Blackmagic Forum

I have been searching the internet for days, but am still confused whether or not the 2016 and or the 2017 15" Macbook pros can efficiently handle editing DNG cinema files, or not. If anyone has any better suggestions I would be most appreciative. I am used to working with apple systems but am open to using something new like the Dell XPS 15 2017. Any thoughts or comparisons?

DNGs from a Pocket or BMCC maybe, 4.6K raw, no way Jose. For one Full Res clip I get get about 18FPS from 4.6k raw files on a maxed out 2016 MBP. Lowering to quarter res helps a little but not much. You can get away with it using optimized media but for native editing I would say it's a categorical no.

Howard Roll wrote:DNGs from a Pocket or BMCC maybe, 4.6K raw, no way Jose. For one Full Res clip I get get about 18FPS from 4.6k raw files on a maxed out 2016 MBP. Lowering to quarter res helps a little but not much. You can get away with it using optimized media but for native editing I would say it's a categorical no.

+1, if you want a real RAW workflow it's not happening on a laptop IMO.

Jack Fairley wrote:

Howard Roll wrote:DNGs from a Pocket or BMCC maybe, 4.6K raw, no way Jose. For one Full Res clip I get get about 18FPS from 4.6k raw files on a maxed out 2016 MBP. Lowering to quarter res helps a little but not much. You can get away with it using optimized media but for native editing I would say it's a categorical no.

+1, if you want a real RAW workflow it's not happening on a laptop IMO.

I'm using a laptop for raw editing and color, and it's working pretty well. It's a pretty nice machine (HP Spectre x360, 15", 8th gen), supplemented with an eGPU.

A discrete GPU is critical, of course.

Still, you can get a more poweful system for less in a desktop.

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A current MBP with an eGPU should work, but you'll need very fast storage too.

You will have to lower the debayer quality, timeline res and if necessary use Prores or DNx optimized media at 1/2 or 1/4 res.

Rakesh Malik wrote:

Jack Fairley wrote:

Howard Roll wrote:DNGs from a Pocket or BMCC maybe, 4.6K raw, no way Jose. For one Full Res clip I get get about 18FPS from 4.6k raw files on a maxed out 2016 MBP. Lowering to quarter res helps a little but not much. You can get away with it using optimized media but for native editing I would say it's a categorical no.

+1, if you want a real RAW workflow it's not happening on a laptop IMO.

I'm using a laptop for raw editing and color, and it's working pretty well. It's a pretty nice machine (HP Spectre x360, 15", 8th gen), supplemented with an eGPU.

A discrete GPU is critical, of course.

Still, you can get a more poweful system for less in a desktop.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

I am, likewise, working on a ful spec MacBook and it works really well... and am working with RAW lossless footage from an URSA Mini 4.6 .... part of my workflow is the generate optimised media and to use the smart caching....


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If you are going through the effort and time to create optimized media...then the idea of editing with raw isn't really there. You might not want to call it a transcode...but that's all it really is. The time it takes to relink to raw at the end is minor. I would just transcode and edit. Spending a bunch of extra money on an expensive laptop to avoid transcodes with the hope that your box will work properly is unnecessary.

MSI GT83VR 7RF-206 

That should do it as a laptop.

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To echo what others have said I can tell you from tests with 4K, 5K, 6K R3D footage, a maxed out 2017 MBP doesn't come close to having enough horsepower to playback even unedited RAW / CDNG footage at those kinds of resolutions. If you have an equivalent PC laptop and add an eGPU with a 1080 Ti card, or if you have a Vega 56 Card and eGPU on a Mac, you've got a chance but only if you drop the resolution quite a bit.

Really though, you need a workstation. 10+ Cores, a lot of RAM, M.2 drives, and 2GPUs would be ideal from what I've seen so far.

Andratica wrote:am open to using something new like the Dell XPS 15 2017. Any thoughts or comparisons?

I think that 1070 card will do 24-30 fps correction possible, without NR of course

Well, the initial question as shown in the title was about editing, not grading, right?

Why nor transcode (either full transcode, which I prefer, or optimized media) and doing the editing on any current mid-level laptop? Then move the stuff to a serious workstation and finish there!

The answer is a proxy workflow.
I have a base MacBook Pro 13" laptop, and it edits beautifully with 720p Prores 422 Proxy proxy files.

Editing needs full-speed playback but not colour accuracy, so proxies are fine.
Colouring and grading need full colour accuracy but not full-speed playback, so originals are fine.

The only challenge comes in when you want to adjust the edit with effects, which is when you need to use a render cache, and if that's not workable just export the critical bits of the timeline and iterate.

Kye Leslie wrote:Colouring and grading need full colour accuracy but not full-speed playback

Nnnoope. Grading needs realtime playback and a beefy enough computer to run the project at the required resolution. This is why Resolve and other grading software require the horsepower. You can't grade to a still you need to see how it looks when it's playing back.

Also try grading with a client if you need to take cache breaks everytime you do something.

That's why you need a laptop plus a beefy workstation for anything over HD.

Tero Ahlfors wrote:

Kye Leslie wrote:Colouring and grading need full colour accuracy but not full-speed playback

Nnnoope. Grading needs realtime playback and a beefy enough computer to run the project at the required resolution. This is why Resolve and other grading software require the horsepower. You can't grade to a still you need to see how it looks when it's playing back.

Also try grading with a client if you need to take cache breaks everytime you do something.

I stand corrected!
Apologies.