New to apple...MBP- Good for Video editing?

Hi,

I'm new here, and I hope to be getting a Mac soon (see my sig below). I do alot of video/audio editing as well as photo manipulation, etc.

I was wondering how well MBP works with applications like Final Cut, Photoshop, etc.

I'm looking at something like this:

-MBP 15 inch Glossy
-2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
-4 GB RAM
-160 GB HD
-NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT graphics with 256MB SDRAM

I would love some opinions... Does it run smoothly? The reason I'm looking at 4 GB RAM is because I do alot of multitasking:

Sometimes I edit audio while I'm waiting for video to render in other program

Sometimes I stop in the middle of editing a video project, and open the audio portion of it to edit in another program without closing the video program, because then when I want to switch back, it takes forever to load if I closed it. I like being able to switch back and forth between programs.

But the RAM is EXPENSIVE!!! Does it HAVE to be Apple brand, or can I just get bare minimum from Apple, and then go and buy some RAM myself and install it (is it hard to install RAM in MBP?)

EDIT: I just looked on Apple website, it says that MBP only works with 3 GB and that if you install 4, it only uses 3... is this true...? See article HERE


Sum of questions:
-Is MBP suitable for running demanding programs (eg. Final Cut Studio)
-Would 4 GB of RAM help speed/make my life easier
-Do I need to buy Apple brand RAM or can I buy it later and install it myself
-Is it hard to install RAM on MBP (I've installed RAM before, but NEVER on a laptop)
-Would it VOID my warranty (AppleCare)
-Any other comments/suggestions
-Can MBP handle 4 GB of RAM, or only 3?

Looking forward to joining the Mac World!

-Musicvortex

FCP, CS3 on MPBs

I was advised not to get a glossy screen if I wanted spot on color correction. I have a 17' mbp and use FCP and PS regularly. With 2gigs ram and 2ghz duo, it takes about 1 hour to convert a 700meg avi to DV in FCP but I don't have the UB.
PS is blazingly fast. You can throw most any filter/level/curve at a 150meg 16bit file and have it processed in under 13 seconds. Some plugins are slower (genuine fractals, for good reason) but if you are doing anything away from a desktop workstation, you can't go wrong in my op. I wouldn't suggest rendering entire production vids (20 gigs) down to three or four gigs, but the mbp can certainly do it.
Buy the 2 yr protection plan and you won't regret it. Setting a drink down, I knocked the magsafe connector out of its seat and into the drink's condensation ring on the table. It fried. Wouldn't charge the battery, but would run the computer when plugged in. Apple store had to replace the entire logic board and all the ports, but for free. Otherwise I would have been fried.
This is best computer I've ever worked with. (30 yrs)

ok... interesting.

dcghile said:

it takes about 1 hour to convert a 700meg avi to DV in FCP but I don't have the UB.

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But what is "UB"?

Also, what's your opinion on the 3GB RAM issue?

Also, how many external displays can I connect to the MBP simultaneously? (not mirroring, but to extend my desktop?). Does the 15 inch model vs. the 17 inch model make any difference?

musicvortex said:

But what is "UB"?

Also, what's your opinion on the 3GB RAM issue?

Also, how many external displays can I connect to the MBP simultaneously? (not mirroring, but to extend my desktop?). Does the 15 inch model vs. the 17 inch model make any difference?

Click to expand...

UB is "Universal Binary". The version he is running is built on PPC architecture and runs under Rosetta emulation, thereby making it a little slower.

If you are doing video editing, more RAM is always a good thing.

Apple notebooks allow for one external display to be connected. Avoid the glossy screen when you are dealing with any sort of graphic work (video included).

If you are planning on getting into heavy video editing, then I would suggest a Mac Pro, and not a notebook. The desktop will have more power and will handle the software end much more efficiently. It isn't that you can't do video editing on a notebook, I do it on my PowerBook frequently. It is just the kind of task that is better suited for a desktop computer.

musicvortex said:

Sum of questions:
-Is MBP suitable for running demanding programs (eg. Final Cut Studio)

Click to expand...

Very much so.

