[jamesl]

HI

As many people will kno from my previous posts on this forum, I am looming to study media production at universioty next year in the UK, but now i am looking for some advice on what softeware I should look into buying, which would be best value for money, yet have a good functionaility, eg soundtrack and final cut express.

I need software for video editing and sound editing.

It will be running on a g5 mac too.

[Cadaver]

Originally posted by jamesl:
HI

As many people will kno from my previous posts on this forum, I am looming to study media production at universioty next year in the UK, but now i am looking for some advice on what softeware I should look into buying, which would be best value for money, yet have a good functionaility, eg soundtrack and final cut express.

I need software for video editing and sound editing.

It will be running on a g5 mac too.

I'd wait to find out what software you'll use in classes, what they have in the computer/media labs, etc.

However, just as you said, value for money would be Final Cut Express, DVD Studio Pro, Soundtrack and Motion.

But again, might want to wait. Plus, there may be a significant discount through the school on the Apple Production Suite, which includes essentially all the Apple Pro apps.

[jamesl]

Would apple offer me a student discount if I were to purchase a G5 iMac and the apple production suite?

If so, How much would this cost altogether in UK pounds.

Also, would all of the apps within the package be suitable for this computer?

[Cadaver]

I can't say for the UK, but in the US, Apple offers discounts on Apple software and hardware (purchased together or separately) to all students. Check the UK Apple website - I'm sure it will be listed. Not infrequently, University bookstores will also have special educational pricing on software.

All the apps in the Production Suite (Final Cut Pro, DVD Studio Pro and Motion) will run on the G5 iMac. Motion is very dependent on the Mac's video card for real-time effects. The G5 iMac, however, has a video card that just scrapes by as the minimum required. If you think you're going to do serious work with Motion, I'd consider buying a G5 tower with a higher-end video card instead.

Either way you go (iMac or tower), make sure you have ample hard drive space and RAM; these apps are not exactly light-weight on the requirements, and digital video requires some serious storage space.