Editing full HD on a 15" MBP

[Mike W]

Hi Everyone,

Quick question for those editing 1080 HD footage:

When editing full HD, is there a need for a big screen? I ask in regards to the new Macbooks launched by Apple today.
My PowerMac is dying, and I would like to replace it with either a 24" iMac or a new 15" MBP.

Is it possible to edit full HD in Final Cut Pro on a sub-full HD screen? Any drawbacks?

thanks,

Mike

[MikeMike]

The only drawback is physical size and quality of the image.

The sub HD screens will simply display up to it's potential resolution

[Chris Sanderson]

There is no absolute need - I believe it finally depends on how your finished product will be seen.
If your viewers are looking at HD, you should too since there are details such as critical focus that can easily be missed if not viewing at full-resolution.

[Mike W]

Do you constantly edit with the viewer or canvas on full rez? Or just for review purposes?
(I will be new to editing in HD, while I do have some experience in FCP)

I'm guessing most editors work on two screens; would one HD screen (or HDTV) together with the 15" suffice for reviewing?

[smthopr]

Do you constantly edit with the viewer or canvas on full rez? Or just for review purposes?
(I will be new to editing in HD, while I do have some experience in FCP)

I'm guessing most editors work on two screens; would one HD screen (or HDTV) together with the 15" suffice for reviewing?

If you're just cutting the images together the MacbookPro is fine using the Apple Prores codec or DVCproHD codec.  If you need to monitor the image for color correction then you'll need to get an AJA I/O box ($3000) to connect to a real HD video monitor and if you want to work with uncompressed HD (or just want to color correct at a reasonable speed, then you should consider a Mac Pro tower and digital HD capture card ($2000?) for connecting to the HD video monitor.

I've edited 1080p Prores HQ 10 bit on my MBP without difficulty. The laptop screen is pretty useless for color correction (for movies or stills IMO) and an external computer monitor would be better, but I wouldn't trust it like a real HD production video monitor which will need the I/O or a tower with a capture card.

What format HD will you be shooting?

[Mike W]

The kind the Canon 5D mark 2 outputs. :-)

Thanks for the advice.