[Gollogly]

I am currently trying to decied what to buy.

Portablity is nice
I have an Exteral Monitor
Budget: Less is More. But i can afford a MBP
Application: Heavy Video editing. And School work (In Art BA)
Must have by next week

campus resources: Avid/FCP/Motion/Shake Work Stations they are all G5's

I know the MacBook can run FCP just loses in render time, Is this like editing on a G5 when you have 4 complex filters or is this, I put a crossfade in and i have to render. because if i can run Soundtrack Pro and FCP very well i can use my small uses of motion and shake in a lab.

It is worth the extra 1000 on a student budget just to get the pro so that I have a bigger screen and a 256 vid card. Will final cut be upgrading to use a non intergated graphics chip?


Thanks a bunch.

Mike

[Tuoder]

Shake should not be done without a reall graphics chip. As for the difference between, 128 and 256MB, I really don't know what the performance difference would be. That being said, you can't upgrade the VRAM later, so if you have the dough, go for it. It may come in handy with later versions of the apps you listed.

[iomatic]

Dang. I could barely afford paint brushes, let alone any sort of technology. :/

I would think a maxed-out book would work well, but in two years you'll be hurting anyway, when experiencing faster and better technology. If your focus is on video, then I would do it. If it's just for learning, save your money.

[wulf]

Well, Shake doesn't have all that much GPU acceleration. It's used for previewing 3D multiplane compositing and... I think that's pretty much it. The MBP's GPU will make a big difference to Motion, where there is much more GPU acceleration.

Of course if you're going to do a lot of heavy compositing then you'll really want to be using a workstation anyway.

Like you say, is it worth paying for the bigger screen and GPU? Also don't forget FW800, which does make a difference if you're, say, doing multistream DV and can work off a striped FW800 drive - much faster.

Like I said in the other thread, for me the MacBook was just much better value as I mainly do video editing, with bits and bobs of motion graphics on the side. Primarily I work in edit suites with G5s anyway. But if you're going to be doing a LOT of Motion, any 3D modelling, or working on that screen all day, then consider getting a MBP.

Obviously, whatever you get, max that RAM! You'll need it.

[osiris]

MBP's video is the better choice for Shake, as this is a dedicated video card and not shared memory from your system. And get 2gbs of ram, if you can. The pro apps love ram.

One note with Motion: I can't use this at all on my shiny new MBP. The program crashes every single time. Perhaps after a Universal update...

[wulf]

I use Motion on my MacBook and have used it on a client's MBP. Obviously you need the Universal version of Final Cut Studio, but it should run just fine.

Check you haven't got a rogue plug-in or something if it's crashing on startup.

Another advantage to the MBP that I forgot is that the new ones take 3GB RAM.

[MovieCutter]

Motion is a DOG on the MacBook when you're doing anything useful. I tried doing a simple project the other day and couldn't get above 4 fps, which is unusable in production. FCP is fine, DVD Studio is fine, but Motion is NOT fine unless you're using a MacBook Pro.

[osiris]

Originally Posted by wulf 

I use Motion on my MacBook and have used it on a client's MBP. Obviously you need the Universal version of Final Cut Studio, but it should run just fine.

Check you haven't got a rogue plug-in or something if it's crashing on startup.

Another advantage to the MBP that I forgot is that the new ones take 3GB RAM.

Thanx! I suppose I have to spring for the $50 upgrade.

[wulf]

Originally Posted by MovieCutter 

Motion is a DOG on the MacBook when you're doing anything useful. I tried doing a simple project the other day and couldn't get above 4 fps, which is unusable in production. FCP is fine, DVD Studio is fine, but Motion is NOT fine unless you're using a MacBook Pro.

Well, yes, real-time previewing is lousy. On the other hand renders aren't too slow with Intel chips. Of course if you're doing heavy Motion work the MacBook is a poor choice, but I've used mine a number of times for quick motion text renders, background textures, etc., for broadcast work in suites where they didn't have Motion on their G5s.

So when I said "it runs just fine" what I should have said is "it doesn't automatically crash on startup or completely freeze up your Mac". I'm just glad the MB actually runs it at all - not recommending it for heavy lifting.