coupla questions about an used imac

[j_tuff]

coupla questions,

1. Can I load imovies 4 on a used imac (256k ram, 30 gigs, 500mhz, G3, etc)

2. Better yet, will final cut express work (the specs say i need at least a G4, but the imac is a G3-any way to get around that).

3. Does imovie have voice over lay (in other words, can I have a person on screen, but over lay with another person speaking?)

Thanks guys.

 

[cluthz]

coupla questions,

1. Can I load imovies 4 on a used imac (256k ram, 30 gigs, 500mhz, G3, etc)

2. Better yet, will final cut express work (the specs say i need at least a G4, but the imac is a G3-any way to get around that).

3. Does imovie have voice over lay (in other words, can I have a person on screen, but over lay with another person speaking?)

Thanks guys.

1)
I havn't used iMovie 4 on a iMac, but http://www.apple.com/support/imovie/ says that it will.

2)
No, you also need atleast 384 mb ram to start it..

3)
Yes, imove supports multiple audio tracks.


Get more RAM if you are going to use imovie, you'll need it!
BE sure you have atleast OSX 10.2.6 installed..

 

[Makosuke]

Some additional info:

1) iMovie 4 will definitely work, though it'll be rather slow, particularly with that little RAM.

2) I believe Final Cut Express 1 is actually explicitly compatible with G3s, so it might be worth looking for an older version. There is also a way to tweak with either FCE or your computer's profile information to convince FCE 2 that it is running on a G4, but it'll likely be very slow. Can't tell you how to do this, but XLR8YourMac.com or Google probably will.

An additional tip: Since that machine can handle up to 1GB of RAM, I highly recommend putting a 512MB RAM stick into the user-accessable slot. For about $100, you'll be getting either 640 or 768MB (depending on whether the 256 you have is split between the two slots or all in the internal), which will both make OSX run much more smoothly and make video editing a far less frustrating experience. I also recommend 10.3, if you don't already have it--makes a noticable difference in speed.

 

[Mechcozmo]

Pain shalt come to thee. I have edited on a G4 700Mhz eMac with 256MB of RAM and it hurt to render anything. That was, BTW, with Final Cut Pro 3...

I would highly suggest finding a cheap G4 eMac and then overclocking it to 1.33Ghz, and also adding the max 1GB of RAM in it. Or is it 2 gigs... any way, that is fairly cheap to do and will be well worth it.

 

[cluthz]

Even of FCE2 won't work, Adobe Premiere 6.5 will.
Premiere has been my choice for videoediting since my beige g3 days..
Now i'm forced to switch to FCE soon, since Premiere isn't developed anymore.
(Not that i say that Premiere is better, but i've always used it, and it takes time to get used to a new app..)

 

[j_tuff]

another question then guys. since the imac is DVD-Rom, how do I load Imovie 4 into it.

I'm gonna put the highest possible ram i can into it. Does anyone recommend a source and manufacturer?

Thanks.

 

[cluthz]

another question then guys. since the imac is DVD-Rom, how do I load Imovie 4 into it.

I'm gonna put the highest possible ram i can into it. Does anyone recommend a source and manufacturer?

Thanks.

To load iMovie into your iMac:
Insert iLife 04 cd, click install iLife. The DVD-rom shouldn't interfere with your installation.. iLife 04 install on all cd-rom, combodrives, dvd roms and superdrives. (except garageband won't install on a cdrom)

http://www.ramseeker.com will find the cheapest ramdeal for your iMac.

 

[Makosuke]

Indeed, the only thing that won't install on a non-Superdrive Mac is iDVD--iMovie and the rest of iLife 04 are fine.

http://dealram.com/ is another place you can check memory prices. Personally, though (and there are many others here who will agree with me), I always buy my RAM at Crucial.com They're a manufacturer, so you're getting name-brand memory at prices near generic ($99 for a 512MB stick for your computer, vs. about $75 at the cheapest buying generic), plus they have a pretty good automatic memory selector.

Does name brand vs. generic make a difference? Most of the time, no, but it certainly can, and RAM issues are so infuriating that it's worth a bit extra to me.

Maxing out your RAM is DEFINITELY a good idea for video editing (though spending $150-200 to go all the way to 1GB is a bit pricey for such an old computer). If you haven't already, you'll probably also want to replace the hard drive with a faster one (even if your video is stored on an external FW drive, which is probably also a good idea), to speed up virtual memory swapfiles and OS operations compared to the pokey drive that came with those machines.