PLEASE NOTE: Historically Apple offers college students a "Back To School" promotion in the summer months. In order to take advantage of a future summer promotion, you have to purchase your computer within the promotion dates. We suggest that you check our Apple store online between mid June through the end of summer before purchasing your computer. We are offering this recommendation based on past summers experience and can not guarantee any promotions. Be sure to purchase AppleCare for your laptop; it's a wise investment.
Computing Requirements for FMA Graduate Students
The Film and Media Arts Division of American University’s School of Communication is a leader in visual storytelling and integrating the latest and evolving technologies into production and distribution.
As a result, we are pleased to partner with Apple to provide you with recommendations for your laptop needs. Remember that we have an all-digital tapeless production workflow, which means that the central tool for managing media is your computer.
Film and Media Arts requires all MA and MFA graduate students who enter the program beginning fall 2012 to own one of the laptops listed below. Final Cut Pro is also requirement as it is used in all production courses.
You will also need to acquire an external hard drive for media acquisition and editing. There are many choices to be had. Since we will be working in HD tapeless formats, we suggest at least a 1 TB portable bus-powered La Cie Rugged or G-Tech that runs at 7200rpm, or equivalent.
Recommended and Required Equipment
Required: MacBook Pro Laptop from AU Apple Store: ranges from $1,700 to about $2,600, depending on screen size and speed.
Recommended: AppleCare Insurance: $349.
Required: Final Cut Pro X, Compressor, and Motion: $400. (Retail price, no educational discount available on this software)
Here are some prices from B&H Photo/Video in New York, one of our regular vendors:
Required: Flash Drive, 16 MB or 32 MB: ranges from $20 to $80, depending on size and brand
Required: Portable Hard Drive for editing: ranges from $140 to $300, depending on size and brand
Recommended: Portable RAID array for media storage and backup, minimum 1 GB: $285.
Alternatively, 2 500 GB drives ($240) and Shotput Pro software ($100): $340.
If you have any questions do not hesitate to contact Prof Larry Engel at engel@american.edu or call the Techline at (202) 885-3570.
