Mac for video production and DJ?

IMHO, yes. But, If I didn't know better, your Q's could be considered trolling for "Mac fanboys"....

Seriously, go get a Mac! Comes with more than you need pre-installed:

- "Video editing" - All Mac's include iMovie - This used to be a pretty rudimentary "snip & clip" editor but now includes some pretty neat stuff.
- "Playing with sound/mixing" - Garageband is also on your new Mac, and will again be satisfactory for your needs.

The only additional S/W I'd add given your "specs" is to upgrade Quicktime to the pro version (~$30 online) for flexibility in output options. "Handbrake" is free and may also be useful.

As to H/W - If a "desktop" the (recently upgraded) iMac would be my first choice. If you're on a big budget, and already have a "nice" monitor, then the Mac Pro's are *awesome* - More H.P. than you'll ever use.....

No additional S/W (or anti-virus subscriptions etc) needed - It's all included with the H/W btw.

Some links for your edification - Enjoy!

http://www.apple.com/imac/
http://www.apple.com/macpro/
http://www.apple.com/ilife/garageband/
http://www.apple.com/ilife/imovie/

Cheers,
Ian

 

We create educational videos for our own company and clients, we use adobe master collection: http://www.adobe.com/products/creativesuite/mastercollection/

However, for small projects I think adobe premier elements would work just fine: http://www.adobe.com/products/premiereel/ and you don't have to buy any new hardware.

We run Master Suite on a dual xeon 64 bit vista machine, elements will run on most modern pcs, you just have to wait hours for the video to render. I use that for simple home/web stuff.

I also have a dual processor Mac Pro and run adobe products on it, between the two it is a nickel's toss - except for the 30" cinema screen display on the mac.

 

For video production, I use Final Cut Pro on a Mac. I've worked on other platforms with comparable software and I couldn't be happier with FCP and the Mac.

That being said, there are still options for editing when using a PC. Premier, Vegas, Avid, etc...

 

Hey Rob,

Have you ever checked out Muvee? It is PC software that makes it really easy to combine video clips with music. It is for the PC. What's cool about it is that it analyzes your music, finding the slow and fast bits, and does the same to your video, and then combines the fast bits of music with the fast bits of video, and vice versa. Really good, and it yields really nice results.

That said, I switched to the Mac a couple years ago and there is an amazing difference in the ability of the Mac to handle video.

iMovie is a good place to start. But Final Cut might be where you wind up. If you are anywhere near a real Mac store, you can go in and they will teach you how to use the software.

As an example, late last week I had to give a demo of a movie clip. After a couple years of using a Mac to do these demos, I had to use a PC I have around, my Mac was busy, and I was shocked at how poorly the PC handled the video clip. With everything closed down except Windows Media Player, it struggled. Whereas on the Mac, with multiple other programs open, it does just fine. Go Mac, you'll never go back.

Also, iDVD is a nice way to create photo and video DVDs that have really impressive menus. If you've every wanted to put together a bunch of photos, from a party for instance, in a nice DVD presentation, it's a great way to do it. And by checking a box, in preferences, all the original photos will be on the DVD for your friends and family to access if they want.

 

if you are doing it on a professional level then I would say YES... the Mac is the way to go, particularly for video production. FinalCut Pro is the industry standard and is Mac only.

For personal/hobby use then there are plenty of options for the PC that are just fine. You can use any number of video editing software programs that work great. I started off using Adobe Premier. I havent used it in years so I dont know how it is now, but it was pretty good back in the day. Make sure your machine is at the upper end or execedes the specs required by the software. Nothing is more frustrating than waiting for rendering to see if your editing is good. If you are going to do HD video I would start to point you towards a Mac. Its really amazing what you can do with it. For $5k you can set up a machine that will do things that took over a million dollars just a few years back. Its really changed the industry.

For graphics is doesnt really matter what platform as the major software packages are avail for both. Get one of the Adobe Suites and yer fine. Illustrator and Photoshop will take care of 99% of your graphics needs. InDesign is for page layout an book creation, but can be handy for doing a few other things as well (I use it to create individually numbered confirmations/invitations and export them as seperate PDF's)

DJ software... hmmm.. not too familiar with that. Sound editing is a different thing. There are software packages for both platforms that work very well. For the PC there is Acid and SoundForge.

But for live mixing... I'm out of the loop on that one.

 

Depends on how technical and deep you want to be. "DJ/mixing fun" is pretty broad. You can do a lot with standard PC stuff.

I use Serato on a PC when I play live. Works just as well on a Mac. Both are pretty stable.

You'll need Scratch: http://www.serato.com/scratchlive

Then the vid plug in:

http://www.serato.com/video-sl

Traktor is also really good.

http://www.native-instruments.com/#/en/products/dj/traktor-scratch-pro/

These do require some investment. The Serato software is free with no restrictions...if you really want to get your groove on, you'll need some of the hardware.

You'll control these via CD players or turntables.

Let me know more.

RMX

 

Hey Rob,

Just came across this and thought of you:

http://www.djay-software.com/

It's also available as a free 15 day download (full cost $50 btw), which I always think is a good thing - Like it you buy it, if it sucks, no harm done.....

Looks pretty neat and they've just released a H/W controller if you really want to look cool! [That's $250 though.....]

Cheers,
Ian

 

Got myself my first Mac (since an Apple IIe many years ago) when I started getting more serious into photo/video a few years ago. Have made a few movies/DVDs of tactical low level flying for work and it's pretty easy with the software that comes standard on the Mac.

 

I have been editing video professionally for 9 years on PC. Don't let the fanboys fool you - Mac is not the best.

 

I'm running Avid Xpress Pro... see no reason to upgrade to Media Composer yet. I still have an older copy of Premiere which I sometimes use, too, but only because I started out on that program.