Fce

Morning everyone, I am in the process of deciding the best 20" iMac configuration for my needs and have a few questions.

I have always wanted to create professional home video and archive some of my old analog video into watchable clips (rather then long draw out videos).

Do I need FCE? Apple has a great offer right now in canada and I am thinking it is worth while. Will FCE work ok with 1G or will I be upset I did not upgrade to 2G?

Is there any reason I could not use local NAS rather then an external drive for video as I keep hearing about?

Finally any recommendations between mini DV vs. a hard drive based camcorder? My mini DV just died so after I save a bit I will need to get a new one. I think the HD option is the newest and greatest but do you not loose the ability to back up to tape? Is this a silly comment and no one keeps the tapes anyway? My only manditory requirement is the ability to pass through analog video (use the camcorder to convert).

Sounds to me like iMovie HD will be just fine. It comes with new systems. FCE is a more advanced tool that allows for finer control and effects.

If when you say 1G or 2G and your referring to memory, the correct accronym is 1GB or 2GB. Anyhow, 1GB should be fine. As always, the more the better, because you can do more without stressing out the system as much.

I'm not sure about the NAS question. Perhaps it would be best if it has Gigabit ethernet. The bandwidth available will affect how (or if) you can interact with your content. I just quickly loaded an iMovie project over 100MB ethernet and it played back fine. You'll difinitely need a hardwire connection rather than wireless.