Imac or powerbook with FCP?

Hello neighbors, I am looking forward to buy a new MAC for editing in FCP, I have a budget for about 2,500. I was thinking an imac 20" with a 250GB drive or a Powerbook 15" with a 100GB drive. I also heard that imac frezees to much in pro applications because of all the integrated components on the same monitor. Is this true? I own a Powermac G5 sp/1.8 therefor I want something different. Any opinions? Thanks

Neither is advised by me.
Seriously, the iMac has a single firewire bus and no means to add a second one.
That means your firewire drive, and camera/deck share a single firewire bus, which has presented issues with users.
The PB is a slightly better choice because it is a 15-inch which means it has PC Card slot to add a Cardbus firewire card to create a second firewire bus.
If these are the only alternatives get the 15-inch PB with a cardbus firewire card, and 7200 rpm hitachi in a firewire enclosure.
Never heard anything about freezes as you stated

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IMac which one with FCP 5.1.4 ?

Hello, I have been using a Powerboog G4 with my FCP no problem so anything would be better!!
Now that I have FCP Studio with Motion and would like to to upgrade. Can't afford a tower... So I'm getting an iMac but I'm stock with which modeel and graphics card is best.
The 20" it comes with 2 400firewires, the 24" with one 400 and one 800 firewire. Save the money or spent an extra $500??
I edit DV from a Panasonic DVX100. Except for Motion I have no other need for a super duper video.
Three options ( withstudent discount)
$1,900:
iMac-20", 2.33GHz, 2GB SDRAM, ATI Radeom x1600/256MB-VRAM
$2,336:
iMac-24", 2.33GHz, 2GB SDRAM, NAVIDIA GeForce7300 GTO/128MB-SDRAM
$2,449:
same as aboe 24" but w/NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GT 256MB SDRAM
To the above I have to add Apple care plan. If I get the more affordable option I can also buy an exteranl drive. with the other option, I'll wait.
Thank you in advance for your feedback.
iMac Mac OS X (10.4.8)

It's always advisable to get the best that you can afford, but if you're going for the imac, you need an external drive so I'd recommend going for the middle option with a decent external HD.
Have you absolutely checked that you can't source maybe one of the earlier Mac Pro models via an authorized reseller or maybe the apple refurb store (the refurb store currently has one at $2199, I'm sure you could find one cheaper).
The imac is compromised in terms of expandability - do a search on this forum for more details.
Having said that, I coped for a couple of years with FCP 4.5 and a G4 imac and an external HD with no probs, so if you can cope without the expandability and you'll be sticking with SD you'll be OK - don't forget FCP 6 is just around the corner and you'll have to check the system requirements carefully to see if it'll run on an imac should you decide to take this route.

Final Cut Pro Registration from iMac to Powerbook

Hey folks,
Another probably stupid question, but again I come to thee for answers....!
I've got an iMac which I've edited all my work on Final Cut version 5 and have recently purchased a Powerbook where basically I installed FCP from the original disks I used to install it on the iMac.
I registered FCP originally on the iMac, but have not registered it on the Powerbook as I thought this could cause conflicts having the two machines running on the same version.
I'm now planning to sell my iMac to upgrade to a Power Mac. So meantime until I sell all my belongings to purchase one, I would like the Powerbook to be the main machine registered with FCP.
I basically want to clear the iMac completely for sale, so how do I go about having the registered version of FCP on my Powerbook? Should I take off FCP on the Powerbook, then use the Migration Assistant to take over FCP from the iMac? Ive never done this before but have seen on the forums that this is the way to do it via firewire. I'm just wondering though if this causes problems as FCP is obviously registered to the iMac?
Or do I have to call Apple and get them to register FCP with the Powerbook too?
Does any of that make any sense to anyone??? If anyone can follow that riddle, I would be extremely grateful for feedback.
Thanks,
Matty

From the Final Cut Studio License Agreement:
"2. Permitted License Uses and Restrictions.
A. Apple Software (Bundle)
This License allows you to install and use one copy of the Apple Software on one Apple-labeled desktop computer and one Apple-labeled laptop computer so long as both computers are owned and used by you. The Apple Software may be used to reproduce materials so long as such use is limited to reproduction of non-copyrighted materials, materials in which you own the copyright, or materials you are authorized or legally permitted to reproduce. This License does not allow the Apple Software to exist on more than one computer at a time, and you may not make the Apple Software available over a network where it could be used by multiple computers at the same time. You may make one copy of the Apple Software in machine-readable form for backup purposes only; provided that the backup copy must include all copyright or other proprietary notices contained on the original."

How do I use m2ts movie file format from my old pc with FCP on my mac?

