PC + PE2 versus iMAC + iMovie8

[paypal@syton.com]

My husband is fed up with supporting PCs and everyone I know raves about MACs. The new iMAC with the new iMovie (iLife08) looks to be amazing. Has anybody got any experience of it? I have been using PE2 for school plays and family holiday movies and whilst its ok 80% of the time without Chuck and Steve's help I would have struggled with DVD burning and various other technical issues. Is it worth considering or should I stick with PE2 or upgrade to PE3?
Sue

[Chuck Engels]

From what I hear, after you get used to the MAC you will have similar complaints about it as you do the PC. MACs aren't perfect although Apple would like you to think they are.

At this point I would probably wait another month or two and see if version 4 comes along, then decide based on how that looks to you.

There are good and bad things about a MAC just like there are good and bad things about a PC. People that I know that have switched to MAC still use a PC some of the time, now they have 2 headaches instead of one.

I think if you start with a MAC you get used to the way it works. If you switch from a MAC to a PC you will find things you like and things you don't, same the other way around.

Dee Dee just switched, maybe she will chime in with some of her recent experiences

[Steve Grisetti]

You are exactly right, Chuck. I work all day with a Mac on my left and a PC on my right and, guess what -- They're both computers! There are no little angels carrying data from device to device in my G5. And, surprise, in four years I've gone through three hard drives on the Mac!

Not that Macs aren't great computers. They are. And BMWs are great cars. But they still burn gas, get stuck in traffic and need regular maintenance and sometimes just plain break down!

Computers are computers. The parts inside a Mac are made by the same people who make the parts inside a PC. And, though Apple would like you do think differently, all the smart programmers didn't move to Cupertino while all the flunkies moved to Redmond.

iMovie is a fun little toy with some cute features -- but it is just a toy. More on the level of Windows MovieMaker than Premiere Elements. A single video track. A couple audio tracks. No really deep features. But, if you're just cutting together video -- AND YOUR MAIN VIDEO SOURCE IS MINI-DV CAPTURED OVER FIREWIRE -- it should work pretty well. And iDVD does have some gorgeous templates.

In short, Mac has always had the advantage of controlling both the hardware and operating systems in its computers, so they've not had to chase a billion different configurations the way Windows has. And people are less likely to junk up their Macs with gray-market shareware. So there's more stability there. And, unlike Windows, OSX loves huge loads of RAM and multi-core processors -- so if you can afford to put several thousands of dollars worth of hardware inside, the operating system will likely support it.

But, if you're serious about going Mac to do video editing, go all the way. Don't buy some iMac or, God forbid, a Mac Mini. Put a several grand into a state of the art machine and huge monitor -- and support it with one of the Final Cut versions instead of that rinky dink iLife package.

[paypal@syton.com]

Steve, Chuck,

Thanks as ever for the helpful replies and the reasoning behind them - very useful. As a home user whose main video source is mini-dv captured over firewire and who doesn't have as much time as she would like to devote to this hobby I guess I am best sticking with what I know and getting on with it. Would there be any advantage to going to PE3? I have some frustrations importing photos into PE2 from Microsoft Digital Image 2006 and was wondering about getting Photoshop? If so I assume that if I get Photoshop 5 I am best getting the bundle with PE3 as its better value - or will Photoshop 5 work ok with PE2?

Thanks,
Sue

[Gerry]

And, though Apple would like you do think differently

I believe their slogan was "Think different."

As in, "You know the rules of grammar? Think different!"

[Steve Grisetti]

Very funny, Gerry!

Sue, as a rule of thumb, I wouldn't upgrade with Premiere Elements to resolve problems. As each version of the program comes out, new features are added but -- with the exception of some small improvements each generation of how the program handles MPEGs -- you're not going to see a major stability advantage of one generation over another. Generally speaking, if something doesn't work well in versions 1 or 2 on your computer, it's probably not going to work any better in version 3.

What are your issues with bringing photos into Premiere Elements? Are the photos sized to no larger than 1000x750 pixels? Do you have the Scale to Frame Size option unchecked in Premiere Elements' Preferences?

