I'm going to buy a computer soon, for the sole purpose of sound and video editing. No gaming is involved.

I remember back in the day when Mac was geared towards that stuff, but I kind of fell out of the loop. I've now heard that Mac's are more powerful for this purpose, but Windows serves all of the applications.

What should I buy?

4/7/2006 12:57:01 AM

Buy a mac.

4/7/2006 1:08:15 AM

get a mac but make sure autosave is on

they tend to "unexpectedly" quit

but i guess now that you're expecting it, you shouldn't have to worry, yes?

4/7/2006 1:12:11 AM

At least they don't "perform an illegal operation"

4/7/2006 1:15:51 AM

either way, someone is bullshitting me and i don't like it

4/7/2006 1:20:54 AM

I can understand an unexpected quit, but I cannot fathom an illegal operation.

4/7/2006 1:34:33 AM

My macs never "unexpectedly" quit after OS X release version was out. I would say the average program stability is about the same as under XP, although I haven't had a mac in a year or two.

4/7/2006 1:45:34 AM

final cut pro
adobe after effects
g5 apple mac
4GB RAM

-ZiP!-

4/7/2006 1:58:34 AM

^Wait for the new Intel based tower Mac to come out, but everything is else DING DING right on.

4/7/2006 2:13:09 AM

I do my editing work on a PC at DELTA, not even one that's all that great. Something like a gig of ram in a 3.0 GHz Dell workstation.

Adobe Audition
Adobe Premiere
Adobe After Effects
Avid Xpress
New Sony DV deck

Works out for me, but I don't really have a handle on the difference between Mac and PC in performance nowadays either. We always use PCs over here.

4/7/2006 2:21:40 AM

The real key is, Final Cut Pro is fucking BOSS for video.

The hardware isn't really the issue. One you've used FCP, going back to Adobe Production Suite just feels dirty

4/7/2006 2:26:01 AM

^ Indeed.

FCP is the sweetest software you'll ever use. Should you wait for potential Intel PowerMacs? Maybe. But the current G5s are awesome as-is and the Apple Studio Software (w/ FCP, DVD Studio Pro, etc.) is just money.

You really can't beat it for video/audio editing.

4/7/2006 2:32:56 AM

Thanks guys

4/7/2006 4:51:00 PM

By a new Mac with the Intel core and you can dual boot with OS X and Windows and have the best of both worlds.

4/7/2006 10:34:20 PM

I've heard a lot of praise for Final Cut Pro, but have never used it for a real project myself.

Does it truly provide the same level of control that After Effects can provide? I've always had this perception it was a true Premiere competitor that had some of the features of After Effects combined.

4/7/2006 10:49:43 PM

just curious, what are ya'll doing video editing for

4/7/2006 11:56:28 PM

You know you might want to just get Final Cut Express depending on what you are planning to do.

4/8/2006 9:27:31 AM

^ Nah...the Academic Pack is like half off of retail and makes the full FCP/DVD Studio Pro/etc. package really reasonable (comparitively).

If he's doing anything serious (i.e. making money/paying bills w/ video editing), get FCP. But yeah, if you're just messing around for fun stuff, go to the Apple Store in Durham & play around with it. I'm pretty sure FCP and FCP Express are installed on the Macs there and you could play around for hours if ya want.

4/8/2006 10:15:11 AM

if you're just editing home videos, the free software installed on your mac is above and beyond what you'll need and very easy to use.

4/8/2006 11:22:45 AM

The Language lab in Laundry has some Macs set up with FCP and I think FCE too. If you want to play with it, take a camera with you and mess around.

However, if you have no video software knowledge, you aren't going to be able to figure out too easily what does what.

4/8/2006 4:56:29 PM