A Mac Pro without the unattainable price tag.

Let down by both Apple and Microsoft, I researched a third solution.

Windows works great for some people but I prefer OS X. Whereas in my experience Macs ‘just work’ I found myself dealing with Windows drivers, updates and strange bugs more often than I was actually editing.

On top of that, I am not a fan of the user interface design methods Microsoft employs, nor their approach to Windows 8. However I found switching back and forth between two differently designed operating systems was inelegant (I use my MacBook Pro for everything else other than Resolve). I chose a Dell XPS 8300 from eBay for just €600. This was the route I originally planned to go down. The situation is poor so Apple only have themselves to blame if people are embracing Hackintosh hardware. There’s speculation the next Mac Pro may be the Apple product they plan to build in the USA next year but there’s no confirmed release date or specs yet. Resolve needs a NVidia CUDA graphics card and the latest Mac Pro uses ATI / AMD graphics and an extremely underpowered version at that. Also there’s not been a major hardware update for the Mac Pro line since mid 2010, and this year’s update was very minor. Mac Pro hardware is almost identical to common Intel and NVidia PC hardware costing many times less. Apple effectively charge you $4000 for the operating system on a top of the range Mac Pro compared to the same hardware on a PC – way more than Apple premium on MacBook hardware running OS X. For aspiring filmmakers though, the Mac Pro isn’t suitable because of cost / value.

It is a risk whether it will work properly, a risk whether you have the expertise to make it work and a risk in terms of the time it could take to get it working reliably. What is the most suitable (and affordable) editing rig for raw – Windows, Mac Pro or Hackintosh?įirst I must say that for professionals who need a reliable solution quickly, to go the Hackintosh route isn’t suitable. But to edit raw you need to up the ante on the hardware side. With the raw format becoming affordable for the first time this year (Blackmagic Cinema Camera, Red One, Ikonoskop) many aspiring filmmakers are considering taking advantage.

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