New iMacs and Final Cut Pro

I apologize in advance but since the Search function is disabled, I am unable to search for answers on this topic.
How well does FCP run on one of the new iMacs? I am not looking to use Motion but just FCP and Compressor. I am currently running FC Studio on the first generation MBP and would like to move these functions over to a dedicated iMac. The iMac's sole function would be capture, edit, and encode QT clips.
I am currently using Final Cut Pro Studio and have not upgraded to FC Studio 2.
Thanks for any insight and ideas.

John,
It depends on which iMac you choose. I don't think FCP would run all that well on the 1.83GHz iMac but it runs great on my 2.33 GHz iMac with 3GB RAM. So to answer your question: yes, FCP runs quite well on an iMac.
However, keep in mind that the iMac offers no expandability. There is only one firewire bus which could pose a problem if you are connecting (via firewire) your camera deck and an external HD at the same time; there are no open PCI Express slots; no open bays to add extra internal HDs; and other limitations...
My iMac setup for video editing: 2.33 GHz; 3GB RAM; NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GT; 750 GB internal HD (misc. storage); 500 GB CalDigit FireWireVR (media); 500GB Maxtor (media backup). This is my setup and I edit DV and HDV using FCS.
Hopefully this information is helpful.

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New iMac and Final Cut Pro Error

Just got a new 20" iMac. It comes with a ATI Radeon XT graphics card. I used Migration to transfer all apps and files from my old 17" iMac G4. When I launch Final Cut on the new iMac I get the following configuration error message:
This software requires certain hardware or software which is missing. AGP graphics card.
Re-installing Final Cut from disc gives the same message.
Anyone have any suggestions? If this iMac doesn't work with Final Cut I will be taking it back immediately.
Thanks

For anyone else that is having problems with FCP 4/4.5 then check this out
http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/feedback/finalcut_pro_on_oldmacs.html
I posted my problem over in the FCP discussions and someone gave me this link which works perfectly.
Instead of deleting the strings that are listed, there is one for an AGP graphics cards:
<key>AELRequiredIOPCIDevice</key>
<string>AGP</string>
just delete those two lines and save the file and you're set. You'll have to do this for both FCP and Compressor, I"m not sure about Cinema Tools b/c I don't have it loaded on my mac so you may want to check that out.

New iMac and Final Cut Pro 4?

I recently bought the new 20" iMac. After installing FCPro 4, I got the message that I cannot run FCPro 4 because I do not have the AGP card installed. Is there a way around this on the iMac?

You need FCP 5.1 > on an Intel Mac

Interface Sony (Digibeta) DVW-A500 to iMac and final cut pro x

Hello all,
I am looking for a way to import (capture) footage from the DVW -A500 Digibeta deck into an iMac, (OSX mountain lion Final Cut pro x )
with XLR out for two channel audio and component out for the video. I have a Canapous ADVC110 but the problem is, all it has is an S connector in. I can connect the Grass Valley Canapous to the Super BNC connector with and RCA converter but the video quality sufferes to the point it may as well be a composit connection.
I have a firewire out on the Canapous and the audio it no problem but I need the component interface to get the Video quailty I need. Does anybody know where I can get an interface? This is a home edit suite so high end commercial is not an option unless I can rent the interface for a while.
Thanks to all.

Thanks Ben. My issue is not so much SW as it it the physical Link between the Sony DVW-A500 Digibeta deck and the iMac.
I (as you know) have a Firewire connection on the iMac as the channel that feeds the signal to Final Cut Pro X. The deck has BNC connectors out for the component Video signal. I need the hardware interface to take the Component signal to firewire. For audio I have XLR connectors which are eiasly enough converted to the 1/8 audio jack on the Mac. Would be better of course to have both audio and video feed through one interface.
I dont need to control the Digibeta deck, I just need to aquire the content from the deck into Final cut Pro so that can transcode the data into a digital file.
Thanks...

