Editing Canon 5D to ProRes on an iMac and firewire 800 drive

The Canon 5D footage that has been sent through Compressor to ProRes will not play with any smoothness in FCP 6. I'm wondering if it's because of the Drobo firewire 800 drive? I'm working in a local company's setup and I'm thinking they should be using more than a firewire drive. This iMac is not capable of eSata connection or higher. Any ideas what other cause there could be for the footage playing slowly or freezing all together in the timeline? Thanks.
This is a 2.66 intel core duo iMac with 10.5.8 4GB Ram

When you say, "small portable raids", do you mean like a CalDigitVR or a G-Raid mini or G-Speed?
If you want a drive you can drag around with you, I can't recommend the Caldigit VR Mini highly enough. It is really solidly built and is powered from either the FW bus or an external supply. I used one recently to capture 14 hours of DVCProHD live over 2 days (direct feed from an HVX-200 to FCP on a MBP with the drive powered via firewire) without a hiccup. VERY impressive.
My only quibble with it is there is no independent power switch. When you plug it in (fw or external power), it starts up. Other than that, no issues. The Caldigit RAID software allows for a variety of configurations.
x

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How do I use my iMac's Firewire 800 port to connect to my external hardrive using a USB Micro-B input?

I have a late 2009 iMac with Firewire 800 input on the back. I have a Western Digital Passport external hard drive with USB Micro-B input that I would like to connect to the Firewire (4 USB inputs aren't nearly enough on the iMac). I can't find an adapter to do this. Can someone please help?? As an alternative, is there an adapter that will convert the Firewire 800 to standard USB2.0?

USB and FireWire work in very different ways, so there is no adapter.
Instead, you should just get a USB 2.0 hub, like this one
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/NewerTech/USB2HB7PRO/
There are many choices, but be sure to get one that is powered (it comes with its own power supply). Cheaper hubs rely on the computer's USB port for power.

I have an iMac and I am running out of disc space. I am considering an external drive to house my iTunes library. If I buy a second drive to operate as a back up will time machine back up the disc on the IMac and the external drive with the iTunes library

I have an iMac and I am running out of disc space. I am considering an external drive to house my iTunes library. If I buy a second drive to operate as a back up will time machine back up the disc on the IMac and the external drive with the iTunes library?

If you have a considerable photograph and/or movie collection you may want to consider off loading those to the EHD too. Here are Apple's article showing how handle iTunes & iPhoto libraries.
iTunes: library on EHD
iPhoto: How to move the Library to EHD
Roger

I just purchased a new iMac and my Hard Drive is not showing on my desktop.

I just purchased a new iMac and my Hard Drive is not showing on my desktop. It doesn't show up on a finder window either.

No. It's what I've named my boot drive.
New Finder windows can be set to open any selected volume or folder of your choice.

Focusrite Saffire does not show up when connected to Imac by Firewire 800

When I connect my focusrite saffire to my i7 imac 27" via the firewire 800 port, the device does not show up on the computer, however it does light up indicating it is being powered off the firewire. When I click on "about this mac<more info<firewire", all I see is this " Maximum Speed: Up to 800 Mb/sec", I have checked and my "AppleFWAudio" file is up to date. The Focusrite uses Firewire 400 but I use an adaptor which converts it to 800, I have tried different adapters and cables from a number of companies which were suggested by Focusrite themselves and none of them worked.
Any ideas on what the problem could be?

