Upgrading my computer

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Hi, guys :hi:


I just got the Final Cut Studio suite and I am really looking forward to installing it, but I am holding off. I would like to upgrade my Mac G4 before I install.

I know that I have 1GB of RAM. I also know it has the capacity of 4GB. Do you think that I can max out the RAM without crashing my computer?

Also, I am still on Safari. I know there is Tiger and Leopard but at the time I still couldn't afford the upgrades and have been making do with Safari. Can you suggest what I should upgrade to?

Third, I need to upgrade my Quicktime. When I attempted to upgrade this, it said that I would have to pay for a 'key' or something to get Quicktime to work. Again, at the time, no extra money. It has been such a long time that I don't really know what to upgrade it to. What would you suggest?

And finally -- and this is a 2-part question:
I was told that after a while it would be a good idea to completely wipe clean the hard drive in your computer and have everything re-installed. The reason being that sometimes "there is 'stuff' on your computer that takes up alot of room and you may not know what it is". (this is what I was told)

I am finding that my applications on my Mac is 20GB. I have cleaned up my desktop, my documents, any and all pictures and will be moving important things to one of my externals. I have used MacJanitor. I have emptied my capture scratch files. I still have 20GB that is unaccounted for. What should I be looking for?

And part 2: what is the general lifespan for a laptop G4? I have been taking care of my computer, but I got it in 2005. I want to extend its life because I am in NO POSITION to replace this computer.

Any thoughts? Honestly, I am going to try one of those "test and keep a MacBook Pro" ads, cuz that is the only way I expect to be able to replace my Mac. I will fight the spam if it means I get a new Mac. Can somone start me on my way? I really need to start learning Motion and LiveType.....and Soundtrack....and everything else on this FCP system. I just want to begin in the best possible way......

-- spinner :cool:
 
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Ok, the great thing about macs is that they keep your hard drive clean. If you install a program on a pc it will write files to a million different directories. When you uninstall them there is a great chance that you will miss many files. Over the years it would be wise to swipe a pc's hard drive. But you have a mac. Files are stored inside the program and not all over the place. The only time I would recommend starting over would be if you have programs with multiple plugins or accessories that are linked to the program but are additions.

If you computer will take 4GB of memory, you need to do it. Especially if your working with video, you are going to want as much as you can get.

As for upgrading your OS you need to talk to an Apple guy at the Apple Store. You need to tell him what computer you have and what updated OS will work the best for you. It may turn out that the new OS will demand too much from your computer. This is an answer only a tech can give you.

If you use Quick Time then you need to update it. If you don't use it, just uninstall it. Their are many alternatives to QT.

Your OS and programs could possibly be taking up that 20GB. That seems like alot to me, but if you have programs like Logic or Vegas, some of those plugins and additions could really eat up disk space. If everything is backed up, you have nothing to worry about by reinstalling your hard drive. I would do that.

Mac's are great and run exceptionally well. This is the case only if you maintain using the programs that you used when you got the mac. Logic 6 works great with a G4, Logic 8, may not do so well. If you have new software that you are going to use your computer for, you may want to really consider getting a new computer. As I said macs are great, but when they update a few times it really makes your machine seem obsolete.



My opinion flat out:
you need a new computer. Video and audio are going to eat up anything under 160GB in no time. The new software will use up 4GB of ram after you apply a few filters. The trick with a Mac is to buy the most beefed up one you can get. This is because when the new macs come out a year or two down the road and their speed and memory triple what you have, the better computer you have now, the better computer you will have then.

A mac mini with 1.9 ghz processory2GB of memory and 80GB hard drive
A Macbook pro with 2.6 ghz prcessor 8GB of memory and 160GB hard drive

two years down the road, the owner of that mac mini is going to be dying to get a new machine. The macbook pro user may be dying too, but he will be in much better shape.

Macs are investments. Treat them as so.
 
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1 Gig of RAM is not enough to edit HD video. You should have at least 4 Gigs. The answer to the RAM question is always: get as much RAM as you can afford, and your motherboard can support.

A G4 might be able to getter done...but I would think it might get sluggish pretty quickly. A beefed-up G5 is what you need...with 8 gigs of RAM.

I build gaming PC's, and have worked on a lot of graphic design projects on MACs...but I don't know much about hardware and film editing. But from what I do know...your current rig isn't going to be a happy camper.
 
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Thanks for responding!

Okay, first: No new computer. I cannot make an investment in a new computer with only $120 so I am going to upgrade the RAM with that. I will be getting a new mouse. That's all I can do right now. According to FCP, I should be able to run the new program on my G4 laptop.

