merlot Posted April 19, 2007 Report Share Posted April 19, 2007 I need to spec out a Mac for video capture & editing, dvd creation, and web design. Currently I use a Windows platform with Dreamweaver for web duties, and use to have another Windows machine with ATI capture card, Adobe Premier Elements, and Ulead Movie Studio Pro for video duties. That latter died. I suggested a Mac since it would be nice to see my web work across all platforms, and they are strong in video work. I'm looking at Mac Pros and wondered if there's anything I should look for? Is the base Mac Pro with dual 2Ghz Dual-Core Xeon's a good value? Is 1GB RAM enough? I really have no budget restriction, but I'd rather keep the cost down as much as possible and still get what I need. How about software? I'm thinking Adobe Creative Suite 3 Web Premium, and Final Cut Express HD. Will the latter be fine for light editing and DVD creation (SD resoultion)? Also, what is recommenced for video capture, both analog and digital? I had my eye on the ADS Pyro A/V Link. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
secretvampire Posted April 20, 2007 Report Share Posted April 20, 2007 Come over to the PC and Mac Discussion forum and post this, I think your question got overlooked here. I have been trying to figure out what to do as well and trying to decide between an iMac or Mac Pro. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rustyjaw Posted April 20, 2007 Report Share Posted April 20, 2007 A Mac Pro will definitely handle your needs, and I think FCE will also be good. I'd bump up the RAM, especially if you plan to have a few Adobe apps (and/or FCE) open simultaneously. Additionally, if you want to run Windows along with OS X in Parallels, more RAM is the way to go. I'd say minimum 2GB (but don't get it from Apple). OS X absolutely loves RAM, I know that is kind of obvious, but OS X is very aggressive at caching, and you will notice the speed difference if it can cache as much as it wants to without paging. For DVD creation, the machine will come with iDVD, which might be enough for your needs. It is not a pro authoring environment, but it does really nice stuff. I'd look over Apple's iDVD page to see if it gives you everything you need. I don't know much about analog capture cards, when I need to capture analog video, I just use my DV camera to convert the signal and it gets into the machine via firewire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merlot Posted April 20, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 20, 2007 Thanks Ed. Here's what I'll be submitting: Subtotal $2' date='927.00 Specifications * Two 2.0GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon * 2GB (4 x 512MB) * 500GB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s * NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT 256MB (single-link DVI/dual-link DVI) * One 16x SuperDrive * Apple Keyboard and Mighty Mouse - U.S. English * Mac OS X - U.S. English * Final Cut Express HD preinstalled[/quote'] I could probably put in for the highest-end quad-core, but I don't like to waste tax payers money I hope this gets approved. <crosses fingers> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelley Posted April 23, 2007 Report Share Posted April 23, 2007 I'd recommend getting another SATA HD drive to put all your project files on. Make sure your capture card is supported by FCE. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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