Mac For Editing

[zorro1]

Hi Gurus.

My son just entered short a short film for tropfest and said the editing was a night mare without a MAC.

Any thoughts about the right model for the above application? Im clueless but would like to buy him one for his birthday. any advice on

Prices?

models?

better from Pantip or to buy in oz?

Thanks in advance.

Edited January 8, 2011 by zorro1

[DocHolliday]

Not sure which software requirements are actually needed - here the high-end software

Apple Final Cut Pro 7

(Final Cut Express - lite version )

Adobe Premier CS5

iMac, 8 or 16GB RAM

[zorro1]

Hi actually needs the mac p.c

[msg362]

I'm presently using a 3 year old 24" iMac, 2.8 GHz core duo. and Adobe Premiere Pro. Most of my edits are for short pieces , no longer than 10 minutes.

Premiere Pro is MUCH easier to use than Final cut i found. My camera is AVCHD ( writes onto SD cards, not tape) and PP can 'see' these without having to render first ( rendering changes the codes so that final cut can edit it) This is working fine for me.

That said, as the iMac is three years old , I'm, planning to upgrade in the next few months.

Ideally a Mac Pro, but you need a mortgage to buy one. They are the fastest, but iMac i7 is a good choice

My plan is to buy a 27" iMac i7, 1 TB hard drive and add extra RAM ( it comes with 4 GB) Apple RAM is expensive, but other makers like Crucial will sell 8 GB RAM for about £70. It better to get a lot of RAM, at least 8 GB for editing.

I live in Chiang Mai and use the iMac shop - excellent service, very professional. I have never seen Macs for sale in Pantip here. I have seen an online Apple store for Thailand where you an browse and price your computer. Nowhere offers discounts and prices in the UK seem broadly similar to here, an iPad I bought was cheaper here than the UK. You may have trouble bringing it into Thailand .

If it's a laptop he wants ( andI wouldn't recommend it, a big screen is great) then it has to be a macbook pro.

Best of luck

[negreanu]

Mac Pro 3.33ghz Hex Core. If he is serious for the future this will be the one to buy now. Not exactly cheap but the 6 core 3.33ghz is the sweet spot for all the Mac Pro's.

[JusMe]

Zorro, you haven't said where you are, or where your son is. If he's here in Thailand, buy locally so you can have easier access to services. If he's in Oz, buy there.

In Bangkok's Pantip Plaza, there is a good sized Apple store (3rd floor?) as well as a service centre on the floor above. Pretty good English in both places.

Of course, other Apple stores located around Bangkok, too.

[zorro1]

Thanks very much guys. He is on OZ and doesnt want the laptop. He is taking his potential career very seriously hes 24. SO i may as well get him the best Mac available without taking out a mortgage.

(he may also need an agent one day )

sounds like its best to buy in oz?

[negreanu]

If he wants to go Pro you must go for the Mac Pro as a year down the line he will end up selling the imac or minor mac to get one.

False economy to be honest and Mac Pro's hold their value better.

Compared to the top of the range i7 imac the Mac Pro is not significantly that much more.

Don't forget you can get the education discount when ordering online in OZ or Thailand from the apple store direct.

Edited January 9, 2011 by negreanu

[losworld]

I've edited Mac, PC, Avid, Vegas, Premier, Final Cut. You don't need to get a Mac. He can edit projects on a PC. I'd recommend Vegas for basic PC projects. If he is doing long in depth projects and has a lot of time to learn than Avid is good. Final Cut Pro is a nice system and if money is no object get the Mac and the FCP. Otherwise he can learn on the PC and graduate to a Mac or Avid via Mac or PC at a later date. He shouldn't need to upgrade in the near future as most decent systems now have the processor and the memory to handle HDV, limited HD, compressed h264, etc.

[Ciaphas]

^Some good advice, I also find the statement ' editing was a night mare without a MAC.' somewhat strange. Most non-linear editing systems whether on Pc or Mac are very similar these days and all achieve the same results. If it has to be Mac, I would strongly recommend get a Pro if he wants to cut on FCP.