Looking at the Imac and final cut pro studio

I have a $5000.00 firm budget on upgrading my computer + peripherals. Im weighing between 15" MBP 2.4 and the 24" Imac 2.33ghz.
I know I wouldnt have a problem with FCS2 on the MBP, but what about the imac? I have a shopping list of peripherals that I need for my studio, and have want the most computer for my budget.
Placing my order monday so I have the weekend to decide.
JD

I will be doing overflow editing for car commercials as well as other corporate promo video work. Mostly following already shot and produced pics and graphics. I will just be importing the work and laying down the tracks.
My peripherals include:
Suitable storage 400/800 firewire connections
extra monitor for duel screen work
Contour shuttle pro and trackball mouse
Sony DSR-11 VTR if I can find one. If not Sony GVD-1000
Various Jumpback graphic programs
JD

I have a fairly new iMac wI now have iMovie events and Final Cut pro events that are duplicates. Does that mean that all my video is copied onto my hard dive twice?

If I have video in imovie and final cut pro X, does that mean there are two copies of the video, one for each piece of SW? If so, how do I get rid of the imovie events and keep only the Final Cut Pro X events (video)? I don't want multiple copies of the same video stored on the hard drive.

If you import to FCP directly from the Camera or from a camera archive, you would likely import choosing Optimized Files which would go to a FCP event that is in ProRes 422 codec. This would be in addition to your iMovie Event which would import using the Apple Intermediate Codec. So you would have two copies of the same information. An AIC copy and a larger ProRes copy.
However, if you use FILE/IMPORT/iMOVIE EVENT LIBRARY, FCP will not duplicate the event files from iMovie. It will treat them as referenced files, and will point to the iMovie Event files in the reference. So there is no duplication. You will be editing Apple Intermediate Codec files in FCP.
However, FCP will create Event folders. In addition to the reference information, these will contain thumbnail files that are compatible with FCP, stabilization and analysis files that are compatible with FCP, as well as any intermediate render files that are associated with the Event.
So in this case, there is no duplication of the large event files, but there is some duplication of the small thumbnail files.
I have several terabytes of iMovie Events, which are now all available in FCP. Believe me, I would know if they were duplicated because all my disks would be full.

New Soundtrack Pro and Final Cut Pro Updates...

There's new updates for Soundtrack Pro and Final Cut Pro on Software Update.
They seem to have fixed the problem I was having with one of my giant old projects. I used to have to open one of the audio projects before my multitrack project would open, but now it opens just fine. So far so good!

Hi Collings,
Looks like there are two threads about the recent FCP & STP updates, so I'm posting my findings here, too.
I just found another thing that appears to be fixed in STP 1.0.2:
Batch normalize is working:
I have a bunch of aif files that I want to normalize. I opened one in the waveform editor, applied process->normalize (level=0dB), then selected File->Save as Applescript--this creates an Applescript droplet. Then I can then grab a whole bunch of audio files and drop them all onto this droplet and they all get normalized correctly. This is a huge timesaver for me. Before this update, using this approach to batch-normalize a set of files seemed to deliver unpredictable results, but I just ran a whole set of files through, and they all played back with a peak level of 0dB (and no clipping).
Here are the other things that I've noticed so far with STP 1.0.2:
Automation:
-In STP 1.0.1, Automation was not applied correctly on project sample rates that were not supported by the hardware (e.g. play a 96K project on a laptop built-in 48K audio interface and the automation was late by 2X) -- this is fixed!!! YAY!
-STP 1.0.1 did not handle long automation ramps across long periods of silence (it would sometimes cause a glitch at the start of the clip right after the automation ramp--there is even a support article about this)--it seems like they fixed this one, too.
Sample rate switching:
-I see an option in general preferences to allow me to disable the "Switch hardware sample rate to match document", and with this disabled, I no longer get audible clicks from my audio interface when I switch tabs. Plus, switching tabs seems faster to me.
Realtime effects and automation in audio file projects:
-They've added a warning to inform folks about the need to bounce realtime effects and automation to an action--if you are in an audio file project with realtime effects that have not been bounced to an action and you try to save, you get a warning message.
Has anyone else noticed any other fixes or changes in this update?

New imac with FInal cut studio?

