Buying 1st iMac for video editing 1080p

[martinX]

I edit video professionally and have no problems at all...

I edit video professionally using FCP, 2 Sonys, a Panasonic monitor, a Sony deck and an iMac and I have problems.

But...
I hang out on the professional forums (the kind where people use their real names and trolls are booted off immediately) and people have problems on all NLEs. And all hardware. Macs, PCs, Sony, Canon, Panasonic, RED, Vegas, Premiere, FCP, Avid, the lot.

You find the workflow (from camera to delivery) that works for you and and gives you what you want, and you go with that, making it the easiest to use and most stable system you can. And you don't change it unless there is a compelling reason.

 

[chrono1081]

I edit video professionally using FCP, 2 Sonys, a Panasonic monitor, a Sony deck and an iMac and I have problems.

But...
I hang out on the professional forums (the kind where people use their real names and trolls are booted off immediately) and people have problems on all NLEs. And all hardware. Macs, PCs, Sony, Canon, Panasonic, RED, Vegas, Premiere, FCP, Avid, the lot.

You find the workflow (from camera to delivery) that works for you and and gives you what you want, and you go with that, making it the easiest to use and most stable system you can. And you don't change it unless there is a compelling reason.

This is the reality of every type of high end project workflow. If it was trouble free everyone would be doing it

 

[martinX]

Ok, just a quick update.

I ended up buying my first iMac i7 27" this weekend =).

Congrats. Have fun with it. Learn lots.

There's much much more to making good video than delivery resolution, from creating a good story to setting up good lighting to capturing good audio, having people who can bring life to the story and then you get to film something and edit it to make the actors look good and then you deliver it. 720p? 1080i? 1080p? Rubbish is rubbish at any resolution, quality shines through.

I got bitten by the DTP bug back in 199x, bought a mac and a copy of Pagemaker, then I realised I had nothing to say and no-one to say it to. Then along came desktop video...

 

[KeithPratt]

Just checked: no can do.

Well that seems pretty pointless on Apple's part.

I dont know what I'm gonna do, either save up for FCS or just be content with FCE and no 1080p. I just wish there was a simpler way of getting from Point A (Record 1080p) to Point B (Edit 1080p) to Point C (Playback 1080p).

You can do a straight-cuts edit in a 1080i timeline. It's when you start adding filters and such that the interlacing comes into play.

Do you know how your camcorder records its 24p footage?

 

[Mr Garbaggio]

Congrats. Have fun with it. Learn lots.

There's much much more to making good video than delivery resolution, from creating a good story to setting up good lighting to capturing good audio, having people who can bring life to the story and then you get to film something and edit it to make the actors look good and then you deliver it. 720p? 1080i? 1080p? Rubbish is rubbish at any resolution, quality shines through.

Thanks, I'm looking forward to it!

I see your point in putting together an overall good film/movie/video but in all honesty I'm really not expecting to make blockbusters. It's more of me wanting to be a hobbyist and create stuff that my friends, family and I can enjoy. It's like someone who likes carpentry, they might attempt to make a rocking chair for their mother, a crib for their for their baby, or just a simple jewelry box but they might not aspire to be a professional, making high end furniture on a daily basis. You know, just something that they enjoy doing on their free time. However, I completely understand your point to try to make all aspects as best as I can. I have lots of ideas so I'm hoping that the end result will be as good as they are in my head haha. . . hopefully

 

[puckhead193]

EDIT: Speaking of HD editing, my one friend is bringing over Final Cut Studio and some project of his so he can edit on my machine. He's thinking of upgrading his mac pro tower and wants to give mine a whirl. I can't wait I've never seen Final Cut

what do you use..the A word


Your gonna like Final Cut

 

[chrono1081]

what do you use..the A word


Your gonna like Final Cut

LOL I'm guessing the A word is Adobe Premier (I could be wrong).

I actually don't do any editing which is what scares me. I'm afraid he will make it look easy and I'll want to try. I get interested in digital things waaaaay too easily and I've managed to avoid video editing for years. I don't even have a video camera. Infact, the only camera I have that can shoot video is a Canon 5D Mark II. (The only video I shot with it was two Kea ripping my rental car apart in New Zealand )

He knows I'll end up liking it too. He's been pushing to bring Final Cut, some other program, and Nuke ( ? ) over since I mentioned compositing 3D renders from Maya into video clips.

 

[rmtoberman]

This is from the Apple support page:
Yes, 1080p is supported. The preferred workflow is to use the Log and Transfer function to transcode the H.264 footage into a more edit-friendly format. Output can be in virtually any quicktime format.

Link:http://store.apple.com/us/question/...DY0MDY&pqid=QXT7TUCUUKCXF2PACKXUAX7TCJ4P9C4KF

Also, I am pretty sure iMovie '09 works with 1080p. I have the Sanyo VPC-FH1 that records in 1080p MPEG-4 and I just copy the 1080p files to my HD and open them up in iMovie. I edit them, then export them as a 1080p file and using Toast 10, burn them to a DVD (not Blu-ray) recorded in the Blu-ray compatible format at 1080p. A DVD will record up to around 20 minutes of 1080p, which is perfect for most home movies. This works great in all the Blu-ray players I have played it in and looks excellent on my 1080p 130" front projection home theater. I would do this even if Apple did support Blu-ray burners, because blank DVD's are much cheaper and I only need 5-10 minutes for most of my home movies.

 

[yoak]

AVCHD is a pain (in a way) It´s great for shooting, not so great for editing. You need long render times to get it into a format suited for editing AIC (or PRORES)
Even in playback on a computer it taxes the system very heavily.
When you convert/render to AIC your files will more than double in size. I´m not sure exactly, Prores 422, is roughly 60GB an hour if I remember well. I don´t use AIC, so I don´t know exactly.

I don´t think it matters much if you edit in a 1080i timeline. Your footage will still have the progressive look

 

[LinuxHelp]

Don't listen them

Hi Mr Garbaggio,
don't listen to these 'professionals'. Let them play with 320x240 if they think that's enough - why not. I can only recommend this page: http://ianperegian.com/My_FZ35_38_Webpage/SD700_Camcorder_Testing.html (you must read it!)

and/or you can simply run:
ffmpeg -i my_film.mts -acodec copy -vcodec copy my_film.m4v

& then import. (You can get ffmpeg for free - it's part of Linux {run it in Parallels} or use darwin ports - http://darwinports.com/ )

Enjoy!!