I too was having problems connecting my Focusrite Saffire to my new iMac 27" i7. It would light up and click several times, but it would never be in a ready state w/ both LINE indicators being green. The Saffire Control software would say the the Saffire DSP didn't load and to unplug it and re-plug and wait for the lights to turn green, but that never happened. I called Sweetwater (where I bought the unit) and they didn't seem to know of any prevailing issues, BUT the tech did suggest to reboot the iMac in 32 bit mode (hold down the '3' and '2' keys during startup). I did that and replugged the Saffire but it exhibited the same problem. I unplugged it and left it for like 3 minutes then reattached the firewire cable and it mounted. I opened up the Sound preferences and was able to select it and get sound out of it. I then opened DP and ran a quick test and it worked as well. The next test was to reboot into 64 bit mode. I did that while the Saffire was still connected and it actually stayed mounted and connected upon reboot. I have my System Sound output running through it right now and its still working. I haven't tried DP yet, but will do that later. I'm not going to reboot again until I hear back from Focusrite. I sent in a help request last night.
Hope this helps someone.

IMac And Firewire Solo - Power Problem

Hi!
I got an iMac and a M-audio Firewire Solo audio interface. I wanted this interface to be powered by the current adaptor and NOT by the iMac.
M-audio says that if I plug it with a 6pin cable the computer will power the interface (not using the adaptor). So Can I avoid iMac to power the interface? I mean by stopping the firewire power or something..
thanks!!!

The easiest way would probably be to put a pair of 6 pin to 4 pin adaptors (of opposite "genders") into the cable run, or to use a 6 pin to 4 pin cable with a single 4 to 6 pin adaptor on the end of it, vivajam. THis should cut the power supply from the Mac to the device.
http://www.granitedigital.com/catalog/pg20_firewiregenderadapters.htm seem to have the sort of thying you would need.
Cheers
Rod

New aluminum iMac and firewire drive

My school recently placed an order for a lab of iMacs and found out yesterday that we will be getting the new model (20 inch).
We had been using old G4 towers with Final Cut Express and external firewire 400 drives.
Since the new iMac will only have a single firewire 400 port can anyone suggest our best options for capture/playback via firewire 400 and also using our existing firewire 400/USB 2.0 external drives? Is there a firewire 800 to 400 adapter that will allow us to use the faster port as a second 400 port?
Thanks for any suggestions you may have.

I think the adapter for converting FW800 to FW400 is the best option in your case. In my case, my iBook only has one FW400 port and I opted for a Belkin FW Hub to allow capture from my camera to my FW400 external HD. I've heard this is not ideal, but it works for me. Would love to get a new iMac one day.
I believe the reason FW hubs are not recommended is because you can end up splitting the bandwidth. Essentially you might end up with FW200 if two FW400 devices are hooked up to the hub. Anybody else know?

Imac won't recognize mac external firewire 800 drive

iMac suddenly stopped recognizing my firewire 800 gdrives. worked this afternoon, and the drives worked on my macbook pro. any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Reset the SMC > Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC)
1. Shut down the computer.
2. Unplug the computer's power cord.
3. Wait fifteen seconds.
4. Attach the computer's power cord.
5. Wait five seconds, then press the power button to turn on the computer.
Then the PRAM > About NVRAM and PRAM
1. Shut down the computer.
2. Locate the following keys on the keyboard: Command, Option, P, and R. You will need to hold these keys down simultaneously in step 4.
3. Turn on the computer.
4. Press and hold the Command-Option-P-R keys. You must press this key combination before the gray screen appears.
5. Hold the keys down until the computer restarts and you hear the startup sound for the second time.
6. Release the keys.
Reconnect your FireWire Drive.

Taking the big leap: buying new computer, camera, color software (X-Rite), printers...would love some feedback from those who may know about fine art reproduction. I'm opting for Canon camera options, Mac Pro vs iMac, and in printers, the Epson 7600.

Friends of Digital Workflow, especially photographers,
I'm just about to buy all new studio equipment.
I have two threads to my question:
1. Want some input about iMac vs Mac Pro (with a 27' monitor), which monitor system do you prefer?
2. I am Guru level in the Creative Suite but have little knowledge base for working with Aperature. Want some feed back about pros and cons of the workflow.
I'm also investing in X-Rite Color Suite for Print so that cameras, monitors, printers and projectors may be calibrated. I've used Gretag equipment for years and know profiling quite well. This is an important issue for knowledge about how profiles interface with Aperature.
I appreciate any and all comments.
Merci,
Frederick Park
North Carolina
PS You are welcome to request my personal email or phone number if you feel a lengthy discussion is an option.