Also, I am going to be saving any footage to an external hard drive, but it is driving me crazy to see 20GB of space taken up and I don't know what it is. Its in applications, but I have been very careful not to add alot of junk. Maybe this is just what all the additional OS stuff adds up to.

I'd love a new laptop. Like I said, I'm going to see just how true those 'test and keep' ads are. I would love a dual processor but I can't afford it. What I have is what I have until I can find a better job. I'm in Michigan. We're all broke here....

-- spinner :cool:
 
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No computer, no problem. First priority is to get as much memory as your computer can handle. Next, reinstall your operating system and let mac do the updates that it needs. This will clean up everything that is excess or not needed.

Thats all you can do to optimize your computer. Memory and start your hard drive over clean. During install be sure you only install what you need. I installed Logic 8 with all of its stuff. It took up 40 some odd gigs. Once I realized I didn't use all that stuff, I reinstalled with what I needed and it turned out to only take up 2 gigs.

*Also, I am not sure if FCP uses "nodes" or not. I know logic does. Nodes allow you to sync up multiple computers and share processing power. Look into it.
 
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If you are serious about making movies...start putting a little money away at a time. Your G4 may be able to run FCP...but that doesn't mean it will be able to handle what you're going to do with it.

1 gig of RAM is bare minimum. If you are editing simple shorts, your laptop will sluggishly take care of business...but if you're talking about feature-length movies with effects and bells and whistles...you might as well be working on a Commodore 64. :) Ok...slight exaggeration, but you get my point.

Video editing computers have 8+ gigs or RAM, massive video cards, and terrobytes of space...and they use it all.

I'm not at all trying to get you down. I'm just letting you know that your current rig is going to slow down your work flow substantially--be prepared to be patient.

Good luck.
 
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Thanks for the suggestions. Keep them coming.

As for my set up, well, it is what it is. I know about the sluggish nature of what I am trying to do. Right now, we have to go with sluggish. But if I don't work on anything, then I'm not a filmmaker, right? ;)

...you do what you have to do until the situation changes.

Any suggestions about QuickTime?


-- spinner :cool:
 
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Yeah, I was going to say, a bit more RAM definitely, but that does not mean it won't run. It just means it will do more paging to the hard drive and slow it way down. I run 2GB RAM on a PC editing station, but I'm only doing standard def right now. And even that can get bogged down sometimes depending on the length of the project. I will definitely upgrade not only to a 64-bit OS, but also to 4-8GB of RAM at the same time whenever I get ready for HD. And by then the six core processors will be out, so I just might have to upgrade the whole thing.
 
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UPDATE:

Since I am used to slow and sluggish, I guess I'll have to deal with it a while longer. My G4 can only handle 2Gb of RAM. So I increased it from about 1-1/2 to 2GB and will have to hope for the best. I also hope to possibly install the new Final Cut tomorrow.

So as of now, until I get another computer, 2GB it is...:rolleyes:


-- spinner :cool:
 
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Okay....

So everything seems to be okay with my computer, even though it will only accept 2GB of RAM. I've gone through the information that you read before you install FCP, which brings me to my problem:

I need 59 GB on my laptop to install the entire program with the tutorials. The suite only takes up 4GB, but the tutorials take up 55GB. I have 51GB available on a 80GB computer.

Everything has been taken out of my documents and off of my desktop. My capture scratch files are empty. What I have is:

Applications: 4.54GB
Library: 5.15GB
Users: 5GB
FCP4 Book Files: 3.96GB which comes up to 18.5GB.

Does anyone know how or where I can find 8GB on my computer so I can put in the entire program? I really want to get started with this. This is the only hold up. Plus if I put the whole program on my computer, technically I can take it with me if I have to go out of town -- a real possibility in a couple of weeks.

Help! I need to start learning the new program! What should I do? It's not helping to kick trashcans :grumpy::D

-- spinner :cool:
 
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Spinner...

I may be a little confused with how you plan to shoot and edit films on this rig...but if you are having trouble finding space to install the program, how do you plan on capturing footage and editing?

You have a few external HDD's correct?

Can you install an app on an external with MACs?

Do you need the tutorials? Maybe you can opt out of them, and use the internet to find tutorials...I'm certain there must be a myriad FCP online tuts.

Can you upgrade your MAC's internal HDD? Maybe just firewire to an external...
 
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M1chae1 said:
Spinner...

I may be a little confused with how you plan to shoot and edit films on this rig...but if you are having trouble finding space to install the program, how do you plan on capturing footage and editing?
Click to expand...

