Upgrading Powermac for aperture/final cut

Hi there,
I have a 1.8ghz powermac g5 (single processor) with 1.5gb of RAM, 2* 200gb internal Hard drives and an ATI Radeon XT 128mb. I have recently bought Final Cut and Aperture however performance is pretty slow on these programs with lags on aperture and blocky/unresponsive video on final cut. Playing stand alone High -definition video is also a jerky affair. Although i know i have a slow processor, i cannot afford to replace my hard drive, but could afford a couple of hundred pounds to upgrade. Can anyone recommend which of these would be most beneficial:
1) Upgrading graphics to Radeon x800 XT 256mb
2) Upgrading RAM to 3gb
3) buying external SATA hard drive and RAID'ing it for faster hard drive speeds?
OR, will none of these particularly help me and am i stuck with saving for a whole new Mac?
Kind Regards,
MAtthew LLoyd

What does "software to use with my Final Cut Pro" actually mean? Is it FCP? or FCP X?
iPhoto and Aperture are both equally compatible with FCP, but if it's the older version you use then you'll be exporting from your Photo Manager and bring the images into FCP.
If you have FCP X either will make images available to it via the Media Browser in FCP X.
So, no difference there.
Lightroom has no interaction with either version of FCP, so you'll be exporting from that to the Finder and then adding to the FCP project.
As for which is better - that's really personal preference. It might help if you explain what it is you dislike about iPhoto, and what you're actually looking for in a Photo Manager.

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Best Video format for Aperture, Final Cut Pro, iPad, and iPhones

I am moving all of my photos and video into Aperture and notice that only .MOV video form my iPhone 4 and .MP4 video from my go pro camera are displayed in Aperture browser mode. The .MPG files form my old Sony Powershot do not show up in the browser or in "Video" searches. I also have a set of very large (13GB) .AVI video files that I cannot import into Final Cut Pro.
My first question is:
If I want all of my videos to be completely compatible with all of my Apple products, should I convert everthing to .MOV format, and if so; whcih converter should I use?
My second question is:
My ten big (13gb) sets of vacation video are still on mini DV cassettes. I have already imported them into a PC as .AVI files. What should I convert them to, in order to edit them in Final Cut Pro; or should I import them again directly into Final Cut Pro? If so, which format is best?
Thank you for your advice,

"Is this even possible?."
No.
First, you don't need any additional software.
Second, every time video is processed it will change in some way. It will never be exactly the same as the original. It may in fact look better. However, you are not dealing with a top of the line camera. There are many compromises in it to make it affordable. These compromises in lens, chip size and quality and so on will be exacerbated as the media is processed. If the shooting conditions are not optimal, light, camera support, content, format, all of these will make reproducing the exact original more difficult and more improbable. That said AVCHD is inherently an excellent format and you should get excellent results. There is a great deal you can do in color correction and effects to improve the image and make it even more pleasing than the original, but this requires work and is not sonething achieved by clicking a button. It is also not something achieved by simply plugging in the camera and running the software. That is not how to get the best out of it. It's complex, professional software that's going to take time to learn, and video production is a complex process that takes time and effort to do really well.
My opinion which is worth what you paid for it.

I loss the serial number for my Final Cut Pro. I just traid instaling before that upgrade my Mac G5 2004 Computer. Could anybody help me?.

I loss the serial number for my Final Cut Pro. I just traid instaling before that upgrade my Mac G5 2004 Computer. Could anybody help me?.

These are user forums. You are not speaking to Apple here. You may contact them:
Apple Store Customer Service at 1-800-676-2775 or visit online Help for more information.
To contact product and tech support visit online support site.

Aperture & Final Cut compatible? Aperture VS Adobe Lightroom?

Aperture VS Adobe LightRoom?
I have 27" Mac Pro, 17" Mac BookPor & iPhone 4S.
I'm researching the two and wonder which would be best. I'm a Fine Art Photographer and have 3 years of a huge inventory of images all messed up in iPhoto and thrown into folders on my desktop. I dislike iPhoto soooo much. I'm in desperate need to organize my inventory so I can move on with my work! Help! Advice pu-lease.
Are Aperture & Final Cut compatible?
I have Final Cut Pro on my 27" Mac Pro.
I have PhotoShop Elements 9 on my 17" MacBook Pro. I want to stop using it.
Looking for compatible software to use with my Final Cut Pro.

