Switching to Mac

Hello,

I'm brand-new to the forums here. I run a side business doing wedding and event videography and I'm in the market for a new computer. I'm currently using a PC running Windows XP, but I've recently become interested in possibly switching to a Mac.

I do use a certain degree of f/x in my work, and I output the video to DVD. I did some research and found that recent iMacs, in particular the ones with the Intel Duo chip, seem like they might meet my needs. But I know so little about Macs and how powerful they are versus their PC counterparts, I was hoping for some input from Mac users.

What are the main differences between the iMac and PowerPC? Would a decent iMac be enough to meet the needs of a part-time (hopefully full time in the future) event videographer who uses modest f/x (through Adobe's After Effects; I also run Premiere Pro as my main editing software)?

Also, regarding hardware; I connect to my PC via firewire, but I also use composite cables from time to time. Are these available for iMacs? PowerPCs?

How difficult and costly is it to upgrade Mac memory? I noticed many of the iMacs on Apple.com come with about 512MB, which is a little low for me.

Sorry if some of these questions seem a little... unenlightened. I'm completely new to Macs but going by their reputation in various creative industries it seems like a worthwhile investment. I appreciate any advice anyone might have.

Thanks a lot!

First of all, I think you're a little confused on the naming of these computers. "PowerPC" is the name of the processor used by most Macs. I think you're meaning to say "PowerMac" which is the top of the line computer made by Apple.

I do the exact same work as you. Wedding/Event videography. I do all of my editing on a 15" Powerbook G4 with 2GB of RAM with a 160GB External Drive. I edit with Final Cut.

If you're booked every weekend, then you'll probably want to get a computer that can help you get your product out as soon as possible. An iMac with a G5 (the Intels are having video card problems) would be perfectly fine for that. Ramjet.com has some great deals on iMac RAM for reasonable prices.

I don't know about the composite cables question, I know iMacs don't have composite built in, but there's probably a converter or external box or something.

You'll be happy with your move to Mac.

Thanks for the response, and for clearing up the names for me. PowerMac is what I meant.

So, iMacs have firewire capability built in, then? It sounds like that would be all right for me, and they appear to be in my price range at the moment. And what do those sizeable external drives run, price-wise? How do they connect?

Sorry, I'm a bundle of questions. I just prefer to be educated and most of the websites I've visited, while informative, offer little context.

Yes, iMacs have FireWire built in. I believe Apple is responsible for FireWire IEEE-1394 to begin with...i.e. they invented it.

As far as external drives go, it's about $0.75 per GB. Some cheaper, some more.
Look for a FireWire by Lacie or acomData. They both make great hard-drives.

I saw that on their website just now.
This model seems like it might fit the bill. It has a pretty sizeable internal hard drive. Add some more RAM to this and it seems like a good deal...


20-inch: 2.1GHz PowerPC G5

Specifications
20-inch widescreen LCD
2.1GHz PowerPC G5
512MB memory (533MHz DDR2 SDRAM)
250GB Serial ATA hard drive
Slot-load 8x double-layer SuperDrive
ATI Radeon X600 XT with 128MB DDR video memory

Judging from elsewhere on these forums though, it seems like those video card issues have been addressed; or are there more issues than the one mentioned here?

That would be a good system for you by the way you are explaining what you do.. I know that I would be able to get by with that machine based on what I do (the same thing) but like ben said if you are booked every weekend and you are putting that much effort into editing you might want the powermac, I run a powermac quad (4 cpu cores) at 2.5ghz each and 4 gigs of ram with 1 terrabyte of internal hard drive space.. I don't know if that would be a great system for you.. It edits video like render times do not exist (really really fast rendering..), but I do more then just weddings and events and sometimes need the power.. it was just a suggestion as this is an investment in a business that you intend to make a full time venture... and you may need the power later down the road.

A quick question that could affect your final decision...

Are you shooting in High Definition?

No, I haven't invested in any HD cameras yet. I use DV at the moment.

I'm not booked every weekend, and since cost is a factor right now, the iMac sounds like a good start. I probably won't be expanding this to full time for at least twelve months, probably more, so the extra juice isn't quite necessary yet. And, I have to factor in the cost of an editing suite, since all of my existing software is for Windows. (Darn Microsoft.) Which reminds me - anyone have any recommendations for good DVD authoring software? I'm impressed with the Final Cut Studio suite of programs, but it's a little steep at the moment since it's almost as much as the iMac. Unless someone knows where I could get it cheaper. I was checking out Final Cut Express for editing purposes, it seems to be a good choice, but it won't do me any good without being able to author the video to DVD.

I appreciate your patience; I'm a total newb, but I'm loving what I'm seeing here. Thanks.