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FCP and my new Mac Pro…
Hi all,
So I finally took the plunge recently and invested in a new Mac Pro…. 2 x quad core 2.8 ghz w/ 6GB Ram.
I’m wondering now though if I’m missing something with regards to FCP and compressor setup. I have a second computer that I’m comparing it against… 2.53 unibody MBP. Launching apps there is some speed difference, but that tends to be where it ends.
I’m working with an hour long HDV piece that has a couple transitions, and am finding that FCP thinks it needs to render for simple cross disolve transitions… I must be missing a setting somewhere, as my MBP doesn’t need to render to play cross disolves with HDV footage… in fact my old MBP which is a 2.0 coreduo system with 2gb of ram doesn’t need to either… so ideas on that one? (timeline playback options are identical on all three systems).
Now where my real annoyance comes in. I’m using compressor to render out to DVD… two pass 90 minute. My MBP (new one) tends to do 30 frames in about 3 seconds or so. So I was real excited about the MP thinking it would speed that up fairly significantly…. in fact the opposite seems to be the case. I’m rendering 30 frames in just over 4 seconds.
I’m either missing something, or the MacPro simply isn’t built for FCP…. which must not be the case… in fact I’m shaking my head as I type that knowing that that isn’t the case.
Couple additional pieces to hopefully help you shed some light on my odd situation: the MacPro and the MacBook Pro both have identical versions of FCP and QT and OSX (10.5.6). The MacPro has fewer processes running, as I’ve really only installed FCP and iLife09, where on my MBP I have a few other items running.
Hope you can shed some light before I simply return and pick up a 17inch MBP in its place… which should be slower!!
Thanks in advance.
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3 Replies
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Hi Blue,
1. As for the transition related issues I would reccomend trying my answer to your compressor problem and see if that in anyway helps fcp.2. This is what I suggest for using compressor.
GO TO:
1. System Preferences
2. Open Apple Qmaster
3. click “Options for selected service”
4. then choose the number of processing cores you wish your Mac to use.
note: the more you choose will obviously effect the rest of your computer5. select “Quick cluster with services”
6. tick the boxes for bother compressor and rendering
7. tick the box “Unmanaged services from other computers”
8. name your cluster
9. click “Start Sharing”
10. When you submit your job make sure you choose the cluster of your choice.So that was just a brief summary for those Mac users with multi core proccesors.
For more informating please click this link https://www.slccut.com/Apple-Compressor-Tutorials/enable-multiple-core-proce…Trent Whittington – Currently studying Associate Degree in Digital Television
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Trent,
Thanks for your speedy reply! I’ve tried this… and when I export to compressor, and then select the correct cluster (virtual cluster), my system basically locks up…
From what I’ve read, it has to do with needing to go to compressor from a file instead of the timeline… that of course brings up my slow computer issue, as exporting to a current setting quicktime file from the HDV timeline is taking about 2hrs for a the timeline in questions… exactly 1hr 26 minutes (well… and some seconds :))
Blue
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You need to have 1 GB of RAM per core for the system to be at it’s best. So having 6 or 10 GB would make it slower than having 8 GB for an 8 core Mac Pro…
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