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FCP Studio on a laptop?
Does anybody have any expirience with a 17″ Laptop running FCP Studio… Using FCP, Motion, Soundtrack and DVD Studio Pro…. 8 bit uncompressed, AJA I/O for Beta SP, G-Raid 500G.
I’m in the process of buying a new computer, MAC… Although I know they are very different (performance wise), I’m between a G5 and a Laptop…
Does it work? I want the portability of the laptop, which I use a lot… I can work at home or during the weekends and comeback to work and work from a G5 dual 2.0.
All comments truly appreciated.
Thanks,
Rogelio
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8 Replies
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I run FCP 4.5 on a 17″ 1.33 laptop. It’s great, but it isn’t always that portable. Drives, decks, and cables run everywhere. I find my computer anchored to my desk for long stretches. Motion doesn’t run in real time on a G4.
I need to be portable, because I borrow decks from various sources, and transport myself quite a bit, but sometimes I think it’d be better to have the faster computer and simply transport the media drives.
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Very good point. Maybe is better to have a portable HD and run everywhere with it. You got me thinking.
Thanks for the input.Rogelio
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I have to say that I love the laptop though. Perhaps it is for the recreational use of it (non-editing). Surfing the net, watching movies, emailing, etc. is all very enjoyable from the living room. And I do bring my computer to important meetings to demonstrate my editing and such.
I wouldn’t change my laptop for a desktop. But if I was geared for a more powerful editing workflow, I probably would.
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It’s more than doubling your budget, which may be cost prohibitive, but consider a two-tiered approach.
I have both a G5 tower and a 17″ G4 laptop. The tower came first. About 8 months later came the laptop. I have the best of both worlds. I have the full power of the tower when I need it, and the portability of the laptop when I need that. Moving projects between the two is relatively simple. It’s the reason I have a series of FW drives.
The tower is a work-only station. I keep off the internet unless I’m downloading updates or FTP media. The laptop is my email, internet & word processing workhorse. I expect it to give me more trouble with the laptop, and I do occasionally have weird little issues.
If this is a business for you, the investment is worth it! I can’t believe how much I labored over the decision to buy the laptop. It more than paid for itself within 6 months or so.
debe
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It’s more than doubling your budget, which may be cost prohibitive, but consider a two-tiered approach.
I have both a G5 tower and a 17″ G4 laptop. The tower came first. About 8 months later came the laptop. I have the best of both worlds. I have the full power of the tower when I need it, and the portability of the laptop when I need that. Moving projects between the two is relatively simple. It’s the reason I have a series of FW drives.
The tower is a work-only station. I keep off the internet unless I’m downloading updates or FTP media. The laptop is my email, internet & word processing workhorse. I expect it to give me more trouble with the laptop, and I do occasionally have weird little issues.
If this is a business for you, the investment is worth it! I can’t believe how much I labored over the decision to buy the laptop. It more than paid for itself within 6 months or so.
debe
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you know, i have my monsterous g5 at the studio. but i got a 14inch ibook and it runs fcp4.5 (havent gotten studio yet) and dvdstudiopro rather nicely.
slower on the render side of things, but heck, i got a g5 for that!
the ibook is great, the screen is nice, and running fcp hasnt been an issue. and its cheaper than a pb.
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What’s a PowerBook? MacBook Pro! All kidding aside, I use both Dual 2.5 G5 and 1.25 PB. For what you want to do, I would recomend the G5. The PB and/or MacBook Pro is a great investment for portability. I would like to see great improvements with the MacBook Pro. Only time will tell how it will perform with FCP Suite.
Check out the Apple PB and G5 refurbs at the store. You can get a really good deal.
Steve Eisen
Eisen Video Productions
Director-At-Large
Chicago Final Cut Pro Users Group -
Thanks for all of your input guys. I already have a G5 dual 2.0 and most of the time it rocks! I wanted something for portability when I go see clients or make changes on a fly, while with clients. But, I did not wanted to waite money either if it was going to be impossible to work on a laptop with FCP Studio. I guess my best bet is to wait ’till April for NAB and see if Apple comes up with something AMAZING wehter is a new G5 or Laptop… Don’t like the current MACBook Pro, it needs work still, and you need rosetta, etc… I’ll wait ’till April, but I will probably takeSteve advise and buy something in the Refurbished sectiona at apple… Don’t want to be a Beta tester for apple with the new MActels.
Thanks a lot for all of your suggestions, it really helps.
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