Struggling with a Macbook (not Pro!) at DVinfo.net

Steve Lewis · June 10th, 2008, 03:15 AM

Hey guys,
So I have been a modest and lowly DV shooter for a while now and I just recently bought an HDV cam (Canon XH-A1) and I been trying to edit HDV footage (on an AIC 60i timeline) in FCE on a white macbook (not pro) with a 2.0 ghz cpu and 2 gigs of ram with a USB capture-hardrive at 5400 rpm, while also asking the macbook to "drive" a Dell 24-inch monitor. So I'm sure that most of you are cringing at this point... however my question is: will a computer that is that slow, still be able to export simple short projects (2-6 minutes) properly? When I export .mov's or MP4's they seem to be of a much lower quality than I see on sites like exposure room or vimeo. Obviously, working with HDV on a macbook makes for very slow editing, but does it actually degrade the quality as well? Thanks for your help!

Jo Potts · June 10th, 2008, 04:22 AM

It won't degrade any quality - will just take longer to render and export etc etc

How are you exporting your final video? Have you tried using compressor and some of the presets inside that. For my vimeo video i exported using h.264 in 1280x720 me thinks! It looks fine there!

Steve Lewis · June 10th, 2008, 01:29 PM

Good to know Jo. I have been exporting as an H.264 MP4 at 1280x720 and 5mbps. Take a look at this vid to see what i mean about loss of quality and blurriness: www.vimeo.com/1121358

-Thanks!

June 10th, 2008, 03:15 AM	#1
Steve Lewis Major Player Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Goleta, CA Posts: 233	Struggling with a Macbook (not Pro!) Hey guys, So I have been a modest and lowly DV shooter for a while now and I just recently bought an HDV cam (Canon XH-A1) and I been trying to edit HDV footage (on an AIC 60i timeline) in FCE on a white macbook (not pro) with a 2.0 ghz cpu and 2 gigs of ram with a USB capture-hardrive at 5400 rpm, while also asking the macbook to "drive" a Dell 24-inch monitor. So I'm sure that most of you are cringing at this point... however my question is: will a computer that is that slow, still be able to export simple short projects (2-6 minutes) properly? When I export .mov's or MP4's they seem to be of a much lower quality than I see on sites like exposure room or vimeo. Obviously, working with HDV on a macbook makes for very slow editing, but does it actually degrade the quality as well? Thanks for your help! __________________ www.spreefilms.com - Give me a museum and I'll fill it!

June 10th, 2008, 04:22 AM	#2
Jo Potts Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Cambridge, UK Posts: 40	It won't degrade any quality - will just take longer to render and export etc etc How are you exporting your final video? Have you tried using compressor and some of the presets inside that. For my vimeo video i exported using h.264 in 1280x720 me thinks! It looks fine there! __________________ MBP 15" 2.6Ghz, 4GB RAM. 2TB storage. FCS2. Canon XH-A1. www.jpcreativemedia.com vimeo.com/user449069

June 10th, 2008, 01:29 PM	#3
Steve Lewis Major Player Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Goleta, CA Posts: 233	Good to know Jo. I have been exporting as an H.264 MP4 at 1280x720 and 5mbps. Take a look at this vid to see what i mean about loss of quality and blurriness: www.vimeo.com/1121358 -Thanks! __________________ www.spreefilms.com - Give me a museum and I'll fill it!