Has anyone loaded FCP into an Intel Mac yet? at DVinfo.net

Scott Shuster · September 6th, 2006, 11:02 AM

I thought there would be a thread about the performance of FCP in the new Mac Pro...probably from some cutting-edge individual who bought the new 2x 3GHz Dual-Core machine, who would be eager to report to us on, well, whether-it-works-or-not for starters - !! Am I missing something? Looking in the wrong place...? Wranglers please advise... ! Many thanks.

Tim Brown · September 6th, 2006, 11:16 AM

I've been running FCS on a Macbook Pro for some time now and it's performance is comparable to my dual 2.0GHz G5.

I have not had any problems with it whatsoever, but it seems that you're asking about the new towers which were recently released. Were you not?

Scott Shuster · September 6th, 2006, 11:24 AM

That's right, Tim -- although even just the report that it works in the Macbook Pro is great for starters. Push is coming to shove around here with render times on a number of projects we have under way and you know how it is: Staff wants a new edit station NOW. So I'm wondering whether to plunk AS-MUCH as a new Mac Pro Tower to buy an old maxxed-out G5 tower. Seems like a no-brainer to go with the new technology, but this time it's different, somehow, I think. I don't want to be the first to find out something bad about running FCP in the new towers: I say leave that to the folks up the street at the big production houses and the networks, where they have the bux to 'give it a try' - that ain't me. This time I want someone else to try...before I buy...

Nate Schmidt · September 6th, 2006, 11:28 AM

Intel iMac runnig 5.1.1 just fine, of course not as fine as the new ones that they released today (probably)

Scott Shuster · September 6th, 2006, 12:45 PM

Today? They're being released today, September 6th, 2006? That would explain why I have not heard anything, if they have not been available until...today. So I would suspect we'll have a few in someone's office really soon and could have dvinfo.net member independent assessments of the new tower's performance within a few days. I think I can use a whip and a chair to keep my staff at bay until then - !!

Kevin Shaw · September 6th, 2006, 02:44 PM

I saw FCP demonstrated on the new quad-core Mac Pro last week and it seemed to work fine. One thought to consider here is that the new Macs may hold their value better as all the software shifts to that technology.

Rob Lohman · September 6th, 2006, 03:13 PM

Works fine on my Macbook Pro!

Harrison Freedman · September 6th, 2006, 04:30 PM

Runs perfect on my Macbook. Of course, Motion is of course not supported for the Macbook thought, but I don't do much complicated stuff on it so it works fine.

Jason Lowe · September 6th, 2006, 05:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scott Shuster

Today? They're being released today, September 6th, 2006? That would explain why I have not heard anything, if they have not been available until...today. So I would suspect we'll have a few in someone's office really soon and could have dvinfo.net member independent assessments of the new tower's performance within a few days. I think I can use a whip and a chair to keep my staff at bay until then - !!

No, the Mac Pro has been out for weeks. There were new iMacs with the Core 2 Duo processors released today.

I don't blame people for being confused. This new naming system Apple has come up with is pretty confusing.

Eugene Presley · September 8th, 2006, 04:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scott Shuster

I thought there would be a thread about the performance of FCP in the new Mac Pro...probably from some cutting-edge individual who bought the new 2x 3GHz Dual-Core machine, who would be eager to report to us on, well, whether-it-works-or-not for starters - !! Am I missing something? Looking in the wrong place...? Wranglers please advise... ! Many thanks.

I bought the configuration you are speaking about yesterday : added 4Gig RAM : this machine is a dream to edit on. No doubt.

Scott Shuster · September 8th, 2006, 06:15 AM

Eugene: Thank you very much for responding and congratulations on the acquisition of the state-of-the-art system - !!

Are you working in HD? (Which kind?)

Were you working in HD on an earlier G5 configuration?

If so, we would love to hear your experience with render times:
Noticeably faster?

