[mantis]

I am considering buying an iMac 2.0GHz Intel Core Duo (it would be my 4th Mac), but first I'd like to know if an iMac can run Avid Xpress DV or Avid Xpress Pro through Rosetta. Those programs are not universal binary yet.

I also edit with FCP 5 and am very happy with that program, and am happy that it is a universal binary! But I do need to run Avid, because some of my clients want their projects edited on Avid. I hear that Photoshop and After Effects run fine on Rosetta and that Adobe is working on developing the universal binary anyway. Avid has announced that Xpress will be a universal binary sometime "in the future" , but Avid has a very bad habit of dragging their heels when it comes to updating Apple compatible software.

I would just buy a new G5, but I hear that Apple is phasing out G5 Power PC's and I don't want the old. I want the new.

[EFFENDI]

I suggest you wait for the updated PowerMacs (later this year) if you plan on doing any serious video editing. An iMac will hold you over until then, but as with any application running under Rosetta, it isn't going to be blazingly fast (or stable).

I just purchased a Mac Mini Core Duo to cover my video editing needs (non-commercial) for the time being.

[mantis]

Any idea what month the updated PowerMacs will be released? Will they be Intel Core Duos?

What video editing programs do you run on your Mac Mini?

Video editing is my profession. For clients that have feature films in HD, I rent out high end editing suites and bill them for it.

But for my home, I just want a mid-level workstation that will run FCP, After Effects and Avid Xpress. This way I can work on wedding videos and lower budget Mini DV projects in my home studio. Avid Xpress will run on fine on a 667 MHz G4. I just wonder if it even runs on Rosetta? If so, will it digitize and output?

[mduell]

Originally Posted by mantis

Any idea what month the updated PowerMacs will be released? Will they be Intel Core Duos?

The most likely chips will come out in June (Woodcrest) and July (Conroe), so I expect we'll see Intel pro towers in July or August. They will not be the same as the current Core Duos, but the may carry the same name.

[imitchellg5]

Don't use Intel for Avid. I don't even think it will open in Rosetta, Final Cut wouldn't before it was univeral.

[EFFENDI]

FinalCut Pro and iMovie do what I need them to do. I'd keep on renting out those bays until the latest Pro machines are out. I don't know what Avid's support plans for the Intel Macs are, but if they plan on staying a competitor, they should do something about it.