Final Cut Studio 2.0 at DVinfo.net

James DeMello · May 16th, 2011, 10:41 AM

I am not certain this is the right place for this, but i figured it's a start, I am working on a project with some friends, this has lead us to purchase a Canon GL2 and Panasonic DVC-30 to record our footage. Now we want to approach Post Production, keeping in mind how expensive apple products are, we stumbled upon 2 Power Mac G5 work centers both running Final Cut Studio 2.0 that we were able to purchase for next to no moneys. The end goal is to produce a "Film Look" end result. bearing in mind I am still trying to get the cameras to do what i would like, we just invested in a studio lighting kit with softboxes to see if lighting is the problem we are dealing with as of current. My question/questions are as follows:

Is Final Cut Studio 2.0 still a viable option for editing and achieving a filmic end result?

Are the differences between FCS 2 and FCS 3 that substantial?

What/Where would be a good resource to guide us through editing to achiev a filmic look?

Thank you everyone in advance, I know as a NEWB what started as a simple idea has exploded into dividing and conquering various areas to hope for a decent end product.

Les Wilson · May 16th, 2011, 08:46 PM

FCS 3 requires an Intel Mac so it isn't an option for you as long as you are on the G5.

Robert Lane · May 16th, 2011, 08:57 PM

James,

Achieving the "filmic" result you want has absolutely nothing to do with the editing software you purchase; it's a combination of several things: Camera setups (frame-rate/shutter/color space), lighting & composition...etc.

You could cut a video on iMovie, Sony Vegas, or even Movie Studio Plus and still get a filmic result.

Before you start dropping more cash on hardware/software I'd highly suggest you get some guidance or training in these areas so you fully understand how they're interconnected and how you really need to plan your projects backwards - with the end result as the goal, rather than selecting a hardware/software combination that could very well be overkill for your intended end result.

Talk with local consultants or rental houses for people that can steer you in the right direction, or even browse the Lynda.com library for various tutorials on these topics. But to try to glean all this data from a web-forum would be near-impossible, not to mention uber-time consuming.

James DeMello · May 17th, 2011, 08:48 AM

Thank you for your response, I have my work cut out for me, no pun intended, I do however have a final question, I picked up the mac g5's, one had the OS with FCS already installed, the other had just had a OS fresh install but i needed to install FCS from the discs, Is it normal for the install to take hours? I mean the estimated time to install was up in the 38 hour mark, and from what i can tell, as i havent finished the install yet, it seems like it takes about an 1.5 hours for each disk to install, I have gotten through the first 3 so far, should i be concerned? is this normal for FCS?

Les Wilson · May 17th, 2011, 10:55 AM

no. sounds like problems reading the install disks or writing to your hard disks. Did you reboot and try it? If so, search Apple's discussion boards. Unlikely nobody else has had this problem.

All that said, did you get two licenses or are you trying to install the same one that's already installed on the other G5 on the second G5? That's not legitimate.

I am not a lawyer but to my memory, the FCS 2 license is one copy for one machine with the generous exception that the licensee can also install it on a laptop but only use one copy at a time.

James DeMello · May 17th, 2011, 11:37 AM

I was lucky enough to get 2 copies of final cut studio, both sets of disks were taped to the sides of the machines, I am not sure what is going on here, as far as i know the HDD is brand new in this particular mac, I even tried making the .dmg files like was recommended elsewhere, i put the 3rd audio content disk on my freeagent portable HDD, plugged it into the usb port on the back of the monitor and it appears to take just as long.

James DeMello · May 19th, 2011, 06:54 AM

Just an FYI for anyone who was actually interested, my superdrive was shot, and a big NO NO, is trying to use the usb port in the cinedisplay to move data, the cinedisplay ports don't seem to output the same amount of power as a normal usb, I plugged in my portable into the front usb port and the install time went from 5 hours to 10 minutes

