Changing to Mac... advise needed.

[jeremyhung]

Hi everbody, I am a Windows user, and have switched to Vista for about 1 year now. I've tried editing videos on XP and Vista and they're both surprisingly slow and after a 'video clip dragging into timeline', it lags for about 1 minute before resuming. Another big problem I find with editing on Windows is that sometimes because of the slow speed, there seems to be small unwanted clips in the video.

That's why I'm planning to switch to a Macbook Pro 15"inch. Have any of you guys have had experience with this laptop and editing vidoes? Is it a good choice? I am also planning to get Final Cut Express 4 HD. Plus I want to know if there's a setting in iMovie/FCE 4 that allows you to choose the frame rate for a video so even if you add pictures/ zoom in effects, the whole video is at 16:9 format.

If you have experience with the program, can I know what cool things you can do with it? I need effects like Gun Shots...etc. If there are tutorials that'd be great.

Thanks a lot,
Jeremy

 

[knightly]

I'm on an older 1.25 Ghz Powerbook G4 15" (much slower than what you're looking at) and wnat a bigger harddrive...works like a champ other than that though...I've only got an 80Gb Drive. Final Cut express lacks the ability to work with large varieties of file formats like FCP allows and doesn't have a few of the key filters (3-way color corrector being a main one). Other than that, they fixed all of the main complaints I had about FCE in the latest version

Tutorials are all over the place for how to composite gunshots and do other special effects.

 

[jeremyhung]

Thanks

I'm fine with the file formats because I shoot with a simple HD camcorder that records on AVCHD and both iMovie and FCE has it. I don't want the FCP because it doesn't support AVCHD.

What are 3-way colour correctors? Are they ones with 3 circle wheels? Because if it's that I've seen that function in an Apple introductory video for FCE 4.

Thanks
Jeremy

 

[oakstreetphotovideo]

I edit occasionally on my MacBook 1.87Ghz Core Duo, using Final Cut Express and I find it works fine for most things. The only problem I noticed one day when I setup my "portable edit suite" at a client's office to go over some edits, was that the video did not play out smoothly through the Firewire port for viewing on the NTSC monitor. Since I use a PPC G5 for most of my editing, I'm not sure if that problem was a bus limitation of the laptop, or an Intel processor issue. It wasn't a big deal, and it's likely that a MacBook Pro will have faster/better hardware than my little MacBook. The bottom line is that I've edited many small projects on my laptop and it has otherwise worked fine. I am a bit spoiled by my desktop machine with multi-terabytes of storage and 4GB of RAM, but if you want to escape a your desk, some inconvenience is tolerable.

p.s. If your primary focus is editing, you may be better off with a Mac Pro; especially in the long run, as you can install 4, fast SATA drives, 16GB RAM, etc. I'm sure you have other reasons for selecting a laptop.

 

[spinner]

That's why I'm planning to switch to a Macbook Pro 15"inch. Have any of you guys have had experience with this laptop and editing vidoes? Is it a good choice? I am also planning to get Final Cut Express 4 HD.

We will, generally speaking, have the same system. I got my G4 so that I could run Final Cut Pro to edit with. I have a PowerBook G4, 15" laptop. (knightly and I have similar laptops) and I run Final Cut Pro HD. I am happy with it, but a suggestion from someone it happened to...

DO NOT download your footage onto the same hard drive that your FCP runs on. If you can get a dual core, I think this will handle this problem. Basically you will end up messing up the way your system operates and it will be a big headache. If you can, get a $20 card that will by pass your hard drive, and import your footage into an external hard drive.

Believe me it will be worth it....

-- spinner

 

[Loud Orange Cat]

I have a <1yr old MacBook Pro 17in and use it for Final Cut Studio 2.

While the Mac Pro workstation was specifically build for Studio 2 (and it runs well!) my personal opinion is that the MacBooks were built for Express.

With Express (which I have also), these MacBook Pros SCREAM. Extremely fast, responsive and everything that you would ever want out of an editing box. Personally, I'd say 'go with the 17in model for editing', but that's just my opinion.

I can't recommend these MacBook Pros more for editing with Express. It's a marriage made for each other.

 

[jeremyhung]

Thanks for the great answers!

Don't the MacBook Pros nowadays come with Dual Core? Have anyone tried uploading footage onto MacBooks, then editing it directly? Because I work with AVCHD files and I see it works fine in demos and showcases at shops.

Jeremy

 

[spinner]

They probably do.

I remember when I first bought mine, I looked at a dual core, but could not afford it. So, I made sure that my new G4 -- new when I got it -- had as many features as I could afford.

-- spinner

 

[oakstreetphotovideo]

All of the Intel Macs have at least a Core Duo of some flavor, which contains dual processing cores, which are nearly the equivalent of dual, independent CPUs. The process independently, and they have independent level 1 cache, at least. The Mac Pros have dual, dual core processors (at least), so they have dual bus and dual ported RAM.

In a nutshell, the Macbook and MacBook pros all have dual processors. Forgive me for wandering.

 

[jeremyhung]

Again thanks for the comments.
I would like to ask a question again, I think I asked it before but I'm not clear with the answer...
Would the Final Cut Express HD work well on a 2.4GHz, 2GB Ram, 160GB Hard Drive 15"inch MacBook Pro?

Thanks for any answer
Jeremy

 

[clive]

Again thanks for the comments.
I would like to ask a question again, I think I asked it before but I'm not clear with the answer...
Would the Final Cut Express HD work well on a 2.4GHz, 2GB Ram, 160GB Hard Drive 15"inch MacBook Pro?

