I am a big fan of the Mac. I learnt how to use a mac at BCoT where we had to word process our essays and scripts, and I found it very easy to use, far easier than the hundreds of PC's at the college where I now work. In fact I have the only Power Mac's in the whole college! The Mac has come a long way from its humble beginings some 20 years ago, and is now a very sophisticated computer system. It dominates the broadcast video world with Avid and Media 100 non-linear edit suites originating on the the Mac, (though PC versions are now out).
The Mac is used in a variety of different enviroments, and I will try to give details of hardware and software I recommend or have heard of.
Apple have brought out their best machine ever, the G4. Billed as a desktop supercomputer it runs at 400Mhz, 450Mhz and 500Mhz. The cases look like grey versions of the Blue & White G3's, but the processors are much faster. They come with a minimum of 10Gb disk drive and a DVD player (the 500Mhz has a 27Gb drive and a DVD recorder!), as well as Firewire and USB connections. Check out www.apple.com for more details.
The next generation of G4 may be announced later this year and may be multi-processor versions possibly running at 500+MHz !!!
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General software & hardware for DTV work |
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Adobes non-linear editing software |
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Special effects for stills & video |
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(Formerly by Specular) Excellent 3D graphics software |
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Apache, Commanche, X-Plane, Fly!, Flying Nightmares, F/A 18 Hornet , MSFS4 |
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General games (Tomb Raider, Sim City 2000, Dark Forces, Wolfenstein) |
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If you have never used a Mac before, don't worry, they are very easy to use. Look at my tutorial which will show you the basics. |
