-
Advice on buying Mac Book Pro for Video Editing
Hi.
I’m on the verge of buying a MBP for HD video editing/Motion Graphics/Compositing work at home. The upgrade options offered by Apple have me a little stumped at what to choose for the best.
I don’t need the fastest most impressive machine in the world but I would like one that doesnt have me going insane waiting for things to render and able to run FCP, Photoshop & After Effects at the same time without it grinding to a halt.
The base model I am looking at has these specs:
2.2GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7
4GB 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM — 2x2GB
500GB Serial ATA Drive @ 5400 rpm
SuperDrive 8x (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)Would this be enough for my needs or would you reccomend upgrading anything?
Thanks for any advice anyone may be able to offer.
Stuart.
-
4 Replies
-
I bought a little 13 inch 3 months ago with basically the same specs you posted. I am a hobby level at home editor. That said, I get some jobs and make them blu ray. I have to say, this little machine with the sandy bridge is right on the money for speed and ease of handling the load. If I were a full time editor, I would spare no expense for the best of the best. I have a 6 month old 27 inch imac quad core with same basic stats, the MBP is quicker and I can take it and my drives in a very small bag and get stuff done.
-
You can get by with that but AE and any graphic app wants as much RAM and processor as you can give it. You definitely should get at least 8 GB of RAM and put a 7200 RPM HD is it. Then if you can afford a faster processor go for it. It will pay off with faster rendering and more fps playback.
Do you need portability? If not get a iMac and you can add more RAM and a faster processor.
-
Thanks for your help.
Would I notice a big difference between the 5400rpm and the 7200rpm hard drive?
-
7200rpm is a worthwhile upgrade.
Also, make sure you get at least 8gb of RAM. You might do a bit of research, I’m pretty sure the Macbook Pros now accept 16gb of RAM, although Apple doens’t offer a 16gb upgrade for some reason. You can buy a 16gb kit from a 3rd party and upgrade yourself for about the same price as you can do an 8gb upgrade from Apple. Final Cut Pro 7 will do okay with 4gb, but Adobe’s Creative Suite will really come to life with extra RAM.
Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up