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FCP 2 on a dual 2g G5?
Am I likely to be significantly hobbled running FCP 2 under Tiger on a dual 2g G5?
I run OS 10.4.11 and have 6.5g RAM and two 233g drives running RAID. I’d prefer to defer the expense of a new machine and the trouble of adapting to Leopard – unless FCP 2 is not likely to work well on my existing set-up.
I’d be grateful for any advice.
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17 Replies
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You will be fine for most things.
This page will give you the scoop.
https://www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/specs.html
You don’t mention your graphics card, but that could make difference, particularly with Motion and Color.
Best,
Tom
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Thanks. I know I’m within the official specs, but I’m wondering whether anyone has actual experience of this set-up.
The graphics card is the ATI Radeon 9600 Pro that came as the default with this machine in 2003. It’s listed on Apple’s spec sheet, but… chottō… …
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You don’t really mean FCP2, do you? You mean FCS2 or FCP6, is that right?
FCP2 will not run properly with OS X.
All the best,
Tom
Class on Demand DVDs “Complete Training for FCP6,” “Basic Training for FCS2” and “Final Cut Express Made Easy”
Author: “Final Cut Pro 5 Editing Essentials” and “Final Cut Express 3.5 HD Editing Workshop” -
You’re right – I mean FCS2.
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I’m on a rental G5 Dual 2.0 with 2.5 gig of ram, MacOS 10.4.11, and the ATI 9600 video card this week.
FCP renders and mpeg encodes are a bit slower than I’ve become accustomed to. Motion opens and does what I need – simple particle effects and lower third graphics. It could do more, but I don’t need it to for this job.
Not ideal, but fine. If you are going to be doing heavy design or encoding more than the occasional file for money, you will thank yourself for upgrading. However this set up is a very capable editor.
Just my 2 cents. Your mileage may vary.
Tom
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I’m still running two dual 2Ghz G5’s. I want to upgrade, but I haven’t had the time or opportunity…maybe this summer.
In either case with all of the latest updates to both OS and software, FCS2 runs perfectly!
Both of my machines are running after market cards. I upgraded one card to the ATI X800 after putting my Mac Pro purchase on hold, and my other machine runs an ATI9800.
The graphics card is key like Tom said to running Motion and Color. I had an ATI 9600 and Color would not launch…Motion was sluggish, but it worked.Its a no brainer, a 3GHz Mac Pro is going to run circles around a G5 when it comes to rendering and other heavy processing, but as an editor, FCP, Soundtrack, and Livetype work as fast as you can push the buttons. Compressor, Motion and Color will work as fast as your processor and GFX card.
Ron
RIOT Productions
G5, Kona LH, FCS2, CalDigit -
Thanks to all! I now feel confident that, with a new card, I won’t need to upgrade substantially in order to learn Final Cut or use it in my first months of film school.
Ron’s experience, in particular, is very helpful. Any sense about which of the two graphics cards is more effective with this set-up? The Apple rep suggested that I buy a GeForce 6600 card, but he sounded very unsure and I have the feeling that better options must be available.
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[DPB Branner] “Am I likely to be significantly hobbled running FCP 2 under Tiger on a dual 2g G5?”
We’re running a G5 Dual 2.0 with an AJA Kona 2 and an nVidia Ultra 6800 Graphics card. Studio 2 has been on there for over a year. It’s cut approx. 25 projects in the past year including multiple high-def documentaries, corporate projects and DVD’s. It’s a fully functional machine and the only thing it suffers from is slower renders, especially in Compressor.
But as far as an editing machine, it’s perfectly capable with Studio 2.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Biscardi Creative Media
HD and SD Production for Broadcast and Independent Productions.STOP STARING AND START GRADING WITH APPLE COLOR
The new Color Training DVD now available from the Creative Cow! -
Running a Dual 2.0Ghz G5 with a Kona LH, editing DVCPRO HD, HDV and ProRes. And FCS 2 with OS 10.4.11, QT 7.3.1. No problems Smooth sailing.
Shane
GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD now for sale!
http://www.LFHD.net
Read my blog! -
[DPB Branner] “Any sense about which of the two graphics cards is more effective with this set-up? The Apple rep suggested that I buy a GeForce 6600 card, but he sounded very unsure and I have the feeling that better options must be available.”
Its a matter of preference in my option. I’ve always liked and stuck with ATI.
Whatever you get, make sure it has a minimum of 64MB on board so you can run Motion and Color. (i think that’s the minimum, check the FCS specs). More importantly, PCI-X cards are getting harder to find. It took 3 weeks for ATI to send my card…and almost every store I called were sold out and didn’t anticipate re-stocking. B&H in NYC had a few ATI cards on their website, but when I called, the guy said they were actually sold out…and no idea about re-stock. So Good Luck on that front. Not sure if you’ll have the same trouble with the GeForce, but clearly the industry has moved on to PCIe.Ron
RIOT Productions
G5, Kona LH, FCS2, CalDigit
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