[videoblogging] Re: Advice needed on computer and camera purchase
Heres what I think: Mac isnt the only sensible choice, PC for video editing makes sense. It depends on quite a few factors, such as what you are used to. And really how much you enjoy the editing software thats available for the platform is probably the single biggest factor. Final Cut Pro is not cheap, as your quote demonstrates. Now it is certainly worth the money if you love it, its a package that is loved by many, but some people prefer other choices. This may affect the Mac/PC decision, so I would advise getting a demo of Final Cut Pro before you spend that sort of money. Maybe you already know you want to use Final Cut Pro for sure, could you give some more clues in general as to which of your choices you are already more certain of, whether youd like the cost to be much less etc? Moving on to the power of the machine, I suggest that comes down to how much of your life you are planning to spend editing & compressing stuff. What sort of volume of workload are we talking about? Are you going to be editing and encoding minutes or hours of video per week? The main factors which determine what power of PC you need are how sophisticated a editing you want to do is, and how long you are going to want to spend waiting for footage to encode. On the editing front, I mean for example that there is a great compositing software called Motion 2 which ships with the full Fina Cut Studio. It makes use of lots of CPU and graphics card power & RAM, in order to try to do as much stuff in realtime as possible, rather than having to render the content in non-realtime. Its good because when you are in the middle of creating something (eg an elaborate title sequence) you can see all the changes straight awa in high quality, the workflow is smooth and that means a lot regarding enjoying the process. Bear in mind that in terms of performance:price ratio, PCs get you much more bang for your buck. So you could spend less money on a PC and achieve faster encoding of footage than the equivalently priced Mac. All PCs and Macs that currently exist will be out of date at certain things in years. But pretty much all current PCs and Macs can edit video quite nicely, so if you are still doing the same sorts of things in 2 years, they wont be obsolete at all. An example of going out of date as it relates to video editing could be if you are interested in High Definition video. This takes more power during editing/encoding missions, so will benefit from increased speed of machines ina year or 2s time. If you definately want a Mac but dont like the look of that quote, the iMac G5's are quite nice and a lot cheaper. Ive got the 2Ghz 20" version, got it a few months back, and its handling video stuff quite nicely. In contrast the Mac Mini that I got previously was not really up to the job, it can do it, but I wouldnt want to spend too long per day using it as an editing machine, just a bit too slow. The Mac is more enjoyable to use, but the much cheaper PC that sits next to it beats it hands down for footage compression times. But the PC is more noisy so its annoying to even have it switched on. I cant really give any camera advice. Anyway this is just my opinion, hope its of some use, if I were you Id spend a while hanging round an Apple sotre and seeing if you like what you see. Cheers Steve of Elbows --- In videoblogging@yahoogroups.com, Randolfe Wicker <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I am having great difficulty deciding what level of computer I should buy. My current Gateway computer is seven years old and doesn't have the capacity to either process film or burn a DVD. > > > > I know I have to get a new computer. I've spend several weeks on filmmaker sights like > > http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/ I know I have to get a Mac because my main focus will be turning my digital videos into vlogs and documentaries. > > > > A professional who produces cable TV shows on a regular basis gave me specifications for a computer that I would probably never outgrow. He told me B&H Photo was probably a better place to buy Macs than the Apple Store. > > > > I submitted my specs to B&H Photo and got the following quote. The problem is that I feel like I might be buying a new jet airplane before I even have my pilot's license. > > > > I'll post the specs and prices here. I would appreciate any comments from those of you who have experience. I don't want to make a mistake. I bought the newest HC42 Sony Mini-Dv camera for $800 (one chip) and discovered later that it didn't have a plug in for a wireless mike. > > > > For filmmaking, I know I will need a three-chip camera. I liked this fellow's suggestion of getting a Sony HVR HDV/DV camera for $3200 because it can shoot in the format of one's choosing. > > > > I intend to start with vlogging and then slowly master editing so I can produce full-length documentaries. I know vlogging can be done with minimal resolution video. I just want to get a Mac that I won't
[videoblogging] Re: Advice needed on computer and camera purchase
