Mac or PC ? Need to recommend to client

[Majestic]

Hi all,

I have a client whom has a film/auditioning company. Basically, what they do is place good talent in parts across Canada.

Long story short, their company has 2 pcs, one which is a Dell from a couple of years ago which is decent and has not had many problem but then a second computer that is a 1ghz P4 which has nothing but problems.

My clients "dream" is to be able to record film auditions using an HD camera, review them, edit them, and submit them to the various talent agencies across the country.

At the moment, he basically watches the quicktime videos he is sent, reviews the audition and sends it off. He wants to start doing the recording himself. He is not a very computer literate person. He basically surfs the web on the web sites he knows and answers emails via outlook.

I'm not sure what to recommend here for a new system. He does not want to spend a fortune either.

He needs a machine that can process video nicely and easily with the integrated software (or purchased) and to be able to directly edit the video he's recorded.

I've heard that the Mac has integrated (out of the box) software for such a thing but I have no idea the costs involved here. He would also require a nice size screen (at least 20" min.).

I'm not sure for the pc what software would be sufficient and comparable to what the Mac can do (Many people have suggested Final Cut Pro-- no idea what the price is on this or if it exists for the PC.)

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Majestic

 

[JosephLeo]

If he's doing video processing then I would reccomend a workstation GPU. Apple's Mac Pro's start at $2499 and they're the only Mac's that come with or are upgradeable to a workstation level graphics card. (to my knowledge). Not to mention that's the entry level with minimum specs. To meet a real professional level of video processing and editing you will have to invest another $1000 or more with Apple.

So if he's not looking to spend a fortune then it looks like "PC" is his only option here.

He'll want a Xeon processor, FireGL or Quattro graphics card, Video capture card/tuner, SSD, DDR3 Memory and a Blu-Ray writer if he plans on doing this on a professional level. With software, hardware, and labor I don't see how it can possibly cost a total of MORE than $2500....so, for $2500 he can get a PC with everything, or a Mac that needs an additional $1000 of upgrades.

 

[Majestic]

If he's doing video processing then I would reccomend a workstation GPU. Apple's Mac Pro's start at $2499 and they're the only Mac's that come with or are upgradeable to a workstation level graphics card. (to my knowledge). Not to mention that's the entry level with minimum specs. To meet a real professional level of video processing and editing you will have to invest another $1000 or more with Apple.

So if he's not looking to spend a fortune then it looks like "PC" is his only option here.

He'll want a Xeon processor, FireGL or Quattro graphics card, Video capture card/tuner, SSD, DDR3 Memory and a Blu-Ray writer if he plans on doing this on a professional level. With software, hardware, and labor I don't see how it can possibly cost a total of MORE than $2500....so, for $2500 he can get a PC with everything, or a Mac that needs an additional $1000 of upgrades.

Hi JosephLeo,

Are you sure he needs something so powerful? He's simply using an HD camera to record auditions then editing it. I'm assuming it would go through firewire but these days a lot goes through usb so I Could be wrong (camera dependent). That said, wouldn't a $1500 system with an average video card pull it off? From what I understand programs like Adobe Premiere are more dependent on system memory itself. Even 8 gigs comes quite cheaply at this point.

Also is there something like Final Cut Pro at a reasonable price for the PC that would perform as well?

Majestic

 

[ProTech Support]

Hi JosephLeo,

Are you sure he needs something so powerful? He's simply using an HD camera to record auditions then editing it. I'm assuming it would go through firewire but these days a lot goes through usb so I Could be wrong (camera dependent). That said, wouldn't a $1500 system with an average video card pull it off? From what I understand programs like Adobe Premiere are more dependent on system memory itself. Even 8 gigs comes quite cheaply at this point.

Also is there something like Final Cut Pro at a reasonable price for the PC that would perform as well?

Majestic

You definitely are going to want a higher end video card. Movie editing can also be very strenuous for any system, so you will want to have a higher end computer in general.

Now I don't really mess with Mac's, but every single person I know that does ANY work concerning video uses a Mac. The main reasons I always hear are stability & speed.

