Best Mac Setup for Final Cut Pro?

[Chris Poisson]

The best thing for you to do is go to an Apple store, where you can try any and all combinations of software and hardware, because your needs and how comfortable you are with a given setup are what’s important, not the myriad of others’ personal preferences you’ll get here.

Have a wonderful day.

[Todd Reid]

a search will reveal hundreds off threads on this subject.

I’m not sure there is an “ideal setup”. It depends on MANY factors, not the least of which is budget and type of media you work with. You will need to consider the computer system (including possibly 2 computer monitors), storage, external monitoring, I/O (internal or external), audio monitoring and power conditioning.

A desktop is usually the better way to go, unless you need the portability.
Storage, you’ll need a RAID of some sort (many to choose from).
RAM is fairly cheap right now, I’d get as much as you can afford.

Since money will obviously no object….
get the latest/greatest octocore
Max out the RAM
get a HD external monitor (could run into the thousands $$$)
get a Kona 3, AJAHD or Blackmagic
eSATA RAID5

Good luck, this is a fun task to ponder the MANY situations you may need. Ask lots of questions of manufacturers, colleagues or friends. Seek out a reputable company that specializes in building systems and carefully look at their recommendations.

[David Roth weiss]

Wayne,

Inside every MacPro there are only three available PCIe slots, three available slots for SATA hard drives, and eight slots for sticks of RAM. And, the choices for what goes into those slots is very finite, not like the PC world where there are hundreds and hundreds of choices for every component and horrendous compatibility issues between them at every turn. So, you wil find that, unlike building a editing system on a PC, doing so on a Mac is not rocket science. And, on top of that, it works…

David

David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los Angeles

POST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™

A forum host of Creative COW’s Apple Final Cut Pro, Business & Marketing, and Indie Film & Documentary forums.

[Miriam Moran]

I bought a 2.8gh iMac with 4g ram and 1T hard drive back in March, I’m editing full HD every day with excellent results. We initially were holding out until we could affort a new MacPro, but realized we could buy multiple iMacs for the same cost as 1 MacPro, and our problem is not enough computers (multiple editors) not lack of power. The iMac and Final Cut Studio together set me back about $5000 (I think the computer was $3600 and the software is $1300).

I have a 17″ Mac Book Pro and while I can edit on it, I really prefer a larger screen for editing – I have the 24″ iMac and my 2 G5’s each have a 23″ screen.

I agree with other suggestion to go in and try some out, but I ended up having to order mine from http://www.apple.com as they didn’t carry the “cranked up” version of the iMac that I wanted in the store. No big deal, shipped it right to my house, everything was good. I’ve really enjoyed it!

[Wayne Hall]

Thanks a mil. Your post was very helpful.

[Chris Poisson]

Miriam,

Your iMac has a mini DVI out so you can get a second monitor on the cheap. On your MBP you can run out of DVI and do the same thing, I have a 17″ widescreen Sony monitor running from my MBP and happily edit on it every day.

BTW, what do you mean by “full HD” on your iMac? What flavor of HD, and what kind of drive is that 1tb?

Have a wonderful day.