jcram

Q: Mac mini (2011) with Final Cut Pro X???

I just bought the new $799 mac mini (2.5 ghz, 4 Gb RAM, AMD Radeon HD 6630M) and i was wondering if it can edit hd video with final cut pro x.I know it can handle it but i really want to know if it will be speedy or just kind of chug along through it? Thanks in advance!

Mac mini, Mac OS X (10.7)

Posted on Jul 26, 2011 7:52 AM

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Q: Mac mini (2011) with Final Cut Pro X???

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  • by mslover,

    mslover mslover Nov 8, 2011 6:29 PM in response to Jamooche
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    Nov 8, 2011 6:29 PM in response to Jamooche

    So all the great things discussed so far, are do-able on the '11 mac mini's, but it sounds like there all compromises or work arounds. Which means, once Apple moves on with the newer versions of Final Cut etc.., the productivity will decrease.

     

    My general feeling is we should keep saving to score a Mac Pro with thunderbolt for the "real" video production power. In the mean time, hopefully, other 2011 Mini users editing video will chime in with their experiences.

  • by ThomasK390,

    ThomasK390 ThomasK390 Nov 9, 2011 7:54 AM in response to jcram
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    Nov 9, 2011 7:54 AM in response to jcram

    I bought the mid range i5 mini a couple of months ago (because of the graphics card). It worked fine for iMovie (which is why I bought it in the first place) until I realized that the output is less than high quality. I installed Final Cut Pro X and like the final product, however; one of my projects, about 12 minutes long, became basically unworkable.

     

    This past week I updated my system with 8 gb of ram and a Seagate Momentus "Hybrid" drive. It is still early on, however; I have seen a huge increase in performance in almost all areas. Where it seems to still have challenges is when I add transitions, during rendering and the "sharing". The processor is pushed to the max now (as related by the Activity Monitor). The Disk Activity still peaks at times, so I will perform one more upgrade.

     

    Also bought an SSD and am waiting for the cable -- so it can be installed as my OS/APP drive.

     

    Really not sure that this mini is up to the task of video production with Final Cut Pro X.

  • by Jamooche,

    Jamooche Jamooche Nov 9, 2011 9:37 AM in response to ThomasK390
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    Nov 9, 2011 9:37 AM in response to ThomasK390

    What did you mean by "I realized that the output is less than high quality"?  Do you find that Final Cut Pro X produces better output of videos compared to iMovie?  What was different?

  • by dc5trust,

    dc5trust dc5trust Dec 16, 2011 2:04 AM in response to jcram
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    Dec 16, 2011 2:04 AM in response to jcram

    I bought the Mac mini 2.7ghz 8Gb ram 750hdd 7200 rpm and final cut pro x works perfectly. I make 3-10 min projects and everything runs smooth as butter. If you don't believe me I have a few videos I've created on YouTube under the YouTube channel : trustmacintosh

     

    Maybe you were experiencing slow final cut because of a 5200rpm hdd. Video editing require a faster harddrive. The processor couldn't make much of a difference since its only .2 faster and the i7 is basically the same thing as the i5. At least for the Mac mini because they both have hyper threading and turbo boost.

     

    In my opinion these mini high end is more than enough for video editing but you must get a fast hard drive and enough ram. The Mac mini is x2 faster if not 3x faster than the older Mac

    Mini overall. But rendering videos it's much faster.

  • by dc5trust,

    dc5trust dc5trust Dec 16, 2011 2:07 AM in response to ThomasK390
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    Dec 16, 2011 2:07 AM in response to ThomasK390

    Do you encrypt your computer ? Slower harddrive ? There has to be something that's slowing it down. I use my Mac mini 2.7 ghz high end. With amd, 7200rpm for video Editing/ final cut pro x and it works beautifully. No complains what so ever.

     

    If you wanna see some of the test I've done with myschool

    Mini head to YouTube and look for: trustmacintosh

     

    I have a few video test, where I push the Mac mini to its limits etc.

     

    Again it should be adaquete for video editing.

  • by dc5trust,

    dc5trust dc5trust Dec 16, 2011 2:17 AM in response to jcram
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    Dec 16, 2011 2:17 AM in response to jcram

    Excuse the slight typo on the last post. Ignore the "myschool" it's a typo. Everything is being typed on an iPhone. **** autocorrect.

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