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Originally posted by Strongbad
Would it be better to buy a laptop or a desktop computer to edit on? Or does it really matter?

What type of computer (what brand, model etc...) do you guys used to edit on.

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I use the iMac G5 with the 20" screen. Perfect for even feature length movies.

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Software. I heard the two best to use are Final Cut and Avid. Is this true, and about how much in American $$'s will this cost me. I've used Final Cut once at a friends house, and from what I saw it looks amazing, but I was VERY confused on how to use it. Which is easier to use, Final Cut or Avid?

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Neither are easy if you don't know anything about editing. You want easy to use? All iMac's come with iMovie free. It's so easy to use my 16 year old niece who has no interest in making movies made a little 30 minute movie for her friends, did all the editing on iMovie and burned DVD's with iDVD and it looks great!

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Cameras. What's a good quality camera from say under $2500 USD to use. Would you recommend buying a boom mic to use?

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I'll let others recommend cameras . Have you checked any other threads here in filmmaking.net? there must be ten to twenty threads about what camera to buy. Absolutely you need a good shotgun mic and a boom pole.

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Also are there any other accessories to buy? I heard Magic Bullet was good to buy, but I don't know much about it.

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I suggest you start off without Magic Bullet. Make eight to ten short movies - learn as you go and when you are comfortable with Final Cut or Avid you can add something like Magic Bullet.
As far as costs goes, it's time for you to do a little research. Poke around on Apple's website for iMac and Final Cut prices.

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The aim of an argument or discussion should not be victory, but progress.
Joseph Joubert, essayist (1754-1824)

Overall then, what would you say is the better editing softare: Avid or Final Cut.They're both pretty expensive and I want to make sure to get the right one. So, personally which one do you guys like better, or which do you think does that best job and has the best features.

Also in terms of a computer, would you get a computer and do NOTHING but edit on it. Or is it ok to have the internet rnning on it, and a few computer games etc...?

This will always be a very personal choice. There is no "best" or "better". They both do exactly the same thing.

Final Cut is available only for the Mac, so that might sway you one way or the other. It's what I use and I really love it. But if you talk to a satisfied Avid user, they will say they love Avid.

As I mentioned before - at your level the true "best" is the very simple, very effective iMovie. A great beginning software. You can also check into Final Cut Express (and Avid Express) - cheaper, but works the same way as the full version.

I can't answer for PC's since I have only used the Mac - but I have used my editing computer on the internet. There are few virus's for Mac so I've never been worried. The PC users will have to jump in on the Windows virus's and if they pose a threat to editing software.

I'd recommend going the Mac/Final Cut route. You want something with a G5 processor, either a PowerMac or an iMac. Also you should plan on getting some extra RAM.

I've used countless different editing programs over the years and Final Cut is by far my favorite (unless you'll be doing a lot of work with effects and the like, you needn't get Final Cut Pro; you can get Final Cut Express for a couple hundred dollars less). It is MUCH less confusing than Avid, and just as powerful (and who can beat Apple for ease of use?)

People have mentioned iMovie, which is a fine place to start out if you've never done any editing before, but I was always frustrated by the user interface. Final Cut (or any timeline-based editor) may look confusing at first, but with a couple weeks of practice it will all make sense.

As an added bonus, Final Cut (Pro and Express) comes with two other programs free: Soundtrack, a sound editing program, and LiveType, an advanced titling program.

agingeri already mentioned it, but RAM is important for video editing so whatever system you get or have you should probably expand to about 1Gb of RAM (if not 2), and also hard disk space is important, raw video data is going to eat up hard-disk space very quickly.
Also, if you go with a mac, you can get Final Cut express for $300, or even AVID free DV, which is free for both PC and MAC (compared with $1000 for FCP5, or $1700 for Avid express pro. (or you can get Avid Xpress DV for $500))
so there's a little rundown of prices for the different version, in a messy sort of form.

also agingeri mentioned that FCP comes with some other software, you should note that Avid pro comes with similar software, and more according to the avid website, of course avid pro is a whole $700 more expensive than FCP.

you must be best going with avid free dv, and then upgrade to avid pro later, as the interface is similar it would be easier to transfer than from say, iMovie (also, apparently avid is the industry standard).