[MacDV] Best specs for DV - iMac or G4?

[Erick Camp]

On Friday, November 29, 2002, at 03:40 AM, Anthony Stolarek wrote:

> Does a g4 (twin 867)encode faster? If so is that what I should 
> optimally buy?
> Also, with G4 should I:
> - buy an additional CD burner which is faster than superdrive
> - buy more memory?
> Any other best buys for the first setup?

First, let me tell you that I have been doing video for the past five 
years on a G4 450 AGP Mac with 512 M-bytes of memory, a second 80 
G-byte internal hard drive, and a 25 G-byte AIT tape drive.  I have not 
yet done any DVD burns, although I did buy my wife a iMac with 
superdrive just so I would have that capability.  I started out with a 
variety of non-Apple editing solutions but finally moved up to FCP 
about two years ago.  I have not moved back or looked back to the other 
software/hardware solutions since.  I do plan to move to a 
dual-processor G4 system soon and I have also been researching to 
determine what to buy.

 From what I think I have learned, the second processor will give you at 
least a 50% bump-up in throughput in FCP over the speed of the base 
processor.  So, in my case I would expect a twin 867 would be ~2.5 X 
over my 450.  Remember however that the second processor can only come 
into play if the software is written to support its operation.  While 
0S X 1.2.2 is mostly optimized to use multiprocessors, applications 
that run under the OS may not be.   Bottom line, buy the fastest base 
processor that you can afford -- a 1.25 G-hertz single processor Mac 
will give as much maximum throughput as two 867s.

More memory is definitely desirable, especially for video work.  I 
would recommend at least 512M-bytes, more if you can afford it, 
although memory is something that can be easily ( and often more 
cheaply ) added latter.

You should seriously consider the question of back-up for you system 
and data files.  While you can make backups with CDs, with today's 
world of 100 G-byte and greater drives, CDs no longer cut it.  DVDs 
give greater capacity, but still lack the easy of use and capacity of 
tape back-up units.  If I were buying my tape drive today I would look 
at DLT systems, not AIT.

Good luck with your video activity.


Erick Camp
2 Penguins Studios