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Hey guys,

I was about to buy a Macbook Pro with the intention of eventually editing HD film. I just heard though that you really need quad core processing and the MBP is only dual?

Could anyone out there give me their thoughts on which route to take? If I'm going to spend over a grand on a MBP then I need to know it will deal with HD.

Thanks for your time, take care one and all.

Matt.

I'm editing on a MacBook Pro and it's slow (using Final Cut) to render scenes. A 20 minute scene once you've re-edited it a couple of times will have spent a couple of hours rendering.

Also Final Cut doesn't seem to directly import anything much - certainly the HiDef TOD files I shoot on a JVC 3CCD camera need time consuming conversion first.

Also finished WMV files made on a Mac seem very poor, though AVI files are great.

Though a complete Mac fan, I'm almost tempted to recommend a PC running Premiere for video work instead.

Bugger, that ain't cool.

I was hoping people would say 'buy one they are ace!!'

That has put the cat amongst the pidgeons but thank you for that Toybox. Back to the drawing board!!

Take care,

Matt.

As Felicity Fatale recommends on Net-Model, a full tower size Mac would probably do the job well (considering the number of Hollywood movies edited using Final Cut, something must be capable).

Wait a minute, Macbook Pros have been out about 4 years. The one Toybox has could be totally different to the one you buy.

If you buy a new Macbook Pro today, there aren't many more powerful laptops about.

The 15 and 17 inch models are designed specifically for mobile photographers, movie editors, content creators. etc etc....

Interesting points guys, maybe I'll look into it further.
I didn't realise that the latest MBP's were specifically for editing.

Thanks again, talk soon.

Matt.

You're really only looking at how long it takes when talking about the differences between 2,4 or 8 cores

If you need speed because you're rendering video all day everyday, then go for an 8 core mac pro, (max out the ram, consider getting a couple more internal drives)

If you can leave it running whislt you do other things, a MacBook Pro will be fine.

Its just a matter of working out how fast you need it to be v cost of system.

I have just got myself a macbook last weekend, although I primarily use a pc set up. One question is to ask what is the intended use of the video end product? The reason I ask is I supply stills and videos to publishers. I provided some video which was converted from a hdv to mpg2 files on a pc. These files (mpeg 2 muxed) won't play directly on a mac without having to download an mpg2 file (at a cost) from apple. This has caused me a fucking nightmare, as I need the files to simply play without issue on a mac. So I have spent a week plus, converting from the original mpg2 to a quicktime mov file with varying success. I have converted the files to an avi file quite easily on the pc but converting the files to mov files on both pc and mac has been extremely timeconsuming and frustrating, to get the right compression without losing definition and sync. Having said that, the macbook i'm using, running side by side to my quadcore pc isn't that far behind in speed and seems to be far quicker than my other windows based laptops of similar spec. You also need to take into account storage space, video takes up a hell of a lot of space. I currently have about 6 terrabyte of storage over both platforms.
So ask yourself what is the intention of the end product and what video format is best suited for your needs. Both will do the job. Half decent quad core pcs are relatively cheap at the moment, so I would always suggest if within budget to look at getting both, then you can't go wrong.

Are you anywhere near an Apple Store? Pop in there and see the various machines running. If its not too busy they'll let you have a good play with them.