Is it true that “previewing” is not necessary w apple?

[Walter Biscardi]

[Todd Roush] “Is it true that
1. Apple computers don’t crash.”

Well, they do crash on occasion, just like any computer will. How often they crash depends wholly on how you have it set up and how you maintain it. The thing with Final Cut Pro is that you can have an infinite amount of software / hardware combinations. This means that while we have three very complex uncompressed high definition editing systems that might crash once a month, I’ve seen folks with iMacs that for whatever reason claim they crash all the time.

The big key is ensuring that you are properly set up for the work you want to do AND you pay VERY close attention to all updates from both Apple and 3rd party vendors. For instance, right now Quicktime 7.4 has been causing a lot of issues for folks running Final Cut Pro while others say it is working fine. Myself, I’m staying at QT 7.3 at the moment as I see no reason to update.

You can click on my Profile to see what our workstation setups are.

[Todd Roush] “2. No previewing needed.”

Do you mean no rendering needed? For straight playback, you should never have to render. The amount of realtime effects, filters and transitions you can employ are directly related to your CPU, Graphics Card and your Media Array speed. Faster CPU, beefy graphics card and very fast media array equals more realtime.

For instance we run a Mac Pro Quad 3.0 with an ATI 1900 graphics card and an 8TB SAS/SATA array running 500MB/s in my edit suite. I get a LOT of realtime. Run a iMac with a single FW800 drive and you’ll be able to edit DV, DVCPro HD and HDV just fine, but you won’t get near the realtime performance as my system.

Just about every project requires some degree of rendering before laying back to tape.

[Todd Roush] “3. Apples just work dude.”

Yes on this one. Been with Apple since 1995. The worst time for owning an Apple was the initial switch to OS X. Lots of 3 rd party folks had a heckuva time getting their products to work. I currently own 10 Macs and 2 XP machines. Guess which two machines I despise in our office. 🙂

[Todd Roush] “I did meet someone recently who did not use her Apple for almost a year because when they break nobody seems to know how to get them back up again.”

It’s called AppleCare and you should definitely purchase it for all your machines, especially if you’re earning money on them. Also via the Cow many people are able to, if not completely repair, get their systems up and running again.

[Todd Roush] “The other issue I have had is working with Apple users they don’t seem to be able to locate the files to send to me. I guess Apple hides them or does not have a clear file system like a PC?”

This is completely wrong. Apple makes it even easier, in my opinion, to find files than PC. Especially when using the Find or Spotlight tools. Macs typically find files in less than 10 seconds. Everything on a Mac is laid out in plain english in folders you create. Couldn’t be simpler.

I’m thinking these Apple folks you’ve met never took the time to learn the Apple interface at all. Mac is a far simpler machine to run than a PC.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Biscardi Creative Media
HD and SD Production for Broadcast and Independent Productions.

STOP STARING AND START GRADING WITH APPLE COLOR
The new Color Training DVD now available from the Creative Cow!

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[Shane Ross]

All of those questions and the general attitude of the post indicate that you are a “troll” trying to elicit a specific response…people LEAPING to defend Apple.

If you want to use your PC…use your PC. I like my Apple, I’m sticking with it. It works, crashes on occasion (what computer doesn’t?) and I can find all of my files just fine. When it is broken, I have my choice of repair facilities to take it to.

Life goes on.

Shane

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[Todd Roush]

Thank you Walter!

Hi Shane,

I’m sorry but your assumption is absolutely, totally, dead wrong so I thank Walter for taking my question at face value.

I love that I can buy a PC for far less than an Apple but my only true preference is for value.

I have a bunch of Dell P4 3gig computers that cost $350ea 3 years ago and rock my 3 camera DV edits with no problem. Can’t beat the price, but now with HDV the price differences for dual quad core computers are not that great and one of the big differences with apple is that they just don’t make cheap computers.

I think Apple probably uses better components, etc. Everybody seems to agree that Apple has a better operating system.

I love the idea of editing faster, having fewer issues and rendering & previewing effects faster.

