Final Cut users? - Page 2

I am fascinated with the ProRes422. If it works as well as they are claiming then FC is going to become the system to work with. No more RAIDs!

Any idea if it works in real time?

Yes. Iworks like any other codec. The new AJA IO box displayed on Apple's website does real-time 422 encoding from analogue/SDI sources, but I'd imagine you can code prores422 files from any application or from firewire input cameras.

Damn. Where was that back in October when I was working on a HD 3D project? I could have saved so much space and money for the project.

Okay so I build a sequence, I render the whole thing, I go File>Print to Video and it has to render again. All of it. This is a new thing and I have no idea what I've done to switch a setting. Anyone run into this and know how to fix it?

First, what kind of deck are you laying off to?

Panasonic AG-DV2500 for my DV and a Sony UVW-1800 for my Betacam Stuff. And the problem is intermittent. I did Print to Video again today after a long render and it went through just fine. I don't know if this morning's thing was just a hiccup or what but it was aggravating - hopefully it was just a one time thing.

Getting in on this pretty late but here goes:
Started as a Vegas user (back when it was Sonic foundry vegas video), got into film school, was taught how to use final cut. Initially hated it (didn't have render free previews for different frame rates/file formats like vegas did. Yes, Vegas had this option 5 fucking years ago) but came to love Final Cut pro, and used it for all my own projects.

Decided to teach myself Avid. Improve my chances of getting work. Got work, started using AVID fulltime. Missed the living fuck out of FCP. Really missed editing on the timeline itself and FCP's easy to use effects. keyframes and titling.

Got used to AVID because I was working with it everyday.

Now heres the thing: if you want to do a basic edit, hack n' slash, a few transitions, basic audio editing, titles and colour correction (AVID
c colour correction tools were much better than FCP until COLOUR came along in FCP studio 2) then AVID is where you need to go. Once you are used to its interface, bam! You can edit much much faster than you can with FCP (again depends from person to person but thats the way I feel right now).

Unfortunately for anything outside of basic editing, AVID (using media composer) kinda falls apart for me. Avid handles different file formats and frame rates really poorly (don't get me started) and using its effects palette is a pain if your used to FCP's or After Effects. And especially when it comes to effects, you WILL see plenty of Bullshit bugs pop-up. This is where FCP and even more so FCP studio 2 is just so much better. Easy to use, simple interface, hassle-fucking-free. You sit, you create. No struggling with an interface (avid effects interface not its editing interface) that makes no fucking sense for the things it needs to be applied to.

Anyway.. take that rant/my editing life story for what you will. For value for money FCP studio 2 wins hands down. But if your after a good solid editing tool that most if not close to all (this is changing I know) the pro's use stick with avid.

I'm only using avid because my workplace demands it. Otherwise I'm Fcp all the way. And if you are a PC only person and want a good cost effective NLE just go straight to Sony Vegas 8.

Are you looking for a laptop or desktop?

I'm a professional editor and when I'm at home I use a macbook Pro with 2Gb RAM, which is perfect, even for higher def footage. It also runs CS4 without any hitches.

Apart from AE, which is also available for Mac, there are Motion (comes with FCP studio) and Shake. I don't really work with animation much, so I can't tell you how they compare.

Then a Macbook Pro's the way to go. Just be careful because the new ones only have a firewire 800 and not 400.

I'll second the Macbook Pro recommendation. Depending on the spec, it should be able to handle plenty of filters and smoothly run any HDV footage.

If you're used to After Effects, stick with it and the CS4 suite.

One of the directors I work with has FCP6 on a Powerbook G4 1.5 with 1GB RAM (yeah, I know, it's time to upgrade) and it's been fine so far.

Only today have we run into a problem.

Figured I'd revive this thread for this (potentially stupid) question:

She wants to do her assembly cut on this laptop. However, the AE created the workflow on FCP7. My problem is we can't open the workflow on FCP6 ("File's format is too new for this version of the application.") Does anyone know if there is any way to convert the workflow so that I can open it on FCP6? Or am I going to have to reorganize and re-render everything using the files in the Capture Scratch?

Any help would be much appreciated!

Final Cut is terrible and incredibly buggy. The legacy code is a nightmare and it's just slow and bad and full of (what appear to be) memory leaks and horrible bugs with nested sequences. Of course, it's also the only thing I'll use so other programs could be very well be worse...

Apple wants you to buy FCP7 so they're not going to do you any favors compatibility-wise, but exporting an XML of the timeline or an EDL or something should work, though you may lose some of your edits/filters, etc.

Thanks for the tips, Policar! I don't think an EDL will do anything because there's no timeline. I was just hoping we didn't have to reorganize all the footage.

I'm not a big fan of Apple right now. I can't just upgrade to FCP7. I need to buy a new Intel-powered Mac, upgrade my OS and then get the new FCP.

I wanted to buy an upgrade from Tiger to Leopard, but I had to turn to Craigslist for a copy. They don't sell it at the Apple stores, they don't sell it online. They do not sell Leopard anymore, just the Intel-based Snow Leopard. Our three year old G5 workstation at the office is now obsolete as far as Apple's concerned.

I can identify with you there. I love my G5 (despite the loud fans) and it still runs great, yet Apple seem determined to leave me in the dust when it comes to new software. I just can't afford to upgrade until I find a steady job.

Even without timelines, you should be able to export an XML file in FCP7 and import it into version 6, but I haven't tried this as I don't work with other people. At worst you might have to reconnect media or something is my guess, but files/folders/timelines should remain more-or-less intact.

It's one thing that FCS3 is intel only but it's another entirely that it's a really lame upgrade. Apple added support for a useful new variant of prores, but the code is still 32-bit single-threaded Carbon with no support for Snow Leopard's new technologies. There are no major updates to Color or the other bundled apps, either, and few apparent bug fixes. If you're going to drop compatibility for a major portion of your install-base, at least offer a worthwhile upgrade.

You can take some solace knowing in FCP7 being a minor upgrade at best, an overpriced compatibility hack to get something compatible with 10.6 at worst... By the time a real, worthwhile upgrade rolls around, chances are the G5 will actually be outdated.

It's not just Apple that's giving up! Our production company primarily shoots with RED, and the biggest problem we have is getting the Redcode footage into post. We can't do in-house dailies, and I can't even test the footage off-camera without an Intel Mac. We're going to have to upgrade very soon.

Policar, the director was getting impatient and I eventually just dumped the Prores files into a new bin for her to start playing with. I'm definitely going to try the XML export for the hell of it, though. Thanks, man! And while I love hearing that FCP7 isn't worth the dough, I still have to upgrade for the aforementioned reasons.

I really hate that I'm so reliant on Apple products. By the way, anyone know how Premiere's looking these days? How's that 64-bit support coming along? I hear it's the future.

Adobe was at HD Expo in NYC last month with the latest version of Premiere. At their RED workflow panel they made it sound like it can do almost everything RED ALERT! can do.

I've always wanted to pay for a program like that.