I have recently moved from a PC to a iMac. I have a large number of Sony AVCHD movie files, which were imported to my PC and are in the m2ts file format on my PC. The original files on my Sony camera were deleted so these files are now all I have. Also, for each movie clip on my PC there are 3 files....a very large m2ts file along..... with two very small file....one is a .modd file and the other a .moff file.
I now want to use these m2ts files (and if needed possibly these other two smaller files) on my Mac make movies with either iMovie or Final Cut Pro. and don't know how to import them or convert them for use on my Mac. Can anyone help?
One final question. Can FCP author DVD's or is separate software required. Apple has discontinued iDVD for iMovie (which I find rediculous) and so I'm worried they don't support making DVD's with FCP.
Thanks

Although I don't use Toast I know lots of people who do and like it for a variety of purposes; for example, many people author in DVDSP and burn disks using Toast. But there are a lot of versions and they have differing features and capability. Do a search in these (or iDVD) forums you'll find plenty of info. Don't know about the other app. Again, if you ask Apple, they may come through with iDVD…they have for others.
Clipwrap quality limitations? Try the trial and test the results for yourself. As far as I know the trial is fully freatured but there is a one minute clip limitation (which doesn't apply to the paid version).
Good luck.
Russ

I can capture with iMovie 6, but not with FCP 6.0 ('no data from device')

I didn't have any problem with FCP 5, but am getting nowhere with FCP 6 using the same settings (I think). FCP seems to see the camcorder, but can't control it and, even if I manually start the camera, reports 'no data from device' when I do a 'Capture Now'. Device control isn't critical, but I'd sure like to find out why it doesn't see the data stream from the camera (Sony HDR-HC7 / FW400). I must be missing a setting some place, but sure can't find it. On the other hand, I have full device control and zero dropout capture with iMovie (exact same hardware configuration). Any ideas?

Wolfgang Matzl wrote:
canopus works fine, as well as all other devices.
i have tons of tapes and tried a few, none worked.
i tried to capture on both my new imac and my mbpro, no way.
but now i'm sure there is something wrong with the sony handycam, i tried to import with my old final cut studio, and it's not possible, also. fc pro says: waiting for timecode.
so i'm confused now. does the sony dcr-trv not send a timecode? maybe, and this will explain the troubles. but on the other hand i imported successfully some footage with exact this device.
maybe i used the canopus then to correct the timebase, i can't remember how i did it. but this would mean i have to accept loss of quality, since i have to connect the sony with s-vhs with the canopus and convert it.
right now i'm importing a tape with imovie and will have a look how the result is, but as far as i remember, the audio has to be re-rendered when importing in fcpx…
My finger is pointing to a Timecode issue.
Is timecode enabled in the camera?
Is it continuous on the tape?
Al

Wich camcorder with FCP Studio2 ?

Hi
I am undecided between Sony HDR-FX1 and Canon XH A1 to use along with MacPro and FCPStudio2... I am looking for a camcorder in this price range and these two seem the best options... However, FX1 does not have XLR connection ( I use to record audio separatly, so this is not an absolute no go), on the other hand Canon XH A1 seems to have some issues with FCP...
Any Ideas? about these or other camcorders in this price range to work on this environment ?

Thank you Rob !
I decided upon Canon XHA1... had real good feedback about that camcorder
Thanks !
MacPro 2.66 MHZ 4Gb Ram Ati Radeon X1900 XT 512MB (2 x dual-link DVI) Mac OS X (10.4.9) Power Mac G4 450Mhz 0S 10.3.9 1Gb Ram ; Powerbook G4 667Mhz 512 Ram OS 10.3.9

No Video with FCP HDV with QTP

I have a strange question....
I have an Intel G5 iMac (10.4.11) and I capture and edit with FCP 5.0.4 using a Sony Z1 using the HDV 1080i50 sequence (I live in Hong Kong) I edit the video and export Quicktime movie using my sequence preset HDV 1080i50.
I cannot play the exported video with QTP!!
I hear sound but there is no picture. I only have a white screen!!
I can open this video with FCP and it plays fine!!
I can then take this exported video and transfer it to my G5 dual core tower (10.4.11) and the video plays fine in QTP!
I would really like to be able to use QTP to play these videos! Both the iMac and G5 tower have the exact OSX and FCP. The only difference is one is Intel and the other is PPC! Has anyone had problems playing HDV videos on intel macs?
Any ideas or suggestion?

I've re-installed FCP Studio and the problem still persists....
any ideas?

