Can anyone advise, should i buy an Apple G4 with Final cut or go for a Screenplay ? I am in two minds for the following reasons, Sreenplay is very stable and reliable as i am using one on loan for a week at the moment, but it costs £4000 new. Apple on the other hand costs a grand less than that and does a whole load more stuff, but it is a computer and computers crash, freeze, seeze up and god knows what else, I have got Media Studio pro 6 installed on my pc, and it is a total frustration. Please give any advice on this matter as i have money burnig a whole in my pocket and i don't want to make a mistake and buy the wrong thing. Thanks
I'm not going to say that FCP never crashes, but I've used it since it came out, and I can count on one hand the amount of times it has, which ain't bad going. It's a rather fine program, that's much nicer than Premiere and the like.
Editing in FCP is very freeform - it doesn't constrain the way you work - you decide how you want to edit and get on with it. You've got more tracks than you'd ever need, and great freedom in effects. Although if you really want to get into effects, After Effects is still king. You get a cut down version of commotion with FCP which is very useful, especially if a mic boom drops briefly into shot and you want to fix it!
With the new Quicktime, the quality of DV is no longer an issue as it now looks really good, even when rendered.
With a computer based system, especially the mac as you're not relying on non-apple hardware and software, you only need to add a few programs, like Photoshop, After Effects and a 3D package and you can do what ever you want with video - pretty much no limits. Also, all this software will hapily run together not not break each other.
Graeme
I am with nattt on FCP - glorious piece of software that runs like a dream on a G4. I've also had probably less than a handful of crashes since it came out - very stable. Like it a lot...
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regards
Steve
[ O U T L A W : S D G ]
You really can't compare the two.
Screenplay is a product for people who shy away from desktop computers and complex editing programs.
A Mac with FCP will give you a truckload of tools for complex editing. It will probably allow you to do everything you want to with your video. The same goes for any suitable computer with, say, Premiere, MediaStudio Pro or EditDV.
On paper, Screenplay is a one-box solution with far more basic editing tools (similar to those of low-end programs for the PC) but good real-time capability and supposedly better stability.
I have my doubts over the stability claims - and I'd think very carefully about what you plan to do before spending your money. On one hand, you may find that Final Cut Pro has too many bells and whistles. On the other, you may find Screenplay's editing interface horribly limiting. With limited video and audio tracks, for example, Screenplay can't be used effectively for cutting multi-camera shoots from three or four sources.
If you're buying a whole system in one, I'd also recommend you have a look at Fast Purple. It's no secret that I love the editing interface, and OnLine GB were doing a fantastic offer at Video Forum - a Purple system built around dual 1GHz processors and 256MB RAM; a 45GB video drive and dual monitors for about £4,500 inc VAT. That would definitely be my first choice.
Pete
Thanks for advice Pete.