Does Final Cut Server is reconnected how media?

Yes, I too would like to start this discussion. We have a highly customized distribution, and have come to rely on FCSvr for our workflow. As people find other solutions, or stick with FCSvr, it would be great to know their thinking and how they'll implement the new or the old. If Apple open sources it, there are a number of people who would love to start developing it more I'm sure.

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Does Final Cut Server include Final Cut Studio Apps?

Hi All,
Does Final Cut Server include all the Final Cut Studio Apps, or are these two packages that I'll have to buy separately?
Thanks,
Rajnesh
G5 Mac OS X (10.4.5) Dual Proc 2.7GHz; 8GB Ram

They are indeed separate packages. One is a set of media creation apps (FCS), the other is an asset management system for projects created in those apps (FC Server).

Final Cut Server + Media Manager Best Practices

Is anyone using Final Cut Server to organize FCP Media Manager?
I don`t want MM and it`s individual contains cataloged by FCS, only a "bundle" from the directory of MM (that has the project and a sub-directory called Media with all medias from that project).
I`ve tried different solutions but always get stuck in some way.
1- Get the directory from MM and put on a Device being watched by a scan production. A production with the name from the directory is created and the project and medias are catalogued as well.
But I don`t want those medias and projects catalogued by FCS. I`ve tried to set the recursion limit to 0 or 1 but the production is not created, neither the bundle (from the directory) asset. Nevertheless you can`t archive productions (with MatrixStore you can), so a workaround would be to archive only the bundle inside the production (if you managed to get only the directory as a bundle inside the production). But to get worse, if you update the directory as a bundle (regardless if it`s inside a production or not) and your archive device is a FTP device it says "ERROR: E_NOTSUPP Sorry, copying a bundle to an ftp server is not supported".
2- Zip with "ditto" (because the 2GB problem with normal zip) the MM directory and put on a device being watched. This won`t be scanned by a scan production to create a production with the name of it contents because it`s not a directory it`s a zip file and even if I forget about productions and only uploads the zip files to get each MM directory created as a zip takes too long and much cpu power so it`s not possible with many MM directories (the case). And to get things worse (always murphy), before I`ve deleted those directories I checked the integrity of zip files and to my surprise some of them were ruined. So I don`t trust compressing anything for my backup. I`ve tried Tar, ditto, archive from finder (that`s the same as ditto) but it takes too long or break the file.
The bottom line: I just want a MM as directory bundle in FCS (preferentially inside a production automatically created) AND being able to archive it to a FTP device.
Thanks in advance

Well it sounds like you have two problems: getting a successful scan production to work and archiving. I think I can help with the first one.
When you set up your device make sure that it is one directory level up from each folder you want turned into a production. So for example - XSAN/Show1/MM/ - if you make XSAN the device and set the recursion limit to 0, Show1 will become a production and Show2, Show3, etc for example. Set the recursion limit to 1 and MM becomes a production - Show2/MM/ and Show3/MM, etc for example.
Here's what I would do. Device 1 = XSAN/Show1 with recursion = 0. In the production info section of the scan production response set the title = Show1_[0]. The [0] will automatically fill in the name of the directory, ie - MM. This way each folder within Show1 becomes a production and the name is preceded by Show1 for easy sorting. This way you can isolate your MM folder and treat it differently.
That should get your productions scanning correctly. I'm not sure about archiving to an FTP device, zipping bundles, or automatically adding bundled assets to productions with a scan. As far as I know, the only way to add a bundled asset is to manually upload a folder. I might be wrong about this though.
Hope this helps even a little.
Message was edited by: Franbot

Is Final Cut Server is the right software for our company?

