Buying a MAC. What do I need?

B

brassco

Member
I'm buying a MAC to run Final cut pro HD and Motion and Shake3 and i DVD.
How much memory do I need to edit a 2hr film? 1GB or 2GB.

Video cards: Which one do I get and why?
NVIDIA GEFORCE FX 5200 64MB DDR
ATI RADEON 9800 XT 256MB DDR
NVIDIA GE FORCE 6800 ULTRA 256MB DDR
NVIDIA GE FORCE 6800 ULTRA 256MB DDL
or do I need the Matrix 512MB and is it compatible with MAC?

Do I need two drives and how much memory in each?
2x160GB or 2x250GB does one need to be external?

If I need to have two drives plus an external drive how much memory for the external firewire 60GB or 250GB?

GHZ is 2.0 okay or do I need 2.5GHZ? for a MAC G5

I have VEGAS new box if I install it with the sofware that lets you convert XP windows but slows it down. Can I regain my speed once I switch back to Final Cut? or does it slow it down permanently?

What kind of adapters do I need for the DVX 100A
Apple DVI to VGA Display adapter?
Apple DVI to Video Adapter?

Finally do I get the $90 credit for the basic DVD -R/CD-RW and just buy a CD burner w/ the +R to do mass reproduction of my movie on-line. or is it better to outsource that?

Thanks
Stella
 
Re: Buying a MAC. What do I need?

The more memory the better. You can get by with 1GB but 2GB is much better.

Motion uses teh video cardso the faster the better if you want to do a lot with motion. 9800 or 6800

2 drives - 1 system and apps, 1 for media
250GB is nice if you have lots of footage/projects. System could be 160
(They don't have to match)

External would be for backing up finished projects. Nice when it's large.

2GB is fine. 2.5 is bit faster. I went with 2.5 just to get added speed and to keep it useable long but check the speed specs. May not be worth it to you.

Unclear on your Vegas question.

You don't need adapters for DVX100. Get a firewire cable (6 or 9 pin) to 4 pin. Recommended using lower cost camera to download clips to avoid wear/tear on DVX. Keep that camera/deck hooked up and take the analog output into a real video monitor or TV for seeing finished results.
(i.e. mac -> camera or deck -> video monitor/tv)

Get the DVD burner built in so it's all in one package and all software will work with it. If you plan on getting a lot of DVD's of same thing then outsouce it. Note that there are places that take care of everything, including one off ordering from users.
 
Re: Buying a MAC. What do I need?

I'll play devil's advocate here. Based on your post, do you currently have experience with Final Cut and Shake? Your pairing of Shake alongside iDVD is why I ask. Shake is a high-end compositing environment with a steep learning curve. Creating a 2 hour film from scratch with no experience on those tools is a lot to swallow all at once on your first go at it.

Just curious, so maybe we can help tailor an answer to your delima a bit more precisely.
 
Re: Buying a MAC. What do I need?

Get a lot of Hard Disk space.  A LOT.  A 2 hour feature lenghth film might have... what, 20 hours of raw footage?  That's close to 300 GB just to store the raw footage.  I suggest getting the stock 160GB built in, then adding a 2nd internal 200 GB Serial HDD; and an external 500GB Firewire HDD.  Keep all your applications in your 160GB drive, use the 500GB FW drive to store all the raw footage, and use the internal 200GB to store the finished versions of the film.

I know, I know... that's a total of 860GB of storage!!!!  And a lot of money!  HOWEVER, if you have a lot of footage, you're going to need it.  Period.  I would go for the Dual 2GHz G5 (maybe even the Dual 1.8 G5) and GET LOTS OF HARD DISK SPACE with the money you save.  Seriously.

EDIT: Also, just FYI, it's spelled Mac, not MAC. ;)
 
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