[Jeff Carpenter]

Final Cut Pro Rescue (free)
https://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/14729
It copies Final Cut preference files…if you ever have issues with Final Cut just go into this program and tell it to restore the old preferences. A must-have.

Here are 2 popular FTP programs:
FETCH: $25
https://fetchsoftworks.com/

Transmit: $30
https://www.panic.com/transmit/

These 3 programs are free. Spend 5 minutes with each and store those facts in your head. Eventually, someday, you’ll run into a problem that one of these will be able to help you with. (De-muxing MPEG files, especially.)
https://www.alfanet.it/squared5/mpegstreamclip.html
https://handbrake.m0k.org
https://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/22715

Use Safari for web browsing (turn of “Open Safe Files” in its preferences first!)
BUT…for thsoe few web pages that don’t like Safari, you should have Firefox on your computer to use as backup:
https://www.mozilla.com/firefox/

Get the free Flip4Mac:
https://www.flip4mac.com/
It lets you plays Windows Media Files in Quick Time. If you need to MAKE them, they have programs you can buy for that.

Look in APPLICATIONS > UTILITIES > DISC UTILITY is very useful. Make sure you know it well and always check there first. If you get into serious trouble, this is what most people buy for disc repair:
https://www.alsoft.com/DiskWarrior/

And finally…go to your Apple Menu in the upper left and select “Mac OS X Software”
That will take you to a part of the Apple page that lets you download and browse all SORTS of files. Some are freeware, some are shareware, and some require you to pay for them. But it’s very worthwhile to spend an hour looking through it. A lot of the stuff there is in the under-$50 category so you can pick up some neat apps for not much money. Lots of free stuff too. Good luck!

[Jeff Carpenter]

All of these cards being suggested to you can do all sorts of great things, but IF you have Photoshop CS2 and IF you are editing in DV-resolution, then you can simply use a firewire camera or converter to view your photoshop images on a video monitor.

Granted, that’s two “ifs” but it’s worth pointing out, all the same.

[Jeff Carpenter]

E-Bay is tricky. You have to make sure that you’re getting the original CDs in the original box with the manuals.

Ways that people try to cheat you on E-Bay with software:
1) Send you a COPY of the software, meaning they kept it and you don’t really own it.
2) Send you an UPGRADE instead of the full version meaning you can’t load it
3) Sell you some kind of student-version meaning it either lacks functions and/or you can’t upgrade it later

And those are just 3 I could think up. I’m sure there are many more ways to get cheated.

So, what to do? Well, first of all, I’d advise you to ignore very, VERY low prices. Second, only consider items that have original, home-made photos. If they’re using the clip-art from Apple.com, skip it. The photos should include everything you’re getting AND the text of the ad should CLEARLY state that you’re getting an original version that’s NOT a student or evaluation version and it includes all of the codes and books. If that’s not spelled out 100% clearly…skip it.

And finally, see if you can find some way to trust the person. Read all of their comments from people they’ve sold to in the past. E-Mail them and see what response you get. Ask if you can call them on the phone and talk to them. Ask them WHY they’re selling it. If they hesitate to do any of these things, skip it.

I bought a version of DVD Studio Pro once on E-Bay and it was fine. But that’s because I followed all of my rules AND…here’s the most important part…I was only saving about $40 under retail. When you’re saving a lot of money, you have to ask “Why isn’t this person asking more?”

[Jeff Carpenter]

As far as I know, you’ll be fine.

Now, it looks like going back and forth bewtween an Intel Mac and a G5 Mac might be complicated…but between a G4 and a G5 I think you’ll be fine.

[Jeff Carpenter]

I like this little widget because it’s fast, simple, and always on my dashbaord:

https://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/business/capture.html

If you need more options, Snapz Pro has a couple of different programs that cost $20 or $40 depending on what you get.

https://www.ambrosiasw.com/utilities/snapzprox/

[Jeff Carpenter]

You are right on all counts about the Pro apps. If you’re going to use an Intel Mac you must upgrade.

As for iLife, it IS faster, but it’s impossible to say ‘how much’ exactly. If you’re moving up from 5 then you’ll find that it’s faster because the apps have all been improved (especially iPhoto). That will be true on any Mac. And if you’re moving from a PPC Mac to an Intel Mac then that will also make iLife faster.

So how much of the “faster” is because of the software change and how much is because of the hardware change is kind of hard to split up and figure out. As for an overall, ‘how-much-faster’ answer, well…I’ll be able to tell you once MY new iMac comes…right now I couldn’t say! 🙂

[Jeff Carpenter]

Yes, all of iLife 6 is Universal (ready for PowerPC or Intel).

The Pro apps will be universal by the end of March. If you have the old versions you can “crossgrade” to them for a fee:

https://www.apple.com/universal/crossgrade/

There shouldn’t be any difference between these and the old versions on a G4 or G5, but on an Intel Mac they’ll all run faster. In fact, many of the “Pro” apps won’t run under the emulation mode at all so you’ll have to upgrade to use them on an Intel Mac.

[Jeff Carpenter]

Doug…doesn’t a nested sequence simply refer to the orginal media? There’s nothing new created. An audio mixdown creates a new audio track which can help avoid hang-ups and dropped frames when playing back to tape.

Given this, I’m not sure that there’s no need to do an audio mixdown. Even if you are nesting I think it can still have extra benefits.

[Jeff Carpenter]

If you’re trying to do the mixdown in order to apply an effect (like brightness to the whole project) then you can use nesting. Make a new sequence and just drag the old sequence onto the new timeline. You’ll get one clip that you can apply effects to.

But if you’re trying to mixdown for the purposes of getting smoother playback then, no, this won’t solve that. Exporting and re-importing is the way to go for that reason.

[Jeff Carpenter]

The article Chris posted is probably the best place to start.

Outside of that, something like the H.263 codec might be good. It would require the view to have Quick Time, but it could use older versions.

Who are the viewers of this audience? If it’s media-savy people, requiring QT is fine. Heck, if the target is media pros you can probably use H.264 which requires the viewer to have QT 7.

If it’s a web site aimed at kids, or something, then you’d want something more universal. Maybe even Flash. It depends on how much you expect of your visitors.