New 16" MBP: 32GB vs. 64GB for FCPX? Worth it to go 64GB?

Okay. First my work background and use requirements.

I have been using the base model iMac Pro. Love it.

I also have a 2013 Retina MBP maxed out with quadcore 2.6Ghz, 16GB Ram, 1TB Flash, but only 2GB GPU. I can still do limited 4k editing when on the move, but I need to transcode everything to prores first, or use my atomos to capture in prores in the first place.

I'm also a shooter and film on location for documentary and commercial work. I need a laptop to check files and backup everything. I use GH5/s a lot, and the 10 bit files won't even play on my MBP if they are not transcoded first or brought into the import window of FCPX; but then they are choppy as hell. So what I've done in the past, is take my g-speed Shuttle XL with me in a carry on, and transcode files at night to the raid while sleeping. I needed the shuttle XL because I'd end up with several TB of data and the speed of the raid to transcode in a reasonable amount of time (still would usually take all night). If possible, I want to STOP transcoding on location, which means a new MBP.

Lately, I've been bringing several 1TB SSD caddies, then try to shoot everything to an Atomos in Prores. At night I transfer everything to smaller drives and hopefully have enough SSD caddies so that I don't need to delete them until I get home and check everything. That gives me a smaller foot print and a backup.

I am getting tired of doing everything on Atomos drives, and am thinking of switching back to shoot internally onto cards. The quality difference isn't something I think most people will notice for what I do.

So, I sold my iMac Pro to a guy who is picking it up tonight and also put my Retina MBP up for sale. I'm going to finally order the 16" MBP. That way I have everything on one machine and be mobile. And since I am in LA, going through a divorce, and going to end up in a tiny room, in a house shared with roommates at the end of the month, I need to scale down my gear.

32GB on my iMac pro has been fine, but I wonder if that is enough for the 16" MBP? For those who have had experience running more RAM, will the extra 32GB upgrade be worth it? It's a little early for actual benchmarks but I need to purchase ASAP so I can start on a new post project.

32GB RAM should be considered a max for video editing. More than that will not provide any extra benefit. Sorry about the divorce, I'm in the middle of one, also.

Sorry to hear about yours as well. Ours is amicable, but still tough. She's a wonderful woman.

Anyway, besides the ram, what other specs should I consider? Maxing out my old MBP was a good decision as it extended the life, but no way I can afford 8TB flash storage. I'll spend more in other areas if worth while. A decent drive to edit on the system drive at times would be handy, but doesn't make much financial sense compared to using external portable SSD drives. Then again, I guess if you spec out a top end MBP then edit off slower drives, you're probably not gaining much. Hmmm...

Smesh,

Was your iMac Pro able to play the video files from the GH5 without trans-coding?

Can’t really say I noticed any real difference going from 16gb to 32gb... So I wouldn’t spend extra to get 64gb...

Once in FCPX, yes. 10 bit files would not play via finder from what I recall, but I could play, scrub and edit them on the iMac Pro without transcoding. On my current MPB, I can't really do any of that, unless I convert to prores. Even then, once I add in a simple grade, it's pretty painful to work on when editing in 4k. The iMac Pro left yesterday. I am going to miss it. Probably should have sold my old MBP first. And perhaps what I should have done, is kept the imac pro and bought a 13" MBP for in the field. Ugh.

Thanks. I'll save that money for a display or my Flash Storage. Seriously thinking about going up to 4TB, since the cost is not that bad, and would allow me to shoot and turnover a lot of projects without needing an external drive, and the speed would be light years faster than an external ssd. Am I wrong? I checked into some of the faster external ssd's and from what I could tell, they were more than internal flash storage.

Smesh wrote: Once in FCPX, yes. 10 bit files would not play via finder from what I recall, but I could play, scrub and edit them on the iMac Pro without transcoding. On my current MPB, I can't really do any of that, unless I convert to prores. Even then, once I add in a simple grade, it's pretty painful to work on when editing in 4k. The iMac Pro left yesterday. I am going to miss it. Probably should have sold my old MBP first. And perhaps what I should have done, is kept the imac pro and bought a 13" MBP for in the field. Ugh.

It sounds like you should have kept the iMac Pro as your main editing system and only use the MacBook Pro when needed.

Well, Ideally, I would have been able to find and try a 13" MBP that would have worked in the field for story producing and doing rough cuts in Avid and/or FCPX, but when I looked at the specs of my retina, (quadcore 2.6 Ghz with 16GB Ram, 1TB flash, 2GB Graphics) I could not seem to quantify the 13" MBP would work. A 13" would be fantastic, since I often do work in the remote outdoors, hauling things in by backpack, in bush planes, boats and horses, etc. Plus I didn't want to buy a $3-4k MBP in addition to the iMac. If I could have an iMac Pro and a ~$1500 MBP I would do that for sure.Weirdly enough, I've already been looking at the imacs out there as I'm having seller's remorse.

Too bad we can't use the iMac Pro's monitor with another MBP. That would be a no brainer.

I have 64GB of RAM in my Mac Pro. With that said, you'll be more than happy with 32GB. Like Ben said, the extra 32GB won't provide any tangible benefits. If you start to run out of RAM as you are working (unlikely) you can just quit and restart Final Cut Pro which can solve a whole host of other problems that may crop up.