[MacDV] fundamental question

[Richard Brown]

On Friday, February 28, 2003, at 07:35 AM, timjoe wrote:

> 1. is video work with a mac is more complicated and glitch-ridden than
> you imagined it would be?

Using Final Cut Pro or Express should provide flawless broadcast (DV) 
level editing at whatever scope you require. I have had essentially 
ZERO problems working professionally with Final Cut Pro on a TiBook, 
editing DVCAM footage, which is the technical equal to Betacam SP 
according to the SMPTE. Your problem, with Final Cut Pro, is that you 
will NOT be able to do accurate color correction for NTSC (regular old 
TV) if you do not at least have a TV, or better, a real monitor (like 
the Sony PVM-14M4U, which you can rent at most pro rental houses.) For 
basic editing, intended to later be color corrected, a TiBook with FCP 
(assuming DV or DVCAM) should be rock solid, and the best solution for 
field purposing. If your material is not pro-related, then you're done, 
even without the TV/Monitor. Final Cut is capable of dazzling anyone in 
the broadcast industry, correctly applied. We're submitting a show we 
did on a TiBook into competition against stuff  produced in $500 per 
hour (and up) edit suites. Ours was about a 200-hour edit involving a 
huge amount of footage. You just can't tell we didn't spend the big 
bucks.

> 2. are there just too many pitfalls in this type of endeavor for an
> average-ability videographer/computer user to deal with?

Using iMovie and iDVD would be the pitfalls, more specifically iMovie. 
By all means at LEAST use Final Cut Express. There will be a slight 
learning curve, but the payoff is huge.

Richard Brown