Under the Desktop: Another Look at Mobile Creativity

CreativePro Staff

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Should creative pros consider a notebook as their primary machine for content creation and image evaluation? That was the question posed in my previous column. And from your feedback, the answer is — cue the drum roll — a qualified maybe.

In my book, notebook computers are designed first and foremost for mobility, while desktop systems provide greater opportunities for peak performance and expansion. These important qualities of a cost-effective content-creation workflow are usually unavailable from a notebook.

Then again, it’s next to impossible to cart your desktop system to a client’s site or a remote photo assignment. Or even across the room, as I eyeball the bulk of my CRT display and consider the current condition of my back.

Could mobility now be on par with performance and expansion for professional content creation systems?

Maybe.

New-fashioned Opportunities
A number of readers said mobile computing gave them new opportunities for work. Or perhaps more accurately, they were expanding their creativity into applications where mobility is a benefit and levels the performance deficits inherent in a notebook.

David Muszynski, owner of TechnoSpider Graphics said he had just purchased a new PowerBook Titanium, which will replace the combination of a Power Macintosh G4 tower and an older PowerPC G3-based PowerBook. He does some prepress graphic design, as well as web development.

"I’m also looking into learning more about non-linear editing, so I can expand my potential client base," Muszynski said. "The feature set on these laptops is great.

"I’m pretty-much not losing anything when I’m working at my desk, since I have a USB scanner, a digital camera, and a FireWire enclosure into which I can drop a giant IDE drive when I need more storage," Muszynski said. "What I am gaining is a greater scope in the work that I can accomplish on the road. With plenty of horsepower, a large screen, hard drives, RAM, and burn-capable optical drive, I won’t miss much when I’m out-and-about.

"I do have to say, though, that if I didn’t have a 21-inch monitor at home to plug into, I’d probably have a slightly different outlook on things. I have been using dual monitors with my desktops for many years now — it makes the life of a designer much much easier," he added.

Professional photographer, now videographer, Jim Sugar, still works on a desktop machine, a dual-processor Power Mac he purchased a year and a half ago.

"I bought this dual-processor machine for digital video and to run Final Cut Pro," Sugar said. "I was stepping up to video and knew that I would need all the power I could get. While I haven’t made the complete transition from still photography to DV, there have been numerous times when I was glad to have the power — especially true when rendering a Final Cut Pro file. Now that I am about to go out and shoot a documentary video for ABC News, I will be really happy that I bought this machine!"

"However, I have been tempted to make the notebook plunge dozens of times in the past," Sugar said. "So, the next time I decide to step up to the plate and give it 110 percent (summer is the time for athletic metaphors), I would seriously consider buying a PowerBook, since I could plug in a keyboard and monitor, and just use it as a CPU that will run Final Cut Pro."

Certainly, for content creators working with digital video and digital photography, mobile platforms offer several real advantages to a workflow.

First off, the notebook’s larger screen area and better resolution can give the photographer and art director a better look at shots and scenes. Of course, the final image will be derived during a later editing process, but the better view of the image on location can improve the productivity of a session, permitting the team to approve a set and focus on necessary reshooting.

In addition, a remote editing platform provides a place to backup images and clips. As I’ve reminded readers before, no digital file should be stored in one piece of media, whether removable or fixed. And in a pinch, downloading files to the laptop can let you continue shooting (although that’s really like driving without a seat belt).

A Time to be Immobile
Still, replacing your desktop machine with a laptop is a huge step and not for most content creators or even those involved with video.

"The desktop won’t be replaced," according to graphics instructor Al Perez. His Windows machine sports dual 933-MHz Intel Xeon processors, 1.3GB of RAM, a pair of 36GB Seagate Barracuda hard drives, and a Hercules Titanium video card, as well as a DPS board, Matrox video editing card and a Creative Labs’ SoundBlaster Pro audio card. "Laptops are great and they do help a great deal — but notice that I said help and not replace."

"The output medium has a great deal to do with choice of laptop or desktop," he said. "In certain cases, I believe, there is no choice. To go from screen to print is tough enough and the good, old-fashioned CRT gives me better performance."

At the same time, Perez admitted that a powerful notebook would be helpful when working at a client’s office. He currently carries a 20GB portable hard drive with both FireWire and USB to move his work when visiting a remote site.

"Most employers — okay, not all — are too cheap to give the necessary tools to their graphics people. You should have seen me when I had a job animating. Everyone knew when my machine was rendering because I walked around the office a lot. I finally learned to stay in my room because the boss made me do printing jobs. But that’s a whole different story!" he said.

Powerful laptops that give desktops a run for the money are out there, however. Perez for one suggests that readers interested in a powerful Windows machine take a look at Alienware’s $2,943 Area 51m, which includes a 2.4-GHz Pentium 4 processor, 512MB of RAM and an ATI Mobility Radeon 7500 graphics subsystem with 64MB of video RAM. Note that that the Area 51m runs the same flavor of P4 as a desktop system; according to the company, it includes a custom-made heat sink, and it’s "packed full of fans and exhaust units to ensure optimum performance."

What we really want is a lightweight, powerful notebook that has all the performance and upgrade potential of a desktop workstation. A machine that we can take to the beach or the coffee shop, and work remotely for hours. Dream on. For the moment, we are better off with both — if there’s room in the budget.

The rabbis said: "Carry your own lantern and you need not fear the dark." Yet, for most content creators, simply lighting the way will fall short of the performance necessary for a productive workflow.

Read more by David Morgenstern.