Hi Frederick,
You're spending a lot of money. I will add my 2¢ -- -- but you must, as I assume you know, fully research your options.
Environment:
Start with your workspace (inc. lighting) and your clothes.
Screen:
The iMac screens are lovely, but not, from what I hear, monitor-grade accurate. For critical color work, use NEC or Eizo monitors. I use NEC, with their SpectraView II software and an X-Rite ColorMunki photospectrometer. At the time, this was the least expensive color-calibrated workflow.
Printer:
Epson's are great, imho. I use a 3880 in my studio and rent a 9900 by the hour when needed. I have read of problems (iirc) with one of the printers in the 7000 line, however. The take-home lesson that I filed in my brain was, "If you're going to spend the money on the 7000 line, just get the 9000 line."
Aperture workflow:
Aperture is a fantastic workflow tool. Since you are adept with PS, you should set PS as your external editor. Use Apertures formidable tools for storing and organizing your Images, and its robust editing tools for either all your proofing, or all but your most demanding editing needs. That said, allow a good bit of time to get the feel of Aperture. It is not at all like Bridge. But your important choice is which RAW converter you want to use. There is, imho, no reason to use Aperture if you are going to use Adobe's (or anyone else's) RAW converter.
Good luck!
--Kirby.

Canon mf8580 was working with my iMac and not all print jobs say.....print job was not accepted

can u help

Hi mg!
I recommend deleting and adding the printer back to the print queue, by following the instructions below:
1. Open [System Preferences] -> click [Printers & Scanners].
2. Select the MF8500 Series, and then click the [-] sign under the printer.
3. Restart the computer, and then return to the [System Preferences] > [Printers & Scanners] window.
4. Click the [+] to add the printer. Select [Select Printer Software] under [Use], and then select the [Canon MF8500 Series].
5. Print a document.
I hope this information is helpful to you. Should you need further assistance, please contact us at 1-800-OK-CANON (1-800-652-2666).
Did this answer your question? Please click the Accept as Solution button so that others may find the answer as well.

New iMac and G-Tech Drive - Ext. Disk starts up every 10 minutes or so...

I just purchased an iMac 24 w/ 500 gb Hard Drive, after learning about Time Machine, I purchased a G-Tech Q 500 gb External Drive exclusively for Backup. After installing the G-Tech Q, the drive and after the initial full Hard Disk backup occurred, my External Drive disk appears to start up about every ten minutes or so. I don't know that this is a problem or not, but wanted to know if this is normal. Also, I should say that my actual document generation is very minimal as I use the iMac mostly for web surfing, iTunes, Photos and email. Given my use of the iMac should I turn Time Machine off most of the time and only use it two or three times per week to ensure that photos and music are indeed backed up?

I did notice in a FAQ on the G-Technology web site support area that you could have the External Drive run all of the time, by going to the iMac System Preferences > Power Save > and uncheck the "Put external hard drive to sleep when possible". This would eliminate my hearing the external drive start up every ten minutes like it is currently doing, but would waist power over night when I am not using the iMac. For now, I will just let the drive start up whenever it feels like it.
Message was edited by: WiseJD

ProRes LT and FireWire 800 GRaid Mini

It's been awhile since I tried to go mobile without an Sonnet F2. I'm on a MacBook Pro 2.66 GHz Intel Core i7 with 8GB of memory. I've converted my footage to ProRes LT and put it on a G-Raid mini - 7200rpm drive. I'm coming in FW800 and still getting warnings playing back my timeline.
The footage says it's 11 MB/s...and my AJA speed test says the drive is reading and writing at over 70 MB/s.
I'm certain there's more to the equation...but what am I missing. I'm using FCP 7.0.2..only doing cuts with one stream of video. 4-tracks of audio.
Suggestions?

