Randall,
I can partially answer your question...
New Macs come with iMovie which it will do all of the things you
mentioned. It is so easy to use that we have our second graders using
it with still photos-- video is a bit trickier, but not terribly so.
One task you may not be able to complete is exporting to a VCR-- I
don't have any video here at the moment so I can't try it out and tell
you-- hopefully someone else on the list can supply that information.
At my school, we get around this export problem by exporting the video
back to the digital video camera when we are done editing it. Once it
is back in the camera, we can plug the camera into the VCR and download
it that way. Because it has been digital from camera to computer to
camera, there is no loss of quality.
I haven't used Final Cut Express or Final Cut Pro. although our high
school uses them extensively. Those are more powerful (and more
expensive) options. They have a much steeper learning curve, but they
give you much more control. You might want to start with iMovie since
it is free and then move up to Final Cut if you need it. Note: Final
Cut only runs on a G4 machine.
As far as other hardware, I'd recommend creating the movies on a
computer that has as DVD burner in it. Even though you currently plan
to put it on VHS, I suspect you'll start finding times when you want to
put it on CD-ROM or DVD. Purchase Roxio's Toast Titanium software to
burn your CD-ROMs even though the Mac comes with basic burn software of
its own. If the Mac has a DVD burner, it will come with iDVD which
interacts well with Toast.
Beyond that, get as much RAM and hard drive space as you can. It is
also very useful to have a few removable firewire hard drives -- the
bigger the better. Video takes up so much hard drive space that we
often end up moving it around on those removable drives. It must be a
firewire drive, not USB-- USB isn't fast enough to run the movie as you
are creating it.
Finally, note that you cannot create or play iMovies across a network.
If you try to put the project on your file server, it won't play
correctly- it might not play at all.
Susan Sedro
elementary computer specialist
Mont'Kiara International School
Kuala Lumpur, Malysia
ssedro@pd.jaring.my
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