2 imacs v 1mbp  for use with FCP and motion.

I'm in need of advice. I'm in the market for a new computer(s).
Let me give you a rundown on my situation.
HOME COMPUTER- dual 800 1GIG ram G4. probably 6-7 years old -i got it 2nd hand in 03 i think-
(its about 6 years old and very noisy and update needed)
WORK COMPUTER- AL PB G4 1.5ghz 2gig ram 17". Bees knees when released almost 4 years ago.
(redering and Motion are getting beyond tiresome with how slow they are).
The WORK computer I do all my editing on while the HOME computer I use for internet surfing, itunes etc. I use FCP for editing wedding dvds, work related videos etc. but I'm thinking of taking a break from the wedding filming & editing business to concentrate on other things. I will still continue to edit and film but not as much in the past 6 years. As of last week I don't have any projects or side jobs in the pipeline but that may change within 6 months.
MY QUESTION- What should I get?
1. 1 x 2.6 Ghz 4gig Ram 17" MBP at around 3,500 dollars (i'm in japan so about 360,000yen) and then use my AL powerbook as my home computer
OR
2. 2 x imac 20inch with 4gig ram which i think comes in at just under the MBP price
OR
3. 1 x imac 24" 4gig ram & 1x imac 20" with 4gig ram.
Is final cut pro and motion3 going to work better on the imacs than on my current AL powerbook? surely!
I still use motion1 and that really pushes my computer to it's limits. and the last 2 years have been a hectic one editing wise so I didn't want to upgrade computers during the course of projects ongoing.
(playing with fire in my books)
THING IS i need to be able to edit at both work and home. I take a my laptop with me to work everyday, but if I were to get 2 desktops I could just use external hard drives for my projects (which I do anyway). That's why if both computers are desktops they both need to be able to handle motion 3 and fcp6 to a competent level. and if I got two desktops I could try and sell my AL PB. It's still in superb condition due to me keeping it sleeved whenever not in use.
I heard rumours that apple will be releasing new imacs sooner rather than later as well.
ANY thoughts would be highly appreciated.

From what I've read on this forum, FCP doesn't work properly with two video cards.
-DH

Similar Messages

  • External Hard Drive for PowerMac G5 for use with FCP Studio

    Hello,
    I'd greatly appreciate any recommendation for an external hard drive for a PowerMac G5 for use with FCP Studio.
    Thanks.
    -graziemile

    We see alot of Lacie issues here and elsewhere.
    Drives fail... period. I believe you hear more about Lacie drives failing because they sell a ton more of them than many other suppliers. I've got 8 of em sitting right here on the desk and two more at the second station. I've lost one since I started using them years ago (and it had problems right out of the box) and I use them pretty heavy.
    I understand that they use several different brands of drives in their enclosures, but from my experience they must have pretty good QC standards for what they package.
    The guy said the G Techs were a little overkill for his needs. Lacie doesn't pay me. But if someone asks "how are Lacies?" I'll tell them they've been great for me and many others I know, especially if your requirements are capturing DV.
    In five years, I ain't heard anybody say anything about it.
    As for FCP. I love it! In 20 years of business, it's probably the purchase that's given me the most bang for my buck. But if you haven't heard people knock it, you've never met an Avid zelot, bruhhhhh, just the thought gives me shivers.
    The drives X mentioned are designed for video work.
    What Studio said, well he gives out some of the best advice on this board
    (and maybe the most! ) and my reply to his post... that's why I used the little smiley face. No offence intended X.
    I only meant to say that, in a world where software like FCP can do what it does at the price it does it, and drives like Lacie and G Tech can give you the storage they do for the price they do, the line between consumer and professional products is easily blurred.
    rh

  • I'm sorry, I have to convert the mov file. for use with fce and / or imovie11, better ProRes422 or intermediate codec?

    I'm sorry, I have to convert the mov file. for use with fce and / or imovie11, better ProRes422 or intermediate codec?

    FCE only used AIC for HD.
    Al

  • Two Radeons 3870 with FCP and Motion?

    Hi!
    Have you tried to use two 3870 with FCP and Motion?
    I just wanted to have all 512MB of video RAM for my canvas and use the second card with my Matrox MXO to display broadcast preview.
    I know it could be risky, but as I remember earlier the problems shows only while rendering some of the plugins in FCP (my test was on 2006).
    Do you have any experience with pair of 3870 cards?
    I've just ordered two of them:)
    regards
    arti

    From what I've read on this forum, FCP doesn't work properly with two video cards.
    -DH

  • Recommendations for Semi-Pro or Pro HD Video camera to use with fcp and Mac

    Recommendations for Semi-Pro or Pro HD Video camera to use with fcpX and Mac with auto settings and ability to override, need to add external mic or 2.  Am one person crew so needs to be easy to use.