--- In videoblogging@yahoogroups.com, Randolfe Wicker <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I am having great difficulty deciding what level of computer I should buy. My current Gateway computer is seven years old and doesn't have the capacity to either process film or burn a DVD. > I intend to start with vlogging and then slowly master editing so I can produce full-length documentaries. I know vlogging can be done with minimal resolution video. I just want to get a Mac that I won't find useless a couple years down the pike. > I bought a mid-range Mac 4 years ago (G4 733mhz) and I'm still using it today. I don't do video editing all day long though, I just use iMovied for editing videoblog posts. I've upped it to 1.2g gigs of RAM ove the years, and I just got an extra 120 gig hard drive and a DVD drive to install. By next year I'll either try to replace it with another mid-range machine (I tend not to buy the top of the line) or I'll drop about $300 or so on an upgrade card to double the processor speed. Macs are pretty upgradable. The Mac I had before this one lasted 6 years, though that was stretching a bit. Pete -- http://tinkernet.org/ videoblog for the future... SPONSORED LINKS Individual Fireant Explains YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "videoblogging" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[videoblogging] Re: Advice needed on computer and camera purchase
--- In videoblogging@yahoogroups.com, wrote: > > However, while reading the intro to a book about it, they advised "against" attempting to dive directly into Final Cut Pro. I ended up buying a book on Final Cut Express and reading about "nondestructive editing" versus "destructive editing" makes me feel like I should just get a Mac with iMovie or with Express Cut Pro ($300). I could upgrade to Final Cut Pro later. If you haven't done much editing, I'd think iMovie is a good place to start. Does it still come free with every new Mac? I think you can push iMovie pretty far in what it can do. (Does anyone have links to iMovier FCP comparisons?) > Certain things like the internal harddrives I believe have to be in your original configuration. The 8GB I believe could be added later just like upgrading to Final Cut Pro from Express. I am going to make a decision by Monday because there comes a point where you have to make a decision. You can always add RAM or more hard drives if you have room. (Most tower Macs can hold at least two internal hard drives, and have a few slots for RAM.) I've got 2 40 gig drives now, one of which I'll be taking out to replace with a 120 gig drive soon. > Thanks again Steve for your thoughts. I met someone else at the NYC Vloggers meeting who also thought PCs gave more bang for the buck and were better than Macs in many ways. > And many Mac users will tell you that they spend their time being creative with their computers, not dealing with the latest Microsoft security holes and trying to find the right software drivers... ;) Pete -- http://tinkernet.org/ videoblog for the future... YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "videoblogging" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
Re: [videoblogging] Re: Advice needed on computer and camera purchase
Thanks Pete. We live in an age where there is no such thing as "being really ready for tomorrow". - Original Message - From: Pete Prodoehl To: videoblogging@yahoogroups.com Sent: Thursday, August 18, 2005 2:19 PM Subject: [videoblogging] Re: Advice needed on computer and camera purchase --- In videoblogging@yahoogroups.com, Randolfe Wicker <[EMAIL PROTECTED]...>wrote:> I am having great difficulty deciding what level of computer Ishould buy. My current Gateway computer is seven years old anddoesn't have the capacity to either process film or burn a DVD. > I intend to start with vlogging and then slowly master editing so Ican produce full-length documentaries. I know vlogging can be donewith minimal resolution video. I just want to get a Mac that I won'tfind useless a couple years down the pike.> I bought a mid-range Mac 4 years ago (G4 733mhz) and I'm still usingit today. I don't do video editing all day long though, I just useiMovied for editing videoblog posts. I've upped it to 1.2g gigs of RAMove the years, and I just got an extra 120 gig hard drive and a DVDdrive to install. By next year I'll either try to replace it withanother mid-range machine (I tend not to buy the top of the line) orI'll drop about $300 or so on an upgrade card to double the processorspeed. Macs are pretty upgradable. The Mac I had before this onelasted 6 years, though that was stretching a bit. Pete-- http://tinkernet.org/videoblog for the future... YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "videoblogging" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
Re: [videoblogging] Re: Advice needed on computer and camera purchase
Thank you for your thoughtful and thorough commentary. I've never had any formal PC training. I have watched various tutorials at freevlog etc. and I can see why people say Mac's are much more intuitive. I've been reading discussions far beyond my comprehension on all of this and am reasonably certain I want to end up using Final Cut Pro. However, while reading the intro to a book about it, they advised "against" attempting to dive directly into Final Cut Pro. I ended up buying a book on Final Cut Express and reading about "nondestructive editing" versus "destructive editing" makes me feel like I should just get a Mac with iMovie or with Express Cut Pro ($300). I could upgrade to Final Cut Pro later. I have been spending six to ten hours daily for the past couple months researching, watching blogs, etc. I fully expect working with video and vlogging to be the central part of my life in the near future. I've already shot over twenty hours of mini-dv footage for a