-Would 4 GB of RAM help speed/make my life easier

Click to expand...

Considering what you'll be doing I'd say so, yes.

-Do I need to buy Apple brand RAM or can I buy it later and install it myself
-Is it hard to install RAM on MBP (I've installed RAM before, but NEVER on a laptop)

Click to expand...

Buy it from a third party and install it yourself. It's a lot cheaper, and it couldn't be much easier to do (just 3 screws involved)

-Would it VOID my warranty (AppleCare)

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Not unless you actually damage something. RAM is user installable, and so it's very hard to actually damage the computer while doing so... but if you do, that's your fault and not a hardware fault that would be covered under the warranty.

-Can MBP handle 4 GB of RAM, or only 3?

Click to expand...

The new ones (2.2GHz & 2.4GHz) should work with 4GB; the 3GB limit is that of the 32bit Intel Core processors used in the older models. The new Core 2 Duo processors are 64bit. If it doesn't work under Tiger, it certainly will under Leopard (released later this month).

-Any other comments/suggestions

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Make sure you're getting the newest (Universal Binary) versions of applications; there's no point having all that power and not being able to take full advantage of it with CS2/Final Cut Pro 5 etc.

Get a decent sized external display; the MacBook Pro will drive a 30" cinema display... perfect for Final Cut.

Don't bother with glossy screens; they over-saturate colours giving you no real indication of what the source will look like when you distribute it, and in certain conditions the glare makes them hard to work with.

Get the 7200rpm hard drive if you can afford it; the hard drive is the slowest component, and it's also where everything is stored = a lot of waiting. 4GB RAM should be plenty to work with and stay snappy, but every byte you load into RAM has to be transfered from the HDD first.

Unless you need the system PDQ, I'd wait a month until Leopard is released. It's not an expensive upgrade if you do need it now, but it will save you some time and money if you wait to get it pre-installed.

That's it for now

Levi,

Thank you for your very detailed and helpful post. I really appreciate your input and time.

That's ok; I should add, a 7200rpm HDD, 30" display and even 4GB of RAM are by no means necessary for what you want to do, the base MBP will cope really well with it... but if you have the money, and you're wanting something really special all those additions will improve your experience (especially if this is a desktop replacement).

If it is a desktop replacement, bear in mind that a Mac Pro will offer better performance/configurations/upgrades/value if you don't need the portability.

Oh, and get a decent mouse... although I'm sure you already have one

i believe the 7200rpm drive will drain your batt. faster though and is debatable if it will be noticeably faster....then on the other hand, people debate if its a battery drain...so id look into that...

Hey!

I got a MBP about two weeks ago with 4GB of RAM. It is SCREAMING fast; I would definately recommend the 4GBs.

Nice! Thanks guys!

Levi hit it dead on. The MBP will handle video editing fine (though I have some completely unfounded but imo logically sound concerns regarding the long-term reliability of any notebook used for things like video editing or gaming for long periods and on a regular basis), you DO NOT need to and SHOULD NOT buy the 4GB of RAM from Apple, though you should upgrade to 4GB. The 7200rpm drive is the way to go, it'll make a significant difference in loading and rendering times compared to the 5400rpm drives. I'd skip the glossy screen as it drives me INSANE, but that's a personal preference thing I think. Only other recommendation is to cough up the $$ for AppleCare. ANY notebook, regardless of manufacturer, will be less reliable than a desktop, and they're significantly more expensive to fix when they do break. An extended warranty is a good investment on any notebook.

shane82388 said:

i believe the 7200rpm drive will drain your batt. faster though and is debatable if it will be noticeably faster....then on the other hand, people debate if its a battery drain...so id look into that...

Click to expand...

It won't. People debate it because they haven't done any research into it, and some people (I'm not implying you in any way, shape or form, by the way ) enjoy running around like Chicken Little screaming that the sky is falling without actually having even a basic grasp of whatever it is they're on about.

