drwalt131313 Loc: Santa Fe, NM

Good Morning all!

Quick question, not easy decision for me.

We are a non-profit foundation and need to start to shoot PSA's (Public Service Announcements) in-house (for financial reasons).

We have been PC based for about 20 years. Is this the time to switch to Apple for video editing reasons. Also, Apple comes with the 1 -2 weekly training for a year or two (for free)?

Finally, any ideas on how we can get both hardware and software for FREE since we are a 501(c)3 (Non-Profit Foundation)?

"Thank you' in advance for both your thoughts and time.

Happy Tails and
Best Personal Regards,
Dr. Walt
dr.walt.happiness360@happiness360.org

Erv Loc: Medina Ohio

Well the only thing I can add is about Apple. I have been using their computers for a lot of years. Most movies you watch now are edited on Apples. They are very easy to learn. I find them very simple to use.
Erv

hj Loc: Florida

I'm sure you notice all the Apple computers on desks in the movies, TV shows etc. There's a reason for that beyond marketing. Hollywood simply loves the Mac.

eglide02 Loc: Titletown USA

I would start by contacting Apple directly, they would be best to answer your questions, so you are not buying software and hardware that you don't need.

daplight Loc: Kansas

Macs are almost the industry standard for video and photo pros. Final Cut Pro, an Apple editing platform has also been the industry favorite, although the jury is still debating their latest transformation. iMovie, included with most computer packages may be enough for your needs.The key is to get the most memory you can possibly get as HD video sucks it up. iMac's-I think-merit consideration.

imntrt1 Loc: St. Louis

Most movies and television shows are in fact edited on a system called AVID - It is a Windows based system that will do almost anything - down side is that the thing is VERY Expensive. When you get the system you get the hardware and software, along with training. The system we had in our office was $25,000. There are, of course, different versions that cost more or less - but for what you need I would certainly go with Apple. Steve Jobs and his crew just knew what they were doing when they designed their systems.

jimmya Loc: Phoenix

I do mostly volunteer work these days but I spent a career in television news / sports videography, editing, etc.

On my pc I'm equipped to edit my Canon mov (apple) files with out problem simply because I came across an excellent editing program for free download.

That along with needing to have Quick Time (apple) installed - another free download, I'm finding this system works very well.

The Editor I use is by NCH named "Video Pad". You can buy the "pro" version for about $100 - probably the best bet in your case.

But be aware, as mentioned earlier, to edit HD video, you need lots of computer power because of the huge data stream developed by HD.

I'm editing on a Gateway running with a 3.3 processor and
8gb of RAM and it's running smoothly... it works for me.

Best of luck and what ever you choose in equipment, cameras, edit program I certainly wish you the best.

Jim

RobertinRI Loc: Central Falls, RI, USA

I went to a presentation by Apple (at an international educational conference) and they were demonstrating their video editing and "green screen" (dropping out the green and adding your own background video) process. Granted, I'm an Apple guy for a long time, but it looked Drop Dead Easy. They set it all up as they talked, videoed a few of us, and popped in a dramatic background. It is intended for kids to use. I would say run, don't walk, to Apple. Of course, you may have to hire a couple of savvy kids to help you out....

iresq Loc: Annapolis MD

As far as getting free software or hardware, not sure what Apple does offer. I also am part of a 501c corporation (fire department). My experience is that very few companies actually do this. However, there are a ton of places to get grants to cover such items. We regularly get grants from the Knights of Columbus (they have to support vol organizations to keep their gambling license) as well as a local church. Many organizations compete for these grants but writing grant proposals is not hard.

jackm1943 Loc: Omaha, Nebraska

Boy, talk about a Nikon/Canon, or Ford/Chevy question. Are the computers to be used for functions other than just photo/video editing? If so, PC is probably the best option.

marcomarks Loc: Ft. Myers, FL

If you want to use an Apple for editing, just get one massively powerful Apple with huge memory, huge hard drives, and the fastest CPU available to dedicate to that purpose and leave the rest of your hardware alone. You've got too many years of knowledge, user experience and comfort with various operating systems under your belt to heave it all and start over. You aren't turning into Happiness Video Productions LLC, just doing your own PSAs.

Someone else said that AVID is on PCs and that's true. It's a beautiful thing. But if you are having financial concerns, you certainly don't want to lay out that kind of money for doing HD movie quality editing occasionally.

Personally, I recently bought a program called Cyberlink PowerDirector 10 Ultra for $85 that is very capable of standard-res, HD, and 3-D video editing, combining all of those formats, combining still photos and video, fades, wipes, special effects, text, and even creating graphics, adding/editing voice-over tracks and music tracks, and virtually everything you could need for PSAs. I'm only editing and combining MP-4s of our baby and family out of my little pocket-sized Sanyo "1080P to SDHD memory card" unit so far but PowerDirector has an advanced mode for needs like yours. You can even record directly into it from any video cam instead of transferring files.

It can save in 8 different formats for anything from DVDs and mobile devices down to YouTube resolution in both domestic and international formats.

So if you already have a PC with an i7 CPU, 8GB of RAM, Windows 7, and an internal 1TB or larger hard drive, you could be up and running creating PSAs in a couple days using their tutorials and instructions - and not buy any hardware at all.

Even if you bought a brand new i7 Dell Studio XPS with the highest speed CPU you can get, loaded with everything you can buy on it including the best video card with big onboard memory, and a huge new digital monitor plus a second one for keeping your video on the first one and your software on a second one (Windows 7 does this), plus PowerDirector 10 from Cyberlink, you would be hard pressed to spend $1800 total. Compare that to a high performance Mac and you'll see the logic of this.

Something to think about...

PhotoArtsLA Loc: Boynton Beach

Until Apple decided to reinvent Final Cut Pro, Final Cut was becoming the default standard for video editing on the west coast. In Hollywood, as older Avid Media Composer systems began to be retired, the companies involved switched to Final Cut Studio instead of reenlisting with Media Composer, which was defined by its massive, pragmatic cost. Room after room in Hollywood dropped Media Composer for Final Cut. Suddenly, Academy Award nominated films began cropping up edited on Final Cut Pro.

There is basically no real difference between Final Cut Pro and Media Composer, except a few sort of big things. Not sure if the latest Media Composer added functionality, but for a long time, only Final Cut could use Adobe After Effects plugins directly on the timeline. Media Composer users had to port their projects to After Effects, do the work, and return to Media Composer. Final Cut became an obvious choice for many for this one, basic capability.

Then, because of Final Cut, Avid's "Media Composer" massively dropped in price to try to win users back. Until the reinvented Final Cut gains maturity and realizes its potential, some Final Cut users are switching back to Avid's Media Composer.

Another High Definition reason to want to go with Final Cut: Thunderbolt, co-developed by Intel and Apple. Now, iMacs and Macbooks can edit uncompressed HD because of the massive data pipeline of Thunderbolt. It is MUCH cheaper than a monster RAID array of equivalent speed. Eventually the Mac desktops will come with Thunderbolt, but not quite yet. Companies like Black Magic Design are invested in Thunderbolt, with incredible, low cost boxes bringing 3-D HD editing and just basic HD editing to the masses, currently, ONLY on the Mac. Without Thunderbolt, uncompressed HD editing is VERY expensive, either for a PC or a Mac. It is a LOT of data.

Tomorrow, I will be editing two political music videos which I also shot, in HD, on my Mac Pro with Final Cut. They include live action, re-syncing shot footage to recorded, studio cut music tracks; and adding animated graphics. Piece of cake.

drwalt131313 Loc: Santa Fe, NM

'THANK YOU' for both your time and advice!

Best Personal Regards,
Dr.Walt