I guess I’m just trying to find out if it’s myth or really true anymore. The computers seem to be getting closer. Vista seems to try to copy Apple a bit. Pentium processors…I hear you can run FCP on a PC now?

Can I still get $100 500gig name brand SATA drives with an Apple? I was told Apple hard drives are more expensive but I thought a hard drive was a hard drive?

This is why it’s great to hear from people who have both.

Thanks and have a great one.

Todd Roush (no trolling) 🙂

Todd Roush
Dreamscape Digital Media
Panny DVX-100’s but changing so Sony or Cannon HDV soon.

[Todd Roush]

I am seriously and sincerely interested in hearing from people who have both PC and Apple.

In the post above “rendering taking 7 hours” it says that Apple does not read .avi’s well? This is concerning as my current version of Premiere seems to do just fine with Quicktime files or just about any file for that matter. I wonder if that has changed with the newer versions.

It does seem like Apple is becoming extremely proprietary.

I do see that it’s tough to raise these questions as people have loyalties which is actually kind of odd if you think about it.

I just want to make the best investment for my very little company and for us equipment decisions are just brutal sometimes.

Thanks again.

Todd Roush

Todd Roush
Dreamscape Digital Media
Panny DVX-100’s but changing so Sony or Cannon HDV soon.

[Walter Biscardi]

[Todd Roush] “In the post above “rendering taking 7 hours” it says that Apple does not read .avi’s well?”

FCP has never supported AVI’s natively. You have to work in a Quicktime format for FCP.

[Todd Roush] “I just want to make the best investment for my very little company and for us equipment decisions are just brutal sometimes.”

What exactly are your company needs? If Avi is a very important part of your workflow, then FCP is not what you want. It will be a very slow and tedious process to work with the App. for an Avi workflow, staying with a PC based system is definitely the way to go.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Biscardi Creative Media
HD and SD Production for Broadcast and Independent Productions.

STOP STARING AND START GRADING WITH APPLE COLOR
The new Color Training DVD now available from the Creative Cow!

Read my Blog!

[Walter Biscardi]

[Todd Roush] “..I hear you can run FCP on a PC now?”

Nope, not as long as Apple owns the applications.

[Todd Roush] “Can I still get $100 500gig name brand SATA drives with an Apple? I was told Apple hard drives are more expensive but I thought a hard drive was a hard drive?”

Yep, a hard drive is a hard drive. I pick up extra SATA drives at Costco and Best Buy to install inside my machines.

If you’re talking about hard drive arrays to connect to the Mac, well that’s different. Some folks like to set up their own boxes, I won’t do that. I go with a reputable company who has excellent tech support to stand behind that. My choice is MaxxDigital where I run an 8TB, 500MB/s array in RAID 5 for good speed and protection of my data.

Dulce and Sonnet also make great external boxes.

Again, I don’t edit on a PC and won’t unless I have to so I can only tell you the Mac side. Mike Cohen has been writing about his experiences with Premiere on the PC in his blog here on the Cow.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Biscardi Creative Media
HD and SD Production for Broadcast and Independent Productions.

STOP STARING AND START GRADING WITH APPLE COLOR
The new Color Training DVD now available from the Creative Cow!

Read my Blog!

[Shane Ross]

Sorry Todd. It was the “Apples just work dude” comment and the fact that you think that Apple users can’t find their files. Just typical assumptions from PC people who try to put us Apple users down.

Now, as to your comments “my current version of Premiere seems to do just fine with Quicktime files or just about any file for that matter” and “It does seem like Apple is becoming extremely proprietary.” Premiere is designed to work with just about anything you throw at it. That is the core of it’s programming. FCP isn’t designed that way. It is designed to work best with specific professional formats, formats you find in the Easy Setup list. Formats that you capture with FCP. If you want to have an NLE that can edit any and every video file you throw at it, Premiere might be the answer for you. They have a Mac version, and I hear it is a great application.

There are lots of editing applications out there with different strengths and weaknesses. Know what you need to do, then buy the application that serves those needs.

Shane

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