getting in for the least amount
- Thread starter Zim
- Start date
Luis Caffesse
Admin
People have been editing DVCProHD longer than dual core computers have been around.
It may be nice to have one, but it's not necessary.
It may be nice to have one, but it's not necessary.
Beaker
Active member
Just my two cents worth
Just my two cents worth
I would like to respond to the comment made regarding "Having to have the fastest Mac possible". The quads are yet another version of "Gatcha!" I don't blame Apple for this...it is business...build something new before, not when the earlier model becomes stale. Now that I think about it, why buy a quad when Intel-based Macs are in around a year? I bought a G5 about 14 months ago. It is a 2.5. Now I could start shaking uncontrollably and say, "Oh my God, sell it now.....the quads are out!" With this mentality, I would be buying Macs at a rapid clip and throwing out Mac shipping boxes with the monthy trash. The fact is RAM is king on Macs. They are so memory intense graphically, I think I wolud invest in maxing out the 8 Gigs of memory first. Processors are getting better, however if you are relying on that as the sole workhorse, you better plan on buying a computer every year.
Just my two cents worth
I would like to respond to the comment made regarding "Having to have the fastest Mac possible". The quads are yet another version of "Gatcha!" I don't blame Apple for this...it is business...build something new before, not when the earlier model becomes stale. Now that I think about it, why buy a quad when Intel-based Macs are in around a year? I bought a G5 about 14 months ago. It is a 2.5. Now I could start shaking uncontrollably and say, "Oh my God, sell it now.....the quads are out!" With this mentality, I would be buying Macs at a rapid clip and throwing out Mac shipping boxes with the monthy trash. The fact is RAM is king on Macs. They are so memory intense graphically, I think I wolud invest in maxing out the 8 Gigs of memory first. Processors are getting better, however if you are relying on that as the sole workhorse, you better plan on buying a computer every year.
Cees Mutsaers
Veteran
mainly ENG, events and company promotion films
Luis Caffesse said:
Cees Mutsaers
Veteran
My present pc I bought 7 years ago so I am not a person who wants the latest gadget !!!!!!! I think you have to agree that a P3 667 MHz pc is oudated and I can not imagine that I can edit HD on it easily. So if I buy a new computer it should last at least 5 years again. Hope this explanation statisfies your comments.
Beaker said:
Jaime Valles
Veteran
Cees Mutsaers said:
I certainly see the long-term value of buying the best you can afford so it lasts a long time. I bought a top of the line Dual 2GHz G5 in October 2003, and it's still one hell of a machine. Plus, I'm confident it can edit DVCProHD fine today... And that brings me to my point. Why spend $3000 on a Quad G5, when you can use $1500 of that money to buy a lower-end refurbished PowerMac and a terabyte of Hard Disks in a RAID array? The 1TB RAID will be infinitely more useful than a processor boost. Adding more RAM will also make a big difference. If you get a refurbished Dual 2GHz G5, and max it out on RAM and Hard Disk space, with an external RAID, you'll have a much more efficient editing machine than just getting a shiny new Quad G5. AND it'll last you a few years, too. Plus, you can then use the RAID on whatever computer you buy AFTER the G5.
I'm all for buying the best you can afford, but in this case, the best way of spending $3000 may not be on a brand new Quad Mac. You'll need more than just the CPUs for editing HD.
Jaime Valles
Veteran
Cees Mutsaers said:
OK, this changes a lot of what we've been talking about. The list I made won't really apply for your needs. You want the Firestore, to record long events without having to swap P2 cards. You'll probably want some sort of shoulder-mount, like a DVRig-Pro. And you'll need a good on-board mic, maybe some Lavs, and definitely a basic lighting kit for interviews. Forget about dollys and cranes and matteboxes. Slap a UV filter on the lens, and go.
I'd also shoot in DVCPro50, unless the clients specifically ask for HD. This'll save you space on the Firestore, and on your edit suite.
Don't worry about distribution in HD. Nobody can watch HD-DVD or Blu-Ray yet, and if an HD TV channel asks for footage in HD, just rent an HDCAM deck for a day.
Luis Caffesse
Admin
Cees Mutsaers said:
I have to be honest, if you plan on doing a lot of event videography I don't know that the HVX is the right camera.
