Upgrading it all: right iMac and iMovie for my projects!

[TheWedge]

Hello everyone,

I’m new to this forum, so I would like to introduce myself first. I live in Hamburg, Germany and I love Kitesurfing, so I spend many weekends at the coast, for Surfing and sometimes also for some casual filming.

Up to now, I create videos on a tiny Mac Mini 1.5 GHz/512MB RAM with Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) and iMovie '08.
This setup is OK, as a non-professional cutter I can live with slow response times and long rendering. However, I am missing 3 important features in that old iMovie:
- Output in 1080p not possible, although raw footage is in 1080p
- No slow motion
- Huge issues importing HD footage from our Sony HDR-CX130 (AVCHD format). GoPro 1080p files work well, though

Will these issues be solved with the current iMovie version?
I would like to stick to iMovie because of its simplicity. Videos will go to vimeo or will be downloaded by friends, no DVD/BR stuff planned. No professional high-end cutting planned.

Concerning hardware, doing an update on that little Mac Mini is probably not a reasonable option.
So I wanted to ask which Apple computer – preferably a used one – would fit my requirements. I could imagine using an 5th or 6th generation iMac 20“.
Like I said, it doesn’t have to be lightning fast, it should just harmonize well with the current software generation.

Thanks a lot in advance and Best Regards!

[smrpix]

From a software perspective, moving up on a mac leaves you only two choices, Adobe Premiere Pro or FCPX. Use their system requirements to determine which machine you need. Frankly, the newer and more powerful the better.

http://www.apple.com/finalcutpro/specs/

FWIW, I know professional editors who use Avid Media Composer on MODERN mac minis, so it's not out of the question.

[rumplestiltskin]

A new 2.6GHz Core-i7 mini would be fine. Get 16GB of RAM (its maximum). For even more improved performance, install a solid state drive (SSD) as the boot device (and where your apps will be installed). 1080 can be done although is your 1080p 60fps? That may prove troublesome as I recall a Panasonic 700 a few years ago whose footage at 60fps 1080 was unusable on a fairly high-end Mac. All that may be different today. SloMo is not a problem with FCP (and, IIRC, Premiere). Remember that ProRes or AIC (Apple Intermediate Codec) are the way to go for editing as AVCHD is too compressed to edit efficiently. Obviously, you'll need lots of drive space. USB 3.0 is fast enough for this; no need for Thunderbolt.

The 2011 Core i7 iMac is a good choice although its USB is only v2, not v3. Firewire drives would really be better in that case. (But I still think a late 2012 Core i7 2.6GHz mini is a better choice for future-proofing.)

Lots of others here have experience with this so you should get many more responses.