Mac Upgrade time--but to what?

I've been editing on a 4 yr old macbook pro and its time to upgrade as a few editing jobs just came in. Not sure if I can get away with a loaded up IMac or a basic MacPro...Budget about 3k....Plus or minus...What are people's thoughts on this? I'm now shooting with canon 5dMII and getting HUGE files...

Thanks.

> I'm now shooting with canon 5dMII and getting HUGE files...

Huge files means you need to look at storage solutions. MacPro would be good, because you can easily add storage (and monitoring gear). On an iMac, you are largely limited to one FW port, which you can hub, but you're still running off one host adapter.



www.strypesinpost.com

A good friend of mine was recently in the exact same position, considering the same computers. He asked my advice and I told him that if the projects he is editing are mainly for the web or SD DVD, a new 27" i7 iMac would do fine.

We talked about the storage limitations of FW 800 vs. fibre or E-Sata on a Mac Pro. He went for the iMac and so far is very happy. I was at his place last week to give him an FCP training session and the new iMacs are pretty nice for the money. But definitely more limited and a dead end as far as expandability.

If you do deliveries to broadcast outlets or theaters, you would want/need the ability to monitor your video on a real HD monitor, not an RGB computer screen. That would indicate need a Mac Pro or at the very least a 17" MBP. At least you can hook either up to real time video output and monitor video rather than just use the RGB monitor on an iMac.

I have been editing footage from my 5D MKII on my MBP a lot lately and it handles the files just fine. If you deal a lot with long GOP formats though, the fastest processor you can afford is a good idea for turning all of that footage into ProRes.

Dan

IF portability is not a important. I might look into a used macpro quad 2.6+. You would then have PLENTY of head room to expand into any application. The would be far faster than an imac. Plus there are plenty of port on them and you get 2 dvd burners in most cases.

I have a had no real issues with my use macpro.

""" What you do with what you have, is more important than what you could do, with what you don't have."

> > > Knowledge + Action = Wisdom - J. Corbett 1992 """"

#1. When you are UPGRADING, I would NEVER recommend getting a "used machine". You want a BRAND NEW MACHINE to have the full 3 Years of Applecare to cover you with no-worries support. It is THE BEST.

#2. I am about to upgrade and I found out completely by accident that my MBP handles my entire workflow (All ProRes / HDV / etc). I haven't used a tower in over a year. Just add a 24" Dell Ultrasharp, a full size keyboard, a Wacom tablet, a wireless mouse, and a huge CalDigit VR on the side, you have a complete system for digital delivery. I haven't used tapes in over a year as well.

You don't NEED an iMac / Macpro. The new MBP with the i7 processor and 8 GB RAM SMOKES... and you can take it with you and work anywhere.

When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

With the 5D the biggest thing is the transcoding. Look into the EOS FCP plug-in from Canon, so you can convert to ProRes during transfer, if that workflow suits you.

I would advise against trying to do anything long form in the native format. Although FCP can do it, by the end of the project it will be like editing underwater with your hands encased in concrete.

Thanks..Yes, I am already working with the canon plugin.

Quote
joe
#1. When you are UPGRADING, I would NEVER recommend getting a "used machine". You want a BRAND NEW MACHINE to have the full 3 Years of Applecare to cover you with no-worries support. It is THE BEST.

If you buy a used/refurbished machine as i did due to my 4k-ish budget, which is not much more than what this poster has suggested as his budget. You will still get 2 years of Apple Care if its authorized depending on its origination date.

There are many who has been working with macs in an editing application is not gonna cry to much about the 1year loss or even half a year lost, when they have a budget that will not allow for a top of the line machine brand spanking new fully covered machine.

But my point is that apples are reliable and 2years of apple care is pretty good for a refurb.

I would not recommend a refurbished machine over the MBP though. I just got one and it is quite the beast. Used one on a shoot in Manilla a week or so ago. The portability is very addictive and you can plug a lot of stuff to it.

OH and ignore the serial ata i config'ed get the 500GB Serial ATA Drive @ 7200 rpm. Its only 50 bucks more. And to cut down the initial price you might get the lowest ram and buy some ram after market.



""" What you do with what you have, is more important than what you could do, with what you don't have."

> > > Knowledge + Action = Wisdom - J. Corbett 1992 """"

"USED" means "USED".

"REFURBISHED" means "USED - THEN INSPECTED AND BROUGHT UP TO CERTIFIED 'AS NEW' STATUS". You CANNOT get a Warranty on a "USED" item.

When giving advice, in order to help people, you must be specific and correct with the nomenclature (language of the industry).

Thank you.

When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

Quote
joe
"REFURBISHED" means "USED - THEN INSPECTED AND BROUGHT UP TO CERTIFIED 'AS NEW' STATUS".

Quote
me
A Refurbished Mac is a computer that was used and then the hardware was replaced...

Yellow Apple or Green Apple? Forum POST or THREAD?
They cant call it new because it is used. Thats all You and I are saying here.

Is this the same difference? YES, i think most would call it that way.

I think i clarified this in the previous post what i meant. I know that you are a stickler for absolute perfect terminology but i feel that in this post its overkill just to sound like you have found some grand mistake.

I make enough mistakes for you to be able to pick out something meatier than this.

""" What you do with what you have, is more important than what you could do, with what you don't have."

