graham robbins Posted June 1, 2008 Share Posted June 1, 2008 Hey guys I am Graduating High school in June. I am moving into an apartment near LA with a friend and going to film school. My parents are going to buy me an editing system for graduation. I am at a loss though I currently run final cut studio 2 on my mac at home so I am very use to it. Though my primary interest is in Production, I am still young and end up editing the movies I make. So I need something powerful enough to last me through college. So my question is should I purchase a mac pro, or a mac book pro? My film teacher has told me to go with the desktop for editing, but I find a desktop a bit limiting. What would you say the pro's of a desktop for editing are v.s. a laptop. Also I need something powerful enough to handle lots of HDV footage because I have a cannon Xh-A1 and I usually film 1080i. So to sum all that up which mac would you recommend the desktop or laptop. What should I put in it. My budget is pretty open for now I just need to keep it under 3,500$. Thanks in advanced, Graham R. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saul Rodgar Posted June 1, 2008 Share Posted June 1, 2008 Hey guys I am Graduating High school in June. I am moving into an apartment near LA with a friend and going to film school. My parents are going to buy me an editing system for graduation. I am at a loss though I currently run final cut studio 2 on my mac at home so I am very use to it. Though my primary interest is in Production, I am still young and end up editing the movies I make. So I need something powerful enough to last me through college. So my question is should I purchase a mac pro, or a mac book pro? My film teacher has told me to go with the desktop for editing, but I find a desktop a bit limiting. What would you say the pro's of a desktop for editing are v.s. a laptop. Also I need something powerful enough to handle lots of HDV footage because I have a cannon Xh-A1 and I usually film 1080i. So to sum all that up which mac would you recommend the desktop or laptop. What should I put in it. My budget is pretty open for now I just need to keep it under 3,500$. Thanks in advanced, Graham R. If HDV, DVCPRO HD is what you are editng, a Mac Book Pro will totally do it. Unless you are doing uncompressed HD and/ or doing a lot of 3D/ HD rendering you should be fine with a top-of-the-line maxed-out-RAM Mac Book Pro. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
graham robbins Posted June 1, 2008 Author Share Posted June 1, 2008 Ok thats sounds great and Ill be under my budget so Ill have a little extra for a new mic, or to fund a film. Thanks a ton Saul. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A. Whitehouse Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 Ok thats sounds great and Ill be under my budget so Ill have a little extra for a new mic, or to fund a film. Thanks a ton Saul. Both will edit HDV material fine but if your buying a system for editing then I would go with a desktop. You just don't get the reliability, speed, and upgradibility on a laptop. Unless you intend to edit onsite or you need portability then there isn't really any benefit to having a laptop, especially as a work station sitting in your room. For the money saved by getting a moderately specced Mac Pro you could probably get a cheap laptop on top. This is my preference anyway. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve McBride Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 I got a quad-core Mac Pro when I graduated and I've just kept upgrading the RAM and hard drives and I am more than happy with it. For around $3,500 you're not going to be able to get the full bundle since you'll still have to buy a nice monitor and speakers and such. Mac Book Pros are good for if you're a film student and will be editing projects on it, just make sure you have big external drives that are Fireware capable and you should be good to go :) . Oh, and max out the memory on it, that is what will make the biggest difference. If you go with the Mac Pro, here are my specs and I am in LOVE with it :) . Mac Pro - 2x Intel Core 2 Duo 2.66GHz - 5gb 667Hz RAM (added 4gb from stock from iRam) - 250gb hard drive for all non-video related files and misc apps. - 36gb 10,000RPM hard drive for OS, FCS2, CS3 boot - 500gb hard drive for all video related storage - 22" widescreen Hanns-G HD monitor - Logitech Z4 2.1 speakers - Logitech wireless mouse Have fun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saul Rodgar Posted June 3, 2008 Share Posted June 3, 2008 I too prefer towers, but unable to afford what I REALLY want (8 core mac pro with the Blackmagic Eclipse multibridge) I have been using my 1.83ghz duo mac book pro and now my 2.4 ghz duo 2 iMac to stellar results, with the limitations I listed earlier. Given that Graham will mostly be editing HDV, I stand by my previous post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
graham robbins Posted June 3, 2008 Author Share Posted June 3, 2008 Awesome thanks for the tip guys. I will give the towers a second look, sounds like its just got more open for altering. Thanks again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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