[sidd finch]

I would also bring up Steve’s overall reminder that the user should work backwards regarding video editing. By that, I think Steve means that the user should decide on what quality of video they would like to produce and then find the hardware to support that choice. This is barring any kind of camcorder compatibility issues.

Also, if you want to emulate some of the various media like movies & TV, or other video hobbyist works, you will be better off with the mature features that PE brings to the table.

And if your final choice is the MAC, I would suggest running Boot Camp so you can emulate windows and run PE. Best of both worlds.

There is a review of the software at Camcorderinfo.com

http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content/Mi ... -33176.htm


Sidd

[paypal@syton.com]

Guys, thanks for these thoughts, its looking like I stick with the PC! Size wise the photos are fine, I follow the In a Snap guidelines! But sometimes they come in blank. I've tried saving them as .TIFF and that's generally better but I know that ideally in my next project I'd like to include quite a few (200+) stills over a couple of hours of DVD probably. Will split it so that the project isn't more than 1 hour per DVD but just feel a bit nervous about it. Have downloaded the free trial of Photoshop5 so will try that and see if it will work with PE2. Will doublecheck the scale to frame size option too should it be checked or not?
Sue

[Steve Grisetti]

It should NOT be checked. And Photo Elements 5 will definitely make it easier to work with the photos -- although, if I knew what's giving you problems, I'd know whether or not just switching from Digital Image to Photo Elements will make any difference. Generally, photos that are 1000x750 pixels or less do not come in black. I'm assuming your computer is up to spec: a 2.6 ghz or better processor, at least 1 gig of RAM, 50 gigs of free space for each hour your video project runs.

In any event, you'll find a lot less problems if you work on your project in 10-15 minute segments and then combine the AVI Movie outputs from each into a final mix. An hour of slides is a lot for any program to bear!


On the other hand, you say you have 200 or so photos. With an average time of 5 seconds for slide, that's still less than 17 minutes of video. Two hours of slideshow would likely be closer to 1,500 photos and -- I hope you don't mind my saying so -- would be painfully long to sit through, even if the subject matter was fascinating.

[Gerry]

But sometimes they come in blank.

I'm not exactly sure Photoshop Elements and Photoshop (which I use) are the same, but make sure that "Baseline ('Standard')" is checked, not "Baseline ('Optimized')" or "Progressive." Those options, if they exist in PE, are on one of the "Save" screens you'll see as you're saving your photo.

I've had problems with JPGs that have been saved with one of those other two accidentally checked.

[paypal@syton.com]

Steve, thanks for the clarification. I'm assuming I have to have some photos in PE2 to be able to make sure its not checked? Can't find it under preferences without photos there?

PC spec is Dell Dimension 5150 Intel Pentium (R) 4 3.20 GHz and 3G RAM and 120G free space on the hard drive. I agree with you about 2 hours of photos - sorry for the confusion. I meant the overall length of the project including photos. I wouldn't subject anyone to that length of slide show!

One of the key frustrations I have had is getting the photos in the right order. MS Digital Image doesn't make it easy to change the order unless you change the file name and I find PE2 unfriendly as I seem to loose photos all over the screen if I try to rearrange them. I think Photoshop will change this, its just a matter of getting used to it. This will probably be work in progress for a while so you may be hearing from me again! Many thanks to all.
Sue

[Steve Grisetti]

Photo Elements 5 has a very easy to use slide show sorter for arranging your stills, Sue. And, as you probably know, slideshows exported from it into Premiere Elements maintain the originals' quality and editability.

As for the Scale to Frame Size preference, I think it's under Edit/Project Preferences. But I don't have the program right here so I'm just basing that on my ever-failing memory.

[Chuck Engels]

In version 2 I think it is Project/Preferences or Project/Settings from the main menu, it changed in version 3 to the Edit Menu.

[paypal@syton.com]

Hi,

Have looked under your suggestions Chuck and Steve but still can't see the Scale to Frame size preference. This is just from the Edit window - should I be anywhere else?
Will try and play with it all over the w/e but suspect real life might take over!
Thanks again. Sue

[Chuck Engels]

It is not under the Edit menu in version 2, it is under the Project menu.
Project/Preferences/General tab, at the bottom 'Default Scale To Frame Size'

At least that is where I think it is in version 2.