If he does want to get into the film industry, having a film looks really strong on his CV, but I would advise him to get as much work experience as possible and start running for a company as soon as possible. I don't know the OZ industry but in the UK it is a very young and competitive industry, by 24 I was already an editor at a major post house. And a lot of the directors I work with these days are in their mid to late twenties with a couple of good credits to their names, and a couple of years assisting experience.

[zorro1]

^Some good advice, I also find the statement ' editing was a night mare without a MAC.' somewhat strange. Most non-linear editing systems whether on Pc or Mac are very similar these days and all achieve the same results. If it has to be Mac, I would strongly recommend get a Pro if he wants to cut on FCP.

If he does want to get into the film industry, having a film looks really strong on his CV, but I would advise him to get as much work experience as possible and start running for a company as soon as possible. I don't know the OZ industry but in the UK it is a very young and competitive industry, by 24 I was already an editor at a major post house. And a lot of the directors I work with these days are in their mid to late twenties with a couple of good credits to their names, and a couple of years assisting experience.

great post. Thats the Biz side I want aware of. If he really wants in roads he should try for some level of employment in the industry.

"Don't forget you can get the education discount when ordering online in OZ or Thailand from the apple store direct. "

whats this about?

[dugmoore]

"Don't forget you can get the education discount when ordering online in OZ or Thailand from the apple store direct. "

whats this about?

Some places offer an educational discount for the products, such as if you are a student, etc.

In the US / UK / Japan the Avid seems to rule the higher paying gigs, especially for commercials. FCP has edged in on the market very well though, and most people aren't lucky enough to land the better paying jobs (car commercials, etc). The good things about FCP is that it is becoming almost synonymous with Apple, and that means a lot of support.

Media Composer 5 seems to work really well, Mac or PC, and the educational discount puts it at 300 USD I think. Only thing is with the educational discount you cannot

get upgrades

[Ciaphas]

^^Yes, if he works hard puts in the hours and has some talent, he will go far.

Apple do 15% discounts for students, but they also offer discounts to big companies, I know that all the staff at CNN and BBC get an 18% discount. So if he's not a student it's worth asking around to see if you know anyone who can get a discount.

^ I think bang for your buck FCP is a better product than Avid (and I've only ever cut on Avid for the last 17 years.) With Avid you still need to use a Break out box for it not to feel sluggish.

Don't get me started on MC5 and how Avid have f*****d up the interface to make it more like FCP.

[zorro1]

he said he wants to buy Imac 24"

Now I need to check the pricing..

[moneyshot]

I doubt you could find a new 24 inch iMac, they stopped making them in 2009. They now come with a 21.5 and 27 inch screen size.

Speaking from personal experience I would stay clear of the iMac's at the moment. They're plagued with problems. I bought a 27 inch model and the screen had black 'burnt looking' marks appearing after just 3 months, Apple replaced the screen straight away and all was well until recently when it has happened again. This time they are trying to get out of replacing the screen citing that 'environmental damage' has caused the marks. I am currently appealing this and fighting for them to replace the screen. If you do a google search you will see this is an all to common problem and Apple seems to be trying to get out of replacements lately.

[negreanu]

I bought a 27 inch model and the screen had black 'burnt looking' marks appearing after just 3 months, Apple replaced the screen straight away and all was well until recently when it has happened again. This time they are trying to get out of replacing the screen citing that 'environmental damage' has caused the marks. I am currently appealing this and fighting for them to replace the screen. If you do a google search you will see this is an all to common problem and Apple seems to be trying to get out of replacements lately.

Had the same problem after 2 week battle they agreed to change it even took photos of the environment to show that it cannot be and it is no smoking anywhere.

They eventually caved in and changed the screen but said they will not next time. Sold it the next day.

[moneyshot]

I bought a 27 inch model and the screen had black 'burnt looking' marks appearing after just 3 months, Apple replaced the screen straight away and all was well until recently when it has happened again. This time they are trying to get out of replacing the screen citing that 'environmental damage' has caused the marks. I am currently appealing this and fighting for them to replace the screen. If you do a google search you will see this is an all to common problem and Apple seems to be trying to get out of replacements lately.

