Need pro video editing system setup - opinions?

MDLarson

MDLarson

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Somebody I know is looking for a high-end video (multimedia) computer to replace an aging PC.

I suggested the following:
Power Mac G5 - 1.6 GHz
512 MB total RAM
Final Cut Express ($99 deal)
MS Office Standard

I was trying to push the iMac or the eMac, but she was leaning toward the G5. Also, since the G5 has dual ADC / DVI ports (yay Apple!), she can use her existing PC monitor (with DVI > VGA adapter) until she decides to get a flat-panel.

I'd also imagine getting a different input device - does anyone edit pro video with the one-button mouse? What device do you use?

Obviously I'm gonna get a lot of pro-Mac video pros here, but she's also looking at PC options, which I would advocate as well (the looking and comparing part).
 
The only thing I would suggest would be to up the RAM to 1 GB or more, if she can afford it.

I use a Griffin PowerMate to scrub thru videos (not neccessary, but it's a nice addition)

I've been using a 2 button mouse for a while now, but for the life of me, I can't recall if there's any advantage over a 1 button mouse in FCP.
 
Yes, definately get more ram. 512 is suggested for OS X but really is minimum for video editing. 1 gig should be enough.

I edit video with the one button mouse on my iBook, and it's not really a problem, but a scroll is very handy with video. If you're going to get one of those scroll things j79 uses, then the pro mouse should be no problem.

Depending upon what she's going to be doing with the video, you might also want to throw in Soundtrack, or DVD studio pro.

One thing I would suggest, however, is that you stay away from LCD's. Apple's LCD's are pretty much the only ones that will give you prestine color out of the box, but for that price you could get a larger screened CRT with color calibration. This is my opinion, however, and to each his/her own.

Have fun with your/her new machine ;)
 
MD, tell her that the Mac is far superior to Windows in the field of video editing, thanks wholly to Final Cut. A G5 would be much better than an i/eMac because it has much faster RAM, faster hard drive, faster Firewire, and of course a faster CPU. Plus, she can import video and do other tasks at the same time, without having to worry about breaking up the import stream. Try that on a PC. (I've tried, and it doesn't work.)

I suggest she get a multibutton mouse anyway. She will find that she can use it for much more than video editing, and it requires a simple right-click to bring up a contextual menu, or a flip of the wheel (or trackball on my Starlogic 8D mouse) to scroll through a web page or scrub a clip.

I'd imagine her current monitor, while probably ugly next to a G5, would be plenty for her desired use. Presumably space isn't a big constraint, so I'd say use the PC monitor (what kind is it, anyway?) and hold off on a more expensive flatscreen.
 
I don't see why to go for a G5 when it's only going to be used for Final Cut Express though. FCP3, which is about the same thing, runs smoothly with real-time transitions on my 500 MHz G4.
For a pro editing system, software usually means a lot more than hardware. So I'd much rather go for a 1.25 GHz G4 (or dual if she can afford it) and FCP4 than an entry-level G5 and some outdated semi-pro software. FCP comes with Soundtrack and LiveType as well, which really makes it worth the money :)
 
yeah FCP 3 on my G4 867 tower is fast, the only let down is when rendering, and a Dual 1.25 G4 would fly through this, i am tempted to look into buying a dual 1.25 if they are reduced, at least until the rev. 2 G5's come out;)
 
Well, I emailed her a link to this thread - hopefully she's reading it (Hi Teri!) :D

Arden, you asked about her current monitor—I have seen it, but I remember it only as a normal 15" monitor. Nothin' special.
 
Every time I answer this question I say the same thing:

Buy the best Mac you (she) can possibly stand to afford. End of story.

Final Cut is wonderful to work with (though, to be fair, Avid Xpress and upcoming Premiere update are solid and Vegas has a cult following). I won't get into all the details unless you want me to, butin my opinion, pound for pound, FCP is still the leader in its price range (which includes the above mentioned apps).

You said "high end". FCP Express is not high end. It's really high, low end. This is all relative, of course. Five years ago, Express was definitely high end. Not any more.

Whichever machine she gets, definitely get 1 gig ram minimum. Also, get a DP (dual processor) machine, if possible. Arden wasn't kidding when he said you can do stuff while importing video. I have gone so far as to burn CDs, download web content and more, all while capturing video. Wow! (Sure, every once in a while, you can choke it, but for the most part, it's amazing how much multi-tasking can be done).

As for monitors, a true pro editor would rely on his NTSC monitor, not his computer monitor for any color editing or compositing analysis. Nonetheles, it's nice to have a good computer monitor too.

A also recommend a multi-button mouse, though I think only the second button gets used in FCP. I use the Contour Shuttle for scrubbing. Works nice. Not expensive.

I also recommend www.2-pop.com, which is a great pro-Mac board with lots of excellent threads and users. A lot of Avid converts now using FCP are there.

