NLE Mac / Final Cut questions from 2003

Ken Tanaka · February 7th, 2003, 12:44 PM

Firewire drives on are virtually essential for video work, and do very well. I have several, most from WiebeTech but also an 80 Gb Maxtor. Look for 5400rpm minimum rotational speeds, wih 7200rpm being preferred, and the best onboard cache you can get. I also look for bus-powered drives which take all of their power from the Firewire bus.

Boyd Ostroff · February 7th, 2003, 04:24 PM

I use several firewire drives, including a 7200 RPM Maxtor 80 GB. It works fine under MacOS 9 with Final Cut Pro. I had some problems awhile back using a 120 GB Western Digital 7200 RPM drive, but only when running Final Cut Pro under MacOS X. It worked fine under MacOS 9. I don't have problems when daisy chaining several of them together but haven't tried using a hub.

Sorry, no experience with these on a PC. with the software you mention.

B. Moore · February 8th, 2003, 08:08 AM

I was wondering if any one else has experienced this situation. I firewire a tape into iMovie2, creating the clips, save the project and quit the program( by the way, at this point all clips look perfect).
If I open iMovie2 and look at the clips about 10 % look like a tv screen that's blurred, snow , fuzz etc.
When I click the clip, on the shelf, it looks perfect when I play the clip from the shelf, it looks perfect.
Now eventhough it has this fuzzy look when sitting there, I never see the fuzz otherwise.

Any suggestions????

I have anXL-1, G-4 450DP , 512 ram, 210 gigs

Bruce

February 8th, 2003, 10:08 AM

One of our editing suites is a G4 450DP with 1Gh RAM and (still) running on OS9. We want to upgrade to FCP3. Can anyone give us any advice on whether this will result in a stable system, will FCP3 run smooth, should we install OSX to use FCP3 (especially since we're considering buying a RTMAC, which still doesnt run on OSX)?
What would be the best configuration to consider???

Ken Tanaka · February 8th, 2003, 12:14 PM

I think that FCP3 will run fine on your G4 450DP, although certainly not at zippy as it would on later systems. I believe that my colleague, Jeff Donald, remarked that he uses that G4 450DP with no trouble.

Forget the RTMac. Speaking as someone who has an RTMac in a box, I say save your money. For all practical purposes it seems to be an abandoned product. Matrox has promised OS-X compatibility for a year and a half. Nothing. Subsequent versions of FCP promise to expand real-time processing anyway.

Re: moving to OS-X, I highly recommend it. Although FCP3 will operate smoothly on either OS-9 or OS-X, the latter is the more stable platform and, to be sure, the sole Mac platform prospectively. It's rumored the FCP4 will likely only run on OS-X so you might as well make the investment in time now.

Welcome, again, to the DVInfo Community Raymond!

Rhett Allen · February 8th, 2003, 02:03 PM

I currently run FCP3.0.4 on a Dual500 under OSX 10.2.3 and since our systems are similar (I even have a gig of RAM) I can vouch for it being reletively painless. It is also much more stable and snappy than FCP2 or 3 on OS9.
I also agree to save your money on the Matrox card, my office had 3 of them and they were useless after the upgrade to 3. If you need the analog input buy a media converter.

Jeff Donald · February 8th, 2003, 08:24 PM

I do use a Dual 450 as my personal editing system. It is extremely stable on FCP 3.0.4 and Quicktime 6.1. The RTMAC is a waste. Beta versions of the drivers for OS X were to have been shown at DV Expo NYC in January. Anyone know if they were shown? I have upgraded the video card in the AGP slot and maxed out the Ram at 2 gigs. I would also upgrade the stock hard drive to 120 gig 7200 rpm. There are several options for upgrading the processors if you want.

You really need to reflect on the types of work you need to do with this new system. When FCP 4 is introduced, this system will not be able to take advantage of all the features FCP has to offer. Apple will probably introduce new IBM processors this fall. G4's will become G5's, or whatever, and the dual 450 will be over 3 years old at that point. It will be a workable system until then.

Me? Well I'm waiting for the new processors, then it'll be time to replace this system.

Bob Zimmerman · February 8th, 2003, 11:42 PM

were do they look fuzzy at? In the viewer window?

B. Moore · February 9th, 2003, 08:37 AM

Hi Bob,
They appear in the shelf, timeline and clip viewer.I t appears in frame 1 or 2 of the clip and if it is removed, may or may not show up in that clip or even a new one. The odd part of it is that if you click on the clip (fuzzy) and hit the play arrow, it plays cearly from frame one till the end of the clip.
it doesn't damage the clip at all. If you click on the timeline tab with let's say 3 fuzzy clips, they all play perfectly.

