Is my Macbook fast enough to render Red?

[Villing Chong]

Hello,

We are working on a film but underestimated the workload. Now we need more processing power so one option we've come up with is to use my macbook pro.

At the minute it is capable of rendering at a moderate pace. I'm using Red Alert so there's no fps info.

My Mac is 2.4Ghz and will be upgraded from 2Gb ram to 4Gb ram. Will it be much faster then? Is there anything else I can do to optimise the speed?

Vi

 

[Jeff Kilgroe]

Upgrading to 4GB will help a bit. Do your rendering out of RedRushes, it will give you a bit of an edge over RED Alert as it can render a couple clips at a time across a couple threads.

Best thing to help with this on a Macbook Pro is to have fast storage. Connect a fast eSATA or FW800 RAID. eSATA is best.

Don't expect miracles... It's a notebook after all.

 

[Alexis Hanawalt]

Do whatever you can to cool down the underside of the macbook pro - lift it off whatever surface it's on and keep it propped up so fresh air can get underneath - even consider putting a household fan on it or sitting it on top of a (very well plastic-wrapped) bag of ice.

 

[Noah Kadner]

Is it capable- sure. Is it 'fast' not at all compared to say a Mac Pro 8 core. It's all about is it fast enough- for you.

Noah

 

[Alexis Hanawalt]

Ha. I have a huge batch rendering through RedRushes right now - and basically I can get through a typical day's shoot (~1.5 hours) in about 24 - 48 hours - so as long as it's cranking away 24/7, I can generally stay on top of it within a day or two.

One other thing though... make sure you have applecare. MacBook Pros will get fried with heavy usage and as long as you have applecare, you'll get a free fix whenever that happens.

 

[JosephArthur]

I think its really about the patience of the project personalities if the director or DITs want it YESTERDAY or if you doing it yourself just have a little patience.

If you patience is too short, try getting a machine with more processing power. Really its a personal patience scenario if its a small project. I have all the patience in the world. But then again, I dont use the RED to make money I just have alot of fun.. and thats what makes my time go faster.