New Mac Pro owner, 'newish' HV20, too

[barshnik]

After nearly 30 years of non-apple computer experience, I finally bought a mac pro (8 core 3ghz, 2 gb RAM, single drive so far, but 2 ea. 500 gb on order which will be set up as Raid 0 for video / image storage.

My previous DV editing was on a PC using MediaStudioPro.

I've been playing with iMovie, and am really quite impressed even though it is a pretty simple program. I imported and edited a few minutes of HDV from the HV-20, happy to see scene detect work well. Added a theme for the start, and used either straight cuts or dissolves for transitions.

I noticed no degredation during transitions, but haven't tried 'effects' yet. The themes are really quite cool.

I ran the finished test video back to the HV-20, and noticed some slight loss of detail and resolution (kind of a shimmering effect overall) - it is perhaps 90% of the native HDV straight from HV-20 to HDTV via HDMI. I guess this loss is due to the Apple Intermediate Codec used by iMovie, right?

Not bad by any means, but not perfect, either.

I can assume Final Cut Express will produce the same IQ since it also uses the same Codec?

I hate to spend $1300 for Final Cut Studio 2 (I am a hobbiest, afterall) but will if there is no other option. Again, iMovie doesn't suck by any means, and it is uber-easy to work with, but I'd like the finished product to look as good as the native tape footage, not 90% as good (although my wife was sure happy with it.)

Any other options or opinions? Thanks for you help with a newbie mac question...

John F
LV, NV

[zephyrnoid]

Kidding right ?
"I hate to spend $1300 for Final Cut Studio 2 (I am a hobbiest, afterall)"
Hobbiests aren't plunking down the dough a mac pro 8 core 3ghz tower costs to buy. Go whole hog mister and get FCstudio 2.I'm considering a Macbook + RAID + FCstudio2 for on the go edits.

[barshnik]

Pushing 60, no kids to put through college, so yes, some disposable imcome available. Don't hold it against me. I'm just looking for some answers to my questions... I'd rather pay $300 for FCE if it will give better IQ, but that is not what I understand. Maybe I'll see what Oct. brings with Leopard and the following iMovie upgrade? Didn't mean to offend, but at my stage in life don't know how much is left, so want the best I can get.

John F
LV, NV

[skinnyboy]

Even as a hobbyist, I'd still recommend getting Final Cut Studio over Express. The learning curve as compared to iMovie is pretty steep, but once you get through it, everything becomes so much easier to do, because you have the proper tools at your disposal.

[007hamster]

FCS comes with DVD Studio Pro, Color, and Motion, as well as Livetype and Soundtrack Pro which are included with FCE. I would definatly upgrade from iMovie, you may or may not need the extra features of FCP over FCE, but you may enjoy toying around with the other apps. (Motion mainly)

[wfeu]

You can also join lynda.com 25 usd a month. They have full video tutorials on fcs and allmost all other apps... They are not that hard to learn when watching videos...i would recomend getting softraid to format your raid: http://www.softraid.com/

[zephyrnoid]

Actually. One thing I should say as a warning to those seeking to use iMovie as a transitional NLE to FCStudio- iMovie is so simplified it will make approaching FCS MORE painful, rather than less so. I mean, yes, to get your feet wet and make your first movie, to get the hang of the concept of editing down, iMovie is great. Just don't become too attached to it or you'll not wanna give it up as the 'training wheels' ;)

[sp8ce07]

I've enjoyed ImovieHD, but I've had problems getting it to correctly export the proper resolution. It always reverts to 4:3, and not Widescreen.

[barshnik]

I just completed my first iMovie vid, 42 minutes long edited from 3 hrs of raw footage. After many years of Ulead MediaStudioPro on a PC, iMovie seems stupidly easy to use (I say that in a nice way.)

There are limitations (can't overlay video, effects are 'cheesy', etc.) that will require FCP in the future, but for now (still learning my way around the mac pro) iMovie simply works, and simply.