Had the same problem after 2 week battle they agreed to change it even took photos of the environment to show that it cannot be and it is no smoking anywhere.

They eventually caved in and changed the screen but said they will not next time. Sold it the next day.

I have read the same story many times about Apple saying 'only this time we will fix it'... Its BS!! They must know there is a problem, I suspect something to do with heat - poor engineering design. I would rather a thicker iMac with better ventilation and adequate fans/cooling but they try to make the thing as thin as possible. Rumours are circulating that the next iMac will be even thinner! I doubt they will be able to solve the screen problem with an even thinner design.

Being a big company with record profit year on year, I think they should admit a problem and stop blaming the customers with nonsense such as 'environmental damage'... What does that exactly mean anyway? It seems like a 'get out of jail free card' for apple and after paying for a 'quality' machine as well as forking out an extra +$200 for 'applecare' extended warranty, they deny a fair claim! - not acceptable!!!

Thing is I love Apple products and have been using them for the past 7 years+. This is the first time I have had a major problem with their products or service but it has left a bad taste in my mouth. If there were another option I would probably stop using their computers but I don't want to buy a Windows based machine. Might be a good idea to sell this thing once they fix the screen AGAIN - which they will;)

What did you replace the iMac with after you dumped it??? I don't really need a Mac Pro and don't want to use a laptop so the iMac is really the only choice for me.. Hopefully the next revision doesn't suffer from the same problems but I don't hold much hope!

[msg362]

I doubt you could find a new 24 inch iMac, they stopped making them in 2009. They now come with a 21.5 and 27 inch screen size.

Speaking from personal experience I would stay clear of the iMac's at the moment. They're plagued with problems. I bought a 27 inch model and the screen had black 'burnt looking' marks appearing after just 3 months, Apple replaced the screen straight away and all was well until recently when it has happened again. This time they are trying to get out of replacing the screen citing that 'environmental damage' has caused the marks. I am currently appealing this and fighting for them to replace the screen. If you do a google search you will see this is an all to common problem and Apple seems to be trying to get out of replacements lately.

I just 'Googled' and the last comment I could find was dated Feb 2010 saying the problems had been solved. Do you have any more recent information? I'm interested as I am thinking of updating to an iMac 27" soon

[msg362]

^^Yes, if he works hard puts in the hours and has some talent, he will go far.

Apple do 15% discounts for students, but they also offer discounts to big companies, I know that all the staff at CNN and BBC get an 18% discount. So if he's not a student it's worth asking around to see if you know anyone who can get a discount.

^ I think bang for your buck FCP is a better product than Avid (and I've only ever cut on Avid for the last 17 years.) With Avid you still need to use a Break out box for it not to feel sluggish.

Don't get me started on MC5 and how Avid have f*****d up the interface to make it more like FCP.

Not as experienced as you but the new Premiere Pro CS5 is just great!

[moneyshot]

Here is one of many that is more recent - http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2699434&tstart=0

I had a call back today from the Apple customer relation officer and after a second opinion by their engineering department they still claim that 'environmental damage' has caused the problem with my screen. I asked if they could be more specific and the best they could give was dust! My computer is kept in an air conditioned office with no smoke or dust, I couldn't think of a more ideal environment for computer...

Anyway the customer relation officer believed and seemed to agree with me that its not environmental damage which has caused this so they made an 'exception' and will fix the screen under warranty. They said if there is a next time they will have to review it again. Hopefully I won't have the trouble again!

I have also just had the hard drive replaced... Other than these problems the computer has been fantastic!

If you do decide to buy one, definitely grab the extended warranty (apple care), which is about 6k for the imac.

[negreanu]

Sell it is my advice as soon as you get it back. My brothers did the same after 4 weeks. Screen replaced after hassle.

Marks are now coming back in the top left corner 2 months later.

I think its related to Humidity and badly sealed LCD screens.

So this is 3rd imac i have heard off having this problem in Thailand.

oh and the Maccentre here in BKK chatting to the girl there she said they have had about 20 imac's with the same problem and most are not resolved under warranty.

