Powerbook G4 for video editing « Videomaker Community Forums

nobody
Member

I'm getting ready to invest in an Apple Powerbook G4 to do video editing. I've tried to do video editing with two pcs which I own and am very dissappointed in the results. I can't figure this out because both of my computers have big processors. I have a Compaq which has a 1600 megahurtz processor and a Sony which has a 2.6 gig processor. Both of these computers produce finished videos that are jerky and have frame drop outs during any effects such as transitions or any other type of effect. I've tried everything I can think of to remedy the problem. One person even suggested that I turn off my anti-virus program which I did, but still had the same results.

I've read about, and talked with a few people that told me that macintosh computers are better when it comes to producing video with effects, and not only that, but my brother recently bought a more expensive G4 laptop that has the 17" screen and costs around $3000, showed me a short advertisement that he made on it for his camera shop and it had several effects and it looked fabulous. If I tried to do anything like what he had acomplished on either of my pcs, they would not be acceptable. None of the video I have produced on my pcs since I first started editing have been acceptable.
My question is, would a laptop that only has an 867 megahurtz processor be big enough to handle the effects and transitions that I want in my video productions? I should point out that the reason I want a laptop is because my two desktops that I already have are taking up enough room in my room and I don't want something that's going to take up the same amount of room that the desktops do.
If anyone can shed some light on this or share your opinions or ideas I'd appreciate it.

Tunes Man.

Posted 8 years ago #
nobody
Member

Tune,

As your friend notes, it's perfectly possible to edit video on a Powerbook (and other high-end laptops) and get great results.

But keep in mind that video editing is one of the most computationally intensive tasks you can ask your machine to do.

So, as rule of thumb, faster is better. Bigger is better (in storage matters) and loading up a machine with lots and lots of fast RAM can make a significant difference in video editing.

Generally speaking, desktop machines have larger capacities in these areas than do laptops. But that DOES NOT mean you can't do it.

One thing I've found helpful on my TiBook is having an external firewire drive to hold all the media files (Capture Scratch). That way the internal HD can dedicate it's spins to runing the program stuff while the external drive can dedicate it's I/O bandwidth to serving the media files.

Good luck!

Posted 8 years ago #
nobody
Member

Thanks for you reply Bill. I always welcome helpful hints on computers, especially when you're getting ready to buy a new one. I'm not sure how this video editing is going to go with this powerbook. The hard drive is only 40 gigabytes, and I was told that you can't upgrade the hard drive on a laptop. I'm of course only going to be editing video from my dv camcorder, which you can only record up to an hour on a digital video tape cassette. Whether the hard drive on my powerbook can record up to an hour of video is something we'll have wait and see.
As far as getting an external firewire drive to hold media files, if I find out that the main hard drive will hold an hour's worth of video, then I probably won't need to buy any external drive, but it's nice to know that I have that option.
I know that a desktop would probably have been better for this, but the amount of room it would take up would have been an issue, that's why I opted for a laptop.
I do plan on upgrading the memory to the maximum I can get, since video editing does benefit from having more memory.
Thanks again.

Tunes Man.

Posted 8 years ago #
nobody
Member

The MAC hardrives only spin at 4200rpm unless you opt for the 5200rpm for $125 more. 7200rpm is generally accepted for capturing video slower than this can bog down the drive causing dropped frames (which could be the cause of your stuttering video) You def. want to have a seperate hard drive for video. Your harddrive will have a harder time spinning if it is trying to get data for the OS and data for the video. An external drive is certainly worth it.

But why do you think you need a whole new computer for editing? Both of your PC's are certainly suffecient for video editing. What program do you use? What are some other system specs of the two machines. It could be a setting within your program that makes the video choppy?

Just some things to consider before plopping down the 3 grand for a new system, especially for an overpriced underpowered mac. But we won't get into MAC vs. PC again. There is no point for that.

Posted 8 years ago #
nobody
Member

I have decided to opt for the Power Mac G4 minitower. I am going to take back my Powerbook G4 because you can't really upgrade it much, except for adding some memory. The minitower has more hard drive space, (80 gigs), and it has a slightly larger processor, (1.6 gig). At least with the minitower, I can upgrade it and do things with it that I wouldn't be able to do with the powerbook down the line. I already know now that a mac computer can render flawless video, since I've tested it out. I recorded a short two minute video and downloaded it onto my powerbook, added some transitions and effects, and then fed it back to my video camera and it came out excellent.
My pcs couldn't do that. Why not? Who knows. If the mac computer can do it the way it's supposed to, then that's the one I'll use for video editing. I love my two pcs for what they can do and I enjoy using them, but I'll be using the mac computer just for video. I'm afraid no one can tell me now that mac computers can't cut it, but I like the personal computer as well.
Keep in touch.

Tunes Man.

Posted 8 years ago #
nobody
Member

I have a 2.2 GHz/1byte PC that I edit movies with and never have frame drops, jerky movies, or sound sync problems etc. It's a desktop with 7200 rpm drives. Most laptops have slower drives (5400) which is useless for editing video. Also, I have DMA turned on for the drives, an option that is not always selected. Many video sites out there have tweaks for computers that edit video. Things like using separate drives for capture and for exporting. don't use the system drive (typically C:) - you want exclusive access to the video drive. Don't partition drives, select your own memory management and fix the size at 1.5x your physical memory. Don't run programs in the background (and there are lots you don't know about). Just recently I found a site that lists all the potential programs and what they do: I was able to knock down 1/2 dozen programs that were competing for MPU time.

No doubt a new computer will work fine because it doesn't have lots of that garbage installed, plus the newer the technology, the more likely you are to get faster, better drives. But it can be done on a "normal" PC if you do the research. Excellent resources are Matrox and Adobe (Premiere).

Posted 8 years ago #
nobody
Member

Thanks for your comment. To update you, since I first posted this question, I have taken back the laptop for a Power Mac G4 desktop unit, which I have upgraded by installing additional memory and an additional hard drive. I'm sure you're right about using a pc which would also be quite able to perform video editing for me, but I've heard so much about macs being specially made for video editing that I wanted to get one and find out. So far, I'm pleased with the results. The video I've edited does not look jerky and does not have frame drop outs of any kind.
As you mentioned, a pc right out of the box could do this as well, having the benefit of not installing all that garbage on it like everybody does, but right now, I'm using the mac and it's doing a good job for me. I don't intend to use it on the internet or install a lot of software on it, I'm just going to use it solely for video editing.
Thanks again for your response.

Tunesman.

Posted 8 years ago #