Best system for FCP 7?

Hi,
I am in the position to upgrade some of my Mac components. I will be upfront at the outset and confess I have a Core i7 Hackintosh running at 3.8 GHz with a Radeon 4870 1Gb, and 12 GB of RAM. I have a 60GB SSD as a boot and app drive, plus a 1TB media drive. (This all runs perfectly.)
My question is; will FCP 7 benefit from a faster processor, or a better video card, like the Radeon HD 5870? Where would my money be best spent?
Many thanks. Anil.

I am simply looking for other view points. I do not have a technical issue. Being a Mac user for nearly 20 years, and owning more Apple hardware than most it's not as if Cupertino hasn't received any money from me. FYI, I currently have 3 other "Macs" in my home and all my software is bought and paid for. And correct me if I am wrong but weren't EULA's considered non binding by the Supreme Court?
Hmmm..............
Anil.

Similar Messages

Need advise on best settings for FCP 7!

I am looking for some advice on the best settings for FCP 7 when I am syncing sound using pluraleyes, exporting into quicktime as one file and then importing that new file into FCP 7 for editing. I have noticed that sometimes my Quicktime files are very large (20 gb) and sometimes they are much smaller (130 MB), but I never changed the settings.
I am working on FCP 7 and shot using my Panasonic GH3 at 24 fps (which comes to 23.98). My frame size is 1920x1080. Compressor is H.264. Data rate: 8.6 MB/sec. Audio rate: 48.0 KHz. I have heard that FCP 7 does not properly deal with H.264. So, I am wondering, what should my settings be? Should I set to "Apple ProRes 422 (HQ) 1920x1080 24p 48 kHz"? Is there anything I need to know when I export to Quicktime 7 Pro in order to not reduce the quality of the video? Should I be changing my video files first before I even start to work on them?
I haven't edited in almost ten years so I am desperate need of some guidance!
Final Cut Pro 7, Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Hi Shane Ross,
Thanks for your help. So, I already synced all of my interviews in FCP 7 (using pluraleyes) before I changed the video to ProRess 422. Can I just go into FCP (in the same project) and compress the video footage, import the new video files and throw it into the timeline? Or will this cause issues? I tried this as a test and it seems to be okay but I just want to check that there aren't any issues that I am not considering.
Also, when I do compress, it seems to take forever (sometimes two hours). Is there any way to make this move along faster?
Thanks so much!

Best computer for FCP

Greetings,
I have been editing feature films and video projects on my PowerMac G4 867Mhz for 5 years. I use FCP 5.1 and DVD Studio Pro mostly.
To replace my computer, I would like to buy a 24" iMac with a 7200rpm Hard Drive for smooth handling of HD footage. Does anyone know how this model performs with Final Cut Studio apps?
Also, I gave some thought to a MacPro, but it just seems like too much power for what I usually do.
I was thinking of buying a MacBook Pro, since I mostly do straight cuts and little 3D effects. Also, being mobile is a plus, but the price is a bit steep.
In addition to the iMac, I would like to buy a MacBook, where I could do simple cuts on the go (I know it is not supported, but many collegues have said FCP works fine on MacBook).
Any advice/ experience stories are appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

While some use the iMac for FCP, it is not an ideal solution as you can not add any additional internal disks for scratch drives nor add a pci firewire card or to isolate the camera from the external drive it is highly recommended you have. In addition, if you do decide to work at higher datarate formats, there is no way to add a pci esata card or an HD card either.
All in all, not a 'best computer for fcp'.
Go with a MacBookPro 17" which has a large enough screen to edit with on the go or a MacPro desktop. Both allow for expansion of capabilities.
good luck.
x

HT1553 What is the best system for a real time cloud back up of documents? My MacBook crashed, and I lost 2 hours of writing and could not find a way to restore it.

My MacBook Pro crashed while I was rewriting a book, lost more than an hour of work and could not find a way to restore it. Did not have Time Machine set up, but it appears that Time Machine does not have Real Time back up and documents must be manually stored.
I need an automatic, real time back up to keep this from happening - I'm not happy my MacBook has crashed twice now. What is the best cloud system for Real Time backup? Thanks to anyone who can help me, I'm not the most astutde computer guy... James

One way would be to use Dropbox, or a similar sync service, and just keep your critical documents in the appropriate folder. Dropbox, at least, keeps a local copy of everything and syncs automatically to the cloud whenver a change is made. Dropbox is free for up to 2GB of data.
There are also true backup services such as CrashPlan+:
http://www.crashplan.com/consumer/crashplan-plus.html
which provide automatic backups whenver a change is detected. It's not free, but usually such services aren't too expensive unless you need to back up a lot of data.
Regards.