Have had no trouble exporting back to the HV20, just some loss of fine detail and an overall 'shimmering' look when played via HDMI to HDTV, but really not bad.

Too late, I'm hooked for now on iMovie...

John F
LV, NV

[sarantis]

I've been using iMovie for 6 or 7 years but noticed recently upon comparison that i Movie footage is washed out compared to FCP.

Very noticable!

Splurge some of that retirement money.

[PoconoPCDoctor]

I've been using iMovie for 6 or 7 years but noticed recently upon comparison that i Movie footage is washed out compared to FCP.

Very noticable!

Splurge some of that retirement money.

I have made my first video with iMovie. I'l post it here first, but that will have to wait until the competition completes. I think that's September 23rd.

I got Final Cut HD Express to see if I could polish the iMovie project a bit. I made a backup of the iMovie Project and will experiment tonight to see if I can make it look more professional.

The problem is I have to submit it to the festival by this Friday 6:00 PM. So unless importing iMovie projects to FCE is relatively painless, I might have to pass.

Some things I noticed using iMovie for my first film.

1. Save frequently. I had a few crashes, and forgot to keep saving after working a while, and even though the clips were in the trash, I still had to position them, fix voice dubs, etc.

2. Use Ken Burns effects sparingly. I think my overuse of KB effects was the reason for the crashes. A couple of times after crashing, the project would not allow me to add clips or stils - it was "locked." I kept deleting clips with the KB effect, saved, closed the project, exited iMovie, and then was able to open and continue editing.

3. Be careful when extracting audio from a clip to change sound levels. I think this might also be an area where iMovie might have some bugs, as deleting a clip with extracted audio cleared a crashing project.

The details -

Macbook Pro 1.83 Ghz
2 Gigs RAM
256 ATI video card
WD "My Book" 320 gig external HD

Also used

Home built PC for recording voice-overs. (PIV - 2.33 Ghz)
Used Creative Wave Lab editor to record clips.
Adjust levels and edit on PC, save and copy to external HD for importing into
iMovie
Sony DSC-85 for digital stills

Wish me luck on my entry! :hv20-smilie77:

[Jim Trunck]

John,

You purchased a great MacPro, but it definitely needs more memory. General rule of thumb is 1 GB per core. This is especially true for heavy duty editing. Everything will run faster. You can pick up 8 GBs rather inexpensively at Other World Computing:

http://www.otherworldcomputing.com/

They even have a video on how to install it yourself, and it is really easy on the Mac Pros.

I just have a Mac Pro 2.66 GHz quad core, but I have 9 GB of RAM and 500/750/750/750 HD drives in it and the X1900XT video card. All that said, the memory is the main key. Bought the extra 8 GB from OWC, along with the 750 drives. You can talk to them on the phone too if you have any questions.

In any event, welcome back to the Mac world, and enjoy your Mac Pro.

Jim

[barshnik]

It couldn't be simpler to add RAM to this thing. A friend recommended MacRamDirect, and I got 4x1gb for a total of 5gb - figured I can always sell the 512's down the road and add 4x2gb if the need ever arises. However, I've never heard a bad word about OWC, so they'll probably get my business in the future. I'm keeping an eye on activity monitor, and have not exceeded 50% ram usage while editing.

I've added 2 WD 500g in Raid 0 for capture, it is working very well, and they seem to be a very quiet drive.

FCS2 is a couple of weeks away, that'll keep me busy for a while.

iMovie - Editing SD, the 'effects' can be useful, but in HDV they severely degrade the PQ and are useless.

Thanks for the welcome to the world of Macs, and to the forum.

John F

[mayhem]

Know somebody in school? you can get FCS2 for $500 bucks academic version (fancy term for less money same thing). But I didn't tell you that.... Wait the apple salesman told me that.

[pixelvoodoo]

I would also add, than when installing RAM, follow the instructions to a T. First time I installed my 2x2GB sticks I installed them on the top card. Realized the mistake installed them on the bottom card and BAM big difference!