Hi everyone,
I am looking at getting one of the new imacs for video editing (Final cut studio 2). The specs for final cut are 4 gig of ram (for some applications in the bundle).
I wanted to know, do I have to buy my ram from apple when I buy my mac, or can i upgrade it myself? And if so, would the imac be upto the job? From what I can see there isn't much difference between the new imac and the macbook pro (which is what I was going to get).
Also, what if the difference in (laymans terms, please) in the intel duo and the intel duo extreme? Is it a big difference for editing, or not worth the extra money?
Also (apologies for all the questions, i have no where else to get the answers) - can you attatch another display - such as a monitor or laptop to the new macs for editing?
Thanks.
Lawrence

as with all iMac and Macbook computers, there is a complete lack of expansion capabilities beyond a single firewire bus.
most potential buyers rationlize their purchasing of a lessor machine based upon length of project, type of video, hoping to get by, pick your poison. this is short-sighted as it's irrelevant. video, no matter which flavor, is processor intensive.
what else will you do with your computer? will you hook up a printer, a scanner, external harddrives, a card reader, a tape machine, perhaps rs422 control? how will you monitor hdv properly? how will you monitor audio? will you wander into surround sound mixing?
the iMac is a great computer but beware, just because others have used it successfully doesn't mean it's the shoe that will fit your foot the best. as i said, the iMac is woefully inadequate for any sort of expansion beyond a single firewire bus.
buyer beware.
zeb

Canon EOS 5D Mark II viedos and Final Cut Pro

Photographer Vincent Laforet have posted the original clips made with the new Canon EOS 5D Mark II. This camera could be record movies 1920x1080p in H.264.
The clips could be downloaded here: http://blog.vincentlaforet.com/2008/09/26/original-raw-clips-from-reverie-now-av ailable-for-download/
I've tested this video on two MacBook Pro, a 15" and a 17" HD, all with 4GB of RAM and Intel Core 2 Duo 2.5 GHz.
The video is flicking every 5 seconds, on Quicktime Pro and Final Cut Pro 6.
I've created a Sequence in HDTV 30fps and imported the clips. The next step was to import the clips. FCP asked me to change the video and audio settings of the timeline with the settings of the MKII. The video is flicking every 5 seconds.
I can't imagine what computer I should use.
I've seen the Xserve in the making of and I think that Vincent have used its to edit the footage with FCP. A last model of professional laptop from Apple is unable to do this.

Hey Guys:
According to a recent analysis by the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, the h264 video captured in camera is one I-frame for each 15 P-frame. No B-frames. You can read the full report here:
http://nrkbeta.no/video-test-clips-from-canon-5d-mark-ii-gets-analyzed/#comment- 58420
I've posted a short video tutorial explaining the process to convert the source h264 files to Apple ProRes 422. IMHO, converting to the i-frame Apple ProRes 422 codec as early in the post process as possible will save time and headaches down the line. You can check out the video tutorial here:
www.petersalvia.wordpress.com.
Theoretically, by converting to ProRes you could work with the footage on a PC if you install the ProRes Decoder for Windows. That decoder is available here:
http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/appleproresquicktimedecoder10forwindows.h tml
Hope this helps!
proactively • peter

Canon GL2 and Final Cut Pro X

Relatively new to the Final Cut Pro X thing, so I may be missing something stupid, but here goes...
I am trying to import from a GL2. I go to camera import and gain camera control... I then start importing.
Problems start when it plays, it creates a 2-3 second clip, then stops and the screen goes black, then it comes back and creates another 2-3 second clip, etc... for the entire capture.
Real kicker is that between each clip is a loss of about 1 second of video, so it is un-usable.
What am I missing here... I have imported with this camera in FCPX before with no issues, and this is a clean install of 10.0.3. Is there a setting I need to change?

By any chance do you have your GL2 set up in VCR mode? My understanding is that you need to set the unit up to play back as a VTR/VCR and it will allow you to ingest the video. Chapter 3 of the FCP X manual goes into the explanations in pages 35-45. Good luck.

HDC-SD9, iMovie 7.1.2, QuickTime 7.5, and Final Cut Pro

After I read the post, I tested it on my Mac. I can safely say that I can import videos from HDC-SD9 using iMovie and Final Cut Pro now.
Update to QuickTime 7.5 and iMovie 7.1.2 to make this camera work with the Mac.
It seems to be working with Final Cut Pro too.
source:
http://37prime.com/news/?p=160

That sounds promising! I will install the update tonight and let you know if the same goes for me!

