NLE Mac / Final Cut questions from 2003

[Jeff Donald]

To some degree it depends on your OS. If you're not, you should be on OS X. Leave FCP in the default location, in the application folder. Do not move it to a separate partition. If you want to partition your drive and place your media on a separate partition, it won't hurt. But it won't speed anything up either. It may be less confusing for you to manage your media, but no overall improvement.

What you really should consider is installing another internal drive. Drives are getting real cheap and only getting cheaper. I bought a 160gb internal drive for $85 a month ago or so.

[David LeBlanc]

Hi Jeff
I am going to give it a try I am running FCP 4 & OSX10.2,6 I am worried about dropped frames and disk fragmentation I wonder how long I will last on a 60 min project with lot of color correction render filles Say your pictures are great looking I have a tape of an osprey diving and catching a fish from about 150 feet Thanks David LeBlanc

[Mark Monciardini]

If you have recently switched. Do you mind sharing your experience and how you are adjusting to the Mac environment?

I grew up on Macs and used them until 1994, then when Windows95 came out I switched to windows. Been a user since. But now the OS10 is rocking and I think Apple has finally suppassed Windows. After test driving it at CompUSA I am hooked and plan on getting a G5 in a couple of months.

[Nik Hanselmann]

Well, not specifically a PC to G5 switcher here (I just bought a DP 1.25) but a switcher nonetheless.

I've been using PCs for the last 9 years and I must say that I am truly enjoying my first mac. The care that Apple puts into these machines and OS X really is visible. It's so cool to have a computer where everything feels really tightly integrated and things just work with ease.

It's the same way with the hardware. As soon as I got my G4 I put 3 new hard drives in it and it was pretty much a breeze. The care put into the case design and everything is just cool.

I can't say too much about editing yet as my copy of FCP is sitting on my desk waiting for more memory to arrive.

cheers, and have fun with your new mac

[Alan Tran]

pc user since birth
i bought an ipod and fell in love
bought a 15" powerbook, and final cut pro 4
lovin it

os x is pretty good, with panther coming out soon it should be that much better..

[Steve Nunez]

you're in for quite a treat- that DVX100 u have and a Mac running FCP4 is an unbeatable combo- have fun.

[Imran Zaidi]

I'm a lifelong PC user (well, after the Commodore 64 and then the Amiga) and occasionally tinker with Macs.

Recently I spent some time editing a short film on OSX with FCP 3 at a workshop in NYC, and I must say, until now, Macs had always turned me off. Now, if it were not for the fact that I am too comfortably efficient with PCs and I'm also a database and web developer for $, I'd be using it too. I'd rather stay ambidextrous though... If they weren't so 'spensive I'd have both.

The two options just have slightly different focuses, and are geared for different minds and the way they think. With OSX, now I can say I like them both.

Good luck to you!

[Glenn Chan]

I would not partition in that case because you want to have one big drive. If you have 12GB left on each partition you can't easily fit an hour of video into either partition.

With an 1 hour project you might run a little tight. You should be ok though. Make sure you have enough space for renders. If you run into trouble then export a self-contained FCP movie- you should have enough space for that. If that keep the room for a final export around it should be enough to avoid fragmentation.

It should be possible to run everything on one drive.

[Pedar Gilley]

Hi,
Okay laugh but I have a Toast 6 question. In the middle of all DSP people. (I thought it might be quicker to use T6 for lighter applications.) It's like being in Germany and saying I don't drink beer. Anyway the question. Has anyone, any idea why- a file -from Compressor out of FCP4 exported as .m2v to toast is seen buy it (toast 6) as approx. twice the size? It will not burn as a result and I cannot seam to catch the problem. If I send it 2.02GB it sees it as 4.9(DVD GB's) 4.4GB's to a HardDrive.
(the audio is 40MB)of the 2.02. and is .AIFF
If I send it 1GB it burns and then reads the file as close to 1GB. Any thought given would be appreciated thanks
Pedar

[Jeff Donald]

The two partitions is not that big of an issue. You can specify what partition to capture to or render effects to. The software keeps track of the files and two partitions or multiple disks are not a problem.

[Josh Mitchell]

Ted:

Thanks for the great feedback. It helped. I appreciate you taking the time to respond.

I wanted to invite you to watch my new short film CELL PHONES & ACTION FIGURES on www.ifilm.com.

You can click below to see the film:
http://www.ifilm.com/filmdetail?ifilmid=2458986

It recently played at The New England Film & Video Festival and on The Independent Film Channel. Check out the story on me in IMAGINE NEWS MONTHLY:

http://imaginenews.com/Archive/2003/FEB_2003/01_FEATURES/18A_JOSH_MITCHELL.html

Let me know what you think. I look forward to your reaction.

-JOSH MITCHELL
http://wickidpissaboston.iuma.com

[Ted Springer]

Josh-

Glad the info helped. However I have ALWAYS had major problems with getting stuff to play on iFilm. The site is horrible and does not seem to work in any of my Windows browsers (including IE) when I click on the 200k tab (nothing happens). When I use a Mac browser it opens a new window but then I get a broken Quicktime graphic, indicating that it cannot be played. This is quite common and is one of the reasons iHate iFilm.

Hi Guys,

I'm looking for a non-apple branded monitor for my G5 and wondered if anyone
has any experience with the following two displays. I've included the links below
to the review pages on both. Thanks, Dan


LG Flatron L1710B http://www.epinions.com/pr-LG_Flatron_L1710B_17_in_Flat_Panel_TFT_Monitor/display_~full_specs

NEC MultiSync LCD1760V (17 in.) Flat Panel (TFT) http://www.epinions.com/pr-Monitors_NEC_MultiSync_LCD1760V_17_in_Display_LCD1760V_BK

[Mark Austin]

Has anyone here used or seen the AJA IO in action? It looks like it solves just about every I/O problem in FCP4 and seems to allow multi channel output with eight discreet channels.

For those of you who actually remember me - I have had to close my recording studio - it was a money pit (like I didn't know that before I started it).

The good news is that out of the ashes I have been able to ramp up some of my video gear, and have actually landed a freelance gig shooting some videos for a horse trainer. It may even get air time on the RFD Dish network. The pay's not great but at least it's a gig :)

Anyone with personal experience? I'd like your opinions...

Thanks,

Dan