Which MAC to get for post-production with BMC?

Hi,

I have a deal to get macbook pro with retina display, and I m wondering if the 2.6 version with 16 G or RAM would be enough for the BMC postproduction with RAW DNG files - for editing on Premiere and color correction on new Resolve, or do I have to wait for the new iMac 3.6 i7 with 32 G or RAM (iMac also have option for a much better Graphic card)?
Also is Cuda working on either of these machines?

Thanks a lot for your insights.

[Peter Chamberlain]

Hi, Resolve will run on the new 15'' retina MBP and 16 GB ram is prefered over 8.
You can refer to the DaVinci Resolve config guide for details.
Peter

Thanks a lot for your answer. I checked on Resolve configuration guide and it says that Macbook Pro with Retina display is good only for SD and possibly HD footage, but I m interested if it would work with 2.5 K RAW DNG files that I would get from BMC?
There are projects that I would shoot in ProRes, but there are some projects that I would like to shoot in DNG RAW and I would like to know if I could color correct these on Resolve with Macbook Pro retina? Thanks again.

[Peter Chamberlain]

Hi Milan, its the detail that counts. Yes, you can grade the images. No, you wont see the 2.5K DNG playback in real time on the rMBP at HD. I will update the config guide to make that clearer. Thanks for the feedback.

Resolve and Resolve Lite does not limit the source resolution thats supported so all versions will support the 2.5k res from a BMCC. The rMBP, which is actually what I use, does have limited GPU power compared to a MacPro but it will permit you to grade and play the DNG files. I get about 12-16fps on the raw.. but when I render to ProRes or DNxHD or use these as source I have real time. So yes you can use the rMBP to grade BMCC DNG raw. Its ideal for field work, but for a facility, I would suggest a MacPro as per the config guide.
Peter

Thanks again. I appreciate that you took your time for your answer.
I need portability so It is difficult for me to go with Mac Pro. Since I m still waiting for my BMC, I will check around how new high end iMac behaves with resolve and also I m thinking about high end pc laptops. For about the same price as rMBP I could get Toshiba Qosmino with much better Graphic card and 32 GB RAM (I have been using MAC for last 6 years and I m not sure if I want to go back to PC). Unfortunately these Toshibas do not have NVIDIA quadro cards nor the possibility for two GPUs, but specifications are still way better than on rMBP.

[Peter Chamberlain]

As Resolve performance is directly tied to the GPU be carefull selecting a non certified config, particularly a laptop as we have yet to certify a windows laptop.

The new top of the line iMac will appear in the next config guide. Working on that documentation now.
Peter

Thanks Peter.
I m looking forward for the new iMac configuration in the user's guide. So, are you going to make configuration guide for pc laptops, or do you advice for these not to be used at all for using DaVinci Resolve? The more I have been looking into pc laptops, I m finding machines with impressive configuration - way stronger than highest end rMBP.

Hello Peter,

I noticed in this thread you said the new top of the line iMac will appear in the next config guide, I have a top of the line previous model (27" 3.4GB-Quad core, 16G of ram) and was curious how well it'll stacks up. Meaning will it handle raw file just well, can I get RT playback on raw footage?

Also, would using a Thunderbolt to PCI Express Expansion such as this:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/8 ... o_PCI.html

with an nVIDIA Quadro 4000 be a possible upgrade option to improve performance?

Best,

Hundo