Video Editing on Itel iMac?

[jjs1138]

I'm currently using a Pentium 4 PC with an installed Pinnacle DV500 card for video editing. Outside of video editing, I exclusively use a Mac. Sadly though, my eMac can't match the PC for raw video editing power.
I'm considering moving on to an Itel iMac.
I'm not really concerned about the iMac from a software point of view (Final Cut fits my needs perfectly), but rather I'm a little concerned about the hardware. The DV500 card is an additional card to my systems graphics card. It renders video using the same encoding technology that exists inside DV camcorders, so there is no transcoding or recompression. A couple of years ago, this sort of additional hardware was fairly essential to produce near-broadcast quality video. I'm not really sure if that holds true today - I'm not much of a tech-head. I guess what I'm really asking is will I be able to get nearly the same commercial quality video on an iMac without this addtional hardware as a do on a PC with this hardware?

 

[PegasusMedia]

short answer - yes

Ahhh..the old catchphrase, "Broadcast quality".

Short answer is, yes, you can edit at "DV quality" on an imac that will be exactly equal to your PC, assuming you are capturing DV source material DV tape to computer hard drive is a simple data transfer. If you're capturing analog, then the A/D converter (in your case the DV500) comes into play and it may or may not be better than what you get for your new mac. You will also not have the advantage of the harware acceleration & features the DV500 gives you, but quality-wise, you'll be fine.

Long answer...although you can edit on an imac, (I edit on one at home all the time & it works great for the situation) you're better off with a PowerMac, simply due to the fact that you can add on cards & boards that fit your situation. Sounds like you are more accustomed to this type of system. Comparing an imac to a hardware accelerated system isn't really fair. Apples & Oranges.

 

[theBB]

Even iMovie uses DV for editing, so Final Cut should not need any compression while editing. I am guessing your card is for faster editing or rendering (as it is specialized to do one task well) compared to a generic computer hardware that can be used to perform numerous tasks.

 

[jjs1138]

Ahhh..the old catchphrase, "Broadcast quality".

Ha! You know I hadn't originally included that phrase in the question but then went back and added it.

I seldom use analog sources anymore, so that's not too much of a concern.
I'd say you're right, a PowerMac would be more equivalent to what I'm used to. I've just got that idea in my head that PowerPC is old... and Intel's not here yet.

I am guessing your card is for faster editing or rendering (as it is specialized to do one task well).

That seems to be the case.

I really need to get my head more around some of the tools I use. I understand cameras, but when things start moving into the computer I just don't have a clear idea how they work.

Thank you both for the replies. That cleared up the issues for me.

 

[jacg]

I've just moved from FCP on a Powerbook to FCS on a 2 GHz Intel, 2 GB iMac. Very impressed with the real time rendering, let alone the outstanding quality of the direct from Final Cut MPEG rendering that Compressor does for DVD Studio.

With 32 bit float support, FC claims to be even better now. I've never noticed it looking anything less than the DV footage I've put in.

 

[jjs1138]

jacg thanks for your reply. it's always good to hear a first hand report

 

[evil_santa]

Ahhh..the old catchphrase, "Broadcast quality".

Where i work we are moving across to Omneon video servers for transmission & they will broadcast using DV files.

so eventually when it is all set up we will edit at 10bit uncompressed then export the final edit as a DV file & drop it onto the server for TX! So we all now have Broadcast Quality Edit suites at home

 

[4God]

I'm actually selling my Quad on eBay right now. I'm going with the 20" iMac with 2GB of RAM. I think I'll even add the mini dvi adapter and 23" display to work with FCS. Only had my Quad for about 5 weeks, and I was real happy with it until I was able to try out an Intel iMac. Whoa, it was snappier than my Quad at simple tasks and moved almost as fast in basic editing/rendering.

 

[poppe]

How much are you selling it for?

 

[jdechko]

I've just got that idea in my head that PowerPC is old... and Intel's not here yet.

The PowerMac may be "old" but it certainly isn't dead. I'm hoping to get into semi-pro video editing in the near future and I really see myself getting a G5 PowerMac, maybe even a Quad. If you go with the latest dual-core models, I'm sure they'll be plenty capable of editing DV for the next several years (hopefully 4-5 years, until HDV takes off or the machine is incapable of handling the future software). By then, all of the software should be universal at least, the intel transition will be complete and the bugs will be worked out of all of that. I don't know what all you'll be doing with the machine, but I strongly believe that the PowerMac will suit your needs. That's not to say that an Intel Mac won't be faster, but I think a PM would be fine. Anyway, my 2 cents.

 

[4God]

How much are you selling it for?

I'm trying to get $5200.00 for the set. The machine has 500G HD (2x250), 6.5Gb of RAM (2x256 & 6x1), the stock video card (6600 256MB) with Airport Extreme and Bluetooth. The 30" Apple Display is included. Pm me for anymore questions or see eBay - I'm crownam1.

 

[poppe]

Oh man... that sounds so sweet. I figured it'd be a whopper of a price, not that it isn't worth it. If its still for sale after I get my camcorder and 17" MBP I'll be looking for your name on Ebay. Thanks