What does "software to use with my Final Cut Pro" actually mean? Is it FCP? or FCP X?
iPhoto and Aperture are both equally compatible with FCP, but if it's the older version you use then you'll be exporting from your Photo Manager and bring the images into FCP.
If you have FCP X either will make images available to it via the Media Browser in FCP X.
So, no difference there.
Lightroom has no interaction with either version of FCP, so you'll be exporting from that to the Finder and then adding to the FCP project.
As for which is better - that's really personal preference. It might help if you explain what it is you dislike about iPhoto, and what you're actually looking for in a Photo Manager.

Can Apple Sue Stores For Reselling Final Cut Pro X? Please Reply:)

Can Apple Sue Stores For Reselling Final Cut Pro X? Because i saw an authorized store selling it for 39 Dollars?
Please Help Fast Thanks:)

App Store download is the only recognized legal method I know of as well.
Anything else is either a misunderstanding or dodgy.
Al

I am putting together a proposal for a Final Cut Pro Workstation to use with a tapeless HD camera. Can anyone suggest the best camera (in the 5-10,000 dollar range) ? What hardware and software should I include in the package?

I am putting together a proposal for a Final Cut Pro Workstation to use with a tapeless HD camera. Can anyone suggest the best camera (in the 5-10,000 dollar range) ? What hardware and software should I include in the package?

This is quite an open suggestion, but here are some ideas which might get you started. There are good HD cameras in your price range from Sony, Panasonic and Canon (and maybe other manufacturers). Tapeless formats vary. I have only worked with Sony XDCAM which seems pretty good to me. File sizes for material shot at 35MBS are not too huge and, with the free Sony transfer and conversion programme, are easy to bring into the computer via USB direct from the camera or from a fairly inexpensive converter. The Sony XDCAM EX3 can produce results well up to broadcast quality.
As to hardware, you'll need a powerful MAC - iMac, Macbook Pro or MacPro with 4GB or more of RAM and a good video card. Softwarewise, FCPX is quite a bit cheaper than FC Studio 3 and of course it's 64bit and can make better use of multi-core machines than FCP7. It's also designed to handle HD formats with less hassle than FCP7 and is matched to the latest versions of Motion and Compressor. But you'd probably be wise to search reviews of FCPX before you make your choice - it has some issues.
A good HD monitor will be essential and, for colour correction etc, you may want to consider a second monitor or HD TV foe editing. ( A MacPro is generally the best machine to connect a second monitor to).
This should give you a good editing system, but there are many other things you could add (Photoshop, professional sound monitors, etc)
Hope this helps a bit.
Jonathan

Provide Feedback for the Final Cut Pro User Manual and Onscreen Help Here

The Apple documentation team for Final Cut Pro would like to know what you think about the Final Cut Pro 5 Help documentation (available in the Help menu):
• How often do you use the Final Cut Pro Help? Under what circumstances do you use it most?
• How do you find what you're looking for in Final Cut Pro Help? For example: table of contents, index, skimming, PDF links, PDF search?
• What do you like about it most?
• What is missing?
• Are there any particular examples of manuals or documentation that you consider to be good models for the Final Cut Pro manual and onscreen help?
• By what method do you usually learn a new application? For example: provided tutorials and manuals, third-party tutorials or books, training classes?
• Did you use the Final Cut Pro Getting Started book to familiarize yourself with Final Cut Pro? If so, do you feel the book provided a good introduction to the application?
• What do you think is the most difficult feature/concept to grasp in Final Cut Pro?
• What's the most frustrating experience you've had with the Final Cut Pro documentation?
• Do you prefer electronic or print documentation?
• Are there any other delivery methods or media you think we should explore?
• What size computer display do you typically use to view the onscreen help? For example: 15-inch, 17-inch, 20-inch, 23-inch, or 30-inch?
• What resolution is the computer display set to when you view onscreen help? For example: 1024 x 768, 1280 x 854, or 1920 x 1200 pixels?
• Do you use multiple computer displays?

