macbook pro as primary system...is it viable?

[Adrian Correia]

for those of you who have the Red and are shooting - in terms of processing times and such - do you think that a fully loaded Macbook Pro can be a viable processing (not color correcting) and editing system for Red?

[Curran Giddens]

I am also wondering the same. Also, does anyone know when the next MacBook Pro updates are expected?

[David Battistella]

for those of you who have the Red and are shooting - in terms of processing times and such - do you think that a fully loaded Macbook Pro can be a viable processing (not color correcting) and editing system for Red?

I actually do not think so. It depends. If you are going to use it to transcode to a delivery codec (such as PROREZ) and edit that way, then you might be able to get by.

If you are using it as a machine to have on set, at the end of the day to REDCINE and back up footage to multipple drives, then YES FOR SURE.

Then again you might want to finish your 2K film on a laptop and hand over the final color project for screening or what ever.

I still think a tower with a lot of ram and a very fast FIber array is going to be the finishing tool you need.

David

[Rick Darge]

I have a 2.33 ghz dual core with 3GB RAM Macbook Pro and its barely holding onto its pants when I drop a 2k Pro-Res file into FCP and begin to scrub. I think we'll be able to get by using our macbooks, but eventually, and very soon, we're going to want more power.

[Noah Kadner]

I'd say no way- you'll really want a top of the line desktop Mac Pro with an HD monitoring card, high end graphics and ooddles of RAM and RAID storage. Mac Book Pro is solid as a field monitoring and ingest station however.

Noah

[Zack Birlew]

I would expect new Macbook Pros to arrive either November/December or in Sping of 2008. That's just the most logical time to update the line, at least a bump or so. Of course, once 8-core chips start coming out, then things will get interesting (ie. quad-core laptops).

[Paul Hazlett]

I got a MBP in June with the 7200 rpm hard drive and 4gb of ram. 2.4ghz
processor and I would have to say its as capable as my 2.7 g5 tower.

The one true advantage desktops have is graphic cards. which are being used
more and more for playback rather than the proccesor and they can be upgraded easily.

If you are traveling I think a MBP will work for you for basic stuff.

but if you are looking for one system for all things, go for the best intel mac
tower you can afford.

[Adrian Correia]

thanks guys! Looks like the loan is getting a bit bigger!

[Shawn Nelson]

Mike Curtis mentioned using a Macbook Pro for the OffHollywood shoots with no problems.

[Shawn Nelson]

By editing, do you mean simple cutting or filters, compositing and otherwise?

[whachusay]

Whatever Mac you decide on, I advise you to take a look at Mac Mall. They are an authorized reseller and you will avoid paying sales tax. Plus, they offer mail in rebates on their Macs. The 15.4 2.33GHz MacBook Pro I bought there was normally $2494, after the mail in rebate it came to $2350. That plus savings on sales tax was nice. They offer the rebates on the destops as well.

[Russ McDonald]

Go to the apple store, in the search box type refurbished, and go to the link. You will save a few hundred bucks. I'm typing this on a refurbished G4 laptop I have had for 2 years. It has performed flawlessly.

Contrary to belief refurbished units are awesome, they are QA'ed at least 3 times before they go out to you.

If you need to add ram for your mac. go to ramjet.com (http://ramjet.com/) fast delivery and good customer service, ram has been in my g5 for 2 years, not one problem. Food for thought here, 16 GB of ram is 3,495 that's 1000 less than the same from APPLE.

[sdewitt]

I'd say no way- you'll really want a top of the line desktop Mac Pro with an HD monitoring card, high end graphics and ooddles of RAM and RAID storage. Mac Book Pro is solid as a field monitoring and ingest station however.

Noah

or maybe not -

http://digitalcontentproducer.com/hdhdv/depth/test_drive_macbook_mac_pro_091007/index.html

Sam DeWitt

[Noah Kadner]

or maybe not -

http://digitalcontentproducer.com/hdhdv/depth/test_drive_macbook_mac_pro_091007/index.html

Sam DeWitt

I stand by my recommendation 100%. :gun: :gun:

-Noah

[Joel Kaye]

I stand by my recommendation 100%. :gun: :gun:

-Noah

Is the $999 RAID apple sells what is required or is another option better?

[Mark Thorpe]

I've just sent an email to a 'contact' I have at Apple asking some questions. The dude is a diver I met here in Palau, I also gave him a DVD of him diving as a gift. Higher echelon and very much 'in the know' when it comes to all things video / tech related.

Will pass on the news when received.

Cheers,
Mark.

[Noah Kadner]

Is the $999 RAID apple sells what is required or is another option better?

An xSan is not required and $999 is just the software. I'd go for a G-Tech G-Raid 2 for hardware. That will get you in the ballpark. Yes of course if you want the tricked out system a full blown Xsan software/hardware combo will make a major difference- these are huge files once you start dealing with 4K DPX. More throughput the better which comes back to my recommendation in general for a full blown desktop system over a laptop.

Noah

[Adrian Correia]

once again - you guys rock!

[Jaime Vallés]

A MacBook or iMac should work great for on-set monitoring and data transfer to portable hard drives. But for editing you'll want a Mac Pro, no question.