HELP HELP What should I do???? « Videomaker Community Forums

quicksilver8907
Member

I just graduated high school and I wish to pursue a career in Video Production. I have been a pc user all of my life, but now I want to switch to macs for obvious reasons. I want a computer that will run final cut pro smoothly. I got about 1000 dollars for graduation, but I was hoping to save some of it. However, I really want a computer that will run FCP well and will last me awhile. I can get a dual 2.7ghz g5 with 4.5gb of ram and 500gb hard drive for 1300. Or I could get a dual 1.25ghz g4 with 768 mb of ram and a 120gb hard drive for 500. What should I do, should I spend all of my money and get the sweet g5 or should I start out with the g4 and work my way up? I need help, please help as soon as possible. Thanks
Tyler

Posted 4 years ago #
jetson
Member

Don't forget that FCP is another $1,000 by itself!

Posted 4 years ago #
sierranomad
Member

Video editing demands a powerful computer. Your $500 option just won't cut it. However, with only $1000 to work with, you may want to consider alternatives. For example, how powerful is your pc? I don't want to start a heated discussion, but a powerful pc can certainly perform quality video editing. I use a pc, and I know others who make a living doing videography who use pc's.

Hope this helps.

Posted 4 years ago #
quicksilver8907
Member

No I totally understand what you are saying about PC's, but I want to get into the movie and tv business and the industry standard appears to be MAC so I am going that route, because in addition to FCP, it can also run avid and premiere

Posted 4 years ago #
RickGreene
Member

Another option to consider is how long have you been doing videography?
Have you produced anything yet?
Did any work that you have gotten paid for?

The reason I ask these questions is that if you are just starting to produce video it would be advisable to use what you have until you out grow it or unless it is not capable to do what you need to do.

Many people produce great video on PCs and on G4s... however it depends upon what it is that you are trying to do.
A good rule of thumb is... do not buy technology because it is the best availible but buy according to YOUR NEEDS.

The fact that you are not sure as to what to in an indication that you may need to think through your immediate needs
Save your money for other things you may need: cams, lights, software, mixers, mics, etc.
And as your video production capabilities grow you will gain income to buy better equipment.

God Bless
Min. Rick

Posted 4 years ago #
Endeavor
Member

I disagree with Sierranomad about the $500 rig. While it may not be the fastest and smoothest option, it will definitely run FCP. At least for short term, this may be a good option to get you started.

Rick has a great point. Don't spend more money to get the latest technology just because it is the latest technology.

Posted 4 years ago #
LDPLDP
Member

I started out with an 800 megahertz G4 iMac using only iMovie - I made several really nice movies. Two of my movies were recently broadcast on the local cable channel. - the point I'm making is that you can make a good movie without a state-of-the art computer. Originality and effort stays the same whether your computer is state of the art or an old iMac machine. So, you'll still learn a lot about movie making even with a slower computer. Regarding hardware requirements, you need at least 1 gig of Ram, at least 250 gig harddrive, and the fastest processor you can get. So, based on your budget, you should either upgrade your PC or buy a used Mac. If you buy a used Mac, upgrade to the most current operating system (OX 10.4), and buy Final Cut Express. If you can get the G5, that would be nice but it's not critical.

Posted 4 years ago #
perrin26
Member

Pc's Mac's and the industry.

I know a lot of places use Mac. I work in one of the larger Visual effect companies in Canada, and they are as close to exclusively pc as can be. They primarily run Windows and Linux. A mac is not necessary. You can do it all on PC, and PC's have a larger bunch of software to boot ;).

Posted 4 years ago #
tonsofpcs
Member

perrin26 Wrote:
Pc's Mac's and the industry.

I know a lot of places use Mac. I work in one of the larger Visual effect companies in Canada, and they are as close to exclusively pc as can be. They primarily run Windows and Linux. A mac is not necessary. You can do it all on PC, and PC's have a larger bunch of software to boot ;).

Heck, if you really want, you can do it all on an Amiga 8)
That being said, does your current PC have an IEEE1394 [firewire/i.link] interface? If not, does it have an open PCI slot?
If yes to either of those, I suggest you get started on the PC side. Get some things made, learn to produce with paper edits and then edit, if you learn the process to create good video, then you will be able to use most any edit system, no matter how overly simple or complex (granted, they each may have different ways of doing things and some may not do what you want as easily). If you know how to put together a production properly, you could edit it on any sort of system with any level of software (there are free editing software programs for the PC, they aren't the greatest, they either don't give you as full control as the professional apps [WMM and the like] or take forever to render [ZweiStein 3], but they work).

Posted 4 years ago #