• How often do you use the Final Cut Pro Help? Under
what circumstances do you use it most?
Often, I much prefer that to the Manual, though the Search function is very clunky. Search for Nest for example and you'll get about 50 listings for the table of contents and indexes alone, when all I would really want is the explanation of how to actually create a Nest.
• How do you find what you're looking for in Final
Cut Pro Help? For example: table of contents, index,
skimming, PDF links, PDF search?
Search.
• What do you like about it most?
Ease of use to get through the manual instead of going through the books themselves.
• What is missing?
Better organization of the search results. Again, if I search Nests, make the first set of results the answers that actually show me how to use the tool, not the 50 times it appears in the table of contents and indexes.
• Are there any particular examples of manuals or
documentation that you consider to be good models for
the Final Cut Pro manual and onscreen help?
Honestly, Apple's is the best I've seen for the moment.
• By what method do you usually learn a new
application? For example: provided tutorials and
manuals, third-party tutorials or books, training
classes?
Just crack the app open and start. Use websites like the Creative Cow for more input and ideas.
• Did you use the Final Cut Pro Getting Started book
to familiarize yourself with Final Cut Pro? If so, do
you feel the book provided a good introduction to the
application?
I thought the Tutorial that came with my first copy of FCP (Version 2.0) was outstanding at introducing me to the interface and how FCP operated. I came from Media 100 and in particular, the Log and Capture operation was completely different than what I was used to.
• What do you think is the most difficult
feature/concept to grasp in Final Cut Pro?
Media Manager. Not sure why it has to be so convoluted. Media 100 was too easy with this one. Select the Sequence to be up-rez'd, set your new format and capture.
• What's the most frustrating experience you've had
with the Final Cut Pro documentation?
Search results using the Help menu.
• Do you prefer electronic or print documentation?
Actually both. If the electronic search gets too frustrating, I'll pull the print manual out to find what I really need.
• Are there any other delivery methods or media you
think we should explore?
Not really. Internet based help is always nice, but I don't keep my FCP workstations connected to the web so that would actually create a bigger hassle for us.
• What size computer display do you typically use to
view the onscreen help? For example: 15-inch,
17-inch, 20-inch, 23-inch, or 30-inch?
17" Powerbook display, 17" 20" and 23" Apple Displays and a 17" Sony Display.
• What resolution is the computer display set to when
you view onscreen help? For example: 1024 x 768, 1280
x 854, or 1920 x 1200 pixels?
Highest resolution for that monitor.
• Do you use multiple computer displays?
Yes. 23 & 17" on one G5. 20 & 17" on the 2nd G5. 17" Powerbook
Powerbook G4 17, G5 Dual 2.0, G5 Dual 2.0 Mac OS X (10.4.5) AJA Kona 2 on both G5's, Fibre Channel and SATA arrays in use.

What's the best Mac for running Final Cut Pro X?

Title says it all. What's the best Mac for running Final Cut Pro X? I'm not looking to make a feature length hollywood film. But I'd like to be able to edit video without lag.

Yes. Begin with the fastest processor / graphics card / and as much RAM as you can afford. (As all three will become obsolete over time.)
I started from scratch. I have a 27-inch iMac with a 3.4 G Intel Core i7. (currently the fastest processor for an iMac) I also ordered the best graphics card--AMD Ratheon HD. I ordered 16G of RAM, but recently added more RAM to equal 24G. (OWC makes good after-market RAM for iMACs.)
Last, I ordered a flash drive / SATA hard drive combo. (250G on flash / ITB on SATA). The OS and all of my applications run off the flash drive. (for fast start up!)
I put all of my media and FCP projects onto the SATA hard drive.
Now, I had the option to order a 2TB SATA. But, I realized I can always buy more external storage as I edit more and more projects. ALSO! FCPX is GREAT when it comes to editing projects on external drives! I can segregate an entire project and its media files onto a removeable drive. I simply launch FCPX, plug in the drive and--poof!--I'm ready to edit. It sees the project and the media right away. When I'm done editing, I can then send this drive to another editor (also using FCPX) or attach it to my MacBook if I want to edit the same project in the field.
This has worked for me. I wish you luck.