Trying to build the best system for Final Cut

IWhat screen would be best suitable to work on Final Cut Pro? 1 screen or 2? 24 or 30 inch? I'm using MacPro (SAS DRIVES).Primarily I am a musician, and my end product is for music and video clip, mostly 3d and abstract art in motion. I'd be collaborating with other artists(visual) from different corners of the planet. The end product has to be HD blu-ray .I know Apple does is not geared for Blu-Ray yet, but there are ways around it. Is there a preference to the Nividea or radeon graphic card? I was told, to my surprise, that the Radeon has a better performance benchmark.
Hence , my questions are the following,
1-What kind of screen is best to use? I'm looking @ Samsung XL30,or XL 24.Or even an Eizo, however, unless it is absolutely necessary I do not want to squander my money away, I'll get an Apple screen if that would guarantee as good a result. Apple has not updated screens for quite a while, I'm sure something is coming down the line. However, time is money!!!
2- Which will be the bets graphic card to use for HD end product?
3-How much memory is needed? I'm looking @ 8GB
4- is 2.8 duo adequate or shall we go for the 3.2GHZ?
Thank you for your kind patience and precious time.

Two monitors...and go with the Dell 2408. 24", blow the Apple monitors away, and can be had for under $700.
Graphics cards help Motion and some rendering for FCP plugins. They don't output HD. For that you need a CAPTURE CARD. AJA is the best, but Decklink isn't anything to sneeze at. All depends on what your needs are. www.aja.com, www.decklink.com
2.8Ghz is adequate...more than adequate. For FCP only, 4GB of RAM is all you need. More RAM will help with running mulitple applications, and other apps like After Effects love RAM. But 4GB is a good minimum.
Shane

Best mac for FCP

Ladies and Gentlemen,
Would anybody be so kind and tell me what is the minimal set up I would need for FCP? I'm not a professional and would be using it for dabbling rather then serious work. Would Mac Book be sufficient? How much memory would I need?
Best
Slon

check this out Sion, this is your best bet for
consideration of requirements
http://www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/specs.html
Thanks Andy,
Much appreciated
Slon

Best Setup for FCP X

So...I have a Mac Pro, Dual 2.8 Quad Core with 24 GB of RAM. I beefed up the video card and the RAM just for FCP X....but I swear, it runs painfully slow. I'm about to boot this thing and go for portability. Will the high end Macbook Pro deliver what I think FCP X should be like?

I feel your pain sszeto. I still have my old MAC Clone. Remember the UMAX 900? I have that in my sailboat and I'm still using it. Kinda useless but it does the job.
I still feel that going SSD is the way to go. Clinton might back me up on this one.
I believe, and still do that desktop are faster than laptops. I have a 4 year old i7 920 Windows desktop that is faster in Photoshop than my late 2011 MB Pro. I just went portable because I travel too much and I hate lugging around my desktop.
My suggestion: try out the SSD on your Mac PRO and if you feel that it's not helping, when you get your new MB Pro, you can install that SSD in your MB Pro and really see the difference in speed.
Makes sense?

Best workflow for FCP 7 HVX200 or XHA1?

I know these are older technologies but if you could get a great deal on an Canon XHA1 or HVX200 with 16gb card for roughly the same price (1500 for Canon, 1600 for Panasonic) what would you pull the trigger on?
I need a camera to take on the road to do some simple interviews for a documentary. The more complicated shoots will be done by my DP and his much better equipment.
But when I figure rental fees, convenience, and the likelihood I may need it to do some more simple projects by my lonesome in the future it could be a good investment if the price is right.
Both cameras are being sold from (seemingly) reputable industry professionals who are upgrading their own inventory and have given histories of the respective cameras uses, environments, hours, and any repairs.
My top priority is picture quality and workflow with FCP7. I know Canon has the better chips but is tape. How are the P2 cards with FCP7? What's the best bang for buck picture-wise? Of course other features will be taken into consideration. It's been a while since I shot on my own so I am a little out of touch with technology. Thanks for any insights!
Thanks,
BJ
www.bjbarretta.com

