Mac or not to Mac that is the question

K

krish

Well-known member
ok so i am a long time PC user (10 years as a sofware engineer) and have a love/hate relationship with PC's. I currently use Dell Latitude D505 with 1 GB RAM and 120 gig hd. I have Sony Vegas 6 as a NLE. So far so good.
What I have seen on this site and in general is people prefer Mac over PC when it comes to video editing. I know that mac has some really cool gear and also some very high end machines but is there anything that a PC is lacking?
Also most of the clips on this site seem to be quicktime movies and for some reason they always look better then media player.

In the next several months i will have to make a choice of buying a Mac or a PC. I would love to hear expert comments from the people on both sides of the fence..

I am a fairly new kid on the block as far as filmmaking so its all pretty new to me. I currently have a dvx100b but plan to upgrate to hvx100 sometime in the next year povided i can do justice to my filmmaking skills.

Would appreciate any comments.

Cheers,

-Krish
 
Depends on what you're editing. I prefer Vegas to FCP by about five to one for editing DV, but Vegas can't edit DVCPRO-HD footage.

So for editing HVX footage, I prefer FCP to Vegas or Avid by an order of about 10,000 to one. FCP's performance with HVX footage is just amazing, the others don't compare.

Yet Canopus Edius Broadcast looks like it closes the gap very significantly -- it handles HVX footage very nicely indeed. If it performs well overall, I may switch back. I really, really like how Canopus has integrated the MXF/P2 workflow. If Apple doesn't add MXF timeline support, Canopus may be able to make some significant inroads onto HVX owners' desktops. Apple (and Avid) could both learn a lot from the way Canopus implemented MXF/P2 support!

And further compounding the issue, the Mac is switching to Intel processors, which raises the possibility of dual-boot platforms when Windows Vista is released. So it may come to the point a few months from now where you buy one computer, and you can run both operating systems (Windows Vista and Mac OSX).

Now's a great time to be waiting!
 
Thanks Barry, i did look at Canopus Edius Broadcast and it does look really good. How come its not rated in the top three for NLE's? is it very new ?


I think you are right in term of apple introducing dual core machines. its a matter of time before the line is blurred between PC and Mac so i will heed to your advise and sit tight for now !

I still love the apple cinema display though ! that is really cool.

cheers,

-Krish
 
Edius doesn't have a very big market share yet. It seems like Premiere, Vegas, Avid and FCP account for almost all the desktop space, and the other NLE's like Liquid and Edius just have a much smaller market share.

However, Edius just got some MAJOR deep pockets, they were bought by Thomson/Grass Valley. And Liquid just got bought by Avid. So both companies have access to resources they never had before. Vegas used to be much smaller too, but I think they've come on very strong since their DVX support in version 4 and then their acquistion by Sony.
 
Why choose? There was a winner in the contest to boot windows on a intel mac this week... so now you'll be able to have os x and windows on a dual boot machine. Of course if you want a desktop you are going to have to wait until august (rumor) to get it.

There was an earlier thread with people reporting success with using an older power pc mac mini (less than 1k for a new intel core duo that is 4X faster) for editing HD footage. You might want to try the mac out with the bargain model and see how you feel about it.

I was a switcher when os x came out... there are a couple weeks of mild confusion and frustration, but then you find yourself in a very happy place.
 
So apple is making dual boot intel macs that can run windows or mac operating system? Interesting.

When is the expected release date for these systems?

Will PC's be able to run mac OSX?
 
Apple is in the process of switching from Power PC processors to Intel processors. Currently you can buy the Macbook, a 15 inch intel core duo, a intel core duo iMac, or a mac mini with either a core solo, or core duo processor.

The hardware on these computers is compatible with MS Windows. The rub is that the Macs don't use BIOS, they use a newer system called EFI. Windows does not support EFI, but there has been a competition to make windows work on the intel offerings from Apple. This week someone posted the solution to the problem.

Competition website:
http://www.winxponmac.com/

Video of install and boot of Windows on a Mac:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=nzH6OFpXgzI


While Apple is not shipping dual boot systems, per sey... they have stated more than once publicly that they don't care if people boot MS Windows and that they won't take actions to stop it. So if you are a bit computer savvy this might be a good option for windows users wanting to stick their toe into Apple's pool.

<edit> people have had success running OS X on an intel pc, but Apple does not give their blessing for this and have aggressively gone after the sources for doing it.
 
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Why switch to an entire new OS after a decade of PC work ? Why switch to FCP after using Vegas ? (Assuming you are happy with Vegas)
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Barry addresses some valid points but if swithcing for the sake of nothing; then why ?

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A PC will give you more bang for your duck as it is.

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So unless needing the DVCPRO-HD and/or FCP stick with what you know.

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I use a PC and it smokes (Dell Workstation w/ Xeon's)

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Quicktime is moot. You can render out .Mov / Mpeg's Files and not have QT. I use Sorenson personally and with a MAc you can't have WMV (Is that right?).
 
well, as I type this on my new G5, I think you know my decision. Try doing DVE's or exporting a OMF out of Edius and you will agree.
 
I hear vegas has stellar audio support. If you are using it now and like it I would stay with it until you have to move to a new system. People seem to really love Vegas. I assume it must be pretty good as such. Save your money and buy some lights. When you out grow your system the world of computers will be vastly different.

PS- I have a Mac G5 Duel.
 
I have Avid Studio at home and have been editing on Avid since 1991.

One of my major clients requested ON SITE editing....uncompressed.

I tried a laptop-based Avid system, didn't work.

I now have a !7" PB G4 with FCPro 5 a FW800 G-raid and a AJA IO LA and am VERY happy....as is my client.
 
Thanks Guys, its been very informative. I guess i agree that after a decade of PC use changing over to Mac would be hard unless there is some overwelhming reason like barry mentioned HD esiting etc. I will play the waiting game and continue to hone my skills using my dvx100b, PC and Sony Vegas 6 for now.

Cheers,

-Krish
 
If you can wait until the summer, we'll have more information with which to advise you. As Barry mentioned, platforms and software are currently in flux, and things should become clearer a few month down the road, hopefully.
 
The Machinist said:
Ummm i don't have any problems with WMV and i don't use any third party software to do it.


Edit*



Precisely
Click to expand...

But you have got to admit that WMP is junk on the Mac, and there is no DRM support so forget about getting all these new broadband faux TV networks popping up... This is my one gripe about the mac.
 
CineAlta and Barry are totally right. Especially if you're thinking of switching platforms. Apple is in the middle of their Intel switch and rumors have the new Intel Powermacs being announced next August for what will probably prove to be a Fall release. This is just rumor and speculation but alot of the mac rumors as of late have proved correct. In days like these a little patience can pay off big time.
 
there is no DRM support so forget about getting all these new broadband faux TV networks popping up
Click to expand...

To be honest I haven't really checked out this fad too much. But so far when I've needed to watch a wmv file I've been able to. When a lack of DRM support proves to be a hindrance to me i will join you in protest.
 
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