my school is asking to have a mac (desktop or laptop), as well as Final Cut Pro.

Will a macbook (white version, with the firewire, 2.0GHz, 2GB RAM, 120GB hard drive) be able to meet my requirements and run the software smoothly? I'm also wondering as to whether I need to get Final Cut Studio, instead of just FCP (from a filmmaking standpoint, not so much for school requirement.) Will this be enough to run FCS2 smoothly?
 
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What footage will you be editing?

That is a important factor.

DV or even DVCProHD will work with that computer, but not Color and probably not Motion
 
what's Color and Motion? The thing is, for the summer I'll be doing DV, but after school starts I'm not sure.

Can you maybe let me know what Mac would be the best choice for this stuff, especially on a tight budget?
 
If you're planning on using HD any time soon, I'd recommend getting a Macbook Pro or, if you want, a Mac Pro. The white Macbook won't be able to do anything fancy, but it can definitely edit SD footage fine.
 
would any of the imacs be a better choice than the macbooks? And for now, I'll only be doing SD.
Also, Theres a macbook pro with 2GB RAM, 250GB hard drive, 2.4 GHz. How is this so much better than the regular macbook?

And can the macbooks and macbook pros burn dvds?
 
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Ok, so I'm leaning towards a macbook pro. Will the base version ($1999) be good for video editing with FCS2? Or is it really in my best interest to go for the $2499 version? Again, I'm on a tight budget, but if need be, I might be willing to get the full version.
 
Some MacBooks have DVD burners.

I have edited DV, DVCproHD, XDcamHD, R3D (RED Cam), and Cineform HD all on my white Macbook. It isn't the best solution, and I only really use it when I am away from my desktop, but it will get you by.
 
diego1235467 said:
I'll be going to college in the fall, and my school is asking to have a mac (desktop or laptop), as well as Final Cut Pro.

Will a macbook (white version, with the firewire, 2.0GHz, 2GB RAM, 120GB hard drive) be able to meet my requirements and run the software smoothly? I'm also wondering as to whether I need to get Final Cut Studio, instead of just FCP (from a filmmaking standpoint, not so much for school requirement.) Will this be enough to run FCS2 smoothly?
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I've been editing 1080 footage on an older 1.67 GHz G4 Powerbook and it works absolutely fine with Final Cut Studio.

Really, you most likely don't HAVE TO have FCS2 at all depending on what you want to do.

.
 
Is there a way to buy FCP 6 by itself then? Will I still be able to burn dvds, do some effects, etc. without Studio?
 
No, it sells only as a suite.

Cannot be purchased individually.

BTW, Color and Motion are two applications included in FCS2.

Color is a very powerful color correction application. Motion is for content creation, and compositing -- similar in some respects to AE.

I suggest going to Apple's Final Cut Studio page and reviewing some of the information there.
 
Oh, duh. :-/
I spaced out for a bit. I knew what they were.
Anyway, I'll probably be using everything (or most) of the Suite. Will the base model Macbook Pro be a good choice for this?
 
diego1235467 said:
Is there a way to buy FCP 6 by itself then? Will I still be able to burn dvds, do some effects, etc. without Studio?
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all the macbook pros can burn DVDs i'm pretty sure. All the new gens especially. I HIGHLY suggest getting the 15" MacBook Pro, the Latest Gen. They are amazing.
It'll edit anything fine.
 
diego1235467 said:
is that the base macbook ($1900)?
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the one that is $1999 yes. not the macbook, the macbook pro

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Link: http://store.apple.com/us/configure/MB470LL/A?mco=MTkzOTI0Mg

add $50 to make the 250GB HDD a 7200 RPM and you'd be golden. Faster the hard drive, the better. And I also recommend getting an external HDD to edit off of.
This one is decent http://store.apple.com/us/product/TS124VC/A?fnode=MTY1NDA0Nw&mco=MzAxNjU2OA
but i'd look for a 7200 RPM one.
 
Ok, I may do that then. Thank you guys for the help. If anyone has any other comments or suggestions I'm still open to hearing them.

Oh, and which third party sellers would you guys reccomend? Do I have to send them my macbook and have them install it or what?
 
3rd party ram sellers -

http://www.crucial.com/

Direct link
http://www.smalldog.com/ramfinder/index.php?mid=171

I'd recommend the 15" MBP the 17" is good but not practical as far as portability goes it
can be lugged around, but its big and not very easy to tote. I really see the 17" as a laptop
your bring in with you leave it at the job and take it home on the weekends.

Now mind you the Macbook can edit HD I've seen a guy do some transcoding of red footage
not ideal but it shows you the potential of these dual cores. The difference really is the the graphics / express slot / screen. Frontside bus is the same, Ram capacity is the same the 13" I think is a sleeper I feel it will work work fine as a computer to show footage on (transcoded for web / preview for a director / keep notes / basic edits.

That's my 2cents but if I were you I'd go with the 15" MBP (it's what I use) HD needs screen real estate I hook my system up to a 24" dell works great.

Any other questions feel free to ask, by the way check out this video on installing RAM in your MBP - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9dg2Rofrck
 
I second the 2nd display if you go with the 15". I edit on a older MBP (Core Duo) at work and even having a second 19" display prevents me from having my nose pressed up against the screen. I run a pair of the 24" Dell 1080p (s2409w) monitors off my MacPro setup at home. I love the quality and you can't beat the price. Editing on that beast is a dream, but the MBP is also quite capable. I'll also second crucial on the ram upgrades. Have used them for years and have never been disappointed.

Don't know much about the newest gen of 13" macbooks. I have one of the older ones (1.6 or 1.8 Core Duo, can't remember which) which refused to run FCS because of the integrated intel graphics. Ran FCE on it and it chugged through DV with no problems. Had a 500 gig external as my scratch disk. Also an external DVD burner. Not a speed demon but it did everything I asked of it.

Not much has been said about the iMacs. Used to edit HDV with no problem on one of the last gens (white plastic, not aluminum). I would grind it to a halt with motion but we only had 2gig ram and a subpar graphics card but it doesn't sound like you're going to be into much 3D/compositing work...yet.

Sorry that all my info is on older machines, but the point is if they could handle it, the newer ones should do it even better. But definely max the ram and get yourself an external scratch disk. A second display will make life better but isn't required.
 
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