Mac Pro Specs for Video Editing

Hi

I have been editing using FCP 4.5 and a G4 laptop for about 4 years now, but its getting rather old and tired.

I want to upgrade to a Mac Pro and the latest version of Final Cut Studio. This is for my business (low budget documentaries) so there is money to spend I'd say about £3000 or $6000. I am confused about the specs I would need to run this and perhaps do some HD editing in the near future, everything so far has been SD.

Thoughts about how much RAM, a graphics card and Hard drive space internal or external would be appreciated. Should I buy upgrades from Apple or upgrade memory from other sources myself.

If I do this could I still run the films from the new system on the old one to take it out to show my customers?

Sorry several questions in one post!

Well the MBP completely optioned out with the biggest screen, upgraded memory, and faster HD is under 6,000 so just fully option out the 17inch 512mb graphic card MBP

Then with the approx 2,000 you have left over I'd get a 1 terabyte external HD for time machine , and as a backup HD since vids take up a lot of room. (I originally suggested time capsule but I think it's too new and buggy,I'd actually wait on that since reviews say it's more of a pain then pleasure)

As for upgrading the ram, it's far cheaper to do it yourself, although I've heard controversy that is may break your warranty? Someone else will have to verify.

On MBP I know the HD if you replace it voids the warranty so make sure to get the 7200 rpm from factory one.

So anyway I'd go with 4 gigs of ram (whether you upgrade yourself or get from factory) 512mb vid card (Even though it doesn't run to it's full potential) and the 7200 rpm HD

Oh and since quality matters I'd suggest the hi-res screen. And if you're so inclined a 30 inch display

Also, I'd consider protecting your investment since you've spent so much and I'd DEFINITELY get applecare, a cooling pad, and a case of your selection since taste differs. Although I have heard that the speck cases attract dust and it gets pressed between laptop and case and scratches it so I'd probably at LEAST steer away from that one.

As for transfering what you make from your new one to your old one to go show people, I can't give you a definite answer but if the file format is the same I'd say yes. If not, I'm sure it can be done just maybe a bit more complicated.

Corbri, while that is a fine write up on the MBP, the OP is asking about the Mac Pro.

Thanks Corbri

bobtomay said:

Corbri, while that is a fine write up on the MBP, the OP is asking about the Mac Pro.

Click to expand...

Just the kind of information I need to make an informed decision, but wrong product.
Anyone else?

MattyR13 said:

Just the kind of information I need to make an informed decision, but wrong product.
Anyone else?

Click to expand...

Any Mac Pro will smoke your G4 for specs, but that's an obvious statement. I would spend around £2,000 on the machine.

- Get the base (twin QuadCore) 2.8ghz Xeon
- Just take the Apple 2gigs of RAM, and then spend £120 upgrading this to 8 gigs later on via a 3rd party
- I would get the nVidia GT8800, I think it had better hardware encode/decode support than the HD 2600
- Take the Standard 320GB HDD, and then spend £200 on 2 more drives for storage (1.5TB or so) from a 3rd party.

This should leave you with about £1000 for a screen and additional software. Personally, I think it's hard to justify the Apple Cinema display, as there are other brands that are just as good and a lot less expensive. a 30" screen could be yours for less than £800.

Thanks

Thanks Zoolook,

Time to stop thinking about it and get the credit card out.