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
