IMAC, Final Cut Studio 3, RADEON 2600HD at DVinfo.net

Daniel Dayani · February 28th, 2011, 02:16 PM

Hey guys,
i have an Imac 24inch 2.8GHz 2 or 3 GB ram(i forget which one) intel core duo processor, with an ATI Radeon 2600HD graphics card. How do you guys think this will run Final Cut Studio 3 (including all the applications like Color, Motion ect...)??
Thanks!

Allen White · March 4th, 2011, 06:21 AM

FCP and Color should run fine, but you may have issues with Motion, which wants a somewhat better graphics card and more RAM, especially as you use more processor-intensive effects. Speed also depends on video codec, so it's a footage-specific issue at times. I suggest you upgrade your RAM, since you can't improve the CPU or graphics card on an iMac. Motion is very graphics-card intensive, so even more RAM won't give you screaming speeds with it. FCP doesn't care quite as much as Motion about the graphics card, but greater CPU and RAM noticeably speeds your renders and exports quite a lot.

Daniel Dayani · March 7th, 2011, 02:31 PM

Thanks Allen,
It's relieving to here that atleast color and fcp should work fine. Motion is not that big of deal for me since ill be doing primarily short films with the Canon 7D.Color was my biggest concern since I want to be able to adjust coloring without purchasing something like magibullet.
Thanks !

Allen White · March 7th, 2011, 03:47 PM

You're welcome. Have fun with that 7D!

Steve Oakley · March 9th, 2011, 01:22 AM

a dual core machine is pretty short to edit on... plus fcp only really wants to edit prores, not native format h264. this wasts huges amounts of time and effort compared to other NLE's which do edit natively. yes it does require more CPU power, but who cares. a 4 core CPu should be the minimum machine to consdier

Allen White · March 9th, 2011, 01:43 AM

Since Daniel was talking about working with the computer he already owns, any discussion of a machine with more cores seems to be counterproductive, don't you think?

Converting his 7D footage is easy enough, and I've edited on plenty of older machines. FCP was around long before quad-core systems existed, and we all managed to edit just fine. :)

Evan Donn · March 17th, 2011, 01:50 PM

I agree, I've done extensive editing & color correction of my 5D footage in FCS3 on a 2.5Ghz macbook with no problems, which I assume would be comparable in performance. I always convert to ProRes first (batch process in MPEG Streamclip is quickest for this) - not just for ease of editing but also because it holds up really well through multiple generations of encoding. I would recommend maxing out the RAM though.

Daniel Dayani · March 17th, 2011, 05:36 PM

Hey Evan, thanks for the input. im actually going to install fcs3 on my computer tonight:) very excited. i saw your short film about the pharmacist, great job! kind of irrelevant to this posting but may i ask what type of lens you shot the house interviews with? you got great depth of field , something like a 1.4? good to know some great stuff can be made with just a dslr and zoom h4n for recording :D

Daniel Dayani · March 17th, 2011, 05:40 PM

actually another question if anyone could answer, since Motion contains most the graphics, lettering ect... and what i hear is that it will not run well on my computer, will i need to install the two content discs or can i just leave them out?

Allen White · March 17th, 2011, 06:21 PM

The content discs have some generic presents and templates that you may find useful, depending upon what you plan to use it for. Also, just because Motion won't run well doesn't mean that it won't run at all! So if you don't care about losing the drive space, you can install this stuff.

On a lower-powered system like yours, you can probably get away with doing some basic functions in Motion, so don't totally write it off. But as soon as you add too many render-intensive effects and layers, it will start to choke. You can always install the Motion effect library to check it out, then delete it later if you think you won't -- or can't -- use it.

Evan Donn · March 18th, 2011, 12:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daniel Dayani

kind of irrelevant to this posting but may i ask what type of lens you shot the house interviews with? you got great depth of field , something like a 1.4?

Thanks, I forget exactly which lens I used for that interview, it was either a Nikon 85mm f/2 AIS or Pentax 50mm f/1.4 SMC.

