Ideal HD connections for video editing

Hello. I am a newbie to the forum.

I am about to buy the new mac book pro (without retina) and equip it with a SSD 128GB.
Since i am planning to use this laptop only for work (video editing) i was thinking to have all my footage and files on an external drive and edit real time from the external.
Should i connect a HD with Thunderbolt, USB3 or Firewire connection? Or is it still gonna be too slow for this kind of job?

 

The most "cost effective" solution as far as Thunderbolt is concerned is connecting an SSD to the new Seagate GoFlex Thunderbolt adapter. Any SSD will work. That setup will provide the fastest read/write speeds when compared to USB 3.0 and FireWire. Only thing to be aware of is that the adapter does not include a Thunderbolt cable. So that's $99 for the adapter, $50 for the cable, and $100-$250 depending on the size and brand of SSD you want.

If you want something more integrated and smaller, (and money is no object) Elgato makes a standalone external Thunderbolt SSD. It's much more expensive, though, at $420 for a 120 GB drive and that still doesn't include the cable.

Using an SSD in an external USB 3.0 enclosure will provide very good performance as well at a much lower cost. Still, for heavy-duty video editing, I would go Thunderbolt.

 

1: .. forget firewire its dying faster by the day

2: if you will be accessing other computers with your data drive and need to move projects I say USB3. more Macs and PC's gave USB 2/3 than TB

3: if your not doing 4K or RED, ( if you were you would use a workstation ) a good mechanical 7200 drive on USB 3 would be my suggestion.

I will say bump up your internal SSD. OS + editing apps + data + ideally 60-80GB for editing scratch disk = a bit low on capacity. unless its smallish youtube videos

 

Thank you for you replies.
@saturnotaku: Well i can't afford to buy another SSD and plug it externally. More probably an 7200 hdd will do.

@KCETech1: Very spot on comment. Its just that i cant afford to pay for a higher capacity SSD. I see your point that there will not be much space after intallations and savings...so i guess i have to compromise with a good internall HDD for the moment

 

true. and unless your getting an Air or MBPR NEVER buy an SSD from Apple. their upgrade is nasty.

Newegg.com - Mushkin Enhanced Chronos MKNSSDCR240GB 2.5" 240GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
even an OCZ or kingston 240GB unit is under $250.00

order the MBP with a small mechanical then get your big 2.5" drive an enclosure and main SSD

 

Thanks. I will buy it with the default and then buy an internal SSD from another company which is cheaper. Is it true that macs dont support sata 3? Is this gonna have any effect on the SSD spead?

 

They do support SATA III, but in windows your stuck in IDE mode halfing transfer rates, in OSX you still wont quite get the speeds of many windows PC's. It will affect speed but unless you go for a top end SSD you should be fine

 

The only good reason to buy a Mac Book Pro is for it use of Thunderbolt. As long as you don't mind paying through the nose, you will be able to edit as well as any one.

Just be aware that every little peripheral piece (and you will need many to make it work) will cost you a mint.

 

sound advice, as will any off warranty repairs. editing is more the user and the tools themselves, not the platform

 

That was my mindset until i have tried to get out in the market and look for editing jobs. 75% of the positions require knowledge in FCP (although i believe Adobe products can do their work just fine). Also most of the media companies work with Macs so its more like a monopoly. I dont really have a choice

 

strange. here its knowledge of Premier and AVID especially after the fcp-x nightmare last year. Premier is a much better NLE than FCP and actually supports fcp-7 projects better than fcp-x

 

Correct, but that was then--before Apple abandoned its uses and FCP 7 died.

Now we're in a transition and its everyman for himself. Both Adobe and Avid have stepped up to fill the gap and offer lucrative discount package to make it easy for transferring to their editing system.

As for those die-hards stuck with FCP7 leftovers. It may interest you to know that Adobe can do FCP 7 better that FCP X can.

It was never a monopoly, but Apple did have the lions share of the industry. They apparently have more important things to devote their resources to.