Pick My Editing Rig

[IShouldBeWorking]

Hi all, I"m looking forward to shooting with my new Mavic 2 Pro soon and I've been reading about what it takes to play back and edit DLOG 10 HEVC H.265 video. I've got an older laptop with a 4th generation Intel processor and dated AMD graphics. I'm going to need to learn to use proxies during editing. Unless, of course, I use this as an excuse to justify the purchase of a new laptop! I'm looking for a machine with an 8th generation Intel Core i7 and modern discreet graphics and I've done a little reading on The Wirecutter about their recommendations:

Wirecutter - Best Laptops for Photo and Video Editing

They recommend 3 machines. I've narrowed it to 2 because the Surface Book 2 is an unwieldy hybrid thing that I'm not really interested in dealing with. So my options are a 2018 MacBook Pro 15" with a Radeon Pro 560X graphics card and a Dell XPS 15 with the 4k screen upgrade and a NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1050Ti. The MacBook's screen is better for color accuracy than the Dell. But the Dell has more ports, a better keyboard and a lower price. The processor options are very similar in both machines. And I don't really care which OS I use as I'm working more and more with DaVinci Resolve for editing.

Sooo... which machine would you pick and why?

 

[PortCanaveralFlorida]

Now you know this is kinda like - which car should I pick?
McLaren, Ferrari, or just go with Ford GT? Please help me decide and give your reasons why.

 

[IShouldBeWorking]

Nevermind the laptop! I'll take the McLaren!

Seriosly though, my hope in posting is to hear from "drivers" of the laptops I mentioned about whether they're happy editing on them, or whether they wish they'd gotten something else. It's a lot of money to drop on a laptop and I'd love to hear from people who've had some hands on experience before I make the buy.

 

[PortCanaveralFlorida]

For me, the bus speed is much-much better with my tower build. I'm a ASUS fan, expandability is prime for me and two monitors helps in real estate.

Others, portability, less horse power, longer render times is ok.
Kinda goes back to the "which car should i buy"?

Laptop fans will chime in I'm sure, I've never been one

 

[IShouldBeWorking]

For me, the bus speed is much-much better with my tower build. I'm a ASUS fan, expandability is prime for me and two monitors helps in real estate.

Those are fair points. Thanks! The portability of a laptop is very attractive to me but if I count the number of times I edit anything away from my desk, I could probably do it on my fingers.

 

[tck444]

Why just consider a laptop ?

Seems you are budget conscious, so why not look at other configurations ( desktop, toweer, All-in-one ) where you get more for your money, and add a larger monitor ?

 

[IShouldBeWorking]

Why just consider a laptop ?

Seems you are budget conscious, so why not look at other configurations ( desktop, toweer, All-in-one ) where you get more for your money, and add a larger monitor ?

There's another vote for a desktop. It's funny because, I have a laptop now that I use when I work on video from my original Mavic. But I almost always use it when I'm sitting at the desk in my office with it plugged into my 27" monitor. Guess I really should look into more desktop options. Thanks!

 

[macfawlty]

Since you're just receiving your M2, just use proxy for a while. It's an easy solution that doesn't require a hasty decision on a new system. As others have mentioned, expandability is a limitation with a MacBook, but if you're used to a mac, switching to a PC may be a source of frustration. I get what you're saying about plugging into a 2nd monitor. Editing is DaVinci Resolve is nearly impossible without a 2nd monitor, as with Premiere and After Effects. But, there may be other lifestyle reasons beyond editing, like portability for travel, etc. Of course, you could travel with your present laptop for transferring files and other less demanding activities.

 

[IShouldBeWorking]

Good points. My credit card is still stinging a bit from the Mavic 2 purchase anyway. Editing with proxies for a while is a good call. I can take my time and sort things out. Hopefully save up a little bit.
I'm beginning to think like you though. Maybe the current laptop stays in use for travel and light tasks and a desktop comes along sometime down the road for editing video. Thanks!

 

[macfawlty]

I get it though. You're really excited about the new Mavic and want to be ready to edit great footage. But focus on the flying and filming for now. I spend most of my spare time flying during the season and dig into editing during the winter months. See how the proxy works out and how your current macbook handles it. I work with 4k files from a Blackmagic URSA 4.6k and a Sony a7 RII and proxy is just a fact of life if I want to preview edits in real time.

