I'm not sure I understand your question, Ryan. Are you asking about monitors for use on a Mac G4 or about using an HP Pavillion PC for editing...or something in between?

You don't need two of the same computer monitor for editing. Your desk only looks nicer with two matching monitors. One monitor is your main screen and your timeline and two video screens. Your other monitor just holds various palattes for your clips, effects etc. The second monitor just keeps things from piling up on your main screen. You should use a video monitor to judge the color, saturation etc of the images.

Depending on which G4, make sure the video card will support two monitors and the cost of any required adapters.

Jeff

Sorry for being vague. Its a quicksilver G4 from apple. The monitor is a HP pavillion MX90 Multimedia 19 inch monitor. I have yet to check on whether it has the correct adaptors. Ok so what you are saying apart from being semi decent the monitors graphic abilities don't need to be top notch on either monitor. Its the video monitor thats important to actually see what the image is going to look like correct? If you could give me a real quick run through on that it would be great. Also if this monitor is what i need.
Thanks guys for all your help.

If the monitors work (have the correct adapters to fit the video card) they will be fine. For editing, I suggest a Sony 14" or 13" production monitor. Use the search button in the upper right. The topic has been covered many times. The cost will be $300 and up depending on age and condition. I don't suggest a regular TV. A TV does not have the necessary controls to accurately adjust the monitor.

Jeff

ok great, that covers what i needed thank you very much. For now I plan to just work on things that will stay on the internet so i should be set. Once ive purchased FCP ill work on getting the sony monitor.
Always very helpful.
Thank you
Ryan

I don't know exactly which Quicksilver your getting, so I can't tell you what video card it will have. But be very certain that the monitors will come with the adapters you need or they can be very costly. The Adapters to convert the ADC connection can run $150 or more depending on the monitor.

Jeff

wow, alright ill go check that now as a matter of fact just to be sure. I just looked at a bunch of info on monitors and i have a question. They all talk about whats best for things to be made for broadcast TV. What about for film. I plan to have my stuff on DVDs, the web, and film festivals. What should i do in this circumstance?

For Web use I would rely on the computer monitor. For DVD use a production video monitor and for film, talk to the company that will do the conversion, but my guess would be to rely on the production monitor.

Jeff

most likely it will stay in DV form. I will not be spending the money to convert to actaul film. Most festivals now a days except DV anyway.

I posted this in another forum, but it probably applies to your situation too. Do you know which model your getting?

The current Apple Powermac G4 867 dual processors comes http://www.apple.com/powermac/graphics.html with the Nvidia GeForce4 MX. It supports two monitors. One connection is the DVI connector and the computer comes with a DVI to VGA adapter. The other connector is an ADC connection and Apple does not supply the connector with the computer to convert it to VGA. Gefen http://www.gefen.com/kvm/product.jsp?prod_id=1299 makes them and I'm sure there are other sources. I believe list price is $50.

Jeff

Just checked back on it, and the quicksilver educational model that Ive already purchased. Just haven't cracked open yet states
-NVIDIA GeForce4 MX dual-display w/32MB DDR

I will definitly check that link out, thanks.
Also if you could elaborate on the DVI, ADC, VGA id really appreciate it.
Thanks
Ryan

DVI carries a video signal, but no power. The ADC carries video, USB and power in one cable. Very cool, but only works with Apple monitors. You can see the various connectors at the two links above.

Jeff

Something else you might look into.... The Radeon 7000 Mac Edition is a PCI graphics card that pops into any vacant slot on your G4. It has connectors for DVI, VGA and S-video. I'm using one in an older G4/733 and have been very pleased. The nice thing about this card is that it will drive both a tv monitor and an computer monitor simultaneously (they show up as desktops 2 and 3 in the monitors control panel). Caveat: I'm running MacOS 9.2 and don't know if this would work under OS X.

In FCP you can choose the Radeon S-video output as external video if you like. I do this when my output is going to SVHS tape since the software for the Radeon (mac2tv) gives you some nice features like flicker filtering, screen size adjustment, color control, etc. With a bit of tweaking I find I can produce much better VHS tapes than if I used the S-video output of my Vx-2000.

FWIW my FCP monitor setup is as follows:

main screen: 21" Apple Studio Display (trinitron CRT) connected to the G4 AGP video card running at 1600x1200

canvas: 15" Samsung LCD connected to the Radeon 7000 VGA port

external video: 20" Sony Trinitron FV (tv set) connected to the Radeon 7000 S-video port (with audio coming from the G4). Eventually I guess I'll want a studio video monitor, but after some comparison shopping decided the trinitron FV was the best consumer level set and the price was reasonable.

The Samsung LCD (syncmaster 151 MP) also takes s-video, so I connect it to the VX-2000. This allows me to toggle between the computer screen and camcorder output.

When FCP4 comes out I wonder how much FCP3 will drop in price?

It will be discontinued, just like other updated software. Dealers may have stock for sometime and if you buy a copy of FCP 3 near the release of FCP 4 there is usually a grace period to update for free. Grace periods are usually very short, like 2 weeks. I expect the release within the next 90 days. Rumors originally pointed to MacWorld SF (next week) but things have been very quiet lately. I'm not sure if that's good or bad news.

Jeff