I still have a few holes in my exploration of software options for Power Mac G5s. One of those is actually glaring – video editing. It’s glaring partly because lots of G5s were probably used for video production over the years.
On the consumer side, iMovie HD in iLfe ’09 is not a bad option for the home video or the beginner’s project. I was always impressed by what Apple did with the iLife suite. They brought some great tools to the masses.
Final Cut Express 4 was intended as an in between option. It’s more powerful than iMovie but not as extensive as Final Cut Pro. (Keep in mind that the current version of these is simply Final Cut, which kind of makes it all confusing.)
Final Cut Pro is the more robust option direct from Apple. Version 6 is the last one to run on Power Mac G5s. If you can find it, it’s great software. I’m sure there are some video shops that might even still use it for production.
Adobe Premiere 6.5 was the last version of Premiere to run on our Power PC machines. It is not available in Adobe Creative Suite 4 either. You’ll have to dig around for a separate or earlier copy, although After Effects in CS4 will work on your G5. A little confusing.
A final option is Avid Media Composer. Evidently, any version before 3.5 will run on our G5s.
We’ve got options, and it really depends on what you are comfortable and familiar with.
— Nathan