Final cut and powerbook G4

[Ryan Spanger]

It really depends on what you are editing, i.e. DV or HDV, whether you are simply doing straight cuts or using a number of effects, transitions layers etc. It also depends on how much footage you will be working with.

If you are working with DV and simply doing straight cuts you should be fine with your current setup. If you need to do rendering on anything more complex than basic transitions you will probably find the time that it takes frustrating.

Adding more ram will definitely speed up the system, but not enough to cope with anything more complex than simply rendering basic transitions (without it being too slow and frustrating)

If you intend to continue editing on your own system on a regular basis then you should start making plans to invest in some new hardware. If you are pretty much doing just straight cuts, and this is a one-off or occasional thing, you should be able to get away with your current setup.

Ryan Spanger
Dream Engine – Video Production Melbourne

[Rob Grauert]

To help us answer your questions, you’ll need to fill us in on some more info:
How much RAM do you currently have?
What type of video do you plan on editing, for example, what format?

I’ll make some assumptions:
If you are editing SD from miniDV tapes, I think your computer will work fine. 2GB of RAM should work smoothly.

If you start trying to do things in After Effects and/or Motion, your computer may become a bit sluggish with only 2GB of RAM.

An external drive is a great idea because you don’t want to load video to your main hard drive in your computer. If that drive crashes, you could lose all your work. I’d suggest purchasing a 500GB LaCie drive. I have one that has been problem-free since I purchased it in ’05 and I just bought second a few weeks ago.

Robert J. Grauert, Jr.

[Rob Grauert]

Oops, I seems to have repeated the same things you said, Ryan. Sorry, I must have still been typing when you posted.

Robert J. Grauert, Jr.

[Juliet Lammers]

Thank you for the advice. I plan on editing video that I shot on mini DV. I have about 14 hours that I want to edit down to about an hour. I don’t plan on doing anything fancy, straight cuts, maybe some fades and music. My computer can only handle a max of 1.25 gb of RAM. I currently have 768mb. Will 1.25 gb be sufficient to edit video? The alternative is to buy a 2006 macbook from a friend who uses it for editing and has not had any problems. I am not sure how to tell what kind of RAM my computer takes – does anyone know what kind of RAM to install in the 2003 Powerbook G4?

[Rob Grauert]

1.25 GB will be enough to do what you want to do. I would upgrade to that amount if you have the money. RAM isn’t to expensive anymore these days. I suggest purchasing from http://www.otherworldcomputing.com. I use it and it works great. It’s affordable and, it is Mac certified.

Here is how you figure out what kind of RAM you want:
Go to the Apple in the upper left hand corner of your screen Apple>About This Mac. It will bring up a dialogue box showing you the spec of your computer. Included is the amount of RAM you have and what kind.

Robert J. Grauert, Jr.

[Juliet Lammers]

Thanks for the help!

[Juliet Lammers]

One more question – is there anything specific that I need to look out for when purchasing an external hard drive to use with my Powerbook G4? Like how it connects to the computer – whether with Firewire or a USB cable? Any other specifications I should be aware of? Thanks, Juliet

[Ryan Spanger]

Make sure it is firewire and not USB.
USB is not good for editing video.

Ryan Spanger
Dream Engine – Video Production Melbourne

[Jake Williams]

Hi Juliet,

When you purchase your drive make sure it is a 7200rpm drive. A USB 2.0 drive should be fine for SD editing. I have use USB drives for editing on mac and PC and they function as well as firewire drives. Good luck with your project.
-Jake