Suggestions for Final Cut 7 workflow on MacBook Pro 2.26ghz

doctalker

New member
Hey all, so I've begun shooting with my HMC150 and all is good so far as far as shooting.

I've noticed, however, that editing footage off my Drobo (2nd gen FW800) is too slow for Apple's Pro Res format. I get dropouts every few seconds. I've also read that Drobos are not ideal for video editing (though I haven't had problems with DV and HDV in the past). So I am now looking into my options for external drives to cut on, and I am not considering a Drobo as an option. I'm editing a documentary so I will have a large amount of footage and need drives that are very high capacity, and very fast so that I can playback and cut the 1080 Pro Res footage.

A couple notes:

-I will be backing up my raw footage onto separate disks. I will not be editing footage on the same disks as my raw footage backup. I will also be backing up my project files separately in case of drive failure.

-I am running FCP 7 on a MacBook Pro with 2.26 ghz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4 gigs of ram, using OS 10.6.2.

-I do not wish to store all my footage on my internal drive, for obvious reasons, so it seems that USB 2.0 and FW800 are my only options as far as external disks (SCSI is out since I'm on a MacBook).

-I'd prefer not to daisy chain FW800 or USB 2.0 drives, but realize I may not have a choice once I reach a certain amount of footage (ie more than any current drive's capacity).

Is there another workflow I should be considering? Has anyone with a similar set up got other suggestions? Also has anyone had success using a MacBook Pro 2.26 with Pro Res on an external drive?

Thanks!
 
I cut on a MacPro Tower...and I've edited Pro Res 422 1080p on an external firewire drive without a problem. I would suggest getting a basic 1tb eternal firewire drive. Personally, I don't have a brand preference...I've had successes and issues with all the major companies.

Personally, I like to edit on one of my four internal drives then archive to an external. But, you should be alright editing on an external drive with your machine. I mean, it's a relatively beefy laptop.
 
I have a slightly faster processor (2.53) macbook pro.....all other specs are the same. I use a G-Drive mini FW800 and also use a 4TB G-RAID. Both have no issues editing ProRes. Have you had any luck using ProRes proxy?
 
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