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  • Final Cut Pro on a MacBook

    Posted by Samantha Burton on March 16, 2011 at 10:30 am

    Hey

    I have a mac book and want to use Final Cut Pro on it but am worried it’s going to run really slowly, i have heard mixed reports. What about if i get a huge external hard drive and install it onto there and keep everything on there. Will that deal with the problem?

    Thanks

    Andrew Rendell replied 15 years, 5 months ago 4 Members · 4 Replies
  • 4 Replies
  • Rob Grauert

    March 16, 2011 at 2:32 pm

    Designate your Macbook’s internal hard drive for the OS and Software only. Doing so will ensure your computer runs smoothly.

    Lately I’m amazed how many people are under the assumption that simply installing a program is going to dramatically slow down their computer. In my experience, software has never slowed down a computer. Poor media management is the issue.

    While a Macbook isn’t the best computer to be editing with, it’s certainly doable if you keep all your media on an external hard drive or RAID. The format of video you are working with is a factor as well. Do you know what format of video you will be working with?

    Rob Grauert, Jr.
    http://www.robgrauert.com
    command-r.tumblr.com

  • Zane Barker

    March 16, 2011 at 3:40 pm

    [Rob Grauert] “it’s certainly doable if you keep all your media on an external hard drive or RAID”

    Problem is that the MacBook only has USB, there is NO firewire. USB works in bursts of data and therefore cannot handle the constant data speeds needed for for video editing.

    **Hindsight is always 1080p**

  • Rob Grauert

    March 16, 2011 at 4:56 pm

    Oh, woops. It’s been so long since I’ve looked at a Macbook since, well, it’s only a Macbook.

    Well, Samantha, looks like editing on a Macbook will be tough after all. You could try editing with a USB drive. It’s not gonna kill ya. When I was still in school, I know some kids would edit DV footage on a USB drive. I know Shane Ross said in a blog (or maybe a podcast) that he was editing DVCPro HD on a USB drive. So I suppose it’s doable, but don’t be surprised if you run into some problems.

    If I had to guess, the problem you’ll most likely run into is Dropped Frames, which isn’t damaging to your footage or data. It just means your computer isn’t receiving the data fast enough to be able to play back the video.

    Rob Grauert, Jr.
    http://www.robgrauert.com
    command-r.tumblr.com

  • Andrew Rendell

    March 17, 2011 at 10:35 am

    I was surprised to see that the current macbook doesn’t have firewire, which would be a problem. I used to have a slightly older macbook which did have a firewire connection and that would run FCP 5 but not FCP 7 (something to to with vram IIRC).

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