yeah...no render bar. Just still choking the system. I have 8GB of RAM (I know only about 2.5 are devoted to FCP) so this shouldn't be. And yep, Studio X...ALL of the footage in my project is now ProRes 422 (LT). I'd send you a pic, but you can trust me.
the other unusual thing is that when I opened the project this a.m. it spent 25 minutes writing audio and video as though some sort of export were set up.
I'm using an external monitor, but that has been the case for years...or at least months with my new MacBook Pro 17-inch.
Something else is choking it, but can't find it.
I added a timelapse today, but it was choking BEFORE that.
Would love to start over, but too much footage to bring back in.
Sequence settings are:
1280 x 720 HDTV 720p (16:9)
Aspect Ratio: Square
Editing Timebase: 59.94
QT Video Settings:
Compressor Apple ProRes 422 (LT)
Quality 100 %
Audio:
Rate 48kHz
Depth 24-bit (half of the sequences are 16-bit)
Config Channel Grouped
Anything look strange there?

Imac and external hard drive

I'm not sure I'm posting in the right category but here goes anyway. I am hoping someone who has had a similar problem can give me advice.
I bought a Western Digital "My Book" 250 gig external for my imac back in July. It has fail and I am getting nowhere with WD support. It's still early but I have a bad feeling about them. The only communication is through email which I find a bit short of full support.
All of my music and photos are in that drive along with other important data. I'm prepared to write the cost of the drive off as a loss but is there any way to recover the data from the failed drive.
I did backup most of the purchased music and some of the photos but many are not backed up.
Thanks in advance for any help you can give me,
Don

You might be able to dismantle the My Book, remove the drive, put the drive in an external FireWire or USB enclosure and copy the files to your iMac. This will work IF the My Book enclosure has failed but not the drive.
If the drive has failed (probably the case) the data would only be recoverable by a data recovery service. Usually these services are expensive.

I have a 21.5 inch iMac and the disc drives does not let me insert a disc

i have had my mac for over a year and this problem just started 2 days ago. I try to insert dvds and cds and it won't accept anything into the drive. I looked on here yesterday for tips but none worked. Does anybody know what to do?

There have been a few reports on here where Corsair RAM seems to have caused users a lot of grief with crashes.
The recommendation on here, mostly, is to only buy RAM from macsales.com or crucial.com as they guarantee their modules will work and offer a no quibble lifetime guarantee.
I'd put the original RAM back in, return the Corsair chips for a refund and re-order from one of those two companies.
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/apple/memory/iMac
http://www.crucial.com/

IMac and Formatting USB Drive Issues

I have an 8GB USB drive that I formatted to MS-DOS FAT using my iMac with 10.6.4 on it. However I now realise that that was a stupid thing to do as now that drive no longer works on Windows no matter what I format it too. I want the pen to allow me to use it on both WIndows and Mac (hence the FAT format) however Windows sees the drive as an unformatted 200MB drive with 7.16GB of unallocated and corrupted space which cannot be formatted.
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Can anyone help to to fix this as I really want it to work and I'm stumped as to how.
Thanks!

It shouldn't matter as I created the files and folders originally on a FAT formatted drive and copied them to my Mac then back at a later date, at which point an error was encountered and prevented me copying folders to the dive (the contents was fine once removed from folders and sub folders).
I believe Apple has fixed this now, however when I formatted the drive my iMac had this problem so I believe this effected the FAT formatted drive to prevent Windows working with it.
Well I have finally managed to fix the drive. I had to format the drive to free space and then plug it into a Windows 7 PC and then delete the free partition and reallocate it again to FAT 32. Window Vista and XP where an able to do this as they say I didn't have permission to do this and asked for a restart. Strange but atleast it finally works on both machines.

Editing Canon 5D to ProRes on an iMac and firewire 800 drive

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