Apple Photo Booth Fun.
Video Editing for the ABOVE average Jo and Jane:
Recently due to a power surge my Power Mac G5 system got fried, and bad. After working with PC's at PAHFest Elko, I decided to look into the price difference in editing systems, windows based systems vs. Apple.
The PC that everyone seems to by hyping is Dell's XPS 710 HZC, this machine is very fast. The base line computer configured to the recommended specs for video editing is $5,519.00. This includes 4 Gigs of memory, which is the key ingredient for a good system, but you cannot put more than 4. This is rather expensive and Windows based editing software, unless you pay a lot, is not that great.
Sony is coming out with the VAIO RM HD Video Editing System. This system is cost friendly, starting out at $3,500. It has Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GT graphics and a terabyte of storage. It does not say how much memory in can hold but 2 GB's in not that much. This system will come with Adobe Premier editing software, which is confusing because Sony has software "Sony Vegas".
On to Apple and why I keep mentioning memory. The Mac Pro G5 is the best machine out there, period. The base line computer starts at $3,298 but to get it to baseline HD editing specs comes in at just under $5,000. This machine however can hold up to 3 terabytes of storage and can hold up to 16 GB's of memory. If you can afford it 16 GB's of memory will make your machine scream. In order to "pimp" your Mac out however you will have to part with $15,000. The best thing about Apple is the Final Cut Pro editing software; it beats any other prosumer application out there.
If you are a young filmmaker and want a good baseline machine, I recommend a G5. You can slowly build your machine to the specs you want and don't have to spend a lot right away. Also for the simple reason that the software is far superior.
A final note:
It is not the machine that makes your vision come alive it is you. You should use whatever tools you have at your disposal to create. Never let your vision be dependent on technology.