documentary I am working on for street fairs over the past couple months. I am retired and have no other interests that can compete with video at this time. That made your comments here especially interesting: On the editing front,I mean for example that there is a great compositing software calledMotion 2 which ships with the full Fina Cut Studio. It makes use oflots of CPU and graphics card power & RAM, in order to try to do asmuch stuff in realtime as possible, rather than having to render thecontent in non-realtime. Its good because when you are in the middleof creating something (eg an elaborate title sequence) you can see allthe changes straight awa in high quality, the workflow is smooth andthat means a lot regarding enjoying the process. I definitely want to keep my options open to HD video, that is exactly why I want to go with the G5 tower and all the specs given in the price quote. I've been hanging out at the Apple store quite a bit and have attended several of their workshops. In fact, I have an appointment tonight at the Genius Bar in SoHo to discuss the options with them. I really don't want to make a mistake like I did while buying the $800 Sony HC42 without realizing it didn't have a plug-in for a wireless mike. It had been several years since my last "flurry" of filming with my Hi-8 camera. Certain things like the internal harddrives I believe have to be in your original configuration. The 8GB I believe could be added later just like upgrading to Final Cut Pro from Express. I am going to make a decision by Monday because there comes a point where you have to make a decision. Thanks again Steve for your thoughts. I met someone else at the NYC Vloggers meeting who also thought PCs gave more bang for the buck and were better than Macs in many ways. - Original Message - From: Steve Watkins To: videoblogging@yahoogroups.com Sent: Thursday, August 18, 2005 1:19 PM Subject: [videoblogging] Re: Advice needed on computer and camera purchase Heres what I think:Mac isnt the only sensible choice, PC for video editing makes sense.It depends on quite a few factors, such as what you are used to. Andreally how much you enjoy the editing software thats available for theplatform is probably the single biggest factor.Final Cut Pro is not cheap, as your quote demonstrates. Now it iscertainly worth the money if you love it, its a package that is lovedby many, but some people prefer other choices. This may affect theMac/PC decision, so I would advise getting a demo of Final Cut Probefore you spend that sort of money.Maybe you already know you want to use Final Cut Pro for sure, couldyou give some more clues in general as to which of your choices youare already more certain of, whether youd like the cost to be muchless etc?Moving on to the power of the machine, I suggest that comes down tohow much of your life you are planning to spend editing & compressingstuff. What sort of volume of workload are we talking about? Are yougoing to be editing and encoding minutes or hours of video per week?The main factors which determine what power of PC you need are howsophisticated a editing you want to do is, and how long you are goingto want to spend waiting for footage to encode. On the editing front,I mean for example that there is a great compositing software calledMotion 2 which ships with the full Fina Cut Studio. It makes use oflots of CPU and graphics card power & RAM, in order to try to do asmuch stuff in realtime as possible, rather than having to render thecontent in non-realtime. Its good because when you are in the middleof creating something (eg an elaborate title sequence) you can see allthe changes straight awa in high quality, the workflow is smooth andthat means a lot regarding
Re: [videoblogging] Re: Advice needed on computer and camera purchase
Certain things like the internal harddrives I believe have to be in your original configuration. The 8GB I believe could be added later just like upgrading to Final Cut Pro from Express. You can always add a second internal drive to a tower later. You just have to know how to open the computer, find the right wires, and install the thing (or pay someone else to do it). External drives are just as good, however. A Firewire 400 or 800 external drive will work great and be much easier to set up. There are a few times when people must have internal drives fast enough (faster than the external), but editing video is not one of those times. If you are wiring a bunch of computers together to build a supercomputer and mapping the human genome, then knock yourself out -- but to edit DV video? Save the money. You don't need a serial interface for your drives... Besides, external drives have some advantages: 1) there is no limit as to how many external drives you can add to your system, so you don't have to retire one to make room for another. 2) you can unhook your external drive from your computer and take it places -- to a friend's house, to a computer lab at a media arts center or school, to the local Apple store where you are giving a presentation on videoblogging... 