But, if you're sure you want the HVX, then I would highly recommend going with the Firestore device as it will give you a longer recording time. The problem is, what do you do when your firestore is filled up? It's still unclear whether or not it will include removable drives or just a fixed built in drive.
Then again, you could always plan on doing your event shooting in DV, and keeping the DVCPro50 & HD options for your ENG and promotion work.
alpi69
Veteran
it is a bit funny when people ride on budgets and if they should get a UV filter or not to save money. at the same time they buy a computer for 4.000 only because it looks good.
if you are tight on budget get a PC and save at least $ 2.000. and that is the initial purchase. you will save a bit down the road when getting software, too. I agree FCP is a fine tool with a great pricetag as software, but don´t forget it is such a good value, because Apple makes money silling you the hardware to it. so infact the Apple is 5.500 and FCP is free.
if you are tight on budget get a PC and save at least $ 2.000. and that is the initial purchase. you will save a bit down the road when getting software, too. I agree FCP is a fine tool with a great pricetag as software, but don´t forget it is such a good value, because Apple makes money silling you the hardware to it. so infact the Apple is 5.500 and FCP is free.
thisiswells
Retired
apple mac mini (refurbished) $399
1G Kingston RAM $80
newertech ministack 250GB hard drive $219
7" lilliput touchpanel LCD (800x480 resolution) $260
FCPHD V4.5, find an unopened retail box on eBay $200. I did.
There's your solution -- for less than the price of a P2 card you get a portable monitoring and recording solution with 250GB of dedicated video storage. That is, if the hardware is fast enough...
Jaime Valles
Veteran
I only mentioned Macs because they were brought up early in the thread, and no one seemed to be talking in PC terms.
PCs will get the job done. No question. So will Macs. You can get a Mac Mini for less than $500. Or a PowerMac for $3000. Or many other prices in between, depending on needs and budget. Compare a Quad PowerMac running Final Cut Studio to a Dual Xenon running Avid Xpress Studio. Compare a Mac mini to a $399 Dell Celeron PC.
I wouldn't recommend editing 1080 HD on a Mac Mini, or on a $399 Dell. But if that's what the budget allows, so be it. It can be done. Just be prepared to render lots.
Thisiswells: That looks like a great direct-to-disk field solution for HVX!
PCs will get the job done. No question. So will Macs. You can get a Mac Mini for less than $500. Or a PowerMac for $3000. Or many other prices in between, depending on needs and budget. Compare a Quad PowerMac running Final Cut Studio to a Dual Xenon running Avid Xpress Studio. Compare a Mac mini to a $399 Dell Celeron PC.
I wouldn't recommend editing 1080 HD on a Mac Mini, or on a $399 Dell. But if that's what the budget allows, so be it. It can be done. Just be prepared to render lots.
Thisiswells: That looks like a great direct-to-disk field solution for HVX!
Cees Mutsaers
Veteran
I never siad that my budget was tight.
Cees Mutsaers
Veteran
get serious !!!!! You can built your bussiness based on that !!!
thisiswells said:
apple mac mini (refurbished) $399
1G Kingston RAM $80
newertech ministack 250GB hard drive $219
7" lilliput touchpanel LCD (800x480 resolution) $260
FCPHD V4.5, find an unopened retail box on eBay $200. I did.
There's your solution -- for less than the price of a P2 card you get a portable monitoring and recording solution with 250GB of dedicated video storage. That is, if the hardware is fast enough...
Cees Mutsaers
Veteran
But you did the same thing in the past "I bought a top of the line Dual 2GHz G5 in October 2003". Why didn't you buy a G4????????
jrv3034 said:
Luis Caffesse
Admin
Cees Mutsaers said:
Well, when you title your thread "getting in for the least amount" I think we all assumed your budget was tight. That's why my responses weren't based exactly on the best solution, but on the cheapest solution.
Jaime Valles
Veteran
Cees Mutsaers said:
Because my budget allowed for a $3000 desktop AND 1TB of Hard Disks (not raid). It all depends on how much $$$ you have available. If you have $50,000, by all means, get the Quad G5, and throw in an Xserve RAID!
Like Luis said... the most important detail we're missing is budget. The title of the thread suggests small budget, in which case the most bad-ass computer purchase might not be prudent. But without $ ammounts, we're just guessing here.
