Must I upgrade for iMovie HD?

Posted:
in Genius Bar edited January 2014
I have a flat panel, 800mhz, 756mb Ram, 80 Gig, 17 inch iMac G4.



I'm getting the Sony FX HD video camera in a couple of months and was wondering if upgrading the Mac was absolutely necessary for HD support.



I can boost my Ram to 1gig and get a large external firewire but according to the iMovie specs my processer is too slow.



I'm not bothered about render times or vast multi layered projects. just simple cut's and transitions on projects of between 20 and 45 minutes.



Will iMovie HD work on my machine?

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 13
    maccrazymaccrazy Posts: 2,658member
    Apple says you need a 1GHz machine to edit HD movies in iMovie HD, as I haven't got a G4 under 1GHz or a HD camera I can't test this for you. BUT you could give it a go and then record in DV or upgrade.
  • Reply 2 of 13
    Quote:

    Originally posted by MacCrazy

    Apple says you need a 1GHz machine to edit HD movies in iMovie HD, as I haven't got a G4 under 1GHz or a HD camera I can't test this for you. BUT you could give it a go and then record in DV or upgrade.



    But will I be locked out of out of the HD functions or will it just run slowly?
  • Reply 3 of 13
    maccrazymaccrazy Posts: 2,658member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by womblingfree

    But will I be locked out of out of the HD functions or will it just run slowly?



    knowing Apple - locked. If you're going to buy a new computer if it doesn't work it's worth trying it first, right?
  • Reply 4 of 13
    Locked! That would be terrible.



    I can't imagine an 800mhz G4 with 1 gig of ram being that much different from the recommended 1ghz.



    I'm really not in the market to upgrade my iMac at the moment as I'm perfectly satisfied with it.



    I need someone with a sub 1ghz processor and a copy of iLife 05 to check it out.
  • Reply 5 of 13
    maccrazymaccrazy Posts: 2,658member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by womblingfree

    Locked! That would be terrible.



    I can't imagine an 800mhz G4 with 1 gig of ram being that much different from the recommended 1ghz.



    I'm really not in the market to upgrade my iMac at the moment as I'm perfectly satisfied with it.



    I need someone with a sub 1ghz processor and a copy of iLife 05 to check it out.




    If it doesn't work will you stick to iMovie 4?
  • Reply 6 of 13
    Quote:

    Originally posted by MacCrazy

    If it doesn't work will you stick to iMovie 4?



    I'm planning to get an HD camera so iMovie 4 wouldn't do the job.
  • Reply 7 of 13
    xoolxool Posts: 2,460member
    I have a 500 MHz rev A Ti PowerBook. iMovie HD grays out HDV 1080i and HDV 720p video format options. The other options, DV, DV Widescreen, MPEG-4, and iSight are available.



    Then again, I just tried the same thing on my G5 tower with 20" screen and the same HDV options were disabled there too.
  • Reply 8 of 13
    xoolxool Posts: 2,460member
    I'm missing some quicktime component from when I upgraded to Tiger. Time to reinstall...
  • Reply 9 of 13
    xoolxool Posts: 2,460member
    Ok. After updating my Quicktime Libs and both machines have HD features, as I expected.



    Also, now I get the 1.0.1 component QT update. W00t!
  • Reply 10 of 13
    ipodandimacipodandimac Posts: 3,273member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by womblingfree

    I have a flat panel, 800mhz, 756mb Ram, 80 Gig, 17 inch iMac G4.



    I'm getting the Sony FX HD video camera in a couple of months and was wondering if upgrading the Mac was absolutely necessary for HD support.



    I can boost my Ram to 1gig and get a large external firewire but according to the iMovie specs my processer is too slow.



    I'm not bothered about render times or vast multi layered projects. just simple cut's and transitions on projects of between 20 and 45 minutes.



    Will iMovie HD work on my machine?




    if you can afford that sony camera, you can afford a new mac.
  • Reply 11 of 13
    maccrazymaccrazy Posts: 2,658member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by ipodandimac

    if you can afford that sony camera, you can afford a new mac.



    What a stupid thing to say - if it's an expensive camera there's all the more reason for not wanting a new computer as well. Although it is a ridiculously expensive camera.
  • Reply 12 of 13
    Quote:

    Originally posted by MacCrazy

    What a stupid thing to say - if it's an expensive camera there's all the more reason for not wanting a new computer as well. Although it is a ridiculously expensive camera.



    The camera is 390,000 yen (I live in Japan) which includes 25% 'points' at the shop I use which means I'll have an additional 90,000 yen to spend on accessories.



    The starting price is already a little less than what I paid for my VX1000 almost ten years ago.



    So taking into account the fact that the price hasn't risen with inflation and i get 25% cash back it's a bargain!



    And you're right a new Mac and videocamera is too much to buy at once. I already have a perfectly capable editing machie in my current Mac, I just need it to edit HD for a while.
  • Reply 13 of 13
    maccrazymaccrazy Posts: 2,658member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by womblingfree

    And you're right a new Mac and videocamera is too much to buy at once. I already have a perfectly capable editing machie in my current Mac, I just need it to edit HD for a while.



    I'm not always right but I'm never wrong! Somebody must have an HD camera and a sub-1GHz processor so we can test?
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