Both are very good cameras. The Panasonic uses P2 cards and the work flow on that (DVCPRO) and the HDV of the Canon are both supported in FCP7. The P2 is ingressed via Log and Transfer using the builtin P2 plugin which can easily be set for ProRes 422. The Canon uses basic firewire and log and capture. They both have 4 pin firewire connection and of the two the Canon is more renowned for being fidly and hard to connect. That said There are lots of XHA1 out there (I have an XHA1S no issues). Picture quality is fantastic on both and you pays your money ... your question was workflow's .. ingest the captured product either DVDPRO or HDV to ProRes and away you go..
Jim

What is the best system for HD Video Editing?

We are planning to upgrade our system for HD video editing and I am looking for a system that will perform better with Adobe Premiere CS6 and CC. These are the options that we have:
PROCESSOR : 4.3 GHz Intel Core i7-4960 OR Dual 2.6 GHz Intel Xeon E5-2630 (both with 6-cores and 15 MB cache) - Which is more powerful?
GPU : Dual NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 w/ 6GB GDRR5 OR Dual 3GB NVIDIA Quadro K4000 - Which is more stable? more faster for rendering?
Both will have 64GB of RAM and 512GB SSD 6Gb/s MAIN + 3TB 7200RPM Storage. Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Thanks.

First read Tweakers Page and all the articles there.
Then you will understand why it is better to opt for an i7-4930K and a single GTX 760 with that disk setup. Otherwise you will end up with a convoluted, unbalanced system, spending money unwisely.

What current model camcorder is best suited for FCP 4.0

I have a PM G4 FW800 Mirror door running 10.3.2 and decided to get into this video stuff. I am a Pro Tools user.
What camcorders will work with Final Cut Pro 4
Will any 1394 Firewire Camcorders work ?
How about current Cannon , Panasonic or Sony ?
Anyone with experience ?
thanks

Most 1394 DV camcorders will work with FCP. Some older models out there (think Hi8) lack device control, but will still import using Capture Now.
There is a list of "certified" camcorders for FCP, but its vastly incomplete. I have never seen FCP simply not recognize a camcorder with FireWire.
As far as brands are concerned, it should come down to what fits your needs and preferences. All three of those big name brands should be fully compatible.

What is the best system for editing HD in Adobe Premiere CS4?

I’m a Portuguese video enthusiast since the linear editing times. I’ve been reading this forum from some days with special interest, cause I want to build a new HD workstation.
My video productions are with AVCHD material and Adobe CS4 Master Collection. My old workstation – good enough for DV and HDV material – can’t now efficiently handle the original footage and editing work.
So, I plan to build a totally new workstation, probably with the following components:
– Board: ASUS P6T Deluxe V2
– CPU: Core i7 975 (3,33 Ghz) Extreme
– RAM: triple channel 12Gb 2000Mhz OCZ Blade series
– VGA: Nvidia Quadro CX 1,5Gb DDR3
– Storage: 4 x Seagate Barracuda ES.2 500Gb 7200 3Gb/s
– Optical: Plextor BD-R/RE reader/writer
– Power supply: Corsair HX1000
– Case: Antec Twelve Hundred
– OS: Windows Vista Ultimate 64bits
Any suggestions? Any changes needed/recommended? Any money spent for nothing?
Another question: how do I configure the 4 Barracuda ES.2? My idea is 2-500Gb drives splited into a Raid 1 array for the OS+Apps and a Raid 0 array for page file and media cache and the other 2-500Gb drives in a Raid 1 array to store the original footage. I never have more than 2 hours of video to edit, so I don’t need lots of space for the original footage.
Is it better 2 1Tb disks instead of the 4 500Gb? Do I need the RAID arrays? These are the points where I have more doubts.
I will appreciate some opinions and recommendations.
Thanks a ton!

