Best Mac for the Job?

[WaWaZat]

Got my HV20 in August. Have stockpiled a small library of unedited tapes. I'm looking to buy a new Mac with everything I'll need to edit amateur video efficiently.

First of all, can I get some suggestions on which Mac is best for handling this?

Then, what else will I need to import, view & edit HDV? What card, etc? The standard widescreen monitors typically available can show the resolution, right? What formats are most people here dumping back to? I'd imagine down resing to standard DVD would be best for compatibility along with a HD archive back to a mini HDV tape. I could then use the archive from the camera to my hi-def TV for hi-end viewing.

Any software suggestions are appreciated as well. What's the best bang for the buck?

[Eugenia Loli-Queru]

>Then, what else will I need to import, view & edit HDV?

A video editor. iMovie '06 (not '08) if you are a newbie, Final Cut Express if you are not a newbie, and Final Cut Studio or After Effects if you are interested in 24p.

>What card, etc?

Doesn't really matter, all modern cards on Macs work fine.

>The standard widescreen monitors typically available can show the resolution, right?

No. For full resolution of the HV20 playback size you need 1920x1200 or higher res monitor. You don't need that though, anything above 1280x1024 is fine.

>What formats are most people here dumping back to?

http://eugenia.gnomefiles.org/2007/12/08/exporting-with-quicktime-in-720p/

>I'd imagine down resing to standard DVD would be best for compatibility along with a HD archive back to a mini HDV tape.

For the best possible quality you need to keep the "Apple Intermediate Codec" .mov files that Apple's editors save the files to. These have better quality than dumping back to tape, because tape usually means re-encoding with their consumer video editors.

As for DVDs, they are ok for family viewing and sharing, but if you want the best quality, get yourself a PS3 or an XBox360 to watch them in HD and h.264/mp4 format.

>I could then use the archive from the camera to my hi-def TV for hi-end viewing.

The camera can definitely playback your files in HD, it's just that it's more convenient to use a PS3/xbox360, especially if you are also playing games...

As for which Mac to buy: any recent one will do. The only thing you must be careful: have LOTS of RAM. For Leopard for example, at least 2 GBs of RAM, maybe more. Leopard needs at least 1 GB for itself and HDV is heavy, so at least 2 GBs...

[xzu]

As for which Mac to buy: any recent one will do. The only thing you must be careful: have LOTS of RAM. For Leopard for example, at least 2 GBs of RAM, maybe more. Leopard needs at least 1 GB for itself and HDV is heavy, so at least 2 GBs...

I got back to tiger for full support of real time with HDV editing on my G5 after many errors on speed and performances in FCP (4GB RAM, even with FCP and system updated)... Leopard is a huge "eater" of useless ressources ... well, useless for editing in HDV and working videos.

In fact chosse of a Mac is not so simple.

If you have money : grab the latest Mac Pro and, yes, boost it with lot of ram. Because latest Mac only runs with Leopard, and it is not as optimized as Tiger.

If I had to choose, I'd prefer to grabb a Mac Pro (only intel macs will be eligible for software evolution in the futur)... but an older Mac Pro, those that was delivered with Tiger.

Mac PPC Quad Core is also an excellent choice, works fast and very stable ... but closed to futur software evolutions.

PS : I own and edit on all Mac I'm talking about in this post... and that is my point of view based on my (small but true) experience.

[WaWaZat]

Thanx for all the great info guys!

Eugenia;
"A video editor. iMovie '06 (not '08) if you are a newbie, Final Cut Express if you are not a newbie, and Final Cut Studio or After Effects if you are interested in 24p."
I am a newbie, however 99% of what I've filmed is in 24p. Will iMovie/FCE plain not handle this? Is there something avail that's beginner (with common sense) friendly and under $500?

Can the standard Mac card handle my 24p footage uncompressed? What is this Blackmagic Intensity card I've read was necessary? I also have an old Canon A-1 Digital Hi-8 w/a huge library that needs editing.

"No. For full resolution of the HV20 playback size you need 1920x1200 or higher res monitor. You don't need that though, anything above 1280x1024 is fine."
Do you really find it unnecessary to view full res in the editing stage?

"For the best possible quality you need to keep the "Apple Intermediate Codec" .mov files that Apple's editors save the files to. These have better quality than dumping back to tape, because tape usually means re-encoding with their consumer video editors."
Is the .mov an uncompressed format?

xzu;
"If I had to choose, I'd prefer to grabb a Mac Pro (only intel macs will be eligible for software evolution in the futur)... but an older Mac Pro, those that was delivered with Tiger."
Could you clarify this...are you suggesting to buy an older Mac Pro w/Tiger?

Also..."Mac PPC Quad Core is also an excellent choice, works fast and very stable ... but closed to futur software evolutions."
What is PPC?


To anyone;
What advantages would I see from a Mac Pro over the top-end iMac?

Is anyone aware of any near future Mac computer releases that might be worth waiting for?

Does anyone have a good source for purchasing the Mac?

[geoko]

I am a newbie, however 99% of what I've filmed is in 24p. Will iMovie/FCE plain not handle this? Is there something avail that's beginner (with common sense) friendly and under $500?
Is the .mov an uncompressed format?
What is PPC?
To anyone;
What advantages would I see from a Mac Pro over the top-end iMac?
Is anyone aware of any near future Mac computer releases that might be worth waiting for?
Does anyone have a good source for purchasing the Mac?

I'll take a crack at these in order - if you're looking for user friendly primarily above control, go with iMovie, FCE has a learning curve that'll be much easier to climb once you get the hang of iMovie.

.mov is not necessarily a compressed file. .mov means it's a quicktime movie, which can use any number of video and audio compressors. It could be encoded with DV-Stream, mpg-4, h.264, etc. all the ".mov" tells you, is that it was created with quicktime conversion, and quicktime can play it back.