I have edited 6 documentary shorts on this puppy and a couple of other events. It works because when I got it, I made sure that it had every bell and whistle I could possibly put on it. The new dual processors were more than $1,000 over my budget and I needed to have something that would run FCP. Had I waited, I would still be waiting. Remember, this computer was top of the line once. I am only asking it to do what it used to do.

You have a few external HDD's correct?
Click to expand...

I have 2 western digital external hard drives. I don't save any of my footage to my laptop. One is 320GB, and the other is a 1T. I have a IEEEE card that bypasses my laptop hard drive into my externals.

Can you install an app on an external with MACs?
Click to expand...

I would suppose so. I don't pretend to know everything about the inner workings of Macs or PCs. I am still attempting to learn. But I do know the FCP program which is what is most important right now.

Do you need the tutorials? Maybe you can opt out of them, and use the internet to find tutorials...I'm certain there must be a myriad FCP online tuts.
Click to expand...

Without the tutorials, this program becomes a very big paperweight. What's the point of having it if you aren't learning how to use it? The manual says that I could install the tutorials onto the external, but that is alot of stuff to carry around when you are on the go. I am considering installing them on a cheap portable external. (I might be able to find one for less than $100.) I intend to use every online tutorial available. FYI: The Apple store has a really good deal on in store training as well. $100 bucks for a year and you can go to one training class per week. Maybe I can become a certified editor -- that is if I don't become certifiable before then :D

The point is to be able to learn Motion and LiveType and all the other programs included with the program or else I have spent alot of money for nothing. This is an investment and when you are independent you have to figure out how to work with what you have. That is the epitome of being an independent/guerrilla filmmaker.

In answering your question, I may have answered my own. Either way, I'm out about a hundred bucks so maybe getting a portable external isn't such a bad idea...

-- spinner :cool:
 
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I'm no longer debating your hardware prowess...I'm talking about HD space. You need to free up some space...

You can buy a 100Gig flash drive to support the tuts...that might be worth it.

I wouldn't quite say without the tuts the program becomes a big paperweight...as I said before, you can find a TON of tuts online. Link them, or stick them in documents and save them for your offline usage.

Sounds like your HD needs more space, or you need an easily portable external...if you can't install FCP and its tuts on your HD...what's the point of having a laptop?
 
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If the tutorials are the same ones that came with final cut studio 1, they don't go over much more than how the work flow is supposed to look going from a quick edit through some back and forth with the programs and ending up in DVD Studio Pro.

Stuff your laptop with RAM! I edit on that same machine all the time... Just got finished doing a bunch of compositing with shake for a school project, worked like a champ.

In FCS1, the tutorials were a single DVD that showed really basic stuff. Most of that DVD is online on youtube as well. Not quite sure what is included with FCS2. For the most part, you know how to use 90% of what you'll be using out of the box with final cut pro. The rest you can ask as you get to it.

You may also try installing the apps first, then once you've restarted, see if there's enough space to fit the tutorials on there, the installer always uses a little extra space when it's doing its thing and they account for that when giving the disk requirements (so you'll have enough room for the temp files they're creating when de-archiving the stuff on disk).

Quicktime pro comes with FCS2, it'll just magically be there.
 
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M1chae1 said:
Sounds like your HD needs more space, or you need an easily portable external...if you can't install FCP and its tuts on your HD...what's the point of having a laptop?
Click to expand...

There IS no point.

Here's what was going on: I was reading up on everything I could and finding that the FCP Suite would run on my computer. What I didn't know was how much room it was going to need to a.) install everything and b.) run the program effectively. To install: the suite needed at least 51GB. TO RUN: FCP needed at least 10GB, which added up to 61GB. I could not figure out anything else to trash. I can tell you that there is nothing on my laptop that could have been dumped anymore. I just cannot figure out what was taking up all that space....

Sooooo, the solution was/is: more HD space. I just purchased an internal HD and will be having it installed by Apple. Again, its an investment -- that's what I keep telling myself as the price of having this done keeps going up -- but I can't have it done until next week sometime. I guess I'll continue my job search while I wait to take my computer to the nearest Apple center -- which incidently is 2 hours away. :grumpy:

....will it ever end??:D

-- spinner :cool:

EDIT: btw, I am not editing HD. Standard in 24P is fine for right now.
 
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Yes there IS a point...I agree...as long as you have the hardware to make it work. And it sounds like after your HD upgrade, you're at that level.

I'm not trying to be an ass...just so you know. I'm just being realistic.

Thanks man. Good luck.
 
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