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Final Cut X etc software (New Mac?)
Hello
I’m looking into the possibility of buying a new mac but not sure if I should and I need some advice so please read what I have to say as I really need assistance.
I currently have a Macbook Pro, 2.4Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo with 4GB of Ram. It runs okay but sometimes Final Cut X slows down etc. I have my video files stored on a WD My Passport for Mac External Drive. I also have Avid Pro Tools files on this External as well. After I work on a project, either Pro Tools or Final Cut I then move my completed projects and files to a 2TB Buffalo External. I currently have 1TB left on that drive. I have another 2TB Buffalo External that has Time Machine on it that backups my entire mac and all my externals. The only drawback is that my macbook is always running extremely rough. I’m not sure why considering all my video and audio files are on externals. What can I do to improve the performance of my macbook and it’s software on it? I constantly get rainbow of deaths or long pauses on Final Cut X, Motion, and Pro Tools. I can’t even edit with Final Cut X when I am using the higher quality media, and I have to switch to proxy which is a drawback because I have to then wait for all the media I import to render to proxy before it appears. With Pro Tools I sometimes get slowness or sluggish performance. What do you recommend I do to improve speed, performance etc?
Thanks
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12 Replies
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RAM, as much as you can put in. Also, are the drives USB? 2 or 3? USB 3 at a minimum, or thunderbolt are really the only way to go…. 🙂
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~”It is a poor craftsman who blames his tools.”~
~”The function you just attempted is not yet implemented”~ -
Sorry if this sounds dumb but how I do check to see if my drives are USB 2 or 3 etc?
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You are really pushing the limits of that machine. It is a SLUG with both of those applications. I know, as I have one, too, as a secondary machine. If you want a better experience with complex productions and high-quality media, the minimum machine would be a decked out iMac and upgraded storage, like a Thunderbolt array.
Or wait until the Mac Pro Tube is released and see whether that’s the machine for you. But be prepared for a big ticket, since you’ll need to add monitors, as well.
Oliver
Oliver Peters Post Production Services, LLC
Orlando, FL
http://www.oliverpeters.com -
[Bryce Douglass] “Sorry if this sounds dumb but how I do check to see if my drives are USB 2 or 3 etc?”
Not dumb… 🙂 Go to About this Mac, then click on More Info in the window that pops up, and when the next window appears, click on System Report, then on USB in the sidebar of the Report. 🙂
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~”It is a poor craftsman who blames his tools.”~
~”The function you just attempted is not yet implemented”~ -
I checked the USB info and it says I have only one usb2 and that’s a recording interface for Pro Tools all my externals are USB
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[Bryce Douglass] “all my externals are USB”
If you don’t see “USB 3” next to any of your USB devices, then they’re all USB 2, which is not going to work very well at all if you’re trying to edit from those drives.
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~”It is a poor craftsman who blames his tools.”~
~”The function you just attempted is not yet implemented”~ -
“[Bryce Douglass] “all my externals are USB””
the easier way it to look at the connectors. USB3 uses 2 different types of connectors that are NOT compatible with any other type of USB drives, While one end of the cable is a standard connection to your computer, the other one is very thin with a small indent in one side, while the second version looks a oversized and pregnant square USB 1 connection and is usually only found on desktop model drives due to the size.
gary adcock
Studio37Post and Production Workflow Consultant
Production and Post Stereographer
Chicago, ILFollow my blog at https://www.garyadcock.com
Or follow me on Twitter
@garyadcock -
What drives do you recommend I should have?
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I will be interested in the drive comments. My 2 GB Seagate FW 800 which has my FCPX events and projects on it is filling up. FW800 seems to be a dying standard with Thunderbolt and USB3 around. The LaCie Thunderbolt drives get great reviews, but are rather pricy compared with USB3. I use a mid 2011 27 inch iMac with 16 GB of ram and a 3.1 GHz I5 (I should have bought the I7). I am editing files from a Canon XA20 and using what they call 1080 p 59.94 which at 29 Mbs.
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There aren’t going to be any USB 3 ports on a laptop before 2012 I think. And you said you’re using a core2duo so that’s out. You should have some flavor of firewire. Firewire 800 I’d think. You also need RAM. Not sure what machine you have but 4gigs might be your limit. Maybe 8. What’s the model? Go to about this mac and click more info. Should be at the top.
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