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Mac VS PC in newsrooms?


kmetz

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Hi all! As I mentioned before I'm simply a news/media behind the scenes enthusiast. I've noticed that news stations have gone more and more windows based, however, still use Mac Book Pros for editing. I was hoping some here could give some insight into what they use day-to-day and what they find works best. Also, any editing programs used besides Final Cut Pro X and Premiere Pro by Adobe? 

I hope this is the right place to post/allowed.

 

 

Thanks.

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My experience has been 100% PC in newsroom/control room environments. 

 

Avid and Edius are 2 other common editing programs. And you're right, there are some stations that despite everything else being PC, have MAC laptops for editing, particularly for MMJs, but not exclusively.

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I want to say the main reason why PC’s are used are because of NRCS likely originally used the,p,. The AP’s ENPS specifically requires Windows.  Macs can be used if the Mac runs Windows using Parallels, Fusion, Remote Desktop, VNC, Boot Camp or Windows on Apple Hardware. Same goes with Avid’s iNews, which is being replaced by MediaComposer NewsRoom Management which may work on Macs.

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I don't know of any groups shelling out the big bucks for Mac desktops in the newsroom. About the only places you'll see Macs in local TV are maybe in Creative Services and for editing if the station uses Final Cut.

 

Producers and talent don't need anything more powerful than a basic $500 Windows desktop with no bells and whistles.

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6 hours ago, Weeters said:

Producers and talent don't need anything more powerful than a basic $500 Windows desktop with no bells and whistles.

Now that I begin to pay more and more attention, I ads iPads and Surface laptops to be quite common. I’m surprised you mentioned a basic laptop. I figured running APENPS or INews would eat resources. 

 

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53 minutes ago, kmetz said:

Now that I begin to pay more and more attention, I ads iPads and Surface laptops to be quite common. I’m surprised you mentioned a basic laptop. I figured running APENPS or INews would eat resources. 

 

 

They really dont. The iPad app is a slimmed down version of ENPS and Surface laptops have the same specs or better that their regular desktops have. 

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1 minute ago, C Block said:

ENPS and iNEWS are really quite ancient programs. Using iNEWS feels like a trip back to Windows 95.

iNEWS isn't made by AVID anymore and will be unsupported before too long. The latest version of ENPS is actually really nice. I prefer it over iNews. 

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17 minutes ago, who?cares said:

iNEWS isn't made by AVID anymore and will be unsupported before too long. The latest version of ENPS is actually really nice. I prefer it over iNews. 

 

Just because the manufacturers are moving away from older versions of iNEWS and ENPS doesn't mean that newsrooms will do the same. A lot of places are really reluctant to do anything with newsroom software.

 

And after recently switching stations and going from ENPS to iNEWS, I miss ENPS so, so much. I've heard great things about Ross Inception too, though not too many stations have adopted it yet.

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2 hours ago, kmetz said:

Now that I begin to pay more and more attention, I see iPads and Surface laptops to be quite common. I’m surprised you mentioned a basic laptop. I figured running APENPS or INews would eat resources. 

 

I’m not sure why my iPhone autocorrected “see” to ads...

 

 

 

 

 

I assume ENPS is more expensive than iNews. Not just because of functionality but also because of the name. AP VS Avid.

 

 

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1 hour ago, C Block said:

 

Just because the manufacturers are moving away from older versions of iNEWS and ENPS doesn't mean that newsrooms will do the same. A lot of places are really reluctant to do anything with newsroom software.

 

And after recently switching stations and going from ENPS to iNEWS, I miss ENPS so, so much. I've heard great things about Ross Inception too, though not too many stations have adopted it yet.

 

Very reluctant to upgrade.  I remember reading an article when KXAS moved to their new facility in 2013 they were running iNews 2.0 for 10 years before moving to 4.5. 

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2 minutes ago, rkolsen said:

 

Very reluctant to upgrade.  I remember reading an article when KXAS moved to their new facility in 2013 they were running iNews 2.0 for 10 years before moving to 4.5. 

Probably because it’s used so heavily? If it’s stable and it works, why touch it?

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5 minutes ago, kmetz said:

Probably because it’s used so heavily? If it’s stable and it works, why touch it?

 

Exactly. I was just reinforcing a point @C Block made that it’s not the type of software that’s updated regularly like say Microsoft Office or the latest version of Adobe Creative Suite.

14 minutes ago, kmetz said:

I assume ENPS is more expensive than iNews. Not just because of functionality but also because of the name. AP VS Avid.

 

Well I would say the AP ENPS is the original, but as far as I know most NRCS run on yearly contracts. 

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5 hours ago, rkolsen said:

Well I would say the AP ENPS is the original, but as far as I know most NRCS run on yearly contracts. 

Ah ok makes sense. Especially considering the wire services and stuff that’s integrated. 

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On 3/10/2019 at 3:58 PM, Weeters said:

I don't know of any groups shelling out the big bucks for Mac desktops in the newsroom. About the only places you'll see Macs in local TV are maybe in Creative Services and for editing if the station uses Final Cut.

 

Producers and talent don't need anything more powerful than a basic $500 Windows desktop with no bells and whistles.

Oddly Scripps is the only place I’ve seen macs en mass in a newsroom...

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3 hours ago, kmetz said:

Can confirm. Local stations use Mac Book Pros to Edit and I’ve see iMacs. 

I’ve seen rows of iMacs in newsroom live shots before... surprising for a company that does everything else el cheapo...

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1 hour ago, ns8401 said:

I’ve seen rows of iMacs in newsroom live shots before... surprising for a company that does everything else el cheapo...

Could always be the macs were purchased previously.

 

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On 3/10/2019 at 1:58 PM, Weeters said:

I don't know of any groups shelling out the big bucks for Mac desktops in the newsroom. About the only places you'll see Macs in local TV are maybe in Creative Services and for editing if the station uses Final Cut.

 

Producers and talent don't need anything more powerful than a basic $500 Windows desktop with no bells and whistles.

 

Scripps does. For that and iPhones. That is exactly what KMGH uses daily.

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23 minutes ago, ABC 7 Denver said:

 

Scripps does. For that and iPhones. That is exactly what KMGH uses daily.

All I can think is that their technology guy is partial to mac’s or they got a good deal from Apple... 

 

When I was at WDIV briefly all I saw there were PC’s... I don’t think there was a Mac in the house...

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6 hours ago, ABC 7 Denver said:

 

Scripps does. For that and iPhones. That is exactly what KMGH uses daily.

 

This is definitely not group-wide. WTMJ is all PC in the newsroom, and got new ones about two years ago.

 

They do use macs in the field though.

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Much like @PTVNews every station I have worked for has been 100% PCs using either NewsCutter, Edius/Stratus, and most recently Premiere for editing, and iNEWS or ENPS in the newsroom. Even our creative services and art department are 100% Windows. That being said, I have visited two stations -- KSTU and WXYZ, respectively -- that used Final Cut Pro on Macs for editing.

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  • 2 months later...
On 3/10/2019 at 2:58 PM, Weeters said:

I don't know of any groups shelling out the big bucks for Mac desktops in the newsroom. About the only places you'll see Macs in local TV are maybe in Creative Services and for editing if the station uses Final Cut.

 

Producers and talent don't need anything more powerful than a basic $500 Windows desktop with no bells and whistles.

Group wide, we're using Mac Pros in our editing suites. Ends up working with all our in-house playback and newsroom software. 

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3 hours ago, StandbyStandby said:

Group wide, we're using Mac Pros in our editing suites. Ends up working with all our in-house playback and newsroom software. 

Where if I may ask? 

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