If I may toot my own horn for a second, the truth about 7.2k drives and battery life, at least as far as I can tell without being sufficiently dedicated to actually swap drives around in one of my notebooks and do the experiment, can be found here, for those of you that are curious:
http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/showthread.php?p=492979#post492979

i'd say buy ram else where btu your looking at a good computer and if ur going to be running final cut on ur computer make sure you dual screen it too

the macbook pro is amazing, and with 4gb of ram will far outstrip ANY computer on the market. You really will have a beautiful machine. BUY IT! BUY IY! BUY IT!

mac_forums said:

with 4gb of ram will far outstrip ANY computer on the market

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How do you figure? I can name at least, oh... lessee... 5 PC laptops just off the top of my head that have faster video cards, one of which has a MUCH faster CPU to boot... Not to mention the number of desktops (both PC and Mac) that are a lot faster than the MBP...

with 4 gigs, matte screen, you can't go wrong. buy an external though.

Geeky1 said:

How do you figure? I can name at least, oh... lessee... 5 PC laptops just off the top of my head that have faster video cards, one of which has a MUCH faster CPU to boot... Not to mention the number of desktops (both PC and Mac) that are a lot faster than the MBP...

Click to expand...

lemme rephrase that it will outstrip any LAPTOP in terms of speed, in conjuction with ram, everyone knows that macs are not the BEST (but they are still good0 for video cards.

Yeah, but see... it won't. It is no faster than any other 2.4GHz C2D laptop with 4GB of DDR2/667. What you are proposing is the equivalent of saying that my Ferrari is faster than your Ferrari because mine is red and yours is yellow.

Apple doesn't have any magic fairy dust they sprinkle on their systems to make them faster than any other computer equipped with exactly the same hardware. It's not like Steve Jobs Himself blesses these things before they leave the factory or something. *rolls his eyes*

Here you go... a total of 7 notebooks that can be spec'd to equal or exceed (measured in terms of CPU horsepower, video horsepower, RAM capacity) of the MBP:
http://www.powernotebooks.com/specs/Sager/5791specs.php
http://www.powernotebooks.com/specs/PowerPro/I17-7.php
http://www.powernotebooks.com/specs/PowerPro/a2-25.php
http://www.powernotebooks.com/specs/PowerPro/j10-15.php
http://www.powernotebooks.com/specs/PowerPro/a9-6.php
http://www.powernotebooks.com/specs/Sager/2090specs.php
There's 6 of the 7, here's one more that will completely smoke the MBP in every possible performance benchmark you care to name, outside of battery life:
http://www.powernotebooks.com/specs/Sager/9261specs.php
and that's just off one site. I could probably track down more, if I really felt like it.

I've got a MBP; despite all of its flaws, it's a very good machine. But to say that it will "far outstrip" (the performance) of "ANY computer on the market"-or indeed, even your qualification of "any LAPTOP" (technically speaking, it's a notebook-at least if you want to be pedantic)-is patently false and extremely misleading to those people out there that are clueless about what makes a computer tick, or what makes one faster than another.

What Mac is best to run video editing software?

With the new Intel Mac's having dual core processors across the board, basically most Mac's will do fine for video editing. You can even use a notebook if you want; the new dual core units are as powerful as the previous dual processor PowerMac G5.

The Mac Pro will, of course, give you the best performance and wonderful expandability, with room for up to four hard drives. Because external drives often prove flaky, this is a huge advantage over even the older G5 machines. And if you've never edited using multiple Cinema Displays, you haven't exprerienced video editing at it's best. You'll benefit signficantly from the quad core Mac Pros if you want to use Motion or other compositing/motion graphics applications.

The new 24 inch iMac is ideal for video editing with its huge screen and powerful processor.

What about a Mac notebook?

You'll want a MacBook Pro with 2.4GHz. 2.2GHz will work, but the faster your MacBookPro, the more real time effects will work, so getting the fastest available machine really pays off. Another thing that pays off is the 17 inch MBP; the screen real estate really makes a difference. The bigger the monitor, the better.

I cannot recommend the MacBook for video editing. Some may tell you (FCE) Final Cut Express works on their MacBook's, and that's fine, but if you want to run Final Cut Studio, this is not the Mac for you.