February 28th, 2011, 02:16 PM	#1
Daniel Dayani Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Topanga, CA, USA Posts: 39	IMAC, Final Cut Studio 3, RADEON 2600HD Hey guys, i have an Imac 24inch 2.8GHz 2 or 3 GB ram(i forget which one) intel core duo processor, with an ATI Radeon 2600HD graphics card. How do you guys think this will run Final Cut Studio 3 (including all the applications like Color, Motion ect...)?? Thanks! Last edited by Daniel Dayani; February 28th, 2011 at 02:17 PM. Reason: yea

March 4th, 2011, 06:21 AM	#2
Allen White Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: San Francisco, CA Posts: 60	Re: IMAC, Final Cut Studio 3, RADEON 2600HD FCP and Color should run fine, but you may have issues with Motion, which wants a somewhat better graphics card and more RAM, especially as you use more processor-intensive effects. Speed also depends on video codec, so it's a footage-specific issue at times. I suggest you upgrade your RAM, since you can't improve the CPU or graphics card on an iMac. Motion is very graphics-card intensive, so even more RAM won't give you screaming speeds with it. FCP doesn't care quite as much as Motion about the graphics card, but greater CPU and RAM noticeably speeds your renders and exports quite a lot.

March 7th, 2011, 02:31 PM	#3
Daniel Dayani Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Topanga, CA, USA Posts: 39	Re: IMAC, Final Cut Studio 3, RADEON 2600HD Thanks Allen, It's relieving to here that atleast color and fcp should work fine. Motion is not that big of deal for me since ill be doing primarily short films with the Canon 7D.Color was my biggest concern since I want to be able to adjust coloring without purchasing something like magibullet. Thanks !

March 7th, 2011, 03:47 PM	#4
Allen White Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: San Francisco, CA Posts: 60	Re: IMAC, Final Cut Studio 3, RADEON 2600HD You're welcome. Have fun with that 7D!

March 9th, 2011, 01:22 AM	#5
Steve Oakley Trustee Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: United States Posts: 1,158	Re: IMAC, Final Cut Studio 3, RADEON 2600HD a dual core machine is pretty short to edit on... plus fcp only really wants to edit prores, not native format h264. this wasts huges amounts of time and effort compared to other NLE's which do edit natively. yes it does require more CPU power, but who cares. a 4 core CPu should be the minimum machine to consdier __________________ Steve Oakley DP • Audio Mixer • Editor • Colorist http://stevenoakley.com

March 9th, 2011, 01:43 AM	#6
Allen White Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: San Francisco, CA Posts: 60	Re: IMAC, Final Cut Studio 3, RADEON 2600HD Since Daniel was talking about working with the computer he already owns, any discussion of a machine with more cores seems to be counterproductive, don't you think? Converting his 7D footage is easy enough, and I've edited on plenty of older machines. FCP was around long before quad-core systems existed, and we all managed to edit just fine. :)

March 17th, 2011, 01:50 PM	#7
Evan Donn Major Player Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Philadelphia Posts: 795	Re: IMAC, Final Cut Studio 3, RADEON 2600HD I agree, I've done extensive editing & color correction of my 5D footage in FCS3 on a 2.5Ghz macbook with no problems, which I assume would be comparable in performance. I always convert to ProRes first (batch process in MPEG Streamclip is quickest for this) - not just for ease of editing but also because it holds up really well through multiple generations of encoding. I would recommend maxing out the RAM though. __________________ My latest short documentary: "Four Pauls: Bring the Hat Back!"

March 17th, 2011, 05:36 PM	#8
Daniel Dayani Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Topanga, CA, USA Posts: 39	Re: IMAC, Final Cut Studio 3, RADEON 2600HD Hey Evan, thanks for the input. im actually going to install fcs3 on my computer tonight:) very excited. i saw your short film about the pharmacist, great job! kind of irrelevant to this posting but may i ask what type of lens you shot the house interviews with? you got great depth of field , something like a 1.4? good to know some great stuff can be made with just a dslr and zoom h4n for recording :D

March 17th, 2011, 05:40 PM	#9
Daniel Dayani Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Topanga, CA, USA Posts: 39	Re: IMAC, Final Cut Studio 3, RADEON 2600HD actually another question if anyone could answer, since Motion contains most the graphics, lettering ect... and what i hear is that it will not run well on my computer, will i need to install the two content discs or can i just leave them out?

March 17th, 2011, 06:21 PM	#10
Allen White Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: San Francisco, CA Posts: 60	Re: IMAC, Final Cut Studio 3, RADEON 2600HD The content discs have some generic presents and templates that you may find useful, depending upon what you plan to use it for. Also, just because Motion won't run well doesn't mean that it won't run at all! So if you don't care about losing the drive space, you can install this stuff. On a lower-powered system like yours, you can probably get away with doing some basic functions in Motion, so don't totally write it off. But as soon as you add too many render-intensive effects and layers, it will start to choke. You can always install the Motion effect library to check it out, then delete it later if you think you won't -- or can't -- use it.