Maxed out Macbook Pro Retina 15′ = Raw Grading possible?

[Ryan Holmes]

You can grade RAW with a MacBook Pro but you won’t have realtime playback. There’s not enough horsepower in a laptop for that. The 2014 Blackmagic Resolve config guide states that HD is really what a MBP is built for.

https://software.blackmagicdesign.com/DaVinciResolve/docs/DaVinci_Resolve_Mac_Config_Guide_June_2014.pdf

I’m sure they’ll update that Config guide in the next few months for Resolve 12.

Ryan Holmes
http://www.ryanholmes.me
@CutColorPost

[Margus Voll]

Modern laptops are moving towards emails and web browsing so you will need proper
desktop machine to do raw effectively.

—

Margus

https://iconstudios.eu

Resolve 11
BMC 2,5k

[Bill Ravens]

I’m using a 2014 MBP 15″ Retina with an nVidia GPU, for small jobs. However, the GPU rapidly runs out of memory when I start stacking OFX, like Neatvideo. Then I get an error message and it stops working.

[Margus Voll]

Seems as expected.

All laptops are limited and slow.

—

Margus

https://iconstudios.eu

Resolve 11
BMC 2,5k

[Sam Lee]

Heat is a big concern, especially for the current MBP Retina. Even at 1080p, it’s hot and internal fans are kicking in. I have to bring lots of external fans to cool it off as a safety precaution and possibiilty extend the life. I have an older MBP17″ and it’s running fine after 8 years of service, providing that plenty of fans are blown into it. Fan seemed to help from the OS being chocked and delayed by a few seconds on both older and current MBPs.

[Charles Haine]

Gotta disagree with the “all laptops are slow” argument.

I have a maxed out retina Macbook Pro 15″ and I’ve done 3 features on it this year, 2 in RED RAW.

Was it as fun as when I’m on a full power desktop with a Cubix and 3 GPUs and a RED Rocket? No, it definitely was it.

Did I deliver great grades for my clients? Yep.

Used a Thunder to SDI connectors from Blackmagic (Intensity mini, I think), rented a flanders, and had a good time.

I travel a lot for work and have definitely gotten last minute remote jobs that I did from a hotel room on the macbook pro.

Yes, you don’t get realtime playback. And definitely, you really only have the performance for 1 OFX node. I tend to grade as much as I can without Neatvideo, then apply the Neatvideo last, set the levels with client, and then turn that node off again for review.

I would rather have a full tower setup, but for now on certain jobs, the Retina does the job.

Buy applecare, though: you are likely to burn through the graphics card (the GT750) and it’ll likely need to be replaced at least once in the lifetime of the machine. That’s what the warranty is for. Also, be sure to stay updated on the CUDA drivers.

But it CAN work.

Now, hopefully, this fall there will be a “2015 Mac Pro” and I’ll get one of those.

CharlesHaineColorist.com