 

[anonymous Mac Tech]

This should do it. Then you have everything you need with the option of adding Final Cut Express 4 for an additional $199. The Mac Pro might be overkill then on top of that you have to possibly worry about spending at least another 500-600 for a good cinema display to go with it.

 

[JosephLeo]

The main reasons I always hear are stability & speed.

That, plus it's pretty much an industry standard. Has tons more software dedicated to video editing and it's very hard to find a pre-configured PC with the right specs to editing video.

However, does he need something as powerful as what I said above? No- any high end consumer level graphics card or upper-low to lower-mid level workstation level graphics card will do him fine and any Intel i7 (Which are essentially Xeon's with a different logo) will suffice. He doesn't need an SSD, but video files love SSD's. and He does need a Blu-Ray if he ever plans on sending out 1080p quality video's on disk.

The thing is- he most likely will want a Mac for his video editing needs. So I'm giving you the best possible solution in PC for the same price as a Mac. (Although to meet the above standards in a Mac you will have to invest an additional $1000 to $1500)

But- if he's just doing it on a hobby to sub-pro level then just go with a standard high-end PC. Go with the i7 920 processor, a low-grade workstation graphics card, a decent sound card (THX or Dolby is a must), 9 to 12GB of memory, and a 10K Hard drive. 7200 and 5400 are no good for video editting.


This should meet your budget of $1500.

• Motherboard - ASRock X58 Extreme
• Processor - Intel Core i7 920 (2.66GHz)c
• Memory - OCZ Gold DDR3 1333MHz (12GB)
• Hard Drive - Western Digital Velociraptor (300GB)
• Disk Drive - LG Black 8x Blu-Ray Burner (SATA)
• GPU - PNY Quadro FX580 (512MB)
• Sound Card - HT | Omega CLARO Plus+

However, I would highly recommend the Acer B233HUbmidhz 23" Monitor or preferably the 27" Model. It's in the 16:9 screen ratio format (which is what widescreen TV is) and he can work on movies as high of quality as 2k (Which is basically third next to 4k and then IMAX) without having to zoom in! This monitor is 2048x1152, and 2k is 2048 x 1080. Add a second monitor for all his toolbars and he's in business!


Software wise- I can't really help you out. I have the Adobe Master Collection and I've been basically I've never had to look outside that area for free, cheap or even reasonably priced software. Sorry.

 

[iisjman07]

I'm no mac expert, but in this case I would recommend a mac. My friend who's 'a mac guy' can create videos far superior to anything I could make on my pc

 

[JosephLeo]

I'm no mac expert, but in this case I would recommend a mac. My friend who's 'a mac guy' can create videos far superior to anything I could make on my pc

There's a little thing called skill though- put a monkey behind a rocket car and a child behind a honda civic and let's see who wins the race.

Anything that can be created on a PC can be created on a Mac and vice-versa. It's really all about software choice. Mac has lots of video editing applications. Whereas windows is the second grade...however Adobe makes fantastic video editing software.

 

[anonymous Mac Tech]

There's a little thing called skill though- put a monkey behind a rocket car and a child behind a honda civic and let's see who wins the race.

Anything that can be created on a PC can be created on a Mac and vice-versa. It's really all about software choice.

Even IF there wasn't a hands down advantage to using a Mac over a PC for production of any kind, there is the fitting in factor. If this guy really wants to blend in with his peers and collaborate with other people who are into video, hes going to receive a lot more support and see a lot less compatibility issues if he goes with the grain which is Apple. Buying a beefed up PC for video is like showing up to a biker club on a crotch rocket and trying to be a member, let alone not getting your ass kicked. Then there's help factor. This guy sees something done on a Mac that he wants to know how to do on a PC, hes going to be calling you every other day, and you better know a helluva lot about video editing to answer his never ending questions.

 

[JosephLeo]

Even IF there wasn't a hands down advantage to using a Mac over a PC for production of any kind, there is the fitting in factor. If this guy really wants to blend in with his peers and collaborate with other people who are into video, hes going to receive a lot more support and see a lot less compatibility issues if he goes with the grain which is Apple. Buying a beefed up PC for video is like showing up to a biker club on a crotch rocket and trying to be a member, let alone not getting your ass kicked. Then there's help factor. This guy sees something done on a Mac that he wants to know how to do on a PC, hes going to be calling you every other day, and you better know a helluva lot about video editing to answer his never ending questions.