Fonts and Final Cut Pro

Hello,
A while back I posted a thread asking about using the font manager "Suitecase" and Final Cut Pro. It was clear that Suitecase should not be used with Final Cut. I work at an ad agency and we have a database of 4000 fonts. Does anyone know of a good font managing program that plays well with Final Cut? Using the standard font manager that comes with an Apple computer is not an option. Also, using Borris 3D is also not the answer because of the time it takes to create and make changes to a slate. Help me!
Thanks in advance.
-Amber

Any font management program should make fonts available to your system and all the apps in the same way, right? What's so bad about Font Book anyway? I was so relieved not to have to deal with Suitcase and /or Font Reserve once I got on OS X. I can see all my fonts, turn them on and off, it's easy to look for special characters, arrange the fonts in different collections, etc.
I agree that it makes me miserable to have to open the Boris Generators' type controls every time I want to make a change, and then not be able to preview my changes while I am working. Also, there is no way to duplicate a Boris generator and edit it and have it show up in the same position on the screen. If only they could simply give you an anchor/origin point for the text that acutally related to the alignment of the text object, as any normal, thinking person would expect. Also, try this one, copy and paste several copies of a Boris Generator in a sequence, put different text in each one, and try changing the alignment of just one of them, now notice that evey other generator in your entire sequence will automatically change its alignment as well. You could try to solve this by making the clips independent, but, oh wait, that's right, YOU CAN'T! Ha! jokes on you. Now please start over by recreating each of your Boris type objects from scratch. WHEE! (acutally, the method here is to format one and then drag it to your browser and reuse it from there, but don't copy and paste a Boris generator, ever.)
Add to this the way that these objects will randomly disappear or use vestigal render files when you export or encode mpeg-2, but never when previewing the timeline, and the way that Boris will render any project that uses a Boris generator unopenable if you replace your system Helvetica with the Adobe version, and you'll wind up with a lot less hair at the end of your day.
All that said, I use it all the time, and grit my teeth in frustration the whole way as I re-create, replace, re-format, troubleshoot, and double and triple check evey second of my work every step of the way, and re-encode, and reformat again, and troubleshoot some more.
If I have lots of lower 3rds or IDs to do, where I want them to come up in the same position on the screen, I find FCP's generic type generator works ok, as long as you never move the generator clip from 0,0 in the motion tab. The generator only converts the font to pixels once, and moving the resulting clip resample the video image of the type instead of regenerating the type from the font in te new position, which means that if you drag the clip to a new position in the canvas in wireframe mode, it will look blurry, always. Use the origin crosshairs in the type controls instead. Of course, the only generator that allows you to do this is the one that does not allow you to have multiple fonts, sizes, or style in a single object. The one thing I use type generators for most often is to make a lower 3rd template for use throughout a long program that will always occupy the same position on the screen each time I use it, and I wish I could use two different sizes in one object. I can't believe that this is the one thing that is impossible in FCP.
Another thing about the FCP type generators is that they do not support font families at all. Try Univers, for instance, and you'll notice that instead of 45 Light, 55 regular, and 65 Bold, you have Plain, Italic, Bold, and Bold/Italic. Notice also that if you choose Plain, you get italic. Fun! The way this appears to work is that, within a certain family of fonts, FCP will take the first four that it sees and assign them to Plain, Bold, etc., in the alphebetical order that the source files would appear in the finder (acutally I think there is an even more arcane, less logical method it uses to pick these styles, but I have never been able to figure it out).
These three issues, no character-specific formatting, quality loss if the clip is repositioned, and the inability to support font families, have never been resolved since FCP 1.0 - the tool remains essentially unchanged. Perhaps they figure that anyone who really cares enough about their project never uses it anyway, so why bother fixing it? But I acutally do use it with fairly good results, just never move the clip from 0,0, and if I need to use Univers 65 Bold, I just turn off all the other Univers families to force FCP to recognize 65 bold as "Plain".
ok, font rant over, we now return you to our regularly scheduled programming.