 

[IShouldBeWorking]

You're example of patience is staggering! When I get a chance to go out and fly, I can hardly wait to get home afterward and put that SD card in my machine. I immediately want to edit everything and share it. I think you're more measured tempo would probably help me focus more on the flying and shooting in the first place and probably help me produce less hurried edits too. If only all that aerial footage wasn't just so exciting!

 

[macfawlty]

I do a lot of video editing for work and use flying as a break from sitting in front of my computer at home as well! Finding worthy places to fly and film is my challenge. I live inside the massive NFZ around Reagan National Airport and have to drive a ways to get out from under it. I've been traveling for work along the I-95 corridor from DC to PA, NJ and CT, looking for worthy places to fly near my destinations. These NFZ's are ubiquitous... they're everywhere along the East Coast/Mid-Atlantic.

 

[IShouldBeWorking]

Ah! Makes sense. I write software all day. So while I'm at the computer all day, flying, filming and editing gives me the chance to shut off that analytical part of my brain and do something more artistic.

And please give me a shout if you ever get out to Utah. We're spoiled with amazing, nearby places to fly here. I'd be happy to recommend some locations. I can't imagine having so many restrictions like you have back east.

 

[macfawlty]

If the NFZ around National Airport wasn't bad enough, the entire Maryland side of the Potomac River (the more accessible side) where I live is the C&O Canal National Park for 185 miles from Georgetown DC to Cumberland, MD. I have to take my drone out on my kayak to the middle of the river to fly legally. The most interesting places to fly within 3 hours are mostly all National and State Parks with restrictions. Quite frustrating.

Yes, Utah is a landscape very different from East of the Appalachia. I've been there only once to visit Arches and Canyonlands about 20 years ago, and way overdue for a return. You're restrictions are more National Park related, but it's a big state, so... I'd love some suggestions on areas to fly. I've been trying to get back for a long time, just looking for an excuse.

 

[IShouldBeWorking]

Wow! Yeah. You need an excuse to come fly out here. Within three hours of Salt Lake International you've got Antelope Island for great sunsets across the Great Salt Lake, the Wasatch and Uinta Mountains and Little Sarah, Goblin Valley, San Rafael Swell and so many others for desert scenery. I haven't had the chance to fly them all yet, but I'm working on it and my list keeps growing. Seems like a couple of those do require a permit to fly, but they're totally worth it.

 

[Smalls]

I just bought the new MacBook Pro with the spec you showed, the 15inch comes with 16g of ram!! I bought it because I wanted to have options of where I was going to do my editing, couch watching football, bedroom or in the car on a road trip. The Mac is pretty well built for the future and you know what your getting when you buy one. By the way the new Touch Bar is really cool it changes based on what program your currently using. Super fast!!! Good luck with your decision I’m sure whatever you pick will end up working out great for ya

 

[macfawlty]

I just bought the new MacBook Pro with the spec you showed, the 15inch comes with 16g of ram!! I bought it because I wanted to have options of where I was going to do my editing, couch watching football, bedroom or in the car on a road trip. The Mac is pretty well built for the future and you know what your getting when you buy one. By the way the new Touch Bar is really cool it changes based on what program your currently using. Super fast!!! Good luck with your decision I’m sure whatever you pick will end up working out great for ya

16GB RAM? I NEED THAT!

 

[IShouldBeWorking]

Sounds like an amazing machine @Smalls! I'd love to have one like it. Have you done anything with h265s on it yet? I bet they play as smooth as butter!

 

[IShouldBeWorking]

As a post script to all of this, my company cut out end of year bonuses this year, so I didn't end up buying a new machine at all. (They didn't even give us certificates for a one year subscription to the jelly of the month club.) But, in the end it was okay, because I've followed the advice of a bunch of forum members here and started using proxies for editing video in DaVinci Resolve. It was even easier than I thought it would be.

So if you're in a position where your clips drop frames during editing because you don't have h.265 support or for any other reason, you can check a couple options and fix it without buying any new hardware. Here's a good guide: Premium Beat - How to edit using optimized media

Happy editing!