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Thread: Capturing and editing HD footage,which macbook???

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    Capturing and editing HD footage,which macbook???

    Ok so i'm currently filming for a HighDef project and have decided enough is enough and my PC just cant hack it, i'm fed up with things just not working as they should, constantly. I'm far from fully mac educated but its not exactly a big problem for me either

    Portability is a big issue for me which therfore leaves me looking at macbooks and pros.

    Photoshop, illustrator and final cut are common programs for me to be using.

    I'm torn between the 2.4 ghx macbook and upgrading the HD myself as the colour of it really is'nt important to me and with HE discount its £713 and easily affordable at the moment. The big thing thats putting me off is the lack of the graphics chip which i hear is pretty much specifically for HD video?

    This then leads me to look at the 2.4 ghz pro which is pretty much just affordable at £1100 but i wount have any money to upgrade it/ bigger HD which i'm concerned about due to the size of high def footage.

    Can anyone give me some sound advice and point me in the right direction?

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    Re: Capturing and editing HD footage,which macbook???

    macbook: waste of time for that purpose
    have to be a mac pro.

    PC-wise, am using a Zepto 6625WD 2.4ghz C2D with 4 GB, 160GB 7200rpm drive and 512MB 8600GT, plus the most beautiful 15.4" 1680x1050 screen I've ever seen, on vista business 64. Runs like a dream. Apps include Sony Vegas for NLE, AE CS3, PS, Illustrator etc. 2.7kg

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    as far as macs go, you need to ensure a 7.2k drive, of course, and bigger discrete vid card is a must. There's a thread over on the dvdoctor forums recently about the issue that's facing you: Simple Mac Questions - DVdoctor.community

    also, be aware the dreaded spinning pizza of death is no stranger........

    essential question: the NLE you intend to use for the edit. Start there and work backwards.

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    Re: Capturing and editing HD footage,which macbook???

    For HD content 3GB+ ram is pretty much a must.
    For the harddrive, with limited size I doubt you'll be working on uncompressed stream. (1080p frames are like 6MB a frame, may be 10GB/minute)
    And with only a dual core you're unlikely going to need all those speed from a 7200RPM drive.

    Not sure about Final cut and Sony Vegas, but I believe Photoshop, Illustrator is 2D only and having decent graphics card wouldn't help at all.
    What graphics card can help is x264 or MPEG2 or may be Divx/XviD decoding. Which only works when you watch the clip but not editing the clip.

    For the Macbook, 713 is quite high. Similarly speced Dell Vostro / XPS can be have for less I think.

    Not sure what PC you are using, but HD content are extremely resource intensive and laptop wouldn't really cut it.
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    Re: Capturing and editing HD footage,which macbook???

    Funny that you ask this.. i'm doing a video project at uni at the mo..

    Im using my first generation macbook pro for recording and editing in full HD.

    It runs a dream.. couldn't be better, and no you dont need 3+ Gb of ram or more than two cores.. I have two cores and two Gbs and its perfect.
    I would recommend the macbook pro, using a macbook would be a gamble. As for space i'm using a cheap external HD to keep the project on and doesn't affect the performance.
    Video editing is what macs do best. simple
    HTC Diamond, Cannon G9. Apple Unibody Macbook Pro 15" 2.4Ghz C2D, 256 9400GT,

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