3) It's much easier to get an external drive looked at and repaired (or to get the data recovered if it's not repairable). With an internal drive, you either have to take the whole computer, or pull the drive out of the computer (if you know how). Harddrives do go bad -- I've lost two in the last ten years (out of a nine or so -- but never a LaCie drive, which is why I only buy their drives these days). And was your original quote for 8 gigs of RAM?? Wow. You do not need to spend that much! I've got 1 gig, and it's really good. The only time I notice a lag for lack of RAM is when I'm opening multiple huge photos in Photoshop (Photoshop hogs RAM). I recommend something between 1 and 2 gigs -- 512 mb really isn't enough. I'd think iMovie is a good place to start. Does it still come free with every new Mac? IMovie is a good program. Apple keeps adding more and more features to their lower-end software -- iMovie does HD too. It is free, and I believe it comes with all of the "i" computers -- the iMac, the iBook, etc. (And the mini?) I'm pretty sure it does not come with the PowerMac tower. Another reason to buy an iMac-- you get iPhoto, iDVD, Garage Band... all great software. All super easy to use. All free. And many Mac users will tell you that they spend their time being creative with their computers, not dealing with the latest Microsoft security holes and trying to find the right software drivers... ;) absolutely true! Things on a Mac just work. Especially all the iLife software -- you just think, hey can I do this... and you try it (without even looking in a book) and sure enough, that's exactly how it works. I mean for example that there is a great compositing software called Motion 2 which ships with the full Final Cut Studio. It makes use of lots of CPU and graphics card power & RAM, in order to try to do as much stuff in realtime as possible, rather than having to render the content in non-realtime. Its good because when you are in the middle of creating something (eg an elaborate title sequence) you can see all the changes straight awa in high quality, the workflow is smooth and that means a lot regarding enjoying the process. I definitely want to keep my options open to HD video, that is exactly why I want to go with the G5 tower and all the specs given in the price quote. Motion is the program that will probably demand more from your computer than any other. And what Motion really wants is a kick-ass video card. Apple tried something new when they shipped the first version of Motion a year ago -- to move the pull for power from the CPU to the videocard in order to get things to look they way you've specified immediately, instead of needing to render (do a lot of mathematical calculations to know how it will look.) Go check out Motion in the Apple store, and if you want to buy it (either by itself, or in the Final Cut Studio package) then ask to see Motion running on the computers you are thinking of buying. And don't buy an older machine -- computers made before Motion came out (especially 2003 or earlier computers) can't run Motion. I think, however, that the iMac can handle it just fine -- (not the eMac, I don't recommend the eMac). jen
Re: [videoblogging] Re: Advice needed on computer and camera purchase
Thanks for the input. I am going to start with iMovie like you suggest, crawl before you walk. I described my experience of going to the Apple store in a lengthy reply to Jen just a minute ago. I had to laugh at your comments regarding Microsoft. My computer crashed two times in seven years. In the first crash I lost a lot of valuable files. As someone who will now have both Windows XP and a Mac, I think I'll be dodging bullets from both sides--like the cover fire you put down when you remarked: "And many Mac users will tell you that they spend their time beingcreative with their computers, not dealing with the latest Microsoftsecurity holes and trying to find the right software drivers... ;)" Thanks for your comments. - Original Message - From: Pete Prodoehl To: videoblogging@yahoogroups.com Sent: Thursday, August 18, 2005 5:54 PM Subject: [videoblogging] Re: Advice needed on computer and camera purchase --- In videoblogging@yahoogroups.com, wrote:> > However, while reading the intro to a book about it, they advised"against" attempting to dive directly into Final Cut Pro. I ended upbuying a book on Final Cut Express and reading about "nondestructiveediting" versus "destructive editing" makes me feel like I should justget a Mac with iMovie or with Express Cut Pro ($300). I could upgradeto Final Cut Pro later.If you haven't done much editing, I'd think iMovie is a good place tostart. Does it still come free with every new Mac? I think you canpush iMovie pretty far in what it can do. (Does anyone have links toiMovier FCP comparisons?)> Certain things like the internal harddrives I believe have to be inyour original configuration. The 8GB I believe could be added laterjust like upgrading to Final Cut Pro from Express. I am going to makea decision by Monday because there comes a point where you have tomake a decision.You can always add RAM or more hard drives if you have room. (Mosttower Macs can hold at least two internal hard drives, and have a fewslots for RAM.) I've got 2 40 gig drives now, one of which I'll betaking out to replace with a 120 gig drive soon.> Thanks again Steve for your thoughts. I met someone else at the NYCVloggers meeting who also thought PCs gave more bang for the buck andwere better than Macs in many ways.> And many Mac users will tell you that they spend their time beingcreative with their computers, not dealing with the latest Microsoftsecurity holes and trying to find the right software drivers... ;)Pete-- http://tinkernet.org/videoblog for the future... YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "videoblogging" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