Any help would be appreciated .

Thanks

Brian Pink · February 9th, 2003, 10:20 AM

i'm using FCP 3 on 10.2.3 on a single G4/500 and its quite stable and seems fast enough most of the time. those new 1.42 dualies are looking pretty nice tho. i just need to convince the accountant ( aka mrs pink ) that i need one...

February 9th, 2003, 03:06 PM

720X480 is standard for ntsc DV. 720X486 is standard for NTSC.
720X540 is NTSC square pixel.
confusing huh?

grin

Vic Owen · February 9th, 2003, 04:09 PM

NTSC = Never The Same Color!!

:)

Derrick Begin · February 9th, 2003, 06:35 PM

I am using a Maxtor Firewire Drive (7200RPM, 120Gig) and its being filled up. No problems.

PC is a 1.7GHz, Pentium 4, 512MB RDRAM, Two 80Gig Drives.

My NLE is Avid Xpress DV 3.5 and all is well.

I am thinking about another one in the near future.

Hope this helps!

Cheers!

Derrick

Frank Granovski · February 9th, 2003, 07:48 PM

That's the pixels..., then there's the resolution! That's another can of worms.

February 10th, 2003, 03:11 AM

Thanks to all of you!! This is very usefull information...

Jeff, what options for upgrading the processors do you mean? <br>We wanted to use the RTMAC for the second monitor, what other options are there for using a second monitor??

February 7th, 2003, 12:44 PM	#106
Ken Tanaka Retired DV Info Net Almunus Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 6,943	Firewire drives on are virtually essential for video work, and do very well. I have several, most from WiebeTech but also an 80 Gb Maxtor. Look for 5400rpm minimum rotational speeds, wih 7200rpm being preferred, and the best onboard cache you can get. I also look for bus-powered drives which take all of their power from the Firewire bus. __________________ Lady X Films: A lady with a boring wardrobe...and a global mission. Hey, you don't have enough stuff! Buy with confidence from our sponsors. Hand-picked as the best in the business...Really! See some of my work one frame at a time: www.KenTanaka.com

February 8th, 2003, 08:08 AM	#108
B. Moore Major Player Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Glendale, AZ Posts: 181	iMovie2 Blur I was wondering if any one else has experienced this situation. I firewire a tape into iMovie2, creating the clips, save the project and quit the program( by the way, at this point all clips look perfect). If I open iMovie2 and look at the clips about 10 % look like a tv screen that's blurred, snow , fuzz etc. When I click the clip, on the shelf, it looks perfect when I play the clip from the shelf, it looks perfect. Now eventhough it has this fuzzy look when sitting there, I never see the fuzz otherwise. Any suggestions???? I have anXL-1, G-4 450DP , 512 ram, 210 gigs Bruce

February 8th, 2003, 10:08 AM	#109
Raymond van der Kaaij Posts: n/a	FCP3 on G4 450DP?? One of our editing suites is a G4 450DP with 1Gh RAM and (still) running on OS9. We want to upgrade to FCP3. Can anyone give us any advice on whether this will result in a stable system, will FCP3 run smooth, should we install OSX to use FCP3 (especially since we're considering buying a RTMAC, which still doesnt run on OSX)? What would be the best configuration to consider???

February 8th, 2003, 12:14 PM	#110
Ken Tanaka Retired DV Info Net Almunus Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 6,943	Welcome Raymond! I think that FCP3 will run fine on your G4 450DP, although certainly not at zippy as it would on later systems. I believe that my colleague, Jeff Donald, remarked that he uses that G4 450DP with no trouble. Forget the RTMac. Speaking as someone who has an RTMac in a box, I say save your money. For all practical purposes it seems to be an abandoned product. Matrox has promised OS-X compatibility for a year and a half. Nothing. Subsequent versions of FCP promise to expand real-time processing anyway. Re: moving to OS-X, I highly recommend it. Although FCP3 will operate smoothly on either OS-9 or OS-X, the latter is the more stable platform and, to be sure, the sole Mac platform prospectively. It's rumored the FCP4 will likely only run on OS-X so you might as well make the investment in time now. Welcome, again, to the DVInfo Community Raymond! __________________ Lady X Films: A lady with a boring wardrobe...and a global mission. Hey, you don't have enough stuff! Buy with confidence from our sponsors. Hand-picked as the best in the business...Really! See some of my work one frame at a time: www.KenTanaka.com

