-
FCP on iMac question
I’m planning to buy a new Mac that I’ll use almost exclusively for Final Cut. I’ve read some good things here about the new dual core iMac. I don’t need portability and the price seems right, especially since I won’t need to buy an additional monitor. I plan to upgrade to the 2 GB of RAM. My biggest concern is scratch disk space. I’ve been using a Lacie FireWire 800 drive, which works great, but the iMac doesn’t have a FW 800 port. Is Fire Wire 400 or USB 2.0 fast enough to keep up with DV footage? Can I throw a second internal hard drive in the iMac for scratch disk space? I’d appreciate any advice on this or any other issue I may be overlooking. Thanks a lot.
-
6 Replies
-
USB is not supported by Apple for video applications. FW400 works with DV material. You can get a FW800 to 400 cable. There is no way to add an additional drive internally to the iMac. The issue may be more complicated by the other devices, particular the camera or deck, you might have connected.
All the best,
Tom
Author: “Final Cut Pro 5 Editing Essentials” and “Final Cut Express 2 Editing Workshop” Class on Demand “Complete Training for FCP5” DVD
-
USB IS supported for Hard Drive storage… but not capture protocol
we occassionally use iMacs…
They suffer from no drive expansion or cards being able to be added… so out of the box is pretty much it (excet for RAM)
Keep that in mind… it is a budget oriented, mid-range consiumer oriented machine… a nice one at that…. but future expansion limited
Richard M. Harrington, PMP
Author: Photoshop CS for Nonlinear Editors, Understanding Adobe Photoshop, and ATS:iWork
-
Supported for video applications playback of media? Really? Is this new? Do you have any more information on this? The last document I saw from Apple on this only reluctantly supported FW drives. I have never seen anything suggesting their use with video media, though I have heard of a number of people who have used it successfully.
All the best,
Tom
Author: “Final Cut Pro 5 Editing Essentials” and “Final Cut Express 2 Editing Workshop” Class on Demand “Complete Training for FCP5” and “Final Cut Express Made Easy” DVDs
-
Supported and working… are two different things…
I have used G-tech drives connected via USB2 on a laptop out of necessitiy.
When FW port tied up with deck.. I have captured sucessfully to….
Supported… probably not…. working… yes..
But someone who’s lookign to mac iMacs work is probably not cutting 10-bit video any time soon.
Richard M. Harrington, PMP
Author: Photoshop CS for Nonlinear Editors, Understanding Adobe Photoshop, and ATS:iWork
-
Sorry for confusion on initial post… should bot have said supported as in the Officeial Apple Sense…
Functioning and recognied by the system.. yes
Richard M. Harrington, PMP
Author: Photoshop CS for Nonlinear Editors, Understanding Adobe Photoshop, and ATS:iWork
-
Thanks for the input, fellas. I have access to speedy G5s at work, and don’t need to worry about capturing or laying off. I will just be working with pre-captured media at home. If FW 400 can handle real time DV, I’m satisfied. I can up-res at work if necessary. Since I don’t need to install capture devices, are there any other big drawbacks to not being able to install cards? Can I install any more than 2 GB of RAM? Can I install the memory myself, or does Apple have to do it because it’s not a tower? Thanks again for all the help.
Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up