    And check out the Panasonic AG-AC90.  Very good specs for a prosumer unit. Everything in the semi-pro area will involve trade offs for sure. Key thing is to study up enough to know what your needs are vs what trade off are involved in the various models. The ag-ac90 trade off (one of them) is diffraction limited sharpness.

  • Switching to AT&T Cingular - best phone for use with Mac and iSync

    Dear Friends,
    I am finally about to be free from Sprint's poor customer service. I will be switching to AT&T / Cingular. (Not quite ready to buy an iPhone, but don't want to be locked into a 2 year contract with another provider).
    I want to use Apple's iSync. I have reviewed the list of compatible devices and scanned the forums for related topics.
    I'm still left wondering:
    What is the best phone to get with AT&T for use with iSync?
    I would like to sync contacts both ways. If possible, syncing cal events and to-dos would be nice, but not as important as contacts.
    I prefer small flip phones. I don't plan to buy the Media pack service that includes text, web, etc. Instead, I will use the phone for calls and occassional text messages.
    Sound quality and the ease of use are the most important features for me. I prefer raised keys to the flat keypads, but could give on this if need be.
    Finally, using the phone as a modem with my laptop would be nice, but is not essential.
    Thanks so much for any help you can offer.
    David

    I am facing the exact same question regarding, e.g., the Nokia 6126. There are several references:
    1. Go to the Nova Media web site and look at their new product, Fone Link. Or their iSynch Plugins
    2. One of the forum threads references, http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20060915154526806
    3. Another link I found http://soapbox.co.nz/past/2007/4/9/nokia-6126-and-isync-revisited/
    But what I don't yet understand is whether or not any of these suggestions/solutions are affected by the carrier. My understanding is that the 6126 is the North America Version of the 6131. But I talked to ATT/Cingular support yesterday and they make some modifications to the phone software. They don't know if the ATT 6126 will synch with a Mac. Of course they know the answer if synching with a PC (!!)

  • USB external portable HD for use with FCE and MBP ???????

    I've seen a 120 GB USB portable external Seagate HD for $117. Would this be usable as a scratch disk for use with my MBP 2.0 and final cut express HD 3.5. Are there problems with using USB externals? FW external hd's seem to be a good deal more expensive.
    Thanks.
    Maurice

    I bought one recently very cheaply to use for general storage.
    I found that FCE 3.0 worked perfectly and have been using it ever since instead of my FW HD.
    HOWEVER, before you dash out and buy one take note that I have only been tinkering around and experimenting with comparatively short projects of no importance.
    I strongly suspect that if I made a long and complicated film I might suffer - so pay the extra and get a FW HD !
    Incidentally for normal storage purposes the USB2 HD takes over twice the time to move files back and forth. So even for non-FCE use the Firewire HD is twice as fast.
    Ian.

  • Min max lot size time based for use with SNP and PPDS

    Hi all, Is there anyway to set up time based min and max lot sizes? ie we want to have a Max lot size which is small for use with the first 3 months of our plan which starts life in SNP and then converts to PPDS and into blocks for block planning, but months 4 to 36 we want to leave as large max lot sizes as there is no need to have the small max lot sizes for the different horizon.
    As far as I can see there is only a material/plant lot size  and Max lot size and no way to have a different setting in a different time period.
    Thanks
    j

    Hi John,
    As you know, in the product master, the lot size maintenance is time-independent, so that obviously can not be used for your scenario. As per my understanding, to meet this using standard functionality, you can maintain multiple product specific t-lanes (for STRs) and PDSs (planned orders) with required lot size ranges and validity dates (for short or long term horizon). But, again since the validity of t-lanes and PDSs will not be automatically rolling forward so the updating the validities will be a challenge.
    The other option could be to enhance the heuristic functionality at lot size selection step while creating order.
    Regards,
    Umesh

  • HT3529 How can I get dictation for my iPad for use with email and messaging

    How can I get dictation to use with messaging and email?

    Apple's dictation requires Siri, which requires a 3rd or 4th generation iPad (or iPad Mini).  See:
    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5457
    Your post says you have a second generation iPad, so it will not have dictation.
    There are third party apps available that might help you.