Pete Closs · September 8th, 2006, 09:14 AM

Sounds like a very nice setup Eugene, I'm jealous. ;) I'm wondering how you're finding it with Unlimited RT turned on? My current editing platform is a fairly top end P4 machine and Vegas, I find the Vegas preview video area to work pretty much real time. In contrast, even adding a few simple crossfades on a Mac Pro at the London Apple store, previewing would either play the video very slowly or display the "not rendered" image. Was I doing something wrong or is it usually that slow on FCP (I'm no expert)?

Don't get me wrong, from my initial experience Final Cut (especially with Motion and LiveType) is extremely powerful, however for previewing things Vegas seems to have it beat (and thus leaves me still uncertain if I should switch from Vegas even though I'm frustrated with its threadbare titling tool).

Ned Cordery · September 9th, 2006, 11:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nate Schmidt

Intel iMac runnig 5.1.1 just fine, of course not as fine as the new ones that they released today (probably)

Hi Nate, I am contemplating buying an iMac to run FCP and /or FCE, info about your iMac model/configuration will be greatly appreciated. I was thinking of the 2.0 with 20 inch screen plus second 20 inch screen and 2 GB RAM, comments/suggestions,

Thanks

Ned Cordery

Nate Schmidt · September 9th, 2006, 01:48 PM

That's basically the same config I got Ned except you'll get the faster processor :) but the 2 gigs of ram does great for me cutting DV haven't done any hdv yet but it should work fine. I went with an internal 500 gig drive and a 500 gig external drive I edit off the external and keep all my other stuff on the internal all my photos music and any finished videos I've completed. Depending if you want to do any work with Motion you may want to look into upgrading the graphics card to one of the top options that affects its realtime playback abilities, it will still be quite usable with the 2 gigs of ram you may just have to do more ram previews to see your work. Two screens is a great idea you can have lots of room to work check out dell for their 20" widescreen lcd its the same display panel that apple uses except encased in black not aluminum that makes the video card even more of an issue with motion because two screens will split your video ram so if you have a 128mb card each screen will take 64mb so that is all that motion can use.

Ned Cordery · September 9th, 2006, 02:24 PM

Hi Nate,

Many thanks for the info, it is a great help. I had a look at the new iMacs and the 24 inch with upgrades looks the way I will go. I plan to go to HDV when the new Canons are available. I currently use external HDDs in Granite swap cases so these will be the basis of my storage,

Thanks again

Ned

September 6th, 2006, 11:02 AM	#1
Scott Shuster Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: NYC Posts: 125	Has anyone loaded FCP into an Intel Mac yet? I thought there would be a thread about the performance of FCP in the new Mac Pro...probably from some cutting-edge individual who bought the new 2x 3GHz Dual-Core machine, who would be eager to report to us on, well, whether-it-works-or-not for starters - !! Am I missing something? Looking in the wrong place...? Wranglers please advise... ! Many thanks. __________________ http://stratostream.com -- dance & fitness videos

September 6th, 2006, 11:24 AM	#3
Scott Shuster Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: NYC Posts: 125	That's right, Tim -- although even just the report that it works in the Macbook Pro is great for starters. Push is coming to shove around here with render times on a number of projects we have under way and you know how it is: Staff wants a new edit station NOW. So I'm wondering whether to plunk AS-MUCH as a new Mac Pro Tower to buy an old maxxed-out G5 tower. Seems like a no-brainer to go with the new technology, but this time it's different, somehow, I think. I don't want to be the first to find out something bad about running FCP in the new towers: I say leave that to the folks up the street at the big production houses and the networks, where they have the bux to 'give it a try' - that ain't me. This time I want someone else to try...before I buy... __________________ http://stratostream.com -- dance & fitness videos

September 6th, 2006, 11:28 AM	#4
Nate Schmidt Major Player Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Welland ON Posts: 515	Intel iMac runnig 5.1.1 just fine, of course not as fine as the new ones that they released today (probably) __________________ "We've done the impossible, and that makes us mighty."

September 6th, 2006, 12:45 PM	#5
Scott Shuster Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: NYC Posts: 125	Today? They're being released today, September 6th, 2006? That would explain why I have not heard anything, if they have not been available until...today. So I would suspect we'll have a few in someone's office really soon and could have dvinfo.net member independent assessments of the new tower's performance within a few days. I think I can use a whip and a chair to keep my staff at bay until then - !! __________________ http://stratostream.com -- dance & fitness videos

September 6th, 2006, 03:13 PM	#7
Rob Lohman RED Code Chef Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Holland Posts: 12,514	Works fine on my Macbook Pro! __________________ Rob Lohman, visuar@iname.com DV Info Wrangler & RED Code Chef Join the DV Challenge \| Lady X Search DVinfo.net for quick answers \| Buy from the best: DVinfo.net sponsors

September 6th, 2006, 11:16 AM	#2
Tim Brown Major Player Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Richmond, Virginia Posts: 263	I've been running FCS on a Macbook Pro for some time now and it's performance is comparable to my dual 2.0GHz G5. I have not had any problems with it whatsoever, but it seems that you're asking about the new towers which were recently released. Were you not?

September 6th, 2006, 02:44 PM	#6
Kevin Shaw Inner Circle Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Sacramento, CA Posts: 2,488	I saw FCP demonstrated on the new quad-core Mac Pro last week and it seemed to work fine. One thought to consider here is that the new Macs may hold their value better as all the software shifts to that technology.

September 6th, 2006, 04:30 PM	#8
Harrison Freedman Regular Crew Join Date: May 2006 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 30	Runs perfect on my Macbook. Of course, Motion is of course not supported for the Macbook thought, but I don't do much complicated stuff on it so it works fine.

September 8th, 2006, 06:15 AM	#11
Scott Shuster Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: NYC Posts: 125	Eugene: Thank you very much for responding and congratulations on the acquisition of the state-of-the-art system - !! Are you working in HD? (Which kind?) Were you working in HD on an earlier G5 configuration? If so, we would love to hear your experience with render times: Noticeably faster? __________________ http://stratostream.com -- dance & fitness videos

September 8th, 2006, 09:14 AM	#12
Pete Closs Tourist Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: London Posts: 1	Sounds like a very nice setup Eugene, I'm jealous. ;) I'm wondering how you're finding it with Unlimited RT turned on? My current editing platform is a fairly top end P4 machine and Vegas, I find the Vegas preview video area to work pretty much real time. In contrast, even adding a few simple crossfades on a Mac Pro at the London Apple store, previewing would either play the video very slowly or display the "not rendered" image. Was I doing something wrong or is it usually that slow on FCP (I'm no expert)? Don't get me wrong, from my initial experience Final Cut (especially with Motion and LiveType) is extremely powerful, however for previewing things Vegas seems to have it beat (and thus leaves me still uncertain if I should switch from Vegas even though I'm frustrated with its threadbare titling tool).

September 9th, 2006, 01:48 PM	#14
Nate Schmidt Major Player Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Welland ON Posts: 515	That's basically the same config I got Ned except you'll get the faster processor :) but the 2 gigs of ram does great for me cutting DV haven't done any hdv yet but it should work fine. I went with an internal 500 gig drive and a 500 gig external drive I edit off the external and keep all my other stuff on the internal all my photos music and any finished videos I've completed. Depending if you want to do any work with Motion you may want to look into upgrading the graphics card to one of the top options that affects its realtime playback abilities, it will still be quite usable with the 2 gigs of ram you may just have to do more ram previews to see your work. Two screens is a great idea you can have lots of room to work check out dell for their 20" widescreen lcd its the same display panel that apple uses except encased in black not aluminum that makes the video card even more of an issue with motion because two screens will split your video ram so if you have a 128mb card each screen will take 64mb so that is all that motion can use. __________________ "We've done the impossible, and that makes us mighty."

September 9th, 2006, 02:24 PM	#15
Ned Cordery New Boot Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Dammeron Valley, UT Posts: 15	FCP on an iMac Hi Nate, Many thanks for the info, it is a great help. I had a look at the new iMacs and the 24 inch with upgrades looks the way I will go. I plan to go to HDV when the new Canons are available. I currently use external HDDs in Granite swap cases so these will be the basis of my storage, Thanks again Ned