Posted by Charlie S. on 03/19/07 05:15

"nobody special" <msu1049321@aol.com> wrote in message
news:1174171974.038579.166870@y66g2000hsf.googlegroups.com...
> If you want to run FCP, a mac is your only choice, PC's don't run it.
> A mac with the brand new Intel chips can run PC-Windows programs as
> well as FCP, but you have to understand, that's a custom version of
> FCP that will only run on that particular CPU setup and not on any old
> power pc mac.
>
> No Windows PC is going to run any version of FCP however. (Adobe
> Premiere is now again dual-platform, but you want to look out for
> which version of the OS and processor it is set up for.)
>
> As far as your mac hardware choices, let me say that for someone who
> is only dabbling at this point, it would save you a lot of money to
> get an older non-intel powerPC chip mac or even (gulp!) a used/
> refurbished mac from some place like smalldog.com or Shreve systems,
> both sources have a geat rep for service and offer warranties. Macs
> actually hold their resale comparatively well, and compatability with
> apps and hardware up and down the product line stays pretty good. You
> are still getting a powerful platform on a 1 or 2-year-old machine,
> FCP and Motion are going to work fine on it, but you will be paying
> way less than new. That's money you can throw at a better camcorder,
> or add-ons like the highly recommended Apple Motion, photoshop, and
> maybe an audio program like Peak or Soundtrack.
>
> Understand I'm not evangelizing for the mac here, you can certainly do
> a similar deal with pcs and older versions of Vegas, Avid, Premiere,
> etc. and have yourself a ball editing with a powerful system, it just
> won't be FCP like you specified. The guys that have to have the
> bleeding-edge hardware are spending 90 percent of their money wad to
> get that last 10 pecent better performance, because they need it for
> network-level work. At the level of what you suggest you want to do,
> you will have more than enough horsepower to be happy for quite a
> while as you learn, and if you get the itch to upgrade later, the
> upgrades will be less expensive too.
>
> The reason not to edit off an imac or the mac mini or their laptops is
> not anything to do with the monitors, or even the processors, but the
> chassis is too small to add on more drive space, and for any kind of
> serious editing, you want a dedicated media drive. You can go with
> external firewire raid drives or single drives if they are fast
> enough. Regarding monitors, I have been editing off the largest
> macbook pro lately, and while it certainly has the power, I still need
> external drives, and the large screen on the laptop is still too small
> for my aging eyes; I would not want to edit off the laptop every day,
> but only for short occasional use in the field.
>
> Here's what i would suggest for your needs:
>
> I would suggest a one to two-year-old mac tower system with one, or
> perferably dual processors, all the RAM you can afford, a gig or more
> is good, long as it all matches and is within spec, and a very fast
> media drive either mounted in the tower or external via firewire. Get
> the latest version of the OS it came with, and pay for quicktime pro
> as well, that's dirt cheap. You can start with FCP Express, which is
> the same as a full verson of Final Cut, but half the price, just
> limited to DV footage only, and a few of the most esoteric functions
> you'd likely never need, disabled. Once you've mastered express and
> feelt he need ot push it up a notch, an upgrade to FCP Studio will be
> affordable.
>
> Even less expensive: some folks enjoy the free imovie HD, which shares
> a lot of features with FCP, but is a more basic program. Numerous
> after-market add-ons that add in advanced featuers are available for
> around $25 or so per feature set, you can pick and choose a la carte
> what funky wipes and other effects you might want to add. Should you
> decide to bail after some time, the mac will still fetch about 60
> percent of it's original price until it's more than 5 years old.

1. Thanks for your thorough and helpful response. Checked out
Smalldog.com. Found this used unit on sale for $1500.
http://www.smalldog.com/product/41105
Still would need to buy at least one new hard drive, plus a DVD Re-writable.
That might add another $150 or so to the system. Anything else I might need
besides software? I'm going to check other sites. (Thought this unit would
make a good baseline as to what I might need.)

I know someone who can help me out with buying a used Mac unit. This is
most likely the route I will follow.

2. You mentioned the following..

"A mac with the brand new Intel chips can run PC-Windows programs as
> well as FCP, but you have to understand, that's a custom version of
> FCP that will only run on that particular CPU setup and not on any old
> power pc mac."

So, if I were to eventually buy an Intel computer, I would have to buy an
updated version of FCP. Is this a major expense? Or, is there some sort of
licensing transfer with minimal fees? (Knowing Apple, nothing is minimal.)

3. Originally, I was going to buy a PC anyway. Buying a Mac Pro might
allow me to kill two birds with one stone. Although to be honest, I
originally wasn't going to spend more than $1000 on the PC. And, if this
dual platform is anything like the PC simulation software Mac put out years
ago, I'd rather use an abacus.

My questions:
a. Could one edit on both platforms with this computer? For example, use
Vegas on the PC side and FCP on the Mac platform?

b. Are there conflicts, such as; saving two types of formats on the same
hard drives or running anti-virus protection? Seems like I would be better
off with a separate unit. Since I primarily use the PC for work and home
use. What's your opinion? Are there drawbacks?




>

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