I need a software that catalogs and keeps organize our media. Our company is using Final Cut Pro 2 and want to keep stock footage. Apparently, were not doing a good job of organizing our media and files. I'm researching a software that can organize and catalog media and files. Does Final Cut Server is software can do that?
Thank you
Luis

Yes and no.
I know that's not the best answer, but final cut server is a very powerful organizational tool, but you also need to very organized in what you put into it and especially during initial setup.
For example, you say your company is apparently not doing a very good job organizing right now, so lets say you had 300 quick times labeled documentary1.mov, then documentary2.mov and so on, having a piece of software catalogue footage in that manner will not do you any favours in the long run.
However, if you were to say establish a production, "PBS Documentary" and then ensure that all clips are labeled very specifically, then keeping them and being able to search them as a part of a stock footage library could be very useful, as you are not only able to locate clips based on key words, but also preview the footage to make sure it is something you would want to use, and determine the current location of that file.
I suggest you check out apple's videos on FCserver, they will give you a pretty good idea of what the software is designed to do.

How do I Remotely Access Final Cut Server?

I set up Final Cut Server on a Mac mini at work and uploaded some Final Cut Pro projects into it. Now I want to be able to log into the server from home "check out" the .fcp file, work on it and then check it back in again.
I really don't know how to go about doing that though. What address should I be using to do this? Do I need to install anything on my remote computer first before trying to connect.
Also, when I check out the .fcp file remotely will it also download all the proxy files, as well. This is my first time setting FCS up so I'm pretty clueless about this.
Any ideas would be much appreciated.
Ray

We're doing the same thing at my company and it's working really well. We're a small post production house and our editors like the flexibility of logging on to the server from their homes and checking out the projects and the media, without needing to come into the office. Great for companies that want to engage in green practices, or cut down on commute times, if you need any good points to bring to your staff. Here's how we do it:
1.) Enable VPN access for our editors.
2.) Create compressor settings for our edit proxies that are h264 and small enough to travel over the web, or smaller internet connections.
3.) Editor logs in over VPN and downloads the FCS Java Client.
4.) Editor checks out project and allows the edit proxies to cache overnight.
5.) We use a lot of Apple's out the box Review and Approval options, and with a little configuration, they work great.
6.) When the editor is done with the project, they check in the lower rez versions and it "auto-magically" connects to the uprez media.
We color correct in-house, and it's just nice to have the added flexibility to send the time intensive offline out of house.

Respect original media creation date in final cut server ?

my question is...
is there any way for final cut server to respect the original finder creation date of the media? I do understand that the file is being newly created in the database and thus will have a creation and modification date of when you put it in, but is there a way to tell the database to change the data.
Why am i trying to do this?
I have a bunch of old footage that has a creation date reflecting the actual date the footage was created off the camera. I use this date created to find footage in my database such as all footage from a shoot between 10/2/09 and 10/8/09.
What i have tried:
I have tried using the A Better Finder Attributes application to change the date created after i have imported the footage into final cut server. this caused issues with the proxy and thumbnail creation when i went to reanalyze the footage to see what it would do. I saw that final cut server does not look at the file itself to know when it was created and only logs this creation date in its own database without looking to the original file for this information.
I currently have a field in final cut server to manually enter the date but this is yet another step that someone needs to take when importing footage to server and the less steps the better.
do i have any options for final cut server 1.5 to respect the finder creation date of the original media? or change it after the import into fcserver?
What good is the creation date in fcserver if you have amassed years of old footage to be put into your database and find footage based on date it was originally created?
or what good is the creation date if you are on a shoot and do not get to ingest the footage until you get back, say maybe a few weeks later? how would you know when you shot which footage on what day?
Thanks for your help

H.264 is a puzzling choice of codec for edit proxies. H.264 is not an edit-friendly codec since it is a complex long-GOP structure and will require a ton of rendering just to play back the timeline. ProRES 422 Proxy would be a much better choice for editing. I'm afraid I can't account for the differences between Compressor and FCServer in this case, but my gut tells me the non-I-frame codec you are trying to use for edit proxies might have something to do with it. Maybe for an edit-proxy workflow to operate properly on the server-side the codec must be I-frame? Is there any reason you do not want to use ProRES 422 Proxy? They are about 1/3 the footprint of 720p24 DVCPRO-HD, which is already very efficient. For that frame rate and frame size they would be roughly half the heft of good ol' DV25.
So my answer to all three questions would be to try ProRES 422 Proxy for your edit proxies and see if everything lines up.

