Portable FCP editing setup.

[Ed Dooley]

I’ve been doing a lot of editing overseas in the last few years. Not so much because I need to deliver while abroad, but because it’s a good use of time while in a hotel.
Although I’m about to buy a MBP (I’ve been holding out for a quad core, but can’t wait anymore), I use a 17″PB, with a 2 drive FW800 RAID 0, an IOLA, and a 10.4″ LCD NTSC/PAL, XVGA, DVI, composite, s-video, and component monitor. It’s runs on battery and power adapter, is 16:9 and 4:3, and weighs 4 pounds. I use it as a field monitor, then hook it up as a VGA 2nd monitor while editing, then as a video monitor to review my rough edits. They’re expensive when you have all those options (I think I paid $2,000 for it). It’s a Marshall https://www.lcdracks.com/ They also make a 12″ and 15″ (and bigger) that run off 12v, but aren’t really designed as field monitors. They’re less than $1,000 USD and can be adapted for the field. They don’t have component or DVI, but they have composite, s-video, and VGA. Mine has twice the brightness as the bigger cheaper ones too.
Ed

[Jim]

I’ve been editing in the field for years. I originally had my Avid MC in light weight shipping cases w/ LCDs/a CRT/Betacam and SCSIs (four cases all around 60lbs, makes me tired just thinking about it), then Express on a Sony Vaio w/ FW400 (you could actually do insert edits back to a PD150 at one time). With FCP (FCP 1.2) it started with a 400Mhz laptop & FW400 (DV), then 1.5Ghz laptop with FW800 (PCMCIA card)& AJA IO LA (Beta/DV). Now the MBP w/ Express34 to raided SATA or FW800, but if I find that I will be flying alot, just the MBP & a G-Tech mini FW800 will allow preliminary cuts for DV/HDV/DVCProHD (while running LT, Motion and Soundtrack). I now monitor in the field with the Pana 900 and headphones. Of course, if I have the opportunity, I finish the project in my suite with real audio and video monitors, but I feel you can get pretty close to finished just using the laptop.

My 2 cents.

[Scott Davis]

Yeah thats what I want to do. Get close on location (its not really in the field, its just out of town and not in my suite) and then finish on the big system.

[Drazen Stader]

Hi,

I am on the same boat over here…..It’s been 2 years since I bought my g5 2,7ghz tower and I need badly a mobile station. I will be switching to a new tower quad mac intel 2,66ghz (since octo core didn’t meet my price performance expectations), and I will be buying also a matrox mxo and cinema display 23”. On the other hand I still have serious doubts about investing in the existing models of macbook pro’s 17

[Gary Adcock]

[drazen] “ut we always want more…don’t we…and bigger bang for the bucks – oh yeaaaah…and we hate buyin somethin just to see somethin much faster waitin around the corner….so since san francisco is approaching rumors spread around…and the stakes are getting high…to mobile now or to mobile later that is the question”

how true

and with AJA hipping their new IoHD over the summer, I would think that holding off would be a good thing, then you get all of that and portability. Using a sata connection for the storage and FW 800 for capture- you know have the ability to travel with a full laptop based HD capture station and 17′ HD display in 2 boxes under 50Lb total.

Now that is portable

and state of the art.

gary adcock
Studio37
HD & Film Consultation
Post and Production Workflows

[Gary Adcock]

[drazen] “what do you guys think does it make any sense going with a 7200 rpm (100gb internal disk) instead of a 5400 rpm (160gb)….I intend to edit a lot of hdv footage on it…use extensively all final cut studio 2 has to offer including motion and color….and the new adobe creative suite”

you should never capture video to the drive your systems is on. No matter how fast.

“.I’ve browsed the web in hope of finding the answer to my question 7200 vs. 5400 but found nothing but a lot of contradictions and people arguing one over another”

you asking the wrong question, a better question is should I buy drives with fans or without

< with would be the correct answer>

gary adcock
Studio37
HD & Film Consultation
Post and Production Workflows

[Drazen Stader]

gary “and with AJA hipping their new IoHD over the summer, I would think that holding off would be a good thing, then you get all of that and portability. Using a sata connection for the storage and FW 800 for capture- you know have the ability to travel with a full laptop based HD capture station and 17′ HD display in 2 boxes under 50Lb total.”

these are words of wisdom….sounds like the most reasonable to do…after all aja IO/HD with the upcoming macbook pro’s will make a dream team state of the art mobile editing suite….

you asking the wrong question, a better question is should I buy drives with fans or without

< with would be the correct answer>

so tell me

[Walter Biscardi]

[drazen] “after all aja IO/HD with the upcoming macbook pro’s will make a dream team state of the art mobile editing suite….”

The Io HD works perfectly fine with the current MacBook Pros as evidenced by the AJA booth at NAB where they had it connected to an MBP.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
https://www.biscardicreative.com
HD Editorial & Animation for Food Network’s “Good Eats”
HD Editorial for “Assignment Earth”

Read my blog! https://blogs.creativecow.net/WalterBiscardi

[Russell Lasson]

The IO HD is quite large though so you’ll need large case to carry everything.

Don’t get me wrong. It’s a dream come true. The biggest advantage that it has timecode in and out now! Finally!!!!!

You’ll want to use eSATA for the drives so it doesn’t interfere with the FW800 bus that connects to the IO HD.

-Russ