IMac vs Powermac for FCP

I am debating between an iMac and PowerMac for FCP editing. I am primarily a shooter but would like to offer editing to clients as well. Don't anticipate anything to graphics or effects intensive. For fairly simple editing does the PowerMac have a huge ($1500) advantage over the top of the line iMac?

iMac:
DV, HDV, DVCPRO HD (possibly) and maybe AVCHD only. Those are the ONLY formats you can edit. I say possibly with DVCPRO HD because the ONLY drives you can use on an iMac are firewire drives. Those are fine for DVCPRO HD (Firewire 800 required), but only for working with P2 DVCPRO HD...nothing from tape. You only have one firewire bus, so capturing using that bus for the camera, AND for the drive is sketchy. Will work most of the time, but not all of the time. Forget Uncompressed SD or HD...not gonna work. The ONLY thing you can upgrade is the RAM...that's it. So Motion will work fine, but not optimally with the graphics card already in place.
Mac Pro: great expandibility
YOu can install different graphics cards, install capture cards for working with uncompressed HD and SD...and can install eSATA cards for working with faster drives. It comes with 4 internal drive slots, three empty, so that you can install fast drives internally that will work with uncompressed SD and DVCPRO HD and ProRes (ProRes on the iMac will be iffy).
Mac Pro is a professional machine, and iMac is a consumer machine. If you work with DV and HDV only, and only need firewire drives, it should be fine. But that's about all you can do with it.
Shane

NV-DA 1 PAL MiniDV camera uncompatible with FCP 5?

Hello, I've been trying to use my Panasonic NV-DA 1 PAL Mini DV camera with Final Cut Pro 5 on my Mac Powerbook and it is not recognizing the camera.
Is this 1999 model camera uncompatible now with Final Cut Pro 5 for some reason and why? The camera is not recognized in IMovie either but works with FCP 3 and Movie Maker on the PC.
Thank you.

Dear Studio X et al,
Thanks for your responses. They have been somewhat helpful in pointing me in the right direction. I am still experiencing a problem, possibly software level, though I have eliminated a few causes/issues at the hardware level.
A. Here's what I've done so far:
1. Before seeing this response, I followed the advice to FIX QT7 (which I had already been running, but had another version in my 'receipts' that has now been deleted).
Result: I was able to connect to my camera one time successfully via Final Cut Pro 5. However, upon initial success, I was unable to reconnect thereafter.
Learned: My camera works with FCP5.
Assumption: It must be either a software or hardware issue.
2. I then saw the post re: firewire bus reset. I've followed the simple--and oh-so-obvious directions that of course I'd already followed EXCEPT for the last tip: UNPLUG the computer from the power source. (See artice here: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=88338)
Result: I was again successful in connecting my camera via FCP5. After the initial reset, I was able to connect and reconnect my camera to FCP5 w/o having to unplug the computer from its power source 3 times. Note: I also made certain I could connect successfully to iMovie at least once.
Learned: The firewire bus required resetting.
Assumption: I should not need to reset the firewire bus again.
B. HOWEVER, NEW PROBLEM
1. It's a new day, and upon successful connection to my camera via FCP5, I lost the ability to view the video in the FCP5 viewer; I only see color bars. However, the status is "VTR OK".
2. I have now reset the firewire bus again as above with sucess(essentially unplugging everything from the computer and power source, waiting up to 10 mins and restarting).
Result: I am currently capturing video and pray for success.
Question: If I lose viewer connection again, what is the appropriate fix? Is it a software issue? And does resetting the firewire bus, a hardware issue, have anything to do with it?
Thanks for your responses. I am obviously a novice and appreciate your experience in this regard.
-Sarinha
Powerbook G4 Mac OS X (10.4.7) 1.67mgHz, 1.5GB DR 2 RAM, 80GB 5400-rmp HD

Will FCP7 Studio Pro work on a new iMac Core i7 with OS 10.8.4?

We are still on FCP6. We never upgraded to 7, and we have just upgraded our iMacs.
FCP6 does not work with the new iMac and we would like to continue using the older version of of FCP.
Will FCP7 Studio Pro work on a new iMac Core i7 with OS 10.8.4?

You should refrain from repeating this suggestion about Rosetta (especially since you have no direct experience with it). Much has changed since the time of its discussion back in the introduction of Lion days.
The fact of the matter is that Rosetta has no valid function installed into Lion or Mt. Lion and users have reported serious system problems and crashes after further subsequent modifications and System updates.
There are two safe methods to install FCP6 (FCS2) into Lion or Mt. Lion:
Use Pacifist:
http://www.charlessoft.com/
Use Jeremy Johnstone's Terminal method:
http://www.jeremyjohnstone.com/blog/2012-03-11-installing-final-cut-pro-studio-2 -0-on-mac-os-x-10-7-lion.html

Is this Mac ok for work with FCP Studio 5.1?