PPC is PowerPC, basically all the processors macs used prior to intel. (G3, G4, and G5 were all PPCs) They require a different software architecture, and he is surmising that future software is likely to support it less and less.

The Mac Pro's main advantages are its expandability over the iMac. The Video Cards available can tromp the iMac's card any day, the Bus speed is faster, you can get a raid card internally and have up to 4 750GB drives, you can put in more RAM, the list goes on... If you found all of that to be gibberish, then there probably aren't differences you would notice.

Anyone who knows about an eminent new mac, would probably be an apple employee or affiliate, who would be shot for telling you. ;) Try the Mac Rumor sites, and you probably want to wait till after Mac World. (Jan. 14-18)

If you're asking for a "good" place, meaning somewhere to get 'em at a reduced price, you won't find much variation. Apple controls the prices fairly heavily, and you won't find much discounting in the price of the computer itself. You can get cheaper accesories (like RAM) from places like MacMall, but don't expect much variation in the cost of the computer.

[Eugenia Loli-Queru]

iMovie/FCE don't support true 24p, so you will have to buy FCP/AE to do your job. If you don't have plans to remove pulldown and leave the 24p as PF24 (which is 24p-in-60i stream), then you can edit with imovie/FCE too. But if you want to upload 24p videos online then you must remove pulldown, and you need to get a better editor.

As I have said many times, it's cheaper to buy a PC+VMS8P than buying FCP/AE for the Mac just for its 24p capabilities.

>Do you really find it unnecessary to view full res in the editing stage?

Yes. As long as you have a large enough monitor to be able to render the movie in half the size, you are ok to edit as such. For example, this is doable on a 1440 or 1600 or 1680 monitor, which usually cost about $220.

[WaWaZat]

iMovie/FCE don't support true 24p, so you will have to buy FCP/AE to do your job. If you don't have plans to remove pulldown and leave the 24p as PF24 (which is 24p-in-60i stream), then you can edit with imovie/FCE too. But if you want to upload 24p videos online then you must remove pulldown, and you need to get a better editor.

As I have said many times, it's cheaper to buy a PC+VMS8P than buying FCP/AE for the Mac just for its 24p capabilities.

>Do you really find it unnecessary to view full res in the editing stage?

Yes. As long as you have a large enough monitor to be able to render the movie in half the size, you are ok to edit as such. For example, this is doable on a 1440 or 1600 or 1680 monitor, which usually cost about $220.Well I'd rather buy a Mac. With the new Mac Pros, I suppose I could run Sony Vegas.

Are you familiar with the Blackmagic Intensity card? I can't find it now, but a few months ago I read that I'd need one of these to import hi-def video from my HV20 & analog from my old Canon A-1 Hi-8. Will the Mac cards handle this just as well? Maybe I misunderstood something.

[keesj]

Over at http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/ you can find rumors/information about upcoming Apple products including their computers.

The iMacs have been updated recently and will probably won't see any major updates in the near future. The Mac Pro however, hasn't been updated in a long time and will probably be updated this january (15th - 18th).

Ofcourse a Mac Pro is always an excellent choice but you need to buy a screen as well (if you don't have one yet) and that will boost up the price even more (the Mac Pro itself is pretty expensive too). An iMac is relatively cheaper because it has pretty decent specifications and a built-in screen.

I don't a Mac Pro, iMac or HV20 so I can't tell you about my experiences but I would suggest getting the Mac Pro (the new one!) if you have the money. If you haven't, the iMac is still a very good choice.

But wait till 15th - 18th january one of those days new models will be announced so you can make a better informed decision.

PS
I would definitely get an Intel Mac. If you want to buy a second hand Mac make sure it has an intel chip because the old PowerPC's (PPC) are already not supported by some Apple and Adobe programs. You don't want to buy an expensive computer and don't be able to run the latest programs.

[EyefulPower]

Well I'd rather buy a Mac. With the new Mac Pros, I suppose I could run Sony Vegas.

Don't buy a Mac Pro just to run Windows/Sony Vegas. Buy a Mac Pro to run Final Cut Studio 2 and/or Adobe Premier. Why would you consider a new Mac Pro (> $3,000 w/o monitor) when you have a < $800 consumer HDV cam? Unless you're getting into 3-D and heavy motion graphics, I think it's overkill.

[WaWaZat]

Don't buy a Mac Pro just to run Windows/Sony Vegas. Buy a Mac Pro to run Final Cut Studio 2 and/or Adobe Premier. Why would you consider a new Mac Pro (> $3,000 w/o monitor) when you have a < $800 consumer HDV cam? Unless you're getting into 3-D and heavy motion graphics, I think it's overkill.
Is it? What about processor speeds, RAM & HD space, etc. I took away from the above recommendations that I'd benefit from the quad processor over an iMac.

[EyefulPower]

Is it? What about processor speeds, RAM & HD space, etc. I took away from the above recommendations that I'd benefit from the quad processor over an iMac.

Of course you will benefit from processor speed, but you shouldn't need any more than 4 GIG of RAM (the max for iMac + MacBook Pro) for editing, and disc space can be external FireWire 800. The HV20 is a consumer camera. The Mac Pro towers are professional workstations. Buy the time you get a Mac Pro pimped out with RAM and HD, you're upwards of $5k. (without a monitor).

If you really are inclined to get a Mac Pro and money is no object then wait untill after Jan 15 when the new machines are announced at MacWorld. Then you can get the 8 core Penryn processor with 32 GIG of RAM and 4 TB of disc space plus BTO BlueRay recorder for > $10,000. (w/o monitor or NLE software).

But you will still have a consumer camcorder. See what I mean?