February 8th, 2003, 08:24 PM	#112
Jeff Donald Warden Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Clearwater, FL Posts: 8,287	I do use a Dual 450 as my personal editing system. It is extremely stable on FCP 3.0.4 and Quicktime 6.1. The RTMAC is a waste. Beta versions of the drivers for OS X were to have been shown at DV Expo NYC in January. Anyone know if they were shown? I have upgraded the video card in the AGP slot and maxed out the Ram at 2 gigs. I would also upgrade the stock hard drive to 120 gig 7200 rpm. There are several options for upgrading the processors if you want. You really need to reflect on the types of work you need to do with this new system. When FCP 4 is introduced, this system will not be able to take advantage of all the features FCP has to offer. Apple will probably introduce new IBM processors this fall. G4's will become G5's, or whatever, and the dual 450 will be over 3 years old at that point. It will be a workable system until then. Me? Well I'm waiting for the new processors, then it'll be time to replace this system. __________________ Jeff Donald Carpe Diem Search DVinfo.net for quick answers \| Where to Buy? From the best in the business: DVinfo.net sponsors

February 7th, 2003, 04:24 PM	#107
Boyd Ostroff Wrangler Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Mays Landing, NJ Posts: 11,801	I use several firewire drives, including a 7200 RPM Maxtor 80 GB. It works fine under MacOS 9 with Final Cut Pro. I had some problems awhile back using a 120 GB Western Digital 7200 RPM drive, but only when running Final Cut Pro under MacOS X. It worked fine under MacOS 9. I don't have problems when daisy chaining several of them together but haven't tried using a hub. Sorry, no experience with these on a PC. with the software you mention.

February 8th, 2003, 02:03 PM	#111
Rhett Allen Major Player Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Plano, TX Posts: 607	I currently run FCP3.0.4 on a Dual500 under OSX 10.2.3 and since our systems are similar (I even have a gig of RAM) I can vouch for it being reletively painless. It is also much more stable and snappy than FCP2 or 3 on OS9. I also agree to save your money on the Matrox card, my office had 3 of them and they were useless after the upgrade to 3. If you need the analog input buy a media converter.

February 8th, 2003, 11:42 PM	#113
Bob Zimmerman Major Player Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Illinois Posts: 888	were do they look fuzzy at? In the viewer window?

February 9th, 2003, 08:37 AM	#114
B. Moore Major Player Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Glendale, AZ Posts: 181	Hi Bob, They appear in the shelf, timeline and clip viewer.I t appears in frame 1 or 2 of the clip and if it is removed, may or may not show up in that clip or even a new one. The odd part of it is that if you click on the clip (fuzzy) and hit the play arrow, it plays cearly from frame one till the end of the clip. it doesn't damage the clip at all. If you click on the timeline tab with let's say 3 fuzzy clips, they all play perfectly. Any help would be appreciated . Thanks

February 9th, 2003, 10:20 AM	#115
Brian Pink Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 94	i'm using FCP 3 on 10.2.3 on a single G4/500 and its quite stable and seems fast enough most of the time. those new 1.42 dualies are looking pretty nice tho. i just need to convince the accountant ( aka mrs pink ) that i need one... __________________ This is the way the world ends.

February 9th, 2003, 03:06 PM	#116
Grinner Hester Posts: n/a	720X480 is standard for ntsc DV. 720X486 is standard for NTSC. 720X540 is NTSC square pixel. confusing huh? grin

February 9th, 2003, 04:09 PM	#117
Vic Owen Major Player Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 540	NTSC = Never The Same Color!! :) __________________ -- Vic Owen --

February 9th, 2003, 06:35 PM	#118
Derrick Begin Major Player Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: New York Posts: 329	I am using a Maxtor Firewire Drive (7200RPM, 120Gig) and its being filled up. No problems. PC is a 1.7GHz, Pentium 4, 512MB RDRAM, Two 80Gig Drives. My NLE is Avid Xpress DV 3.5 and all is well. I am thinking about another one in the near future. Hope this helps! Cheers! Derrick

February 9th, 2003, 07:48 PM	#119
Frank Granovski Outer Circle Join Date: May 2002 Location: Hope, BC Posts: 7,524	That's the pixels..., then there's the resolution! That's another can of worms.

February 10th, 2003, 03:11 AM	#120
Raymond van der Kaaij Posts: n/a	FCP3 on G4 450DP Thanks to all of you!! This is very usefull information... Jeff, what options for upgrading the processors do you mean? <br>We wanted to use the RTMAC for the second monitor, what other options are there for using a second monitor??