Which Mac

[maccman23]

i am making a couple of short films soon and am thinking of purchasing a mac. Can anyone point me to an FAQ that weighs up the pros and cons of each model? i also want to know what programs work best for encoding and DVD authoring. i currently use TMPGEnc for most encoding but can't find out if it Mac capable.
Thanks
Maccman23

[spire]

This is a tangent, but in case you're in New York City, you could ask the Coen Brothers what they recommend...

Coen Brothers To Appear At Apple Store Cinematical reports that Oscar winners Joel and Ethan Coen will be on hand at the Soho Apple Store next Tuesday night (May 10, 2005). "Part of The Apple Store's Made on a Mac filmmakers series, the Coens will discuss using Final Cut Pro to edit their last two films, Intolerable Cruelty and The Ladykillers. After a presentation, Joel and Ethan will take questions from the audience. The event starts at 8pm, and it's free."

http://www.cinematical.com/2005/05/05/coen-brothers-to-appear-at-apple-store/

[spire]

Depends on what your budget is. If unlimited, go for a G5.

Places to look:

MacRumors Buyer's Guide: Know When to Buy Your Mac
http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/

Final Cut Pro 4: G5 versus G4,
Single CPU versus Dual CPU,
Power Mac versus PowerBook
http://www.barefeats.com/fcp4.html

http://www.notebookreview.com/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=15606&#73127

For DVD authoring/encoding

DVD Studio Pro should cover what you need:
http://www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/dvdstudiopro

[adcvideo]

The first step is to decide how complex your video work is going to become, and then see what software you require, and then what Mac is best for that. Obviously if budget isn't a consideration, then go for a G5.

If you plan on a simple cut and paste of scenes, and maybe adding music and a few basic effects, then Apple's iLife software suite with iMovie, GarageBand, and iDVD works perfectly. Although far from professional software, I have seen amazing results from the iLife tools that are included with new Macs. A G4 mini or laptop will be fine for that.

The next step up is Final Cut Pro and DVD Studio Pro, a G5 will be helpful there.

Be sure and budget for extra RAM to be added to the base model. And I would recommend buying one with an internal pre-installed DVD burner. Some Mac video apps have difficulty accessing an external DVD burner without additional tweaking.

I actually have yet to find equivalent software on the MAC platform that allows for so many options as TMPEnc for MPEG encoding at a low cost, but ffmpegx is very good.

[DanSlagle]

The best one you can afford. If you looking to do HD then wait for the next series due out in June/July timeframe.
http://www.thinksecret.com/news/0504newg5.html

The spec for doing HD is demanding on a PC or a Mac. Apple suggestions:
http://www.apple.com/quicktime/hdgallery/recommendations.html

[MerlinMacuser]

I love my G5 desktop Mac. It is a dual processor 2 ghz model with a 250 G SATA drive and 2 G of RAM. It came with a dvd/cd combo Superdirve built in but I augmented that with a Sony Dual Layer external burner. Easier to copy disk to disk.

If you delete the video files as you complete your projects, 250 G is plenty and SATA is very fast. However I tend to want to keep the rendered files for longer than I need so I keep running out of storage room. I will add another drive at some point.

I use iMovie, Final Cut Express, iDVD and most of the applications mentioned in this forum. Get the best and most you can afford. You'll be glad you did...your time is valuable.

[sjk]

You've managed to fit a Powermac G5 on your desktop?

[MerlinMacuser]

good one...actually I have very a big desk infront of a beautiful view out my picture window. However, the G5 is kept under the desk where it serves as a convenient snack warmer as well as a fine computer! You may not know this, but C.P.U. actually stands for Cheese Processing Unit. I can keep my canapes nice and warm while I surf the net looking for porn to burn onto dvds titled NetCheese to send anonymously to my old teachers and guidance counselors. hehehe!

[DanSlagle]

You know they have a cheese warmer now for the G5 right?

[rumplestiltskin]

The G5 is wonderful (mine is a dual 1.8GHz) but, if you're doing this on the cheap, get an eMac. They're up to 1.42GHz (G4), take DDR SDRAM (up to 1GB, 512MBx2), use standard drawer-loading optical drives (and a SuperDrive-equipped model is only $999), and use a standard ATA 3.5" HD. The eMac is a much better deal than the mini. Add up the $$ yourself.

[sjk]

Or buy a 1.8GHz Rev. A iMac G5 for about the same price (e.g. from Amazon after rebate), although the eMac has a larger HD and faster DVD burner. Btw, both the eMac and iMac support 2GB RAM even if Apple claims the eMac only supports 1GB.