Lion and Final Cut Pro X

Lion and Final Cut Pro X.
Anybody got it working? Final Cut Pro X crashes and system looks so slow, like it wold be 10 years old. All started after update to Lion.
Hey Apple, what's up?
I do a lot of video edits, but now it impossible to work with Final Cut Pro X at all. Too many crashes.
Every day I think more and more about return to Premiere Pro.
Lots of people waiting for updates.

Same problem, Lion totally stuffed everything up. (even though the problem first surfaced with Snow Leo - at least that time we could switch of automatic graphic switching as a work around)
Apple have replaced two logic boards so far along with memory and something else I don't know I am so fed up.
I Have not been able to use my computer for over a month now because of Apples incompetance with this issue.
I've wiped and reinstalled Lion three times now. Ran the computer with a clean new Lion install and only FCP installed. BSOD.
Two logic boards later as mentioned and three visits to Apple having to leave it with Apple for them to come up with "it's software related" as there finding - so this is my problem apparently. The joke of this being that before I left it with them this last time they ran a diagnostic with the specific purpose of rulling out software as a cause.
Apples new OS Lion makes Apple software not work on a Apple computer - and this is the consumers problem and not Apples?.
Come on Apple, Really?
You can do better than that.
Admit theres a problem, and replace our useless aluminium bricks if you cant work it out?

Sony DCR-HC42 and Final Cut Pro??

Can anyone verify that the Sony DCR HC42 digital video camera works with an G4 12" iBook and Final Cut Pro 5??
I want to buy this camera but want to make sure I can edit the footage with FCP.
Any help would be appreciated.

Have you checked at Apple's Final Cut Studio web
site:
http://www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/finalcutpro/qualif
ication.html
It doesn't appear on the certified list.
However, googling the cam reveals:
http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content/Sony-DCR-HC42-Cam
corder-Review.htm
Glad to help, but it's always good to be resourceful
first.
The real issue is a G4 iBook with no second firewire
bus, the need for a firewire capture disk and FCP5.
You are not going to be very productive with this set
up and there will be issues of DF and throughput.
That iBook can't use much RAM
best wishes
Thanks, I appreciate the help.
I had already checked the FCP offical list - sorry did not mention in the post.
I had also checked a lot of other sites and found nothing clearly stating that the DCR-HC42 works with the G4 iBook and FCP - but I had seen a review from a customer (on some site) saying it did not work with thier iMac (where other cameras like Canon had) and they thought that it might be due to a video card issue??
As for the set up - not doing any major editing jobs so I think that I am OK.
Any more info would be appreciated.
Thanks.

Canon Vixia HF100 24p and Final Cut Pro 7

Hello all,
Just got the HF100 and Final Cut Pro 7. New to both. My plan is to shoot everything at 1920x1080 @24p. I've heard though, that the 24p on this camera has 3/2 inserted to make it 60i. My goal is to remove the 3/2 and do all editing and fx at 24p so I can have a universal master that I can then convert to various formats (Bu-Ray, DVD, web, etc., but will not ever go to tape). What is a good workflow/settings for this? Also one possible concern is disk space (so multiple codec suggestions would be great), but may be able overcome disk space if necessary. Again, I'm completely new to final cut (I do have some post experience, but am clueless to final cut right now). A long question, I know. Thank you in advance.

ebrunoski,
Welcome to FCP 7 and to Canon AVCHD camcorders. I was in your shoes a couple of weeks ago, as I have a Canon HF11 and FCS 3 myself.
I also try to film and edit everything in 24p with my Canon and my recommendation would be to do exactly as suggested in this Apple tutorial and using Compressor:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2410
What it essentially teaches you is to (1) log and transfer your Canon 24p wrapped in 60i files, (2) make them "true" 24p in Compressor, and (3) use them back in FCP 7. Once the files have been compressed into 24p you can get rid of the ones you had logged and transferred in their 60i wrappers and use only the resulting 24p files.
Yes, it's an extra step in the process, but it's one efficient way of doing it.
Works for me!

New iMacs and Final Cut Pro

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