So- he won't have any questions if he went Mac? Either way he will have questions. But like I said, Mac is far superior when it comes to video editing thanks to the fact that it's what the entire industry uses. Although- it's not an exclusive. Studios use all OS's for everything. In fact, I believe that Pixar has all their rendering programs made for Linux and they run their own custom distro (Anyone care to confirm that?).

The point is- professionals use Macs, but don't exclusively stick to them. I don't know what for- but hey it's not my industry. My cousin who's into animation worked for Dreamworks before and he told me that the animators and designers use Mac, Programmers use Linux and Management uses Windows. It's all a game of balance I guess.

 

[DanB]

Mac

Mac is the way to go if they want to spend their time producing instead of spending time trying to figure out how to make it work. I hate how proprietary apple is, but everything just works compared to win machines. Apple owns the market for machines over $1100.(US) Customer support is exceptional. If a customer can justify spending a few more bucks I recommend Macs unless they are highly skilled in windows.

On the other hand I have a macbook sitting next to me while I type this on a p3 thinkpad running Crunchbang linux. That makes me a little nuts, does it not?

 

[JosephLeo]

Mac is the way to go if they want to spend their time producing instead of spending time trying to figure out how to make it work. I hate how proprietary apple is, but everything just works compared to win machines. Apple owns the market for machines over $1100.(US) Customer support is exceptional. If a customer can justify spending a few more bucks I recommend Macs unless they are highly skilled in windows.

On the other hand I have a macbook sitting next to me while I type this on a p3 thinkpad running Crunchbang linux. That makes me a little nuts, does it not?

Not really because I sit here next to a closet full of ancient Pentium III and older towers while surfing on a Phenom based workstation and a Core 2 Duo based Laptop (with a Mac in the next room over)

 

[anonymous Mac Tech]

So- he won't have any questions if he went Mac? Either way he will have questions.

Yeah, he'll have questions, but you missed my point entirely. If he starts collaborating with other people with the same interests he will hopefully get a lot of his answers there and from forums that support that kind of hobby/profession as opposed to seeing and hearing about people doing on Macs, then ringing your phone every time he wants what the Mac people are doing translated to Windows for him.

 

[JosephLeo]

Yeah, he'll have questions, but you missed my point entirely. If he starts collaborating with other people with the same interests he will hopefully get a lot of his answers there and from forums that support that kind of hobby/profession as opposed to seeing and hearing about people doing on Macs, then ringing your phone every time he wants what the Mac people are doing translated to Windows for him.

Ahh, sorry about that. Then yes, I completely agree with you with that.

 

[Majestic]

Thanks JosephLeo, Protec, AnonMac Tech, Dan...

Based on everything you're all saying I think Mac is really the way to go. As much as I would love to recommend to him a top end PC he's simply not computer literate enough for it make sense once I pondered this. It looks like I'm going to recommend to him a mac but perhaps not a new one since that's out of the budget. I'm thinking even a Mac one year old (or perhaps 2?) would do the job.

Consequentally, his 1GHZ P3 is dieing for real now so until his budget allows it, it looks like I'll be putting together some sort of "just for browsing and the web" pc for him in the meantime.

Well thanks again..

Majestic

 

[JosephLeo]

Thanks JosephLeo, Protec, AnonMac Tech, Dan...

Based on everything you're all saying I think Mac is really the way to go. As much as I would love to recommend to him a top end PC he's simply not computer literate enough for it make sense once I pondered this. It looks like I'm going to recommend to him a mac but perhaps not a new one since that's out of the budget. I'm thinking even a Mac one year old (or perhaps 2?) would do the job.

Consequentally, his 1GHZ P3 is dieing for real now so until his budget allows it, it looks like I'll be putting together some sort of "just for browsing and the web" pc for him in the meantime.

Well thanks again..

Majestic

For "Just browsing the web" get him an Intel Atom machine w/ 1GB of memory and a basic hard drive. Should cost you a total around $180 without OS.