Am I eligible for $299 Final Cut Studio Upgrade?

I own the following versions of Final Cut Pro. Some of them are very old.
Final Cut Pro 1.2 (Academic)
Final Cut Pro 3.0 (Academic)
Final Cut Pro 4 (Non-Academic, Upgrade version)
Will my ownership of any of these versions qualify me for the new $299 Final Cut Studio upgrade? And how does the upgrade work, does one just input their serial number from a previous version (I ask because none of my owned versions are currently installed)?
Thanks for the help. Much appreciated!

Not quite sure how your FCP4 upgrade works as the previous academic versions were not upgradable.
The Final Cut Studio 3 upgrade version requires a non academic, full retail (non-upgrade) FCP serial number as the basis for upgrading.
However, when in doubt about this, best to have a conversation with Apple directly as they are the ultimate authority on whether this will work or not.
x

Just upgraded to Yosemite, now Final Cut Pro doesn't work

Hi I just upgraded to Yosemite 10.10 on a 2010 MacBook Pro, and the only major tool I use on there now doesn't work.... Final Cut Pro 10.0.9.
The icon in the tray has a line through it and when you click on it, a panel opens advising that I can't use it because I have the wrong version. It doesn't advise what I should do. How can I get Final Cut Pro working again..... urgently! I've seen a temporary fix somewhere on a forum which involves going in to applications and launching from somewhere deep in there, but not ideal. Whats the proper fix please and why would Apple allow something like this to happen without covering it? Its an apple product on an apple machine and Im a video producer and I have been let down with this...

Thanks to all your lovely help, advice and support I have now found the purchases section of my App Store account and in the Purchases section is the offending NOT PIRATE! copy of FCPX and next to is a button which says INSTALL. I can only image that is the upgrade route - it doesnt say. I have now hit the install button and hopefully that will be it. Would I be correct in saying that Compressor also needs a similar upgrade or am I going to get abuse for asking that as well?

Upgrade OLD version of Final Cut Pro?

I was recently given a unopened version of Final Cut Pro 3...If I install it is it possible to upgrade it to the current version? If so, is that complicated? Expensive? Anything else I should know?
Thanks,
Peter

I don't actually have FCS 3 yet.
As to whether it's the right editing package for you, what video format will you be working with?
Is that format covered by iMovie or another editing software and is its functionality enough?
What is your level of video editing experience?
For my part, I prefer Final Cut Studio and know it well. I have yet to see something that works better for my budget, expectations and needs.

Best MacBook Pro specs for using Final Cut 7

Hello Forum:
I have a MacBook Pro from 2008 that I'm currently using to do video editing in FCP7 for my film projects.
I want to upgrade to a new MacBook as Final Cut tells me quite frequently that I don't have enough graphic capabilities to render certain files, etc. etc.
Does anyone have experience using FCP7 on a MacBook Pro that can advise what the best specs are for upgrading to a new MacBook Pro?
The refurbished unit I'm looking at has the specs below. If anyone has any suggestions I would be extremely grateful.
Many thanks and Happy New Year to all!
Processor
2.9 GHz Dual-core Intel Core i7 processor (Turbo Boost up to 3.6GHz)
Cache
4MB shared L3 cache
Memory
8GB (2x4GB) of 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM
Graphics
Intel HD Graphics 4000
Storage1
750GB Serial ATA, 5400 rpm
Optical drive
8x double-layer SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
Wireless
Wi-Fi (based on IEEE 802.11n specification)2 Bluetooth 4.0 wireless technology
Expansion
One Thunderbolt port (up to 10 Gbps), one FireWire 800 port (up to 800 Mbps), Two USB 3 ports (up to 5 Gbps), one SDXC card slot
Video and Audio
FaceTime HD camera; Thunderbolt port with support for DVI, VGA, dual-link DVI, and HDMI (requires adapters, sold separately)
Stereo speakers with subwoofer, omnidirectional microphone, headphone port (Support for Apple iPhone headset with remote and microphone).
Size and weight
Height: .95 inches (2.41 cm)
Width: 12.78 inches (32.5 cm)
Depth: 8.94 inches (22.7 cm)
Weight (standard configuration): 4.5 pounds (2.06 kg)3
Originally released June 2012
13.3-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit glossy widescreen display, 1280-by-800 resolution
8GB (2 x 4GB) of 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM
750GB Serial ATA @ 5400 rpm
8x double-layer SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
Intel HD Graphics 4000

