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File Mgmt & Storage: Video Editing/FCE/Photos/Music

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Frank (Atlanta)

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 29, 2004
145
0
I just joined the Mac world and am trying to determine the best way forward to manage my files for video editing.

In the Windows world, I was instructed to be very particular:
  • Shut down all other apps, don't touch the mouse, don't do anything to disturb Windows!
  • Keep all your clips, etc. on a separate hard drive to ease the editing and rendering.

My Question: I want to edit a mix of DV clips from my camcorder, still photos & music - should I store all my "editable files" on my external drive (DV clips, music & photos), or is it ok to use the default internal drive for iTunes & iPhoto for music & stills and the external for DV clips? In short, I want to add DV, music & still photos to my movies - is it better to keep everything on the external drive or does it even matter w/Macs or OS X?

Equipment:
20" iMac G5/160GB HD/1 GB RAM
LaCie 250 GB External
Final Cut Express & iLife, etc.

Thanks,
Frank
 
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Jaz

macrumors regular
Sep 7, 2004
128
0
Sydney, Australia
Hi Frank,

It is preferable to keep DV clips on a separate drive if you can. Firewire 400 is fine for standard DV. Lacie make good externals, and you have a gig of RAM so you're covered there.

iPhoto and iTunes on your internal are ok, neither is a high-bandwith app whereas the video will be.

Mac is a bit more robust than Windows in terms of application window management so you can multi-task no problem, as in browse the web or check email while a DV edit is rendering in iMovie or FCE.

Best of luck and welcome to the Mac world, it's much friendlier place :)

Jaz
 
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Jaz

macrumors regular
Sep 7, 2004
128
0
Sydney, Australia
One more point, firewire is peer to peer. That means you can plug your camera into the external hard drive as the last link in the chain. What that means is that often when you do a DV import the data will move from the camera almost straight to the external and stay on the firewire bus rather than move through the internal data paths of your iMac.

Some cameras don't like that and need to plugged straight in to the iMac but give both setups a try and may see performance differences.

:cool: Jaz
 
F

Frank (Atlanta)

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 29, 2004
145
0
Thanks!

Jaz,

Thanks - very much appreciated.

Re: connecting the camcorder directly to the external... I'll give that a try - sounds interesting.

BTW, I'm very amazed by the iMac. Been in the Windows world for ~20 yrs and everything about the Mac world's been pleasantly different:
  • The buying experience was pleasant - great support & knowledge vs. what I was used to in the Wintel world.
  • Great sense of community on these boards and folks that I meet in person.
  • The hardware & software - wow! I'd actually gotten used to having to reboot my PC at work, dealing with conflicts that tend to build over time, flaky behavior, etc. It's somewhat strange to have a machine that doesn't seem to have these problems...

Thanks!
 
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