Anyone using FCS2 with a 24" Imac

David Scattergood · July 7th, 2007, 05:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim Fields

Same, if not better.

Keep this in mind with FCP and Compressor...

Open up Activity Monitor before you export to Comp.
When you hit submit on Comp you will see your system go crazy. Comp takes so many resources that it leaves very little to FCP, when all FCP is doing is reading the render files of your project to send to Comp.

Take the same timeline, export 10 bit uncompressed NON self contained, project will take next to nothing to run through Comp than if you ran it through FCP.

Since I work on weddings all day every day, I have 4-8 items that need to go through Comp to get ready to burn, if I do it through FCP I am looking at doing it before I go to bed, If I export a QT movie uncompressed, I am looking at 2 hours.

I tried the same stuff on a MacPro, 4GB memory. Same render times, same export, well maybe a little snappier, but I found the iMac to be perfect for everything except a Shake render with 14 layers and 37 nodes.

Like I said, feel free to email me with a number, I have unlimited calling so I can call state side and help some of you guys out if needed.

Are you not taking a hit on final quality if you export this quicker way?
I noticed when I sent a ref mov to DVDSP from FCP then did the same via compressor the quality difference was fairly obvious...I did think it might be down to the QT file not being compressed yet though....?

Jim Fields · July 8th, 2007, 07:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by David Scattergood

Are you not taking a hit on final quality if you export this quicker way?
I noticed when I sent a ref mov to DVDSP from FCP then did the same via compressor the quality difference was fairly obvious...I did think it might be down to the QT file not being compressed yet though....?

I dont send ref files to DVDSP, I send the ref files to compressor.

Peter Rhalter · July 8th, 2007, 09:25 PM

Jim,

Have you found any difference in rendering times between 720 and 1080? My speed, or lack thereof, comments are based on using 1080i footage.

Best wishes,
Peter
_____________________
Best Grand Canyon views
http://www.parkfilms.com/gcviewpoints.html

Jim Fields · July 9th, 2007, 09:11 PM

No not really, I found my Sony 1080i footage from a 6 camera concert I am working on seems to render faster than my current JVC 720P footage from say, last weeks wedding.

I dont tweak FCP to much, I tend to leave most of the settings alone unless it is a personal preference on say Capturing, window sizes, etc. I dont show Audio waveforms, I use a small view with no thumbnail in the timeline, I try to have it so it wont use as much memory as possible, that way I can scroll through the timeline with 8 tracks of video and not get a "studder" in the timeline.

I was just talking to my wife the other day about some of the issues you guys are having, my wife uses her Macbook non core 2 duo, just a core duo and it is not a Macbook pro, just the little white laptop, to cut HDV footage for me. She connects with a Cat 6 cable and sits 70 feet away in another room and streams footage from the iMac and edits on that little machine and has no problems, even if she has to render. We dont understand why others are having problems. And she is running FCP 6, Motion 3, she has even opened Color and uses DVDSP on it to.

In my opinion, I dont see how 1080i footage would matter over 720P. I kow it is a larger file, larger image, I just dont see any real performance changes.

My specs for my iMac are as follows...
2.16 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo
2 GB APPLE BRAND 667 Mhz SDRAM
NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT
Seagate SATA II 750 GB Drive Model Number ST3750640AS (Purchased at Fry's Electronics)

Thats it.

My answer to any somewhat issue, is to wipe the drive and re-install. However it is easy for me as I have 5 Terabytes of external storage waiting for me to transfer data over.

David Scattergood · July 10th, 2007, 02:46 AM

^^ Almost the same set up as I'm running Jim.
I also use an external HD (WD 500gb) but this is purely for music and photo images (which FCP can point to when required) - it's USB unfortunately so I wouldn't store video on this.
However over the next couple of weeks I'm looking for a new external FW hard drive - possible 1 TB's worth, although I'm not sure whether I should mirror this (500gb a piece) or trust it?? Quite expensive (looking a the G raid) so it might be worth 'releasing' some of the storage onto cheaper HD's purely to be kept in a cupboard on the off chance the footage may be required again?
I know I'm now down to around 10gb....which isn't going to last long at all.

Jim Fields · July 10th, 2007, 12:58 PM

Fry's has 500 GB SATA 3 drives on sale for 100.00 right now.

Cool Drives
http://www.cooldrives.com/

Has what you need for storage cases.

My suggestion, make it a custom storage case with 3 times the soace for the same as a G Drive, or a Lacie drive. And still get FW 800 out of it.

David Scattergood · July 11th, 2007, 03:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim Fields

Fry's has 500 GB SATA 3 drives on sale for 100.00 right now.

