quick updates
 

Hi all,

Once again I would like to thank you all for you great advices. You, guys, helped me save approximately $470 so far.

Hence, instead of ordering the "ultimate" Dual 1GH Mac (with two 80 GB drives, 1.5 GB SDRAM, and Titanium card), I ordered the "fastest" Dual 1 GHz Mac (with one 80 GB drive, 512 MB SDRAM) and asked them to put the NVIDIA GeForce4 Titanium card into my computer.

Jeff, thanks for the info about the sale with the CompUSA. I purchased from them the Western Digital 120 GB hard drive, which you recommended. As you said, with the rebate it will cost me about $140. The second 80 GB drive with Apple costs $250. With your help I saved $110. Thanks.

As to the SD RAM upgrade, I decided to do it again by myself. If I asked Apple to add another 1GB SDRAM to my computer, that would have cost me about $600. The guys at the Comp USA told me that I could get a 512 MB PCC133 SDRAM DIMM module with them for about $120/module. I also found one with Best Buy for $100 after rebates. So, on the SD RAM I could save another $360.

1. QUESTION: Are all of the 512 MB PC 133 SDRAM modules the same, i.e. do some factories manufacture modules of better quality than the others? Do some of them work better with Mac than the others? Forgive my ignorance. Any good deals? :-)

As advised by Ken Tanaka, I also purchased Griffin iMic. I also already got my FCP3 and Mac Office. I am still waiting for DVD Studio Pro 1.5. So, the 120 GB hard drive, iMic and all of this software look nice on my desk, but also a bit stupid without my Mac. :-) The computer should come by mid or end next week. I cannot wait.

2. QUESTION: I heard a lot of nice things about Adobe After Effects? What do you think, guys, about Adobe Video Collection? So far I understood, After Effects should work nicely with the material processed on FCP3. Am I right?

Thanks again, guys, for helping me get the right information and save a decent amount of money. I owe you a beer when I meet you. :-)

Sincerely your new convert to Mac,

Denis,

That is great. Your post put a big smile on my face. I'm glad you took all of our advice and it sounds like your on the way to a killer system. I'm even envious, I've only got a lowly G4 450 dual processor. Most memory is guaranteed for life. I'd buy from CompUSA, they at least support Apple and Mac. You won't find a single Mac in a Best Buy.

Unless there is a rebate on After Effects I would wait. It's a great program, but probably one of the hardest to learn. There are some great deals for FCP3 users right now. The new Boris Red 2.5 is out http://stores.yahoo.com/artel-software/fincutpro20s.html and they have some great deals.

The next version of FCP will probably be almost like After Effects. FCP is very strong in compositing, it does about 60% of what After Effects does right now. I expect the next version late this year or early next.

Jeff

If your into serious multilayer compositing with complete and total control of key frames and behaviour AE is the knock out app according to me. There is very little you can't do in AE Production Bundle. If you only want to ad som titles and simple composites without features like motion tracking, expressions and live paint you'll do fine staying in FCP3.

A lot of folks praise Combustion right now. To me Combustion is a way for Discreet to make people dependent on online in "real" systems like the Flame or Inferno (which is very expensive). Combustion is the Flame Light Edition.

If you are really looking for a compositing monster app i suggest you take a look at www.apple.com/shake. Shake is super fast. Has high end industry support and is an OSX app only (to the great envy of former Linux, IRIX and Wintel users). Smart move from Apple. It's a pricey system but very, very sofisticated. The software even outruns Inferno on the SGI.

Apple's recent aquisistion of Shake, is what makes me think some of that great technology will trickle down to the next version of FCP. Why? To keep Avid DV Express 3.5 at bay. Competition is a good thing.

Jeff

How much RAM are you guys running on your G4s with FCP3 and OSX?

I'm about to get the new i-mac G4 (17" widescreen) when it comes out and was wondering how much extra RAM I should get (it comes with 256 out of the box) and what difference it will make to rendering times.

I would go with the most you can afford. In my G4 tower I have 1.25 gigs. More ram really helps some programs, like Photoshop and After Effects, FCP would be happy with 512mb or more.

Jeff