Looking to buy a Mac and FCP

Daygola814

Daygola814

Well-known member
Hey everyone. After lots of consideration, I've decided to buy a Mac and use Final Cut Pro. I went to CompUSA today and after playing around with FCP, I was sold. It's just awesome. Everything I wanted and then some. I'm switching over from a PC and I was hoping to use the RAM I have in my PC in the Mac. Anyone foresee a problem with this? Also, I plan on using Western Digital hard drives with the new Mac.
I was wondering which Mac everyone thinks I should get. I was looking into the PowerMac G5 2.0Ghz dual processors with about 1 or 2 gigs or RAM. I guess I'm wordering which setup will give me decent render times, etc. Right now I'm using Premiere Pro 1.0 and 1.5 with an Athlon XP 2800+ with 1 Gig of RAM. I have 2 250Gig hard drives striped. I have no problem with the performance I'm getting using this setup, aside from using it with Premiere Pro 1.5 (sometimes if I play the timeline, the audio will eventually lag behind the video) but when I use it with Vegas (trial), Avid, or Premiere 1.0, everything is fine for me. Will the 2.0 GHZ Mac give me about the same performance? I guess I should say that I eventually will end up editing HD but not for a while. I'll be doing mostly SD as I am a DVX100a owner and I do not plan on purchasing the HVX yet.... not until I hit the lotto or I dont have anything else to spend 10Gs on...
Any help would be appreciated... thanks!
-Paul
 
I think that the dual 2.0 is a great option for what you are looking for. If you want to use motion though, you might want to upgrade to the 2.7, because motion needs the fasted possible system. THe dual 2.0 is great for FCP.

Im not sure about the RAM being used in the Mac from the PC, look into it.
 
I have the dual 2.0 GB with 2 gig ram and it runs fine with Motion. I got the top graphics card with it and use the 23" Apple display. Motion isn't as much of a ram sucker as it is a graphics card sucker.
 
Glad to hear about your enthusiasm for FCP. Yes, it is awesome. Just wait until you get your hands on the new Final Cut Studio. It's gonna be sweet! Should be available in June.
The version you were playing with at Comp was FCP 4.5.
As for RAM, Apple is very specific about what RAM they support. In fact, the only supported RAM is what they sell. However, that doesn't mean that you must buy your RAM directly from Apple. Just because it's not supported doesn't mean it won't work. The Dual 2GHz G5 uses DDR400 PC3200 RAM.
Don't see why you wouldn't get the same or better performance out of the G5 as you have on your current system. I predict much better.
And in terms of stability and security, you'll be much happier.
I also recommend dealing directly with Apple if there is a store near you. CompUSA, frankly, is full of people who simply do not know what they're talking about when it comes to Apple products.
Believe me, I know. I work part-time for Apple and I am constantly having to set things straight for people who've been misinformed at our local CompUSA.
 
I doubt your PC ram will work. I've never had bad or ill fitting RAM, but I have heard some horror stories about bad RAM.

if you are interested in a report back. I'm about to install some RAM I bought from macmall.com, tonight or tomorrow. 1 GB for $144? same or similiar config you are looking at. at the apple store, this was unbelievably, $250...
 
Guys... thanks for the replies. Yeah, i heard the salesguy at CompUSA saying to a couple who were buying a MAC, "Most people keep these for a while. I mean, you have 64bit processing which isnt even supported yet but when it does get supported, you'll have it. You can probably keep this system for about 10 years." Now, yes you probably could keep it for 10 years, but I dont know how much good it'll be then. I mean, I'm sure it'll be fine for internet. Even still, 10 years is a bold statement. Anyways, it was a guy at CompUSA that told me that PCs and Mac's use the same RAM. I was looking into getting Geil or Crucial ram.. maybe Mushkin. Anyways, Pooh, let me know how it turns out. Apple's prices for RAM are kinda expensive. I'm also plan on using my PC monitors for my new Mac. Will VGA/DVI converters work? Also, what is motion? I didn't get a chance to play around with that....
Thanks!
-Paul

Oh.. i forgot to ask... I'm in the middle of a feature film right now. I have edited about half of it. Can I export what I have edited to a few files and import those? I have about 11-12 sequences in Premiere and I was hoping to be able to export them to the Mac each as their own individual file so that I could piece them together in Final Cut. Then, when everything is done, I can encode them in mpeg2 and put the entire movie on DVD. Anyone foresee any issues with anything like compression, different file formats, etc....
THanks!
 
I'd suggest buying at MacMall or the Apple Store rather than CompUSA as they really don't know much about Macs. They are advanced but 10 years is a bit dreamy.

As for Premiere to FCP- that could require quite a bit of doing to make happen. You could export as a DV tape from Premiere and then recapture in FCP. That would be the simplest method.

