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Old February 6th, 2008, 02:57 PM
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icewolf08 icewolf08 is offline
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Default Re: Mac vs PC for school

Quote:
Originally Posted by Schniapereli View Post
I don't want to start another battle of the never-ending war, but my school is hoping to be buying a computer for our booth, but we are not sure what kind to get.
The type of computer we will get will be based largely on what software we can get on it. We will be using some form of show-control (Sound Cue System, or Multiplay if PC, Qlab if Mac) some Lighting CAD (Vectorworks or from Martin) and some light Video Editing. We will also be doing a lot of audio editing. (Audacity or Adobe Audition.)
(any other good programs I should know about...?)
Every lighting person I have ever personaly met has carried a Mac, and every sound man a PC. But I don't know which way to lean when the computer will be doing a lot of both.
So, if there are any high school personel out there, or people who can remember that far back; what works/ed for you?
Lets go down your list.

•Sowcontrol/Sound Playback - Could go either way
•CAD Software - VW is becoming a real standard, I would venture to guess that more people use it over WYG. Plus, it is fully compatible with ACAD files. So, Mac
•Video Editing - Final Cut is the standard so Mac
•Audio Editing - There are lots of options for both Mac and PC but as was said, many prefer Mac. So, Mac

Then there is the fact that your Mac can run windows, and you don't actually have to dual boot. VMWare will allow you to run windows on your Mac, and probably faster than on a Windows box. Makes it real easy to go back and forth from Mac to Windows will drag-and-drop support between them.

If you can get the school to spring for it, get a Mac Pro with a big LCD and you will be quite happy.
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Alex Weisman
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"Crap happens, it is our job as technicians to fix the problem and see if it can be avoided. That does not mean yelling at actors or other crew people. People make mistakes, that is life. Welcome to live theatre, if it were the same every night it would be TV." ~Me

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