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Take the FCP Plunge?
My 8 year old Vincent 601 and HDRFX cards have just bitten the dust. 8 failures on the hardware diagnostic tests between the two cards. I’m between projects and not strapped for time. I’m not worried about loosing media or files. I’ve got a G4 Dual 1.44 and just upgraded to OS 10.4.2. I have Media 100i XR 8.1. I like Media 100 alot, but I don’t like the price of a new one. My choices seem to be to try to find used cards, refurbish my cards, wait for SW or go FCP. What does it cost to refurbish cards? If I refurbished, or bought used ones, would I need to upgrade from Media 100i 8.1 to function in OS 10.4.2? Or should I just make a clean break and go Final Cut Pro?
What would you do?
Thanks for your help.
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7 Replies
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I will run my Media 100i XR (DV & SDI) on a Dual 1.25 as long as I possibly can, but I will never spend the $7000 + on a new Media 100 HD plus analog to digital sound box. I have a new G5 which I’ve turned into a FCP station and the beauty of the program blows me away. Coupled with a Decklink card and all the other programs in FCP Studio, you can do just about ANYTHING you’ve ever wanted in post production. You cannot fool yourself into believing that FCP is just another editing program. It’s actually miraculous! As I get deeper and deeper into FCP, the more I realize that I will never spend money on Media 100 again.
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Wow, that’s the most ringing endorsement yet I’ve ever heard for FCP! Thanks for the response!
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I would go to FCP, but keep Media 100 SW on the G5 for legacy work and just to be there during the transition period. You’ll probably never need to go back, but having the option is great for piece of mind!
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or even “peace”
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I had one of my P6000 boards die not too long ago and Media100 said it would be $630 for an exchange. I was using version 7.5 without DV. They told me the upgrade to 8.2 would be $595 and the DV option would be $495. I went on ebay and bought a used one (version 8.2.2) and got the DV board in another auction for about $650 total. If you keep your eyes open, you can usually find a pretty good deal. Although the functionality of FCP is very enticing.
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We’ve took the plunge, and FCP 5 has made the swim a bit easier than previous versions. Although M100 files are more accessible in Version 5, I’m not a fan of FCPs myriad quirks, and Version 5 often performs like a Beta Test version: audio that stops playing back, timecode difficulties, and frequent crashes.
My advice: KEEP AT LEAST ONE MEDIA 100! Since it’s already bought and paid for, It will be cheap insurance when you need to update an existing project, and for use when FCP acts up.
I thoroughly love some of FCP functions, but in my experience it’s not nearly as reliable in day-in, day-out production use as M-100.
FWIW-
Mike L
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Mike,I have used M100i day in and day out for the past 8 years and loved it. Unfortunately the company I work for was forced to abandon it slowly due to M100’s ridiculous upgrade cost. I am deep into learning FCP 5 and was curious as to what you mean by
[Mike L] “Although M100 files are more accessible in Version 5,”
What has been your experience in accessing M100 program files in FCP? My entire project archive is in M100 format and I would love to have the ability to access those programs without necessarily saving each program in an EDL format.
Ciao, kim
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