My other advice is this. If you're going to be a pro, be a pro. Don't do this eMac, iMac stuff, get the best machine you can tolerate to spend. You don't see real construction workers buying Black and Decker, they buy Makita. (No disrespect to eMac, iMac owners, I'm one of them. I just don't make a living editing video on one).
 
I might make it a hobby, though, if I get a camera. Of course, I could never afford FCP, and FCE (it's not FCP Express, it's FCE, to nitpick) would be a stretch, but I don't have high demand for top-quality video editing software.

Premier for Mac has been discontinued...

I tried editing some video on the PC of a guy I know, editing a yoga movie for my yoga class. Let me tell you, Microsoft Movie Maker is complete crap. Playback was really choppy, which is fine if you're simply watching on the computer monitor to get an idea of how it'll look. But when we watched it on the tape, it was still choppy!!!! I have hated Movie Maker ever since, with an undying passion.

He also downloaded Premier from his friend's company's server, and I had a hard time using it. When I tried to import video, it came out at a really weird taller-than-wide resolution, squeezing the picture. It also quit importing when I tried to do something else, meaning Windows XP really doesn't know what multitasking is.

Even without importing video, I know that Mac OS X will be better because of multitasking alone. I have launched applications, like Photoshop, and gone and done something else while waiting for it to come up (which takes longer than it should because of my iMac's specs... but that's a different matter), and everything successfully launches (with, I think, the one exception of ABC's Alias game, which you need to keep the computer's attention on for it to run).

So to conclude, tell her to get the most powerful Mac + FC editor combo she can afford. If she's on a budget, suggest a stopgap of a Dual 1+ Ghz G4 and FCE until she can afford to upgrade. And I agree with Mindbend on the monitor issue; video taped on a camera will look much different when imported into the computer, and even more different when viewed on a TV. So she should definitely look for a graphics card or other solution that offers S-video or RCA in/out so she can see what her footage will look like on the boob tube.
 
You say "pro" yet you listed final cut express... wouldn't she want final cut "pro" ? :p

I myself create movies [shameless plug: www.sickdimension.com]

My current system is a dual 500Mhz G4, 1.25 GB RAM, 250GB of hard disk space, Final Cut Pro 4, dual 32mb radeons with dual 19" displays.

My system thats currently on order is a dual 2 Ghz G5, 2GB ram, 500GB hard disk, Radeon 9800pro and a 23" cinemadisplay.

If she does a lot with effects and speed changes (like I do) then she'll definetly need the extra horsepower of the G5. Also keep in mind that the low end 1.6ghz G5 does not have as good of a mother board as the other two models. Its limited with only 4 ram slots and a slower bus.
 
Yes, the 1.6 Ghz machine supports a "mere" 4 GB of RAM and "only" 800 Mhz bus. It's still damn better than your current machine (no offense, just stating that it is).

Fahrv, do you think you could stream your movies instead of making people download them? It would take less time to watch them, and people wouldn't have to fill up their hard drives. It's okay if you can't afford it or something, I'm just wondering if it's possible for you at this time.

Also, what's your avatar?
 
Originally posted by Fahrvergnuugen
You say "pro" yet you listed final cut express... wouldn't she want final cut "pro" ? :p
Click to expand...
Yeah, one of the problems is, I'm not sure how "pro" a system she wants. I think Final Cut Express would be a good option until she really knew what was going on. For $99, I think that's the way to start out. I don't think Apple has a price cut for FCPro / new systems, do they?

Anyway, if you folks have more suggestions, keep 'em coming - they're definitely welcome.
 
Originally posted by arden
Yes, the 1.6 Ghz machine supports a "mere" 4 GB of RAM and "only" 800 Mhz bus. It's still damn better than your current machine (no offense, just stating that it is).
Click to expand...


This is no different than buying the 350MHz G4 on the Yikes! mother board when the G4 first came out. Alot of people who bought one ended up regretting not going for the mid 400Mhz system.

Fahrv, do you think you could stream your movies instead of making people download them? It would take less time to watch them, and people wouldn't have to fill up their hard drives. It's okay if you can't afford it or something, I'm just wondering if it's possible for you at this time.

Also, what's your avatar?
Click to expand...

not to go way off topic or anything...but.

I don't stream my videos for a number of reasons.
1) I used to, and the most common question I got was "How do I save your movies to my hard drive?"
2) I use any one of 10 different mirrors, 2 of which I actually own / admin. The other 8 I have no control over, so I can't setup quicktime streaming server.
3) Before when I streamed the movies, over half of my hits were repeat visitors. They redownloaded the movie every time they wanted to watch it or show it to one of their friends. This created a huge amount of uneccessary bandwidth.
4) streaming video requires one of two things, either the video quality has to suck or both ends need an INSANE amount of bandwidth. all of my MPEG4 files are about 128KB/s which provides reasonable quality. to stream them, I would have to compress them down to about 40KB/s.

the list goes on....

and my avatar is Judge Dredd, hence the "I am the law!" quote.
 
I thought Apple was providing upgrades to FCP 4 for Premier users for cheapo-deapo prices, but that may have been just the Mac version.
 
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