Is investing in PC editing/ post software a BAD idea?

[Denez McAdoo]

I'm not tying to start another "what's better Mac or PC" debate here, but I need some industry opinion on this topic.

I happen to have a preference for PC's, but I am feeling some serious pressure to get a mac. I built a good fast PC about 6 months ago. Most of the freelance work I've been doing has either been on existing company machines (FCP and Avid) or self contained projects where I film and edit by myself on my own machine.

Recently, I got two potential editing gig offers that requested that I have my own Mac laptop, with AVID installed. I had to turn down those offers.

So the question is - can I survive in this industry with a PC desktop in a world seemingly dominated by Mac Book Pros?

[Denez McAdoo]

By the way, I'm running Adobe Production suite and AVID on my PC and I'm currently looking into purchasing some plug-in packages for After Effects so I'm struggling with whether it is worth it to keep investing money into a PC set-up.

What I'm hoping is that I can do all my basic editing on a Mac Book, either in FCP or Avid, and then export the project over to my PC for After Effects work, color correction, etc. But I don't know what snags I will encounter in this process I think I heard that the VFX/ motion graphics world is less dominated by Macs, but I don't know that for sure.

Any input would be helpful.

[Dave Blackhurst]

Simple question... would those two offers you turned down have paid for the required Mac HW/SW?

A computer/software is a tool - a mechanic or plumber or whatever doesn't ask about whether to buy a tool or not - if the job requires it, you go buy it - if it pays for itself right away or fairly quickly, you can't afford not to make the purchase. If it brings you more work, you simply invest the required $. You run into a nut that requires a specific and expensive wrench, you go buy it...

It's a bit harder when you're talking bigger $'s, but the principle is the same - and frankly IMO you can't have "too many tools" <wink>!

[Bryan Cantwell]

Specifically requesting that you use a Macbook with AVID seems a bit odd... doesn't it?

Not sure what the perceived advantage would be.

[Adam Gold]

Originally Posted by Dave Blackhurst

You run into a nut that requires a specific and expensive wrench, you go buy it...

And if you run into a nut that requires you use a Mac, you make HIM buy it....

[Denez McAdoo]

Originally Posted by Bryan Cantwell

Specifically requesting that you use a Macbook with AVID seems a bit odd... doesn't it?

This is actually key, because the deal was that the existing project was being edited on a Mac with Avid. What I'm concerned with is how much will I run into problems using a PC in a field seeming dominated by Macs.

And no, neither project would have been enough to justify buying a Mac just for the gig. But I'm still new to this game and I don't want to spend a year a half only to realize that I've been buying the wrong tools this whole time.

What if I focus on using my PC for post work - motion graphics, color corrections, etc? Get a relatively cheep Mac Book, with Avid or FCP, and just send it over to my PC for finishing? Is this reasonable, especially if I have to work with other editors?

[Chris Medico]

I run Avid MC on my Windows laptop and desktop. I don't understand a requirement to use a MAC only. If you need to read a MAC formatted drive there are windows drivers for that.

I don't have any problem with Macs but I also don't believe you should be dictated which to use for a project.

You can move MC projects between computers regardless of whether they are Mac or PC.

[Denez McAdoo]

thanks Chris, that is exactly what I wanted to hear.

[Craig Parkes]

There are only a few practical reasons why someone would request only a Mac machine for an Avid edit, and non of them are particularly valid if you understand how to transfer projects between either system.

The only time I could really see it mattering, is if they wanted to edit from footage on an already HFS+ external drive - in which case they don't know you would simply need a version of Mac Drive software to read the drive. Or if they had some plug ins that were mac only licensed that were necessary for the edit - rare but could be the case.

Only other reason would be if they wanted you to work in the networked environment and simply didn't want to have to work with a PC - but getting a PC to play nice shouldn't be too complicated - but I could understand if they were an all Mac place with no PC inclination at all they could imagine it to be a hassle. Which is really the most likely case - they are Mac, and they want someone working on a platform they know so there aren't any gotcha's - which I understand.

My suggestion, and this is my suggestion to all editors, is to worry less about what hardware you have, and more about what hardware you know. If you know both platforms pretty well, and how your software works with them, and what the practicalities of working cross platform are and where the true difficulties do indeed lie then you will be able to cut through any concerns about platform and be able to ask yourself "Am I the best editor for this gig" and get the other people to ask the same.

If they are hiring people based on the gear, then their priorities are not the smartest in my opinion (way cheaper to hire the right editor and hire the right gear if the editor can't supply it, then the wrong editor who comes with the right gear.)