[Buzz]

I have an older Mac, upgraded but still too slow for what I want to do. I need your advice on a system to purchase which will enable me to edit home movies then burn them to DVD. I do not currently own a mini cam so I need to know what is adviseable to lean towards and which styles to stay away from.

Thanks

Buzz

[Spoffo]

The main thing on the camera is to get one that uses the MiniDV tape format. This is almost universal these days, but there are stll a few camcorders out there that use older analog tape formats (which can't be easily imported to a computer). Also, a few manufacturers are pushing cameras that record directly to a DVD, and that would be quite difficult to edit also. All the editing software is made to import directly from miniDV, includng controlling the camera playback from your Mac via firewire.

On the computer, recognize that working with video is VERY processor-intensive and requires gobs of hard disk space. iMovie is a really easy way to start getting into editing, very intuitive to learn. And it will run OK on any of the modern Macs. But, this is a place where stretching your budget to move up to a faster processor and more RAM will make a BIG difference in how much you enjoy the process. If you get seriously into editing, you'll eventually want to move up to software like Final Cut Express or Pro, and if that happens, you won't be happy with anything less than a Mac tower with two hard disks. So if you can swing the $$ and office space, why not shoot for that now? You'll be a happy editor.

One other thought: When you finish editing your movies, you'll want to burn them into a DVD. iDVD comes with the iLife package and is able to create very fancy DVDs with animated menus and such. However, once the novelty of this wears off the program is (IMHO) way too complicated and SLOW. It can take all night on something like an iMac to encode a 2-hour DVD. You should look at buying Toast instead. It can make DVDs with very nice (albeit simple) menus, including slide shows of stills, and will do just about any kind of encoding, compression or burning job much quicker and more simply.

[k_munic]

I don't underwrite "video editing is processor-intesive"... I'm able to edit video easy on my antique G3/500-iBook using iM4.... but...

* DVD authoring is only possible with a G4 or better
* get as much RAM as you can afford..., 1GB is nice, 2 is nicer...
* get as much harddrive space as you can afford... I'm a Daddy-does-movies guy, using 0.7 Terabytes of hd... you ALLWAYS have not enough space...
* you need a few dozends GB free internal to make all apps run smoothly, you can use any firewire conencted external harddrives (BEFORE usage: format to MacOsXtended, NOT FAT32)
* iApps supports JUST miniDV/firewire connected... many cheaper models have no cable included, any 4/6pin fw (Sony-speak: iLink) cable....

stay away from dvd-/harddrive/flashmem/gizmo-corders... iApps are NOT meant for such devices...


sooooo, in recommended order:
G4/G5/dual/quad/Intel.. + DVD burner (=superdrive)
1/2/4 GB Ram
120GB internal drive/ > more GBs/ > much more GBs /+ ext. fw connected drive(s) with lots of GBs!!!
iLife 4/5/6 (stay away from version 3!)
miniDV cam/3ccd miniDV cam/HDminiDV cam