Looking for the advice from video creation members :)

[Chrispy]

Ok here is the deal. This question may not exaclty be macrumors material but I know many members here are well educated in the use of more than just macs. I had a very poor run of luck getting a working powermac G5 and I needed a computer for work to have at home (they gave me a laptop but it is just not very good). I decided to just get a dual core Pentium D PC with a gig of DDR2 dual channel ram and a 160GH Serial ATA hard drive. The machine also has a Radeon X600 256MB Graphics card.

However, I am also considering ordering an iBook 12" to replace the 500MHz iBook I have right now for when I travel (PC laptops just piss me off too much to use). Now that I have given some background oh my hardware here is the question.

The company I work for acts as a general contractor for very very large projects (thinks stadiums, arenas, international airports, large hotels, etc..) and they often find the need to create videos for tradeshows and what not. Right now they pay someone to create these things and they pay him quite a bit. If I could prove to them I could create something similar I could not only push for an increase in salary but also push for a nice mac here at work from which to work. The videos look fancy but I know at the heart of it the software is the key.

Basically the video has fancy eye candy in the backgroud (for example like different shades of blue circles morphing or water drops creating a fun effect) and then the images of our projects come in and out of the video with cool looking transitions. There is also text that comes and goes along with music but that is pretty much it. Is there software that I could use right now on the PC (since that is what I have at home and what is the only thing used at work with the exception of one mirrored door unit)? Also, is there software that works on both platforms that will do what I need so if I can get them to get me a mac then I will not have to relearn something? Finally... if there is no cross-platform software is there something for PC that is similar to what you would reccomend for mac that would get me started? If I could bring these videos in-house then I could GREATLY reduce the budget for this kind of thing for the company. I know there are many very talented video editors and content creators on these forums so I turn to you all for advice. Thank you very much in advance for reading through my long post

Oh and I'm using a Dell 2005FPW 20" widescreen monitor and a Dell 1905FP 19" monitor in a dual setup in case that matters. Thanks!

 

[evil_santa]

The videos look fancy but I know at the heart of it the software is the key.

This is like saying that if I buy the best DSLR camera I can, I will become a fantastic photographer.

Without seeing the video you are talking about it is hard to judge, but I think you will find that there is more to it than just getting your self some fancy software pressing a button and getting a class video out at the end. A decent video will take a lot of time & preparation to shoot & Edit, and then you got titles & graphics to consider. This is why most companies will get an external production company to do this & pay them a fair amount of money to do it, its quite a lot of work to produce a decent corporate video.

What you should be looking at for a Mac is Final Cut Studio, (Final Cut Pro for editing & Motion for graphic / titles creation). On the PC you best option is Adobe Premiere. For Graphic creation Adobe After effects & Discreet Combustion both available for Mac & PC. The adobe & Discreet software you can download trial version of the software. You will also need Adobe Photoshop & a decent DV Camera (non domestic) Microphones & some lights.

I hope this helps some.

 

[idea_hamster]

It's too bad...

After Apple released Final Cut Express, Adobe reacted (retalliated?) by stopping development of Premier for Mac. That would have been you're best bet for cross-platform software, if you really insisted on not "re-learning."

That said, I think that you'd be surprised to find that much of video editing is about understanding basic NLE methods, rather than program-specific algorithmic steps. If I were you, I would not worry too much about the re-learning process. If you can become comfortable with Premier, you can become comfortable with Final Cut -- and all the basic ideas (clips, rolls, ripples, transitions, etc.) will carry over. In fact, you'll find that both Adobe and Apple use some similar tools, like the "Inspector" window.

If you're not convinced by me (smart move!), go by a book store and leaf through a Premier book and a Final Cut book and see if, to your eyes, there are more similarities or differences.

Good luck!

 

[aloofman]

This is like saying that if I buy the best DSLR camera I can, I will become a fantastic photographer.

Without seeing the video you are talking about it is hard to judge, but I think you will find that there is more to it than just getting your self some fancy software pressing a button and getting a class video out at the end. A decent video will take a lot of time & preparation to shoot & Edit, and then you got titles & graphics to consider. This is why most companies will get an external production company to do this & pay them a fair amount of money to do it, its quite a lot of work to produce a decent corporate video.

As one of those video content creators, I completely agree. If you (Chrispy) have no experience in video production, buying the software is the easiest part. It's like putting on a flight suit and thinking you can fly a plane.

There's a reason why they're paying that company "quite a bit" to make corporate videos. I'm not saying you couldn't do it for less, but if you aren't experienced at it, then your company would be pretty foolish to hand the whole thing to you and expect similar quality. Now, if you could convince them to get you training so you can do it for less, then that would be something.

I don't mean this as a putdown, and maybe you're more experienced with video production and/or graphic design than I'm assuming. Adobe AfterEffects will do the kinds of things you've described (except for the music), but you have to know how to use it. The graphic artist that creates animated effects for me needed a couple years just to feel really competent at it. Maybe you could learn it faster, but it's unrealistic to think that you're ready to promise your company that.

 

[Chrispy]

Thanks for all the replies! I see what you are all saying and by no means was I going to just take over this process completely. What we are looking at doing is creating a way for us to do the "presentation" style (text, music and video effects) video using filmed footage from the person we deal with now. We have a fantastic videographer and we would not want to lose him for his video testimony and project videos. However, we are bogging him down with having him constantly create these presentations for us every few months since many times we are using footage and photos in the presentations that we already have available to us. My company has agreed to have me start a training process on this alongside our current graphics designer to see what we can make of it. I know it will take time and so does the company for which I work, but in the long run cutting back how much we rely on external services will save us a lot of money. Basically we just want to remove some of our dependancy on our outstanding videographer but not all of it by any means. Keep the opinions coming and I will relay your advice to my supervisor. Thanks!

 

[Chrispy]

Ok the more I look into it, it seems that Apple's Motion 2 seems to be what would do what we want to do. Is Adobe's After Effects similar to this. Both companies sell the entire production package for much less than buying them all separate so I'm assume Adobe's package is similar to Apple's. Any advice would help grealty. I hate to be a pain by sticking to this PC thing but the company I work for is set on using them..... Thanks.

 

[evil_santa]

Sorry your first post sounded like you thought if they got you a Mac you would be able replace the videographer.

Motion & After effect will produce a single video clip, they are not editing tools, so if you want to produce a graphic such as a title sequence you would take all your elements into Motion/AE to produce the title. Motion is Mac only, so if you need cross platform go for AE. If you need to do simple edit you could use Final Cut pro / Express or even Avid DV. On he PC Premiere Pro / elements or Avid DV.

You may find that if your company donen't like or use Mac you will get no help from the support staff, even if its a network problem or a printer problem. I have used a Mac for 6 or 7 years on a PC network & the IT guys stock answer is "well you are using a mac". I now had a Dell and adobe Premiere, and though its no where near as good as my home set up, see sig, when I have a problem ,it gets fixed.

 

[Chrispy]

Haha yeah I can see how my first post sounded like I thought I could do everything overnight. Our videographer is a very very talented person and I have a great deal of respect for people who can look at something and have the vision to created something creative. Your point is also valid that with a Mac I would get so support at work if I had any problems. For this reason, I have ordered a Dell for home and work use. I tired to go with a powermac at home but I got 4 in a row that had issues (2 with bad logic boards) and Apple was not friendly with helping me out when I was having these issues. As I have said before, I know I am a rare case here but for now I have stepped back from apple for my desktop computing needs. However, I still love my iBook and it is a great portable computer Thanks for all the advice everyone!