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Running FCP on a laptop
If I wanted to start experimenting with FCP and After Effects to edit HDV, could I do it on the most powerful Mac laptop? And if so, can someone link me to a spot where I can price out the best laptop available?
I am trying to decide if I want to expand my knowledge of Adobe products to include Mac and PC both. I can afford a nice laptop, I imagine. But will it work?
Or, do I need a top of the line G5? And if so, how does one deck out a G5 to make it so powerful I won’t need to upgrade for a couple of years at least?
Steven
https://www.stevengotz.com -
5 Replies
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The current line of laptops at Apple.com will do what you need with HDV. The nice thing about the Mac laptops is you can run Mac and PC operating systems on one machine, the best of both, I feel.
As for longevity of the computer, that is a personal issue. I plan for 5 years of use. I max out RAM, Harddrive and get top of the line unit. Then by the 3 year mark, I’m way behind. Define your needs for the next five years and buy. You will ALWAYS be out of date with computers.
Hope this helps-
Matthew
Quad 2.5 G5
OSX 10.4.X
Ram 4GB
FCP 5.1/AE 6.5/DVDSP4 -
OK, so for around $3100 I can get a decked out laptop.
I would be using this for editing only, and with all of the Adobe products, plus FCP, I guess.
The real question is, would I be better off with a G5? Sigh. Tough decision. But if the laptop can do it, it would be easier to justify. If I wanted to spend around $9K I could go hog wild on a two dual processor G5 and a 30 inch monitor. I would really have to find a serious reason for that kind of money.
Steven
https://www.stevengotz.com -
They just ran a bunch of speed test with the new MacBook & MacBook Pro. They BOTH KILLED the current G5 in rendering time!
So for TODAYS current situation, the fastest Mac you can get, is an MacBook.
Todd at UCSB
Television Production -
That’s useful information. Thanks. It is always nice to hear that what I want to do anyway is a good idea. Now all I have to do is convince Adobe to give me free copies of their MAc products to run on the laptop, I will be in good shape. Getting a free copy of FCP might be a challenge.
Steven
https://www.stevengotz.com -
don’t forget — you want your media on a different drive than the system drive. do-able on a laptop using an external drive. easier on a desktop. You also want to monitor on as much screen real estate as possible. If you don’t need portable go with a desk top. get the best video card you can as well.
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