How do I migrate metadata from Final Cut Server for use in Premiere?

We're one of many companies looking to move to Premiere Pro from Final Cut.
We have thousands of tagged clips in Final Cut Server and I'm trying to find a way to export all that metadata so it can be used, and searched for, within Premiere Pro.
Does anyone know if/how this could be achieved?
The only thing I've found online that seems to be relevant is this:
http://www.andre-aulich.de/en/perm/export-asset-metadata-from-final-cut-server-using-built in-tools-only
This seems to explain how to export the metadata (although I don't fully understand it) but not how to make it useful for Premiere.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Well... I'm a librarian by training so I use Cat-DV a little differently.
I use it to make a searchable archive of proxy files for entire hard drives. I hook up a hard drive (say an old external) and point Cat-DV at it. It makes a catalog (locally) that has all the metadata (most importantly "date created") and a small proxy or thumbnail if it's a still. Then I unplug the drive, label it and put it on a shelf. When I need to find something all I have to do is consult the local catalog. I can search it (if I included any metadata) or, most likely, I'll just scrub around for date created. Cat-DV will display the exact path to where the asset is. I can search across multiple catalogs of drives without ever having to plug one in, Once I find the file I want, I just plug in that drive to retreive the file.
I use it mostly for stills and some b-roll that gets used over and over. For a variety of reasons, we never opted to make it a full replacement for FC Server.
And another thing... you can do a heck of a lot with the $99 or $300 version. You don't need to go the full enterprise server route (though you do have to do that to use the server functions).
You might also want to try Adobe Bridge for searching and editing metadata. In my experience, it's always been slow with video but that may well have changed. I haven't played with it in a while

How do I uninstall Java 7 on my Lion, so that I can run Final Cut Server again?

One of my fellow employees thought he was doin me a favor yesterday and upgraded my java on my Lion machine... now I cannot access my Final Cut Server any more.
How can I get back to a java version that works..... after all the java site is somewhat useless when it comes to this question.
Any pointers will be greatly appreciated.

Boot Camp allows you to install Windows on the hard drive of a Mac. It's more difficult and you must be very careful with the Windows installation. If you do something wrong, you may lose Mac OS X.
Some Macs support Windows 8 > http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5634?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US If your computer is supported, you can install Windows 8.
You can install Windows 8 from a DVD or a USB drive. If you want to install Windows 8 from a USB drive, you have to buy Windows 8 in the Microsoft Store, which will allow you to download Windows 8 in a ISO file, that you will be able to burn to a USB drive using Boot Camp Assistant (it's in /Applications/Utilities).
Apple has got official steps to install Windows on your iMac > http://manuals.info.apple.com/en_US/boot_camp_install-setup_10.8.pdf

How does final cut pro x export a file if it has not finished rendering?

How does final cut pro x export a file if it has not finished rendering?
So today I finished a project: Share >Export > as a pro res 422 and I'm now burning with iDVD as we speak. FCPX is still doing background rendering! I hope my DVD turns out ok....

You don't need to render before export.
Rendering is for playback.
If your project plays OK from the storyline, you can safely turn off rendering in preferences.
Andy

Does a QMaster Cluster really make sense for Final Cut Server?

Correct me if I'm wrong, and I often am, but my understanding of the difference between setting up a "Cluster" and just using "This Machine" is the cluster allows multiple jobs to be processed simultaneously, while an unmanaged system will only do one job at a time. However, when it does that one job, it uses all the system's processors.
Yesterday I created a cluster consisting of two Quad Core Intel systems, and started Final Cut Server cataloging about a half a TB of data. I noticed that Server submits the Proxy render jobs one at a time, and that the jobs were being submitted to only one processor core, in a rotating fashion. Is there a way to make FCServer submit jobs in "parallel," or am I better off with using just the local system for transcoding?