  • Partitioning previously used Windows NT File System for use with Mac and PC

    With reference to this thread I found when searching for a solution: Can Windows NT File System(NTFS) format external hard drive work on iMac?
    Below is the comment which led to me creating this new thread.
    "rkaufmann87Sep 8, 2014 8:26 AM Re: Can Windows NT File System(NTFS) format external hard drive work on iMac?
    in response to djj19
    djj19 wrote:
    Hi there,
    I am about to follow your advice also for the same issue, the worry I have is that when I select partition 1, it says "To erase and partition the selected disk..." and so I am worried that if I do this it will erase the current contents of the hard disk drive (which were copied there from PCs in previous use).
    If so, is there a way to use the hard disk drive with a mac without erasing the contents?
    Thanks
    Your case is different and NO do not partition the EHD yet unless you are prepared to completely erase your PC data. Before progressing though, do you intend to share the EHD with a PC and your Mac? If so this is not advisable but it is possible, however you will need to compromise. Please answer that question first and then we can proceed with some advice.
    BTW it's generally not a good idea to ask a question in a thread that has already been answered, particularly one that is 3+ years old! In such a case it's normally better to create your own thread. "
    The answer to the question in the above comment is that ideally I would like to use with both Mac and PC, why is this not advisable?
    Please discuss my best options. I am wondering if I could transfer the current contents of the disk drive elsewhere, partition (which would erase) the disk drive, then put back the contents along with the new files which I have been trying to put on in the first place?
    If this were to work would I then be tied down to only using this disk drive with a Mac?
    Thank you.
    Message was edited by: djj19

    Ideally it is best to have seperate (discreet) EHD's for a PC and Mac due to their differences in HD formatting. However, this is not always feasable but there are alternative solutions availble. Among those are:
    Creating and useing a Dropbox account that can be shared by PCs, Macs, IOS and Android devices. Dropbox allows for 2GB of free storage and additional storage is available for a small monthly fee.
    Another possiblity is formating an EHD so that it may be shared by both a PC and Mac, this format is FAT 32. The downside of doing this is the size of the files written to the HD are limited to 4GB.

  • Best Macbook Pro for use with FCP X for the money?

    I am on a budget, but don't want to be frustrated with FCP X being slow or crashing. What Macbook pro configuration would you recommend? I'm currently considering 4 15" configurations that are below, but am open to any suggestions. I figure I can always get an external drive to upgrade the RAM, so I'm keeping that low to save. What processors, HD and video cards does everyone recommend? Thank you!
    #1
    2.2GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7
    4G
    500GB Serial ATA Drive @ 5400 rpm
    AMD Radeon HD 6750M with 512MB GDDR5
    #2
    2.2GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7
    4G
    750GB Serial ATA Drive @ 7200 rpm
    AMD Radeon HD 6750M with 512MB GDDR5
    #3
    2.4GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7
    4G
    750GB Serial ATA Drive @ 7200 rpm
    AMD Radeon HD 6770M with 1GB GDDR5
    #4
    2.4GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7
    4G
    500GB Serial ATA Drive @ 5400 rpm
    AMD Radeon HD 6770M with 1GB GDDR5

    Don't skimp on memory.
    I personally use OWC for almost all of my Mac upgrades, especially memory and SSDs.
    I'd highly recomend getting 16GB. You only have two slots, so it's not like you can add memory, you have to replace memory. I've seen many users post issues with FCP X who simply don't have enough memory.
    http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/1333DDR3S16P/

  • Thoughts on BEST COMPRESSION for use with iDVD and DVD Studio Pro...

    Hi all...
    I'm having an issue with some visual artifacts that are present after burning a dvd using either idvd or dvd studio pro.
    My sequence containts footage (h.264) and photographs with titles. The photos (w/moves) look great, very crisp. So do the titles.
    However, the video looks awful. Pans and tilts creating streaking, so does any action with the frame.
    I don't see this streaking while viewing in the qt window or when previewing the dvd...
    I'm exporting as a qt reference using the dv/dvc pro setting, when I check the dvd on an ntsc monitor, the image is very streaky.
    Any ideas?
    Thanks,
    Mark

    Are you using FCP?? Then I see why you said QT reference movie... which is the best way. Being more descriptive about your setting when posting a question will return more helpful answers. (editing tool, source materials, machine spec...etc) You said that your footage was h264 and you posted your question in iMovie forum so I couldn't have guessed FCP and DV...
    If your sequence is DV on FCP I can't think of anything else but QT reference movie route. I don't understand why your video won't show interlacing in QT player or DVD preview, but perhaps they force deinterlacing for preview, who knows.
    You said your DVD looks 'very streaky' on ntsc tv. Is it to the point that it looks unnatural? Is overall motion jerky? If so, perhaps the field order had been messed with and changed. But I'm not quite sure about the exact nature of your problem. Visual problem in a subjective verbal description can be hard to communicate