The only way to do it is really kick up sh1t with customer relations not customer support in SG and secure the "Exception". I am not sure if anyone has been successful on a second "Exception"

If you do decide to buy one, definitely grab the extended warranty (apple care), which is about 6k for the imac.

Don't think that will help in this problem case and they will still blame environmental even under applecare.

Edited January 13, 2011 by negreanu

[msg362]

Sell it is my advice as soon as you get it back. My brothers did the same after 4 weeks. Screen replaced after hassle.

Marks are now coming back in the top left corner 2 months later.

I think its related to Humidity and badly sealed LCD screens.

So this is 3rd imac i have heard off having this problem in Thailand.

oh and the Maccentre here in BKK chatting to the girl there she said they have had about 20 imac's with the same problem and most are not resolved under warranty.

The only way to do it is really kick up sh1t with customer relations not customer support in SG and secure the "Exception". I am not sure if anyone has been successful on a second "Exception"

If you do decide to buy one, definitely grab the extended warranty (apple care), which is about 6k for the imac.

Don't think that will help in this problem case and they will still blame environmental even under applecare.

I went into MacZone in Chiang Mai and asked the senior technician about this. Yes there seems to be a problem and of course he was not specific, but he seemed to be indicating that it's either heat or humidity. He asked if the room was air conditioned or excessively hot. ( well in Thailand what do you expect). I asked if Apple in Singapore would repeatedly replace screens,he said that if it happened several times they would replace the computer. He implied that the problem was a manufacturing defect, but don't hold me to that. He was trying to reassure me that it was OK to buy an iMac i7, but to get Apple Care.

More Data needed!!!!!!!!!

Edited January 13, 2011 by msg362

[moneyshot]

Im in Chiang Mai, you can buy mine if you like;)

Seriously I would not recommend anyone I know personally to buy one! In fact I just told my uncle not to buy one but it was too late and he picked one up last week...

Either wait for the next revision and see if they have addressed the problem or look for an alternative. Either a mac mini or mac pro with an external screen are the two alternative desktop choices.

Not sure what Im going to do...

[msg362]

Im in Chiang Mai, you can buy mine if you like;)

Seriously I would not recommend anyone I know personally to buy one! In fact I just told my uncle not to buy one but it was too late and he picked one up last week...

Either wait for the next revision and see if they have addressed the problem or look for an alternative. Either a mac mini or mac pro with an external screen are the two alternative desktop choices.

Not sure what Im going to do...

I need a quad core for video editing, so I don't think a mac mini will be up to the job. I'd love a MacPro with a 30 " screen, but i think it will cost around 120,000 Baht ( cf iMac i7 - < 80,000 Baht). I also wonder if the big 'cinema displays' suffer from the same problem Don't fancy out of the frying pan into the fire!

[negreanu]

The older 24" and 30" as well as the current 27" cinema displays do not suffer from the same problem that is effecting the current imac range. So no need to worry.

I would go with the macpro base model and 27" cinema display ATI 5870 1GB graphics card and get some extra memory from OWC at half the price.

Your future proofing and know you have the best system for expandability and upgrading. Yes it might be 40,000thb more now but is that really a lot more on 80-100k computers.

[moneyshot]

Is the LCD in the 27 inch cinema display different to the one they use in the imac?

[negreanu]

The resolution is the same but the actual panel is constructed differently and the whole thing is better sealed and manufactured to a higher finish imo.

Been running 24" and dual 27" cinema displays since their release without any of the problems I had with the imac -These were in the same room as the imac.

[moneyshot]

Maybe a Mac Pro and a 27 inch cinema display is the way to go...

Where did you sell your iMac? Craigslist or is there a shop in BKK that buys secondhand Macs??

[negreanu]

Maybe a Mac Pro and a 27 inch cinema display is the way to go...

Where did you sell your iMac? Craigslist or is there a shop in BKK that buys secondhand Macs??

you could try craiglist or thaivisa classifieds.

I think Mac Pro is the answer for highend.

I went 3.33ghz 6core as most reviews and forums agree this i the sweet spot between multi cores (Limited use in most apps) and high speed single core apps/games.