You may have a look at this:
How to get the best from a PC
From the looks of it, budget is not so much a problem. However I would not opt for the i7-975, but for a simple 17-920 overclocked to 3.6 GHz. With the money saved from that move alone you can get an Areca ARC-1680iX-12 raid controller with 2 GB cache for some more disks. I would not choose Seagates, but either the cheap Samsung Spinpoint F1 or the WD Caviar Black disks. With current prices I would only choose 1 TB disks, but would not go for less than 4 disks for the video part, and a separate WD Velociraptor as boot disk for OS and programs.
OCZ Blade 2000 MHz is a waste of money. 1600 DDR3 is quite enough and a lot cheaper. As stated in one of the guides linked to above, it makes more sense to get memory with the lowest CAS at the normal FSB frequency than to pay extra for higher frequency at the detriment of CAS.
I include an overview of my system, maybe it gives you some ideas on components.
Hope this helps.

Best computer for FCP on college budget

Help! I am trying to decide exactly the machine I need to edit with Final Cut Pro at home. I am a college student so my budget is my student loan money (around $2000).
First, I prefer to be portable so that I can transport it to and from school(so maybe a powerbook?) but I know that is probably not the best choice.
Second, I would like to know what specifications I should be looking for in a computer that will be primarily devoted to FCP. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
iBook G4 Mac OS X (10.3.9) too slow for FCP

what version of FCP and what OS?
What other apps must this machine run?
What are your filmmaking aspirations?
If you're shooting DV and are planning to do the offline on your laptop, almost any Powerbook will do the job as long as it's got a 7200 rpm drive. You're not going to like it, though, unless you're limiting your expectations to FCP3 and maybe even OS9. These will do the job for you and for a lot less than $2k. that way you can buy a decent camera.
Here's what people forget to include in their budget:
1. Protective case ($100 to $400, your laptop is supremely vulnerable.)
2. Spare batteries ($150 each, you need three if you're doing video)
3. Backup FW drive and software (My dog ate my computer, professor, I can't turn in my movie.)
4. Additional power supply (because you won't listen to us about the batteries)
bogiesan

Best Camcorder For FCP and FCE

Right, so I have a rough budget of £500 and I need the best camcorder I can get for money. It must be compatible with FCP and Express. Can anyone out there help me with my predicament??
Many Thanks

Better information, you'll get better responses over the next few days, keep reading.
Best for me includes excellent low light functions and excellent glass. I need neither digital zoom nor auto gain.
Decide on an acquisition format by determining what you expect to do with the movies you create. You may not need full 1080 but can get by with 720. Resist cameras that record in a codec that must be transcoded before editing.
bogiesan

Best locations for FCP Projects and Events?

Back in the olden days when FCE 4 and FCP 7 ruled the roost, it was generally considered that the best setup was to have the Project files on the System HD and the Capture Scratch (Events) on another.
Is this still the ideal setup or should the Projects be kept with the Events on an external HD?
Are there any advantages associated with the various configurations?

You might like and have a listen to Larry Jordan’s introduction
“Understanding Events and Projects”...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVlSYmOs_9A
Regards
Nolan

Best Configuration for FCP MacBookPro

I need to build a MacBook Pro Laptop w/FCP or FC-X.
Can anyone share their MacBook Pro Configurations...I would like to build a system based on a configuration that is known to preform well?
Please share your configurations...
I have the following questions:
1.Is there a difference b/w a 15" & 17" with equal CPU speed & 7200 HD beside screens & FW 800 Port?
2. Can I edit on the internal HD only without drop frames?
3. I use a Canopus ADVC-100 via Firewire 400, is there any better options for a s-video input?
4. Are the FW 400 & 800 (17") on a shared or different bus?

the 15" does not have a FW800 port. you do not want to keep media files on the internal HD of the book - use an external drive, works great.
my macbook is the 15", 2Ghz intel, 2 G RAM, FCP 5.1
i installed Studio and other apps after optimizing by installing Shadowkiller and Monolingual. Also, i custom configure the OS install by removing the printer drivers and not installing all the extra crap. shadowkiller should be added to log in options so it runs when you sign in/start working.
my apologies for any confusion, just woke up... hope this helps
MacBook Pro 2 Ghz Intel Core Duo - 2GB RAM, G5 2.0 - 4GB RAM Mac OS X (10.4.7) FCP Studio 5.1 (Universal)

Best system for FCP 7?

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for