Noah
 
Hey Noah.. the thing is that I'm trying to avoid the 24pn problems that premiere has. I had no idea about them until i got an external monitor about a month ago and i noticed REALLY horrible flickering and interlacing on it. This happens when I go out to tape as well. Since then, I've been trying to look at alternative editing software. I tried going back to 1.0. I exported the sequences as targa files. When i try to import them into 1.0, I get dropouts.. (at least 1-2 per sequence) and that's unacceptable. My plan was to export the sequences from premiere as targa sequences and export the audio separately. then I would take those files and import them into finalcut.
ANother problem i'm having with premiere is that when i let the timeline play... the audio eventually lags behind the video. by the end of the sequence, it's more than 2-3 seconds off. this carries over when i go out to tape as well. Frankly, I'm fed up with Premiere and I can't wait to transfer over to Final Cut. I've been telling some of my friends about my switch and kinda describing FC as "it's exactly what I want....it's like premiere, but 100x better and it works!"
I really can't wait to switch over.... Just gotta save!
 
Can you export an EDL out of Premiere and then just re-capture in FCP?

Set you back a few, but it should work out ok... actually better!

Good luck,

CaptM
 
Hi there-

this is what I got. I won't be installing it until later tonight.

http://www.macmall.com/macmall/shop/detail~dpno~248358.asp

you can look at others at macmall.com:

hardware>memory>dimm

i was thinking about the 2 GB option, but what I got will be okay for now.

i never thought much about RAM until the Simulator in DVDSP crashed my whole system on me once recently ( while Final Cut was running in the background) and I had to re-render for like 24 hours. --not sure what exacly happened, but at that time I only had 1 GB, and Simulator had crashed before.
 
Just a note on educational software. It can't be upgraded to a paid upgrade. (i.e. if you want to go FCP 4 to 5 you have to buy all over again)
 
Just a quick mention in defense of Comp USA. Our local Comp USA has a full time Apple employee working at the store. He wears a special black shirt instead of the regular red Comp USA shirts. He has always been extremely helpful and knowledgeable. He also sells a ton of Macs. Everything is always hooked up, always running, and very neat. He has had several vacations paid for for being a top Apple seller. Sometimes lately, when looking around the store, there are more people in the Apple corner than the rest of the store put together. I have had many long discussions with Dave, and he is top notch. There is a machine running FCP and Motion, a Garage band demo machine with keyboard, every model of Mac AND all three monitors hooked up and running at all times, along with a Mac hooked to the Apple website always available. Our city (Grand Rapids MI) is getting a real Apple store this fall, and I'm actually a bit apprehensive. I've been to two Apple stores in Chicago, and to be honest, Dave at Comp USA has been more helpful and knowledgeable than the people there. Hopefully, he will transfer to the Apple store when it opens. I know there are some bad Comp USA stores, but when you consider all the Circuit Citys, Best Buys, Office Depots, Office Max, etc. that are full of cheesy Hewlet Packards, Compaqs, etc, with salespeople that wouldn't know a Mac from their ass, I think its a good idea to support the places that at least still provide a real choice, even the ones that leave a little to be desired.
 
One other thing as far as educational software is concerned. ScottDVX100 is right. It is also not to be used professionally. It is really for students learning editing at school. While its tempting to save several hundred dollars, anyone who uses it professionally is really pirating, the same as someone who stole a copy. Not trying to be a hard ass here, but it kind of sucks saving up $1300 for the Production Suite, and hearing someone else brag on here about getiing it for $600 or whatever...
 
You can often buy fully licensed new-in-the-box software programs on eBay from people who
received it as a gift or companies who never opened it. See it all the time....
 
Hey Pooh... thanks for the update. Man I can't wait to get a Mac. It's going to be awesome... only thing i'm not looking forward to is buying the software all over again for other programs... =(
 
Hi Guys, I'm also one of those "PC" guys who after so many years of PC use is thinking about going mac... these threads have been helpful..... My main purpose for switching, like daygola, is to go from PP 1.5 to FCPro studio..... i believe thats ver.5. I'm leaning more towards the PowerBook G4 w/ 17'' screen. My use would be digital video editing and music production and editing. Of course my main reason for favoring the powerbook G4 is the portability.......... would i be giving up alot by not using the G5 w/ FCP Studio? what do you guys think...?

Apple, where's the PowerBook G5?
 
If you get a PowerBook try to get the largest drive and best display internals (if there's a choice) that you can.
Motion, FCP 5 and Tiger will be taking advantage of fast video cards.
PowerBook works fine for editing, especially with the larger 17 inch screen, but it all depends on portability vs power load for you. G5will be faster and more upgradeable. PowerBook offers what the G5 can't - portability. Of course the downside of 17" is a little less portable than a 15"
Try to go to an apple store if you can so you can compare hands on.
 
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