> > > Knowledge + Action = Wisdom - J. Corbett 1992 """"

er...In Apple ultimate wisdom, new macbooks only have 1 firewire port. If you need to work with tape and any point, you've got a problem. Need a firewire capture and a firewire drive= 2 firewire ports. Not a lot of success daisy chaining either....

Depends on the complete setup and the device you're using. Canon camera - most likely out of luck. But this isn't relevant to the OP whose camera isn't FireWire based.

All the best,

Tom

back when i was capturing DV on my laptop i never had a problem daisy chaining.
my source was either a Sony DSR11 or a Sony TRV900 (camcorder)

FWIW i'm pretty sure that an iMac has both it's FW ports on the one bus.


nick

The problem I have with daisy chaining isn't really capture related, but it's a fickle device- you want to pull out one drive, and the other automatically ejects. Then it's time to pray and launch disk warrior.



www.strypesinpost.com

yes, good point.

i've been using a Belkin FW400 hub on my iMac.
the first few FW Hubs i tried never lasted very long.
but this plastic Belkin has been fine for years now.


nick

I am having the dilemma between 17 inch i5 2.53 or 15 inch i7 2.66, I need some advice should I sacrifice the express 34 for faster processor? And yes this are my options, becuase of budget issues I am taking advantage of Best Buy "No interest if paid in full within 24 months"

I am having the dilemma between 17 inch i5 2.53 or 15 inch i7 2.66, I need some advice should I sacrifice the express 34 for faster processor? And yes this are my options, becuase of budget issues I am taking advantage of Best Buy "No interest if paid in full within 24 months"

First, in response to the "Used/Refurbished" points. I've purchased a number of items from Apple's Refurbished Store, and they all come with the same warranty as a new product, and you have the option of also extending that out with the Apple Care purchase.

From their website:

Apple Certified Refurbished Products

- Quality products/great prices
- Stringent refurbishment process prior to sale
- Covered by Apple's One-Year Limited Warranty
- AppleCare Protection Plan can be purchased
- Supplies are limited

[store.apple.com]

Second, to throw another option out there. I know someone who just built a Hackintosh. I haven't done much testing of applications, yet. However, I know that others have on other builds with a high rate of success. Here are the details of the system:

2.8GHz Core i7
6 GB 1600Mhz RAM
120 GB SSD (for OS & Applications)
6 TB HDD (3x 2TB) with room to add more drives
USB 2.0 (multiple front and rear ports)
USB 3.0 (in rear, not yet tested)
eSata (front and rear)
FW400 (rear)
GeForce 9500GT (1GB)
DVD burner
Nice case and power supply.
Mac OS X 10.6.4
(+4 hours of labor done by owner)

Total Cost (including tax and shipping): $1600.00

In other words, roughly 1/3 of the cost of a comparable system from Apple. The money saved will be going to some new applications and a fine monitor.

Quote
James
Second, to throw another option out there. I know someone who just built a Hackintosh. I haven't done much testing of applications, yet. However, I know that others have on other builds with a high rate of success. Here are the details of the system:

I have no experience with hackintosh system. But hear is where i would draw the line. You Nullify most of your support on applications when they find out that you are trying things on a bootleg system.
Adobe will stone you in the street and apple will have you deported to a country that hates you. (so will AJA and BM)

Thats rolling the dice for real.

Quote
Garcia
I am having the dilemma between 17 inch i5 2.53 or 15 inch i7 2.66, I need some advice should I sacrifice the express 34 for faster processor? And yes this are my options, becuase of budget issues I am taking advantage of Best Buy "No interest if paid in full within 24 months"

Get the strongest machine (i7 2.66). Why? its always better to have more muscle than screen. You can attach a 20 - 27inch screen to the laptop any way. If you can deal with a 10% smaller screen the i7 is your friend.

""" What you do with what you have, is more important than what you could do, with what you don't have."

> > > Knowledge + Action = Wisdom - J. Corbett 1992 """"

J.Corbett Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

>
> I have no experience with hackintosh system. But
> hear is where i would draw the line. You Nullify
> most of your support on applications when they
> find out that you are trying things on a bootleg
> system.
> Adobe will stone you in the street and apple will
> have you deported to a country that hates you. (so
> will AJA and BM)
>
> Thats rolling the dice for real.
>

If you pick the proper components, it's hardly bootleg. It's no different than buying aftermarket RAM. If you were trying to use AMD CPUs or other components that Apple doesn't use in their own build, I could see your point. Just like you shouldn't do system and software updates while in the middle of a project while working on a Mac, the same holds true for a Hack.

It's a rapidly growing community. Check out the forum for more details, if you're interested.

[tonymacx86.com]

Bootleg would be the part about it not being legally sanctioned by Apple or at least counter to the end user agreement you make when you open a copy of the OS.
That's the generally accepted usage of bootleg that I am aware of. Only recently has bootleg come to mean some sort of inferior version, probably due to bootleg recordings.


I've got my hackintosh planned out. Been haunting the hackintosh forums for a bit but the most editing work it will get will be rendering or transcoding once I get it working.

ak
Sleeplings, AWAKE!

What about the express 34 slot? I am using a sonnet e sata express card, I am doing mostly prores proxy multicam up to 10 cameras, will I miss my esata?

Thanks for all the help by the way...