  • JVC GZ-HD7U MPEG Streamclip export settings for use with FCP

    There are a number of compression options in the free MPEG Streamclip 1.9.2 and it's unclear what's best or how I would figure that info out. My guess is Apple HDV 1080i50, Apple HDV 1080i60, Apple DVCPRO HD 1080i50, or Apple DVCPRO HD 1080i60. The default setting was Apple Motion JPEG A, but this produced a huge file and doesn't seem right anyway. I think the desired frame size is 1920 x 1080, but I'm uncertain if I need to end up with an interlaced or progressive .mov file. My selectable options for progressive/interlaced are: "Interlaced Scaling," "Reinterlace Chroma," and "Deinterlace Video." Selecting "Deinterlace Video" excludes use of the other two options.
    These clips will eventually be edited in FCP and I'm guessing that the appropriate settings will match whatever is selected at the export stage.
    I'm using the JVC Everio GZ-DH7U HD Hard disk camcorder...I'm not sure if JVC uses the same setting across the board for it's HD cameras or maybe just the Everio cameras are similarly designed??
    Thanks to all!!

    the output should match the source file, generally speaking. So if you camera is making HD files then using a HD sized coded would suffice.
    HDV (IIRC) is 1440x1080. I often find that using the default settings for a particular file type in Streamclip often work quite well.
    As a test, take a small file. if it works, great batch process away, if not, tweak it and then try the same small file until you get a desirable result. Rinse and repeat.

  • Can someone suggest an affordable external hard drive for use with FCPX and video editing on my Macbook Pro Retina

    I have a Macbook Pro Retina from 2012 and I only got the 250GB hard drive.  I'm getting ready to purchase a Panosonic HC-X920 to use with Final Cut Pro X already installed on my laptop.  Since I know the file sizes are going to be so big, can anyone suggest an affordable external drive fast enough to keep up with editing the video?  I'm not a pro and use it for family and personal projects. 
    I prefer some thunderbolt options since I haven't had a chance to use the inputs since I got my macbook pro. I just don't know what is necessarily too little or too big and too cheap and too expensive for my needs.  Thank you.  

    OWC is a Mac specialist and a very trustworthy vendor.  I have dealt with them and their technical stall on many occasions.  Hence you may look at what they offer and be assured that they will stand behind what they sell:
    http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/Thunderbolt/
    I suspect that for your needs, a 1 TB drive is going to be the minimum.
    Ciao.

  • Recommendation Request: Best flatbed scanner for use with Mac and iPhoto?

    I have a flatbed scanner that Mac doesn't recognize. It's 9 years old, does a great job, but only works with Windows. Period. Don't ask what model or anything, I've already done the research, it's hopeless. MOVING ON... I'm tired of BootCamping to Windows, running scans, and then rebooting and hunting down the files...
    So, what flatbed scanner do you use, rank it on scale of 1-10, and how much did it cost?
    This thread might be useful to many people... FLATBED scanners, only, please. Make another thread for sheetfed scanners if you like.

    This site has some good info on many scanners: Scanner Reviews | Flatbed Scanner |.
    I'd look for one with high optical resolution. It's akin to the zoom in digital cameras, optical vs digital. FWIW I use a Canon 8600F (now replace by the 8800F) which does slides, film strips as well a photos. What I like about it is that you can scan multiple photos and have each saved to it's own file. Other brands of scanners offer that as well I'm sure but it'sjust a feature to consider. My scanner also came with a bundled copy of Photoshop Elements for Mac. Not the latest version but worked very well. Its replacement also bundles PSE.

Maybe you are looking for

  • Can't install OS 10.9.5 update in App Store

    I was able to install a series of updates from Apple yesterday except for the OS update for 10.9.5. I keep getting the following error indicating that I don't have permission. Since all the other updates worked, I'm not sure why this specific one won

  • How to display standard ALV toolbar function in Webdynpro ABAP

    Hi All, Could any one please let me know that how to display the standard ALV functions. What I tried is as follows: data :lr_config_table type ref to cl_salv_wd_config_table. data lr_function type ref to cl_salv_wd_function_std Got the reference by

  • Video sound????

    I got my iphone4 alittle over a month ago, right when I got it the first video i took, when i played it back you could barely hear the sound i tried everything but nothing worked so I figured maybe the video sound on the new iphone wasnt good until m

  • Result row is not showing expected result

    Dear All , I have below  requirement to generate mix variance    PY Mix PY Mix Diff   PY Mix   Val Gr - 0.00 0.00 1,015.6823529 1,015.68 0.00 0.00 52,486.5048653 52,486.50 0.00 0.00 2,836.1166667 2,836.12 0.00 0.00 45,582.8437071 45,582.84 Result 0.0

  • Exporting Contact Sheets from Lightroom

    Is it possible to export a contact sheet from lightroom for printing? Or does it have to be printed directly from Lightroom