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Final Cut and the 27inc iMac
I’m thinking of buying a new 27 inch iMac primarily to be used as a Final Cut work station. Since there is no I/O box for this that I am aware of, is their a device that can be attached via fire wire or USB that will allow me to use an external monitor in both SD and HD?
Thanks
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20 Replies
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Matrox MXO and the proper adapter for that mini display port connection on an iMac should work just fine for external monitoring.
But you’ll be limited to firewire drives forever with an iMac… if that’s OK and you don’t need other than firewire input, it’s sort of doable. However it’s dicey to capture from a firewire device to a firewire drive.
Sure you don’t want a tower? that 24″ display apple has right now is a really nice display.. and the expandability of the tower makes life a lot richer (setting aside the faster Mac of course)…
Jerry
Apple Certified Trainer, Producer, Writer, Director Editor, Gun for Hire and other things. I ski.
8-Core 3.0 Intel Mac Pro, Dual 2 gig G5, AJA Kona SD, AJA Kona 2, Huge Systems Array UL3D, AJA Io HD, 17″ MBP, Matrox MXO2 with MAX Cinema Displays
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That’s a perfect analysis Jerry. I agree with everything you said.
Those iMacs seem tempting, but they have some serious limitations.
David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor/Colorist
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los AngelesPOST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™
EPK Colorist – UP IN THE AIR – nominated for six academy awards
A forum host of Creative COW’s Apple Final Cut Pro, Business & Marketing, Indie Film & Documentary, and Film History & Appreciations forums.
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“That’s a perfect analysis Jerry. I agree with everything you said. ”
Really? I thought monitoring from the display port was a big No-No. Isn’t it still a computer graphics signal going to the Matrox if that’s what he decides to go with?
Anyway…to answer the original question, I think the AJA I/O HD allows for capturing and monitoring through FW800, and you can transcode all your stuff to ProRes too, which is nice.
Robert J. Grauert, Jr.
http://www.robgrauert.com
command-r.tumblr.com -
I am not disagreeing with the former posters here on wether or not a tower model is better. Ofcourse it is. But it’s also a lot more expensive!
I’m working on 27″ iMac and I love it! The screen itself is incredibly good. I used to work with a client monitor connected thru firewire, but I moved them to my attic. FCP has the ability to view your timeline full screen with a single push of a button and I’m using that a lot, even when a director is sitting next to me. The detail on this monitor is so great!
It’s a fast machine as well.
