Editing Program similar to Premiere - FCP??

Ignacio Rodriguez · February 20th, 2004, 12:01 AM

> (FCP) Cons: Expensive system to setup. I don't own a mac to play
> around with it for awhile like I have for Avid and Vegas...so if we
> went Mac it would cost more and we're stuck with it!!

Well... how much does your time cost? If you get FCP and a new Mac it will be running stable after you apply the free patches... that's just a few hours after you opened the boxes and plugged the stuff in.

The time you will spend getting the PC hardware/software combo to work in a stable manner (if that ever really happens for your particular setup) will probably be more expensive than the difference you would pay for buying a the Mac system Now if you add the fact that the G5 is a real 64-bit machine (even though the software does not take full advantage of it yet), you will quickly realize the Mac ends up saving you money up the road.

Of course you have to have the money at hand to spend it first, whereas many of us do have some time on our hands and we might actually *like* tweaking our toys... don't we all? (grin).

But for me it is clear, from a business standpoint it makes more sense to go Mac for DV, just like it used to be for graphics (and probably still is).

Peace.

Glenn Chan · February 20th, 2004, 12:16 AM

Some FCP users report that FCP is still crash-prone fresh out of the box with patches. Apple has had a lot of bad releases lately, and definitely competes with the PC nowadays. QT releases would mess up FCP, OS X patches would do the same, Panther would kill firewire drives, iDVD, and FCP4 pre-patched is buggy.

OS X has even crashed on me- I've never seen XP/2000 BSOD or crash on me. However, I find that XP is bloated with lots annoying crap like outlook, sticky keys, the dog in explorer, etc. Macs are a lot more user friendly, although they also have dumb stuff like the 1-button mouse (get a 2-button scroll mouse of course).

The G5 isn't really 64-bit as the OS isn't really 64-bit and it'll take some time for software to come out. By then, you could be upgrading (2 years would seem reasonable). Also, 64-bit computing (more RAM, bigger numbers) is not very useful for video right.

I'd probably look at the tool you want, and then pick the platform that goes with it. The difference in Macs VS PC in terms of stability is not that great. You may find that Macs are easier to use, which you can guestimate and factor into your costs.

As for buying a system now, you should be able to get a stable FCP setup from a VAR like Promax. I doubt you can get a stable Premiere Pro setup until that program gets patched. The other programs you'll have to do a little research on. Vegas should be rock solid for nearly everyone.

Michael Dontigney · February 20th, 2004, 12:20 AM

I've edited 4+ hours of DV, Mpeg 1 and 2, as well as Uncompressed 32bit on the timeline of Edius 2.0 and not had a crash editing for 18+ hours straight (in a rush).

I'd call that VERY stable.

February 20th, 2004, 12:01 AM	#31
Ignacio Rodriguez Contributor Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Santiago, Chile Posts: 932	> (FCP) Cons: Expensive system to setup. I don't own a mac to play > around with it for awhile like I have for Avid and Vegas...so if we > went Mac it would cost more and we're stuck with it!! Well... how much does your time cost? If you get FCP and a new Mac it will be running stable after you apply the free patches... that's just a few hours after you opened the boxes and plugged the stuff in. The time you will spend getting the PC hardware/software combo to work in a stable manner (if that ever really happens for your particular setup) will probably be more expensive than the difference you would pay for buying a the Mac system Now if you add the fact that the G5 is a real 64-bit machine (even though the software does not take full advantage of it yet), you will quickly realize the Mac ends up saving you money up the road. Of course you have to have the money at hand to spend it first, whereas many of us do have some time on our hands and we might actually like tweaking our toys... don't we all? (grin). But for me it is clear, from a business standpoint it makes more sense to go Mac for DV, just like it used to be for graphics (and probably still is). Peace. __________________ Ignacio Rodríguez in the third world. @micronauta on Twitter. Main hardware: brain, eyes, hands.

February 20th, 2004, 12:16 AM	#32
Glenn Chan Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 4,750	Some FCP users report that FCP is still crash-prone fresh out of the box with patches. Apple has had a lot of bad releases lately, and definitely competes with the PC nowadays. QT releases would mess up FCP, OS X patches would do the same, Panther would kill firewire drives, iDVD, and FCP4 pre-patched is buggy. OS X has even crashed on me- I've never seen XP/2000 BSOD or crash on me. However, I find that XP is bloated with lots annoying crap like outlook, sticky keys, the dog in explorer, etc. Macs are a lot more user friendly, although they also have dumb stuff like the 1-button mouse (get a 2-button scroll mouse of course). The G5 isn't really 64-bit as the OS isn't really 64-bit and it'll take some time for software to come out. By then, you could be upgrading (2 years would seem reasonable). Also, 64-bit computing (more RAM, bigger numbers) is not very useful for video right. I'd probably look at the tool you want, and then pick the platform that goes with it. The difference in Macs VS PC in terms of stability is not that great. You may find that Macs are easier to use, which you can guestimate and factor into your costs. As for buying a system now, you should be able to get a stable FCP setup from a VAR like Promax. I doubt you can get a stable Premiere Pro setup until that program gets patched. The other programs you'll have to do a little research on. Vegas should be rock solid for nearly everyone.

February 20th, 2004, 12:20 AM	#33
Michael Dontigney Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Atlanta, Ga. Posts: 103	I've edited 4+ hours of DV, Mpeg 1 and 2, as well as Uncompressed 32bit on the timeline of Edius 2.0 and not had a crash editing for 18+ hours straight (in a rush). I'd call that VERY stable.