It might help us to advise you if we knew what your budget is.
In the meantime, I can suggest a couple or three items that aren't too expensive.
1) Your computer has four drive bays. Fill them up with the largest hard drives you can afford. I prefer the Seagate 7200.11 SATA drives. The 1TB version is about $120 each right now. With four drives living in your MP, you can have one boot (system) drive and three media drives. I would NOT RAID them. The 7200.11 drives in a MP will benchmark at around 100 MB/sec, which is plenty fast for your needs.
2) You have an 8 processor computer and Apple recommends 1GB of RAM per processor for running Compressor batches. So, you should buy 6 X 1GB RAM modules to fill your MP RAM slots. Make sure you buy RAM with Apple approved heat sinks. Crucial.com is a good source.
3) For back-up and archiving of media files, I recommend firewire drives with removable trays, like the Burly enclosures from MacGurus. You buy the enclosures and the extra trays from MacGurus, then buy the raw drives (Seagate 7200.11) separately from a reliable online vendor, like newegg.com, for the trays. The Burly case is built like a tank, with two fans, so it isn't as likely to burn up drives like some other firewire enclosures.

If i buy final cut studio 2 and then get final cut studio 3 upgrade will it be final cut studio 3

ive been looking around to buy final cut studio 3 for weeks now with no success and i think ive found a solution i'm just wondering if it will work by buying final cut studio 2 full and then buying final cut studio 3 upgrade overall will everything be final cut studio 3?

You can still get the FCS3 upgrades from the apple shop
No you can not get FCS upgrades from Apple retail stores or Apple dealers, they have been recalled by Apple.
Only places that will stock is independant retailers and online used software vendors.
Apple have clearly stated that FCS is now ''end of life''

Which mac is better for runing final cut expees in

I have a macbook pro on order but i just learned that i will not be able to run final cut express HD on it until march. i am taking two film classes in school were we are filming our own short videos. I will like to be able to use my mac as soon as possible since the lab in school tends to get filled up allot. I am therefore thinking about cancelling my order for the high end macbook and ordering a refurbished 12 powerbook or 14 ibook. This way I will spend allot less money and be able to sell it later and buy a later revision macbook when all the programs are working right. I could then later on buy the macbook only if I think I really need it since this will be my first mac as well as my first expereince editing video. I could also later on get a desktop instead of the macbook. So which is better the 12 powerbook or the 14 ibook?
pro.

The MacBook Pro provides one key advantage not possible with the 12-inch PB -- the ability to create a second firewire bus using the ExpressCard/34 slot.
In this manner, you can separate fw drives from camera/deck -- a big issue with FCP5 and certain cameras and hard drives.
It is a key difference for anyone considering video editing.
You'll get a beefier video card, and the ability to preview.

Capture problems for new Final Cut user

I'm new to final cut, just switching from pc...got a brand new mac pro, fresh install of final cut studio. I am capturing hdv tapes from a Sony FX1 using capture now so that the clips are broken up. It captures perfectly except for the long clip, which is about 40 minutes long. I've gone back to capture it alone and get an unknown capture error after I hit escape to end the capture. There is plenty of room on the hard drive and the ckeckbox in system settings for limiting capture now to 30 minutes is not checked. Any ideas?

Are you capturing using HDV, ProRes, or SD via i.Link Conversion? I also have a Sony FX1, and capturing long clips is only an issue when my hard drives can't keep up or if there is an issue with the tape. Sometimes the tape can have issues and will disrupt your capture. Definitely set your capture scratch to an internal drive if you can and don't capture to your boot drive if possible. If you only have one drive, fork over the 100 bucks and get a 750 gig drive or even two or three and raid them together. You'll be happier if you do.

Upgrading Powermac for aperture/final cut

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