May 16th, 2011, 10:41 AM	#1
James DeMello New Boot Join Date: May 2011 Location: New Bedford , MA Posts: 11	Final Cut Studio 2.0 I am not certain this is the right place for this, but i figured it's a start, I am working on a project with some friends, this has lead us to purchase a Canon GL2 and Panasonic DVC-30 to record our footage. Now we want to approach Post Production, keeping in mind how expensive apple products are, we stumbled upon 2 Power Mac G5 work centers both running Final Cut Studio 2.0 that we were able to purchase for next to no moneys. The end goal is to produce a "Film Look" end result. bearing in mind I am still trying to get the cameras to do what i would like, we just invested in a studio lighting kit with softboxes to see if lighting is the problem we are dealing with as of current. My question/questions are as follows: Is Final Cut Studio 2.0 still a viable option for editing and achieving a filmic end result? Are the differences between FCS 2 and FCS 3 that substantial? What/Where would be a good resource to guide us through editing to achiev a filmic look? Thank you everyone in advance, I know as a NEWB what started as a simple idea has exploded into dividing and conquering various areas to hope for a decent end product.

May 16th, 2011, 08:46 PM	#2
Les Wilson Inner Circle Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Boca Raton, FL Posts: 3,014	Re: Final Cut Studio 2.0 FCS 3 requires an Intel Mac so it isn't an option for you as long as you are on the G5.

May 16th, 2011, 08:57 PM	#3
Robert Lane Go Go Godzilla Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Scottsdale, AZ USA Posts: 2,823 Images: 15	Re: Final Cut Studio 2.0 James, Achieving the "filmic" result you want has absolutely nothing to do with the editing software you purchase; it's a combination of several things: Camera setups (frame-rate/shutter/color space), lighting & composition...etc. You could cut a video on iMovie, Sony Vegas, or even Movie Studio Plus and still get a filmic result. Before you start dropping more cash on hardware/software I'd highly suggest you get some guidance or training in these areas so you fully understand how they're interconnected and how you really need to plan your projects backwards - with the end result as the goal, rather than selecting a hardware/software combination that could very well be overkill for your intended end result. Talk with local consultants or rental houses for people that can steer you in the right direction, or even browse the Lynda.com library for various tutorials on these topics. But to try to glean all this data from a web-forum would be near-impossible, not to mention uber-time consuming.

May 17th, 2011, 08:48 AM	#4
James DeMello New Boot Join Date: May 2011 Location: New Bedford , MA Posts: 11	Re: Final Cut Studio 2.0 Thank you for your response, I have my work cut out for me, no pun intended, I do however have a final question, I picked up the mac g5's, one had the OS with FCS already installed, the other had just had a OS fresh install but i needed to install FCS from the discs, Is it normal for the install to take hours? I mean the estimated time to install was up in the 38 hour mark, and from what i can tell, as i havent finished the install yet, it seems like it takes about an 1.5 hours for each disk to install, I have gotten through the first 3 so far, should i be concerned? is this normal for FCS?

May 17th, 2011, 10:55 AM	#5
Les Wilson Inner Circle Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Boca Raton, FL Posts: 3,014	Re: Final Cut Studio 2.0 no. sounds like problems reading the install disks or writing to your hard disks. Did you reboot and try it? If so, search Apple's discussion boards. Unlikely nobody else has had this problem. All that said, did you get two licenses or are you trying to install the same one that's already installed on the other G5 on the second G5? That's not legitimate. I am not a lawyer but to my memory, the FCS 2 license is one copy for one machine with the generous exception that the licensee can also install it on a laptop but only use one copy at a time.

May 17th, 2011, 11:37 AM	#6
James DeMello New Boot Join Date: May 2011 Location: New Bedford , MA Posts: 11	Re: Final Cut Studio 2.0 I was lucky enough to get 2 copies of final cut studio, both sets of disks were taped to the sides of the machines, I am not sure what is going on here, as far as i know the HDD is brand new in this particular mac, I even tried making the .dmg files like was recommended elsewhere, i put the 3rd audio content disk on my freeagent portable HDD, plugged it into the usb port on the back of the monitor and it appears to take just as long.

May 19th, 2011, 06:54 AM	#7
James DeMello New Boot Join Date: May 2011 Location: New Bedford , MA Posts: 11	Re: Final Cut Studio 2.0 Just an FYI for anyone who was actually interested, my superdrive was shot, and a big NO NO, is trying to use the usb port in the cinedisplay to move data, the cinedisplay ports don't seem to output the same amount of power as a normal usb, I plugged in my portable into the front usb port and the install time went from 5 hours to 10 minutes