Is After Effects 7 on a G4 Powerbook (1GHz, 2GB RAM) worth it?

[Sean Corcoran]

That depends what you want to do with it. Once upon a time, I was able to do plenty with AE6 and an 800mhz titanium Powerbook with 512mb of RAM. The stuff I did on that laptop helped me get my first “real” post job. Can you be more specific of your needs for After Effects?

[Thelonius]

I’ve been using 6.5 for motion graphics projects for professional use. Usually at 720×480 8 bit or 16.9 (848×480) or sometimes higher. I’ve been perfectly happy with 6.5’s performance on my machine – knowing of course full well that I’m not running on a G5 tower – but It’s done what I needed it to do.

So, if I’m happy with 6.5’s performance, will I be happy with 7’s?

[Michael Del rossi]

Well I remember doing my first Showtime graphics on a IIsi with 17 megs of ram and 500meg HD AE3 Ha! ;o}
Like the above poster said It depends what you want to do with it and how long you want to wait.
I still use 6.5 on my 800mhz G3 iBook at online sessions If I need to make a change. Not fast but workable.
YMMV
good luck
mdr

[Sean Corcoran]

We’ve not yet updated to AE7, so I can’t speak on it specifically, but from what you described, it sounds like if you’ve been satisfied by the performance of 6.5 on your Powerbook, then I can’t see why 7 would be that much different. It might even be a better experience with the new interface, which I’ve heard is more user-friendly on smaller screens. You might check in on an Apple forum to see what people there say specifically about it.

[Thelonius]

Thanks. THAT’s what I wanted to hear! Seriously though, I downloaded the tryout so we’ll see it how it works. Maybe I’ll post how it goes.

Jim