Will the Macbook Pro Do Enough for me with FCP

J

jrod81

Veteran
I am looking to get the 15inch I7 Macbook Pro. For only a little more money I could get the intro level Mac Pro. I assume the Mac Pro would be the preference for most editors but I am going to be a one man show and very mobile between office and home for editing as well as taking the Macbook Pro to shoots for offloading. I am basically needing someone to tell me that the MBP will be okay purchase and will run FCP 7 without any issues. I just edited a 30 minute film shot on a 7d with my old MBP Core 2 Duo and it was struggling pretty bad...
Help me out, give me some peace of mind
 
Depends what sort of footage you'll be working with. I edit ProRes on my MacBook Air 13" all the time and couldn't be happier so unless we're talking heavy RED footage you'll likely be fine.

Noah
 
no no, nothing that intense... sorry should have clarified... it will be pro res too... thanks for the help
 
though i will say the people at apple said the 13inch would not be enough and i would not be pleased with its results... obviously they are doing their job in getting to buy a more expensive computer but i guess i could rethink this and go with at 13inch to save money if you like the results and speed of your editing with one
 
Straight editing a MBP will do fine. Don't expect it to be able to do relatively advanced composites and colour correction on the fly, though...

My MBP will work fine on 5D/7D footage in ProRes Proxy, however as soon as you put 3-way CC or start fading between multiple layers of video it needs to render everything for smooth playback. Also, export times will be longer on a MBP than on a Mac Pro, however unless you're producing really time critical pieces this isn't so much of a problem as it is an annoyance. I usually go have a nice cup of tea and play on my phone for about 20 minutes while it churns out a couple of minutes of footage into h264... Consider an Elgato Turbo HD to speed up h264 encodes.
 
I have a 15" MBP -- the last with the ExpressCard slot. Works a treat for me, I ingest directly from the cards of my EX1 on location, back-up to a pair of attached Firewire 800 drives when I get back to the office, and edit from the MBP. Add a big external monitor & a full size (with the numeric pad I'd advise) keyboard and you'll feel as solid as any Mac Pro user felt in 2006.

Cheers,
GB
 
Yeah I should clarify I have the most decked out 13" MBA- 2.13 Ghz Core 2 Duo + 4GB of RAM. That's more expensive than a stock 15" MBP but a lot more convenient to carry around in my opinion. You're also giving up Firewire completely so that may be a blocker depending on which camera you're using. But if you're say shooting a DSLR camera that happens to use SDHC cards in my opinion the 13" is a compelling option. And the folks at Apple Stores generally don't try to push you into the higher end equipment unless they genuinely think you need it. The base model 13" MBA in my opinion isn't as up to the task. Anyways- if it's generally ProRes you can't go wrong here if you stick with the upper end specs and stack up on RAM.

Noah
 
I've got the latest 17" macbook pro, and it works great for ProRes. Expandability is great, too, if it's your only system. The Express 34 slot quickly becomes your best friend.
 
well the nature of the job i am taking changed a bit in its description today. i spoke with the HR guy and it seems i will be doing this work from home. so mobility might not be quite as big a deal as i was thinking. i have an old white macbook now (that my wife uses). i might have the company buy me a MAC Pro if it gets to stay home and then if I need to show them something in the office just take my wife's white macbook...
what would you guys do?
 
If you are primarily an editor, the Mac Pro seems the wise choice. If you are a 'one man shop' and find yourself shooting in the field -- a Macbook Pro seems the versatile choice. But the portable Pro does have compromises, including limited (or in the case of the 13" & 15" none at all) opportunities to add things like the Matrox MXO. For me, the ability to dump in the field & begin my edit while still on the road outweighs the disadvantages. If I were a 'desk-bound' editor I would likely make a different choice.

Cheers,
GB
 
I'd still consider a portable. Unless you are doing massive graphics intensive RED footage or 3D work or tons of Motion- you get much more flexibility and freedom with a MBP.

Noah
 
k, well i do want to do the laptop just cause it makes so much more sense with my lifestyle (constantly moving basically)... i am doing it, mbp it is
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top