CompuServe Messages

Richard – Be ready to spend $14,000 to $ 20,000 (sorry don't know conversion rates). And then you will still have to manage storage carefully. I've been watching the market for about a year now. I too am a PC person, not MAC literate, and only an amatuer at video. ("Computers are easy, video is a …") I have been of the opinion for a while that I was going to have to buy a MAC – but I'm not sure anymore. I'm biding my time and working with a linear desktop system. FAST Video Machine is certainly an excellent possibility – BUT it is ALL their system – hardware and software. I'm still somewhat suspicious of a hardware company doing software. (And if FAST is a software company – then vice versa). But it is very impressive. And it is PC based. It is very definitely an editing suite system, as opposed to some systems that might be considered more "multimedia". The DPR feature also allows animation output – fancy flying titles (if you can generate the frames). I think the thing that worries me about it is that from what I have seen you can't expect to see packages like Adobe Premiere working with it. That could lead to loss of functionality – or a future limited to the vision of FAST, their time schedule, and their vested interests. Rumor has it that AVID is bringing out a PC version. One thing too – what I've seen so far suggests that you need to be ready to "hack" a PC system (lots of setup headaches – this doesn't apply to the FAST system though). While in the MAC world – it's plug and play. I don't know about hard disks, but their MTBF has been going up steadily every year. They will probably be less trouble than you might think. Hope this helps. Will be interested in seeing what you end up with . Ken