The default proxy transcode setting seems to be specifically tuned to work at a small scale, which makes sense if you are asking a box to host the database, serve the app, and do all the proxy transcodes. I observed the same phenomenon, so I made my own transcode setting for proxies and I chose to lower the bitrate a bit to help with file size and transfer time. The upside is the floodgates are wide open when my 32 core Xeon cluster (four 8-cores) goes to town on a proxy encoding job.
Your other observation is also right, that only one item is encoded at a time across the cluster rather than working on all of them at once across the cluster. So what you get with a fast cluster is shorter encode time, not parallel encodings that all finish at the same time.
If you have the spare machines to dedicate to cluster work, I strongly endorse setting up that way. I would not recommend Quick Clusters for Final Cut Server encoding duty. Either set up a dedicated Managed Cluster that FCSvr can use or none at all.

How to downconvert 16:9 to 4:3 in Final Cut Server

Hey!
Would someone tell me the steps to get FCS to run a downconversion from an uncompressed 16:9 HD file to uncompressed 4:3 SD?
I know there's some involvement with Compressor, just can't remember the steps.
Thanks!

Ryan:
First and foremost, create the Compressor setting/preset on the Xserve that Final Cut Server (FCSvr) is install on. i.e. 16:9 HD to 4:3 SD
Second, test that this Compressor preset indeed does the transcoding and conversion that you're seeking.
Third, via the Advanced Admin, create a video transcode setting, assign this setting to a device that you want to have permission to transcode these files to, and reedit the setting to reference and specify this setting.
You can then create a subscription that fired off a copy response that using this transcode setting or just manually export the asset to the device that has the transcode setting assigned to it.
Let me know if this helps.
Nicholas Stokes
XPlatform Consulting

How well does final cut x run on 10.6 macbook pro?

how well does final cut x run on 10.6 macbook pro?

Which MBPro?
Most will be OK from 2009 on.
Al

How many licences does Final Cut Studio Support?

How many licences does Final Cut Studio Support? Its the latest one (3) btw. The one that has FCP 7
Any input is highly appreciated

It can be installed on (1) desktop and (1) laptop, and you cannot use them at the same time. The idea is that you use the application when you are in your office, and if you need to go on the road, you can use it there, while the one in the office is not in use.

How to change Final Cut Server's time zone?

Hello all:
Is there a way to change Final Cut Server's time zone? It seems the software uses the GMT time zone as its reference. Therefore, whenever it runs on a computer located in another time zone, it still uses the GMT based timestamp.
So, for example, as my time zone is GMT less 3 hours, my FCSvr is always stamping the time as 3 hours in advance. Sometimes, this is really annoying.
My best regards,
JP.

I tried resetting Mac OS X's time zone directly in the terminal. Didn't work. After trying several times to set up another time zone, FCSvr suddenly was able to work with the PST time zone.
I was able to have a workaround by setting GMT (or PST) as my time zone, turning off the automatic date&time setting and manually setting the time, all at the date&time System Preferences.
Anyway, I don't think this is a "best practices" procedure, as FCSvr should be able to work normally with the server machine's time.
Any insights on this will be highly appreciated.
JP.

Help - How to repair crashed Final Cut Server

I was working on adding a field to the ASSET_SEARCH group to enable a new advanced search. When I was done, all usual advanced search fields were gone and replaced by all fields of the metadata set of the field I just added. Something definitely wrong here!
Then my FCS client got frozen and I haven't been able to connect to final cut server anymore from any client.
What can I do? Re-install?
Thanks

Thanks, Well this is exactly what I learned: DO YOUR BACK-UPS!
Just before you start changing configurations etc. it is very wise to backup first. And while you are programming as well.
My automatic backups stopped for unknown reasons, so I was left out with just some older backups; tried to restore - couldn't do it.
Then I was fed up and I'm now recreating my devices, watchers & automations.
It's a bummer, but good practice..
Henk

Does Final Cut Server is reconnected how media?

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