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Your options are


Final Cut Pro 3-6
Final Cut Express 4
Adobe Premiere CS2 and CS3
Imovie HD


Those are pretty much the only options for powerpc nowadays
 
I run Final Cut Express 4 on my PowerBook G4. With 2 GB of RAM it is ok for straight SD video. I don't do anything heavy, though.
 
I found some other video editors for you


Avid Xpress Pro for mac
Quicktime Pro (basic at best)
MediaEdit




Other than that all I can recomend is that you try out lots of different editors i listed here and find which one hits the sweet spot for you,


btw unless you have a quad don't expect to be able to do HD video
 
Everyone always seems to say bad things about iMovie '09 - but if you're just doing a bit of casual editing for home movies / YouTube it seems to work pretty well.

Slow render times admittedly (especially in HD) but the editing interface is nice and responsive on my G5. I use it over iMovie HD as it didn't have any problems importing different video formats (iMovie HD seemed a bit more fussy - but that *might* just be my cheap Panasonic point and shoot).
 
Other than that all I can recomend is that you try out lots of different editors i listed here and find which one hits the sweet spot for you,


btw unless you have a quad don't expect to be able to do HD video

Most of the packages you mention (the non pro ones) are not SMP aware, as such the Quad will not be of much benefit over a Dual 2.5, 2.3 will only be slightly slower and a 2.7 will actually be faster.

Remember a Quad is only faster if the software in question is actually SMP aware and most non pro apps aren't.
 
Most of the packages you mention (the non pro ones) are not SMP aware, as such the Quad will not be of much benefit over a Dual 2.5, 2.3 will only be slightly slower and a 2.7 will actually be faster.

Remember a Quad is only faster if the software in question is actually SMP aware and most non pro apps aren't.

970MP inside Quads has 1MB L2 Cache, twice as much as the 970FX in Dual 2.5, 2.3 or below, which actually makes a big difference. And even if the application is not multiprocessor aware, the rest of the system is, so a whole core can be used just for the video App, instead of using about 90% of it (the other 10% for system and apps in background).

I haven't tried it, but I though HD 720p (not Full HD 1080) should work in most Dual G5s. Even some heavily upgraded G4s can.
 
970MP inside Quads has 1MB L2 Cache, twice as much as the 970FX in Dual 2.5, 2.3 or below, which actually makes a big difference. And even if the application is not multiprocessor aware, the rest of the system is, so a whole core can be used just for the video App, instead of using about 90% of it (the other 10% for system and apps in background).

I haven't tried it, but I though HD 720p (not Full HD 1080) should work in most Dual G5s. Even some heavily upgraded G4s can.

Yes that's true but the full benefit is with the Pro apps that can really stretch all four cores.
The 2.3 also has the 1Mb L2 cache (it's dual core not dual CPU).

Re the HD editing yes you can of course do this on a G5 (if you're prepared to be patient depending on the model) I did this a but on my 1.42 MDD (though the G5 was a much nicer experience ;) )
 
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Yes that's true but the full benefit is with the Pro apps that can really stretch all four cores.
The 2.3 also has the 1Mb L2 cache (it's dual core not dual CPU).

Re the HD editing yes you can of course do this on a G5 (if you're prepared to be patient depending on the model) I did this a but on my 1.42 MDD (though the G5 was a much nicer experience ;) )

I have had a single 1.6ghz G5 at work to edit 720p video off of a canon xl-h1 and it was a total dog... But then Jim quit and I was able to use his 2.0ghz dual processor (I had one at home at the time so I knew how much faster they were) and it handled (and still does handle) the 720p footage quite well so long as it is in a cool environment and you have all the seasons of bleach on dvd box sets (It takes ****ing forever!) I am currently working on a 1080p movie on my quad and it handles 1080p just awesomely with final cut pro,


hopefully once pay starts rolling in after this whole 2 year project is finished I can get a better mac for editing (I have an awesome pc but prefer final cut pro...) and a canon eos cinema camera...
 
I used Avid DV Xpress to cut a feature on my G5 (tiger). I wouldn't necessarily recommend it, but it's an option. You need a purple USB dongle for it to work.
 
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