Yes

 

[brianmojo]

Again thanks for the comments.
I would like to ask a question again, I think I asked it before but I'm not clear with the answer...
Would the Final Cut Express HD work well on a 2.4GHz, 2GB Ram, 160GB Hard Drive 15"inch MacBook Pro?

Thanks for any answer
Jeremy

That's pretty much the setup I have (2.2 gHz and 200GB hd) and mine runs Final Cut Pro like a champ. You're all set if you go with that one.

 

[don patterson]

Jeremy,

As I write this on forum, I am using an Apple Mac Pro. desktop with two 2.66 GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon Processors, 1 GB RAM, 250 GB Hard Drive and SuperDrive (was bought in late 2006 when first put out on the market). Was expensive but far superior to my Sony Viao that died. Since purchased, the Mac has not crashed but the hard drive that came with the computer does fill up quickly (Final Draft, video storage, photos, DreamWeaver 8/Flash 8 and original music collection). In the past two months I have added another 500 Gig hard drive (prices are lower then ever before). Installing a hard drive is extremely quick and easy to do. I will never go back to PC. I do not have a lot of money but consider it a great buy.
If I did have money and were purchasing today, I would invest in the faster 8-core processing 3.2GHz and 12MB of L2 cache per processor. Eventually adding the newest version of FCP (Final Cut Pro) and Shake. You are ready to edit like film royalty. Add one or two BluRay DVD burners and you are cooking in Hi-Def (if that is your working format). If you really have money to spend add a Bravia or two LCD screens for editing (in Hi-Def). I would also get as much hard drive as possible for when editing -- it fills up quickly. You have four storage bins for sliding in and out hard drives.
I am still trying to make the FCP/Hi-Def jump. I 'm stuck on using another uncompressed editing system and (high-end) DVcam equipment. Once my work is edited I then transfer through firewire to the Mac for DVD duplication and to H264 (for Internet content). It all comes down to money -- I use what I have because I have no capital and no rich relatives to move upward.
Bottom line is -- I love my Mac. Hope this helps. Feel free to contact me for any further specifics.

 

[jeremyhung]

Thanks to everyone again, especially to Don for giving me much information. I can't consider a PC however (even though I'd love a Mac Desktop) because I'm a student and needs to be on-the-go often, at school, to friends' house...etc. The Bravia screens won't work for me too because I don't have a studio plus my desk is already messy with my Vaio (15.4"). The Macbook Pro is slightly smaller because it cuts off those thick plastic beside the screen.

I'm definitely going for Macbook Pro, but I also want to know they physical appearance of it... Of course I bought the Vaio just for its looks, it is a terrible laptop. I've seen some brownish Macbook Pros; they look like they've been dipped in oil. It looks disgusting... for Macbook Pro users, is yours still shiny silver after (how long) of usage? I also want to know whether Glossy or Matte is more prefferable.

Thanks,
Jeremy

 

[don patterson]

Jeremy,

If you can't do a Mac Pro (something that will last you down the road), the Macbook Pro is not a bad choice. But try to get the biggest hard drive and the fastest you can afford. If it costs a few extra dollars... you'll be glad you did later.

Don

 

[brianmojo]

I also want to know whether Glossy or Matte is more prefferable.

While the glossy's going to be "flashier," and you really should never color-correct on a laptop because laptop screens do not have the depth of color that a video monitor does, the matte will give you a much more color-accurate look than the glossy, which amps up the colors a bit.

 

[knightly]

my aluminum G4 is still silver, I have friends with white iBooks that are 5 years old and still pristine...it depends on how you treat them and the environments you keep them in. I would venture a guess the brown ones you've seen reside in a smoker's home or are used in smoky environs. My computers always went brown when I was a smoker, that stopped when I did.

The glossy screens give deeper richer colors than the matte ones do as the matte screen covering diffuses the light in the room slightly giving washed out blacks on the screen. The color depth on my laptop is the same as my desktop. I run both at millions of colors and high resolution 1280x854 on my lappy and 1600x1200 on my desktop's 23" main screen.

What brianmojo observed is essentially correct, but the difference is due to the matte finish dumbing down the picture rather than the glossy amping it up. The only issue with the glossy is that it reflects the room around you back at you, so you'll see reflections on the screen that aren't there on the matte.

 

[brianmojo]

The glossy screens give deeper richer colors than the matte ones do as the matte screen covering diffuses the light in the room slightly giving washed out blacks on the screen. The color depth on my laptop is the same as my desktop. I run both at millions of colors and high resolution 1280x854 on my lappy and 1600x1200 on my desktop's 23" main screen.

Not to split hairs here, but I just wanted to point out that Laptop screens use dithering to achieve the "millions" of colors that desktop displays do natively. Apple was recently sued over this very issue and that's what I was talking about ( http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2007/05/21/apple_display_lawsuit/ ). If you're really color-correcting you'd want an external NTSC monitor anyhow, but I just thought I'd bring it up.

 

[knightly]

Please, split hairs...it's good information.

 

[oakstreetphotovideo]

I read the article, and the comments. It is my understanding that all laptop displays cut some corners to conserve space and power. It has been said, time and time again, "do not rely on a laptop display for accurate color reproduction". Having said that, I like the display on my Macbook. You must use every tool according to it's purpose. My car is kind of like my Macbook ... it's fuel efficient, but it does not make a good work truck.