New-to-be user of FCPX with a mighty big question

[Hochmann1]

Hello!

I'm a photographer and will start doing video work now and am wondering if my Mac will work well for editing.

I want to use:

HD video from Canon cameras
4K video from an iPhone 6s
HD, 2.7K and 4K video from the GoPro Hero 6 Black
HD video from the DJI Spark
Later on, 4K video from another drone I'll buy in a year or so

I'm looking to edit and render:

Short 10-second to 60-second videos for stock footage
Corporate videos which could go anywhere from 2 to 10-20 minutes
YouTube Channel blogs to be uploaded in 1080 which might go anywhere from 4 to 10 minutes
Timelapses using both video and photographs
Not a lot of motion graphics in the beginning but some later on probably buying templates

I do want to say that around the middle of this year I'll also be buying an iMac with the following specifications: 27-inch 5K screen, 3.4GHz quad-core 7th-generation Intel Core i5 processor, 16GB 2400MHz memory, 1TB Fusion Drive, Radeon Pro 570 with 4GB video memory. I will not be updating the hard drive to an SSD because it would be WAY to expensive here in Mexico. Will this computer do well with what I mentioned before as to my needs?

The specifications for my actual computer are:

MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Late 2013)
2.6 GHz Intel Core i5
8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3
Intel Iris 1536 MB
500GB SSD
OS 10.12.6

Thing is, I'm going on a one-month work trip to Europe in April and want to be able to capture lots of video footage, too, and want to know if my actual MBP can do the job until I buy the other one.

Thank you for any and all help.

Sergio Mendoza Hochmann

P.S. I'm posting this question in a couple of different forums in order to be able to get as many possible answers. Thank you!

 

[ColdCase]

Doing well is subjective. You can edit with proxi video using just about any MAC if you've got the time and storage space. 500 GB isn't going to go far, you may want a larger external storage drive for backups and archive, original media. It will initially take some time to to import and create proxi files and then much more time to render the final video if you use a lot of effects. Those are things that can run overnight, however.

 

[joema2]

...around the middle of this year I'll also be buying an iMac with the following specifications: 27-inch 5K screen, 3.4GHz quad-core 7th-generation Intel Core i5 processor, 16GB 2400MHz memory, 1TB Fusion Drive, Radeon Pro 570 with 4GB video memory. I will not be updating the hard drive to an SSD because it would be WAY to expensive here in Mexico. Will this computer do well with what I mentioned before as to my needs?...

Make sure it is a 2017 model year iMac 27, which has the Kaby Lake CPU. It is about 2x faster in FCPX at handling H264 video.

I know you've already ruled out SSD, but I suggest you get the 2TB Fusion Drive over the 1TB since the 2TB has much larger cache.

This machine will be vastly faster than your current 2013 MBP at editing H264 video in FCPX. However you will still have to create proxies for 4k H264 if you want the smoothest possible editing experience.

 

[BeechFlyer]

Thing is, I'm going on a one-month work trip to Europe in April and want to be able to capture lots of video footage, too, and want to know if my actual MBP can do the job until I buy the other one.

Capturing the footage and using the footage are two different things. If you have good cameras and an opportunity to use them, by all means, record using the highest possible quality and store the capture files. HD space is so darn cheap these days, there just isn't an excuse to throw away capture files anymore.

Having said that, when it comes to using the footage in your editing projects, I think your MacBoo Pro will likely make it a frustrating experience if you dive into 4K editing. Why not use the time until you get your 27" iMac to get your feet wet with FCP X (there is a learning curve), which you can do in HD resolution? You can downsize the footage from your Europe trip to 1080p using either ProRes or H264 codecs, depending on whether the CPU or IO is more constraining, and move to the original high-res version when you get your new computer.