Hi all,
in the next few weeks i'm hoping to make the change from PC to Mac based editing, using FCP Studio 5.1. This is what i'm thinking of buying:
imac 24" TFT (this will show HD won't it?), 2.33Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo, 2GB 667 DDR2 RAM, Nvidia GeForce 7600GT 256MB, 250GB Hard Drive, DVD Writer.
Will this run FCP Studio 5.1 smoothly?
Many thanks, mat.
ps. what is the deal with FCP 6? Is it set for release soon? If so, i may put off the move until then.

Welcome to Apple Discussions!
These specs suggest it should:
http://www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/specs.html

I have installed FCPX on my iMac (mid 2007) with a video ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro 256 MB. Tis does not meet the minimum requirements. It seems to be ok but what kind of problems can I expect ?

I have installed FCPX on my iMac (mid 2007) with a video ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro 256 MB. This does not meet the minimum requirements. It seems to be ok but what kind of problems can I expect ?

Luis Sequeira1 wrote:
I have run things that are unsupported too (like 10.3 Panther on a Wallstreet Powerbook, anyone remember those? )
Hey Luis. I not only remember…I still have mine (OS 9)! Works perfectly well…for some things; just need to be selective about what I ask it to do. (Also have its big brother Pismo running Tiger, which is still an extremely competent machine.) When I take them out of their cases, I'm still amazed at the G3's build quality.
Russ

HDR-HC3 Won't communicate with FCP or anything else...

This is a brand new HDR-HC3 connected with a firewire cable that works on everything else but this camera. It shows on the Camera HDVin but it will not recognize the camera in FCP or ImovieHD. All software and OS are up to date...anyone else experience this?

Just thought I would give an update to this issue. I have still, to this day, not been able to use my Sony HDR-HC3 with FCP or even imovie for that matter. I have read every article about this camera and not a single one of the possible "solutions" has worked for me. I have attempted to use this camera, connected firewire to 5 total different Macs including a G4 Laptop, a G5 tower, an intel iMac and 2 different mac pro systems. I have tried every firewire port on every computer, removing all other devices that could be interfering. I've used probably 4 different firewire cables. I have trashed preferences several times and tried just about every combination of HDV settings in FCP. Either it just doesn't recognize that the camera exists or FCP says its connected incorrectly. I have tested the firewire connection on a non Mac device and it communicates fine, so theres nothing wrong with the camera's port. Sony offers no Mac support for this device, typical. I would love to hear any new possibilities to fix this issue before I tack it out back and light this POS on fire lol. I have never once had any connection issues with any other firewire device in FCP.

Camera won't communicate with FCP or Imovie

I apologise if this has been asked a million times before, but I'm on a very tight time crunch, and I think each case is different.
I'm making a montage/video to be shown at a friend's wedding on thursday, and I can't get the freakin camera to communicate with FCP!
I also tried Imovie, and the only thing it recognizes is the built in Isight camera.
I'm running:
OSX 10.4.9
FCP 5.1.9
QuickT 7.1.5
and the camera's a small sony consumer cam (DCR0PC101E PAL)
I've got all my settings right, i've done this before a million times, but for some reason, something is off today.
I haven't used this particular camera on this computer before, I used to use it on my old powerbook (i don't know if it matters, but I'm wondering if this is an intel issue)
Is there a way to check if the computer itself can read my camera... Like if I go to system profiler, should I look under firewire and find the name of my camera or?
Any help you can send my way is deeply appreciated.

From time to time similiar questions pop up here. But, most indicate everything works just fine in iMovie but not FCP. Since iMovie also does not recognize the camcorder, you might have any number of problems.
Do you have access to another camcorder? If another camcorder works just fine with FCP or iMovie, that would narrow your troubleshooting to the DCR0PC101E.
If another camcorder doesn't work, it could be the firewire cable. I'm guessing the cable to the external drive is a 6/6 and the camera cable is a 4/6, so you might also need to try a different cable.

Canon Vixia HV40 "NO COMMUNICATION" with FCP

I just bought the Canon Vixia HV 40. FCP will not recognize it. Previously I had the Canon ZR500 and I had no problems with FCP.
I have an aluminum iMac. Software 10.5.8. 4G of memory. Processor 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo.
I have FCP Studio 2.
I'm connecting via Firewire. Any ideas what the problem is?

The best thing to do is shut down your computer then
1: turn on your camcorder (make sure it's in play mode)
2: turn on your scratch discs
3: start your computer
4: start final cut
That usually does it

Imac or powerbook with FCP?

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