Cool Drives
http://www.cooldrives.com/

Has what you need for storage cases.

My suggestion, make it a custom storage case with 3 times the soace for the same as a G Drive, or a Lacie drive. And still get FW 800 out of it.

Cheers Jim - I'll check those out - hopefully the SATA's are cheap in the uk (though I wouldn't bet on it). Are these drives generally good...I've heard none to great stories over the Lacies drives?

Just viewed the Sata cool gear drive - look very similar to the G raids.
Are you suggesting having a case in which I could fit 3 drives (say at 500gb a piece, adding them as and when? Sounds like what I could do with).
I was recommended to have these drives striped...but never really being a computer boffin I honestly don't know the difference between striped and mirrored???).

Thanks Jim.

Jim Fields · July 11th, 2007, 09:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by David Scattergood

Cheers Jim - I'll check those out - hopefully the SATA's are cheap in the uk (though I wouldn't bet on it). Are these drives generally good...I've heard none to great stories over the Lacies drives?

Just viewed the Sata cool gear drive - look very similar to the G raids.
Are you suggesting having a case in which I could fit 3 drives (say at 500gb a piece, adding them as and when? Sounds like what I could do with).
I was recommended to have these drives striped...but never really being a computer boffin I honestly don't know the difference between striped and mirrored???).

Thanks Jim.

I am waiting on my new 8 bay FW 800 case, 2 of them.

I had Lacie, dont waste your time. I took the remaining good drives out of the Lacie cases and had put them in a different case. Lacie uses whatever brand drives for their systems, but uses cheap crappy boards, power supplies, and cords.

As far as Seagate, a drive is a drive to me, they can fail at any time, no matter what brand you choose, this is of course just my opinion.

July 8th, 2007, 09:25 PM	#18
Peter Rhalter Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 192	Jim, Have you found any difference in rendering times between 720 and 1080? My speed, or lack thereof, comments are based on using 1080i footage. Best wishes, Peter _____________________ Best Grand Canyon views http://www.parkfilms.com/gcviewpoints.html

July 9th, 2007, 09:11 PM	#19
Jim Fields Major Player Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Fort Worth Texas Posts: 247	No not really, I found my Sony 1080i footage from a 6 camera concert I am working on seems to render faster than my current JVC 720P footage from say, last weeks wedding. I dont tweak FCP to much, I tend to leave most of the settings alone unless it is a personal preference on say Capturing, window sizes, etc. I dont show Audio waveforms, I use a small view with no thumbnail in the timeline, I try to have it so it wont use as much memory as possible, that way I can scroll through the timeline with 8 tracks of video and not get a "studder" in the timeline. I was just talking to my wife the other day about some of the issues you guys are having, my wife uses her Macbook non core 2 duo, just a core duo and it is not a Macbook pro, just the little white laptop, to cut HDV footage for me. She connects with a Cat 6 cable and sits 70 feet away in another room and streams footage from the iMac and edits on that little machine and has no problems, even if she has to render. We dont understand why others are having problems. And she is running FCP 6, Motion 3, she has even opened Color and uses DVDSP on it to. In my opinion, I dont see how 1080i footage would matter over 720P. I kow it is a larger file, larger image, I just dont see any real performance changes. My specs for my iMac are as follows... 2.16 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo 2 GB APPLE BRAND 667 Mhz SDRAM NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT Seagate SATA II 750 GB Drive Model Number ST3750640AS (Purchased at Fry's Electronics) Thats it. My answer to any somewhat issue, is to wipe the drive and re-install. However it is easy for me as I have 5 Terabytes of external storage waiting for me to transfer data over.

July 10th, 2007, 02:46 AM	#20
David Scattergood Major Player Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Manchester, UK Posts: 755	^^ Almost the same set up as I'm running Jim. I also use an external HD (WD 500gb) but this is purely for music and photo images (which FCP can point to when required) - it's USB unfortunately so I wouldn't store video on this. However over the next couple of weeks I'm looking for a new external FW hard drive - possible 1 TB's worth, although I'm not sure whether I should mirror this (500gb a piece) or trust it?? Quite expensive (looking a the G raid) so it might be worth 'releasing' some of the storage onto cheaper HD's purely to be kept in a cupboard on the off chance the footage may be required again? I know I'm now down to around 10gb....which isn't going to last long at all.

July 10th, 2007, 12:58 PM	#21
Jim Fields Major Player Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Fort Worth Texas Posts: 247	Fry's has 500 GB SATA 3 drives on sale for 100.00 right now. Cool Drives http://www.cooldrives.com/ Has what you need for storage cases. My suggestion, make it a custom storage case with 3 times the soace for the same as a G Drive, or a Lacie drive. And still get FW 800 out of it.