MacBook Pro - HDV Editing

So, I figured I would be first to get this started. What do you fella's think the likelihood of being able to reasonably edit HDV footage with the new MacBook Pro?

http://www.apple.com/macbookpro/

They showed a number of editing solutions on that system at Mac World last week. I must confess, the speed of the system was impressive. It did slow down a bit when trying to deal with "real" HD, but at most HDV resolutions, was not bad at all.

You going to give us a rundown on lots of new goodies from the show mr birthday boy!?!

HA! I was thinking about writing a mini report from the standpoint of the underwater photographer, but there have been a couple of issues!

1. It was a business trip, so my attendance was "supposed" to relate to Warner Bros.

2. My better half has kept me quite "orally lubricated" (Adult beverages, thank you!) since my return Friday night!

Richard, i would love some more details on what you saw regarding the the performance and video editing. Have the optimized Final Cut for use with the new Intel processor yet?

No, nothing has been optimized. Rosetta is still as good as it gets.

Regardless, they are fast. Not as fast as a rocketship PC, but as fast as any other Mac I have worked with below dual core.

As to video, they were only showing off the new iLife 06 and it's HD editing capabilities. I think it is a bit early to rate this yet. Final Cut was running on the "big stuff".

I expect we will have a number of Intell based choices AND optimized apps by the time NAB rolls around in April.

That said, if you are in the market for a laptop right now, and you are a Mac guy, the MacBook Pro is the only way to go!

This has been repeated all over the web, but I *hate* the name. Lame.

But I'm happy to see the huge, gaping hole in their product line fill in! That will be very exciting.

Funny Eric. I was just commenting a moment ago to a buddy how bad the name is...usually apples nails these names...wierd.

I think the MacBook Pro is going to work out really well as an HD editing laptop. I recently edited some HD on a G4 power book and I would say it worked reasonably well. Well enough that I nearly bought one. iMovie HD as well as Final Cut Pro performed well, and while the speed was not stellar (capturing & rendering) it seems to handle HD as well as it handles SD. Very encouraging.

The MacBook is a serious upgrade in processor power so I have high hopes for it as being my portable HD editing system. I have a fully tricked out puppy on order and can not wait for it to arrive. But when it does, I'll have to wait some more.

iMovie HD as part of iLife 06 is updated to work with the Intel Core chips but Final Cut will not be updated until the end of March. And, according to Apple's web site, the current version will not run on Rosetta.

http://www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/topquestions.html

I'll be able to play with iMovie right out of the box but will have to wait for the new FCP to be released before I can determine if the MacBook meet expectations. I'll let you know what I think in April sometime.

Danb

Dan, very helpful info. I just read that Final Cut doesn't run on Rosetta yet:( bummer. And, I have heard wispers that new desktops could come out in April. So, for someone about to invest in an HD editing system...i am stuck. Buy the MacBook and no FCP. Buy the desktop and potentially miss out on a big upgrade in April...ugh.

I know. It so tough isn't it. You can't always get what you want. And then when you do, something better comes along... Sigh.

However, the laptop/desktop choice seems clear to me. If you want the best performance go with the desktop. You can configure a more powerful desktop computer than a laptop. But you can't take it anywhere. If you want to be mobile, then you have to go laptop. Period. So, can you trade performance for mobility? I can, so I did. Now, in a perfect world I'd have both, a blazing desktop and a fast laptop, but clearly the world is not perfect.

Buy now or wait? Another good question. If you can wait, wait. If you can't, you can't. I know it's not that simple, but like I said before, I almost bought a G4 Powerbook because I had used it and liked what it could do. But I knew something better was coming and since I could wait, I did. And I am glad that I did.

If I were in the market for a desktop right now, I'd wait. Because I can. Can you?

Waiting for a laptop is not nearly as painful as waiting for the new desktop. Mainly beacause it is nearly Feb. so there is not much waiting, is there? But besides that, the Powerbook G4 was a working HD solution, but just barely. It was on the edge of acceptable and the new MacBook seems to be a substantial upgrade and therefore worth the wait.

Current G5 desktops are more than barely acceptable for HD. Dual and Quad 2.5GHz G5s rock! You can certainly build a more powerful G5 than a Macbook now and happily edit HD video on it. But of course it will cost you. And will something better come along soon? Yes. It all comes down to time and money. What do you have more of? If you don't have the time, spend the money and get it, use it, love it. If you have the time, wait. You may get more for your money in a few months from now. I did. (I hope ;-)

Dan

Dan,

Great info. I am without editing solution for HD right now so time is not on my side. I think my best be might be to go witht he MacBook and fool around in iMovie for a month or so until Final Cut is ready to go. Then load that up and get seriuos.

Shawn

A great source of information and a fine forum regarding Final Cut Pro and all related info can be found on the www.kenstone.net and the www.lafcpug.org sites.

Steve

Hi all. I was under the impression (from Apple's fine print) that the Pro apps like FinalCutPro HD and DVD Studio Pro (latest version does HD dual layer DVDs) can't yet run on intel machines... apparently waiting on a patch for Rosetta. So it doesn't surprise me to read that it was iMovieHD that was running on the MacBook Pro and Final Cut Pro HD on the desktop.

I've had a PowerBook G4 for ages now (a titanium model!) and have just made the switch to a dual core G5 which I could customise to suit. It's blazingly fast and renders HD video and effects in real time. Fantastic. And IMHO, I'd never be amongst the first buyers of any new technology from either Microsoft or (sadly) Apple. Too often they're letting the first batch of users discover the issues to satisfy fast release dates. Also - I reckon Apple still needs to differentiate the Intel machines from their existing stock of G5 machines, so it might be a little while before the intel machines really compete with the dual G5.

It is a drag though, moving to a desk top from a laptop. So what I've reconciled myself to... is doing the hard core processing on the desktop, but converting any files that I want to work on away from home to smallish quicktime movies. At least I can do simple sequencing that way, work on scripts, music etc. Not ideal, but it works.