MBP capable to handle what I want to do?
Hello everyone,
I'm a college student and I'm in need of a new laptop. I had received an HP notebook for my birthday a few months ago, but to my dismay, it's not powerful enough to do what I need it to do: Video Editing. I'm a broadcast major, so we're required to do a lot of shooting and editing. So that means I'm using a lot of Final Cut Pro and I'm also required to learn Motion.
To get straight to the point, I need to get a new notebook, preferrably a Mac, to do what I need to do. I've been looking at the Mac Book Pro Core 2 Duos and they seem to be what I need. However, I'm not really sure if they are capable of running Final Cut Pro and Motion decently. So, does anyone know whether the MBP C2D 15" 2.16 GHZ model will be powerful enough to do what I need to do? Also, how big of a performance leap would I get if I got the 2.33 GHZ model over the 2.16 GHZ model? Thanks a lot!
I'm a college student and I'm in need of a new laptop. I had received an HP notebook for my birthday a few months ago, but to my dismay, it's not powerful enough to do what I need it to do: Video Editing. I'm a broadcast major, so we're required to do a lot of shooting and editing. So that means I'm using a lot of Final Cut Pro and I'm also required to learn Motion.
To get straight to the point, I need to get a new notebook, preferrably a Mac, to do what I need to do. I've been looking at the Mac Book Pro Core 2 Duos and they seem to be what I need. However, I'm not really sure if they are capable of running Final Cut Pro and Motion decently. So, does anyone know whether the MBP C2D 15" 2.16 GHZ model will be powerful enough to do what I need to do? Also, how big of a performance leap would I get if I got the 2.33 GHZ model over the 2.16 GHZ model? Thanks a lot!
Comments
Hello everyone,
I'm a college student and I'm in need of a new laptop. I had received an HP notebook for my birthday a few months ago, but to my dismay, it's not powerful enough to do what I need it to do: Video Editing. I'm a broadcast major, so we're required to do a lot of shooting and editing. So that means I'm using a lot of Final Cut Pro and I'm also required to learn Motion.
To get straight to the point, I need to get a new notebook, preferrably a Mac, to do what I need to do. I've been looking at the Mac Book Pro Core 2 Duos and they seem to be what I need. However, I'm not really sure if they are capable of running Final Cut Pro and Motion decently. So, does anyone know whether the MBP C2D 15" 2.16 GHZ model will be powerful enough to do what I need to do? Also, how big of a performance leap would I get if I got the 2.33 GHZ model over the 2.16 GHZ model? Thanks a lot!
Unless you need a lot of screen realestate (video editing does) I'd get the new 12" coming out soon. It will have all the same connections that the 17" C2D has but will be more compact. You need at least 2.33 CPU for video capture and editing in HD.
The 12" MacBook Pro is sheer speculation at this point. Nobody knows if it's a real product or not.
The claim that you need "at least [a] 2.33 [GHz] CPU" for HD editing is based on... what? The Final Cut Pro page states: HD features require 1GHz or faster single or dual processors (authoring HD DVDs requires a PowerPC G5, Intel Core Duo processor, or Intel Xeon processor). I do believe that even the 2.16GHz Core Duo is faster than 1.0GHz, and sufficiently so to take care of any buffer for 'minimum requirement' phobia.
Your statement about video editing requiring screen real estate is valid, however, in which case, given the current lineup of known products, a 15" MacBook Pro and an external monitor would seem to be the best balance for portability and a dedicated workstation.
So although in terms of CPU performance, the Intel chips are on par with the G5s, the system throughput of the Intel machines (with the exception of the Mac Pro) is not on par with the G5 desktops and when you deal with video, that is what you need.
You should try out the MBP yourself though because that's the only way you will be able to find out if it will or won't meet your specific needs. Weighing up the price, I'd be tempted to go for a Mac Pro instead.
Now if you need portability, then you have to consider that FCP is an industry standard video tool, not available on anything except a Mac and the fastest Mac portable is the MBP so if you need portability and FCP then you have little choice.
Either way, you can't get a G5 laptop, so you'll have to deal with Core Duo no matter what path you're taking. Considering that video professional seem to use 'em, I bet any of the models will rock. If you can get a good FW800 or external SATA drive, that might also be a good thing to have.
Anyway, for the OP, you're not going to find a computer faster than the MacBook Pro. Intel Core 2 Duo is the fastest mobile processor on the market right now, so unless another manufacturer sells one with a slightly higher clock speed, this is it. I don't know how it works for HD editing (I'd imagine the hard drive would be a problem for that), but I've done a few short (10 minute) films on much, much older computers (a trusty G4 500 Mhz) that had a fraction of the power.
Also, you're not going to find a better video editing program than Final Cut Pro, either... Adobe Premiere is so buggy it's completely unusable and Avid only is good on the high end, and even then, that's questionable. Not all of Apple's pro programs are all that great, but Final Cut Pro is not only the best out there, it's so easy to use (once you learn it) it's like using a scalpel.
Also, if you NEED to use FCP and Motion, then you should get a Mac. Having to use a computer lab during finals is an absolute nightmare.
If I were you, had the dough, and needed portability I'd buy the low end MacBook Pro. Not because it has more raw power than the MacBook, but because it has FW800 and the card slot which will allow you to add eSATA. This way you can get great throughput from an external HD. Get a decent sized external monitor as most of your editing will be done at a desk anyway.
Having 'enough' power but not the max available will help you to become an efficient editor as well.
The short version is, "Yes, it will do what you need"
*I could have made it all the way through school on my G3, but I accidentally killed it when I replaced the power supply. I did eventually resurrect it, but not until 6 months later.
Also, you're not going to find a better video editing program than Final Cut Pro, either... Adobe Premiere is so buggy it's completely unusable and Avid only is good on the high end, and even then, that's questionable. Not all of Apple's pro programs are all that great, but Final Cut Pro is not only the best out there, it's so easy to use (once you learn it) it's like using a scalpel.
Have you even used a recent version of Premiere? Premiere Pro 2.0 is great, granted it's no FCP, but its pretty damn close...fast and extremely stable.
12" for video editing...
And they require you to use Motion? Change schools now.