PowerBooks- Good for editing?

Staven

Staven

Well-known member
I'm contemplating getting myself the 15inch 1.67 ghz powerpc g4.

But I need it for editing on the road and for recording music.

How fast is it for editing dv and is it a reliable tool for on set editing?

will this current powerbook be able to handle the new hvx200 when it comes out?
 
Hmmmmmm

1)I think a 1.67G4 would be quick enough for a realtime 2:3:3:2 pullup for monitor output in DV.....
2)Depends what you mean by handle. You wouldn't have much drive space to speak of.
Should be quick enough at least for 720p. 1080p has never been an option on a laptop before.
Who knows?
 
1. I know tons of people who use FCP on those kinds of laptops, with little or no problems.
2. Editing on the road shouldn't change anything, unless you go somewhere without electricity.
3. Again, I know lots of people who tote those things around and edit their brains out, with no problem. Just get plenty of external storage for the footage.
4. The 1080 stuff - I doubt it. I'm getting a dual 2 Ghz G5 on Monday, and I'm not even counting on that thing to handle 1080 well (though I'll be thrilled if it does).

For DV, you should be gold. Just get as much memory as you can and some portable storage (firewire drives). I have a friend who right now is editing one of those car company's series of shorts (sort of like BMW's) all on a powerbook. He's just using a terabyte firewire drive and a little TV as an external monitor, and his setup seems to be working just fine. The only thing he says he misses are some of the realtime effects he'd get with a more robust system, but otherwise he's getting it done.
 
There are many people using laptops as their main machine for editing. It is fast enough for most cases. Audio definitely. DV Video definitely. HD? I don't know. I'm assuming that if you were to use external Firewire 800 drives with it (15" and 17" models only) that you could get fast enough transfer rates to handle HD and higher? In any case I believe the movie SCRATCH and SCRATCH: All the Way Live were shot on DVX's and edited on laptop using FCP HD. Most live VJ shows use MAC's. Only thing I'd look out for on those Powerbooks is the fact that it is made out of Aluminum. They ding really easy. All the people I know who have one have at least 1 ding or dent or bent piece of something. I almost considered an iBook because of this.http://www.scratchworldwidemedia.com/scratchsxsw.html
 
Had an iBook.. They scratch easy and turn yellow-ish after awhile..
Ti-Books had paint that flaked off.. You could actually buy a refinishing kit and D-I-Y.
My Alum. 12" PBook has a bent piece sticking out from when I dropped it the 4th time. Not bad.
 
Also, don't forget about FCP's OfflineRT codecs (a.k.a. PhotoJPEG) and "offline" editing mode. You can take low-resolution proxies with you on the road, or edit with heavier effects in realtime on a weaker machine with a temporary tradeoff in image quality. When you're ready for your final render, you recapture (or reconnect the original media), and your output is fully quality. Good stuff.
 
Oh, and while dings in the aluminum may be annoying, laptops with plastic exteriors will easily crack and warp instead when damaged, too. I guess the bottom line is ... don't drop laptops. ;)

Surprised to hear about the yellow iBook, though. I know someone who still uses an original white iBook (500 MHz G3), and it's still, well, white. The keyboard is pretty nasty after all these years, however ...
 
That's exactly what I had: iBook G3 500. I think what happened is dirt got into the crevasses and digs in the plastic and that's what made it appear discolored. Kind of looked like an ice skating rink that needed a Zamboni glazing.

I totally agree with you--Responsible people don't drop laptops.
I'm just glad that mine works : )
 
Maybe I should have also mentioned that I was just speaking from my own experience. I'm awfully protective of my stuff, but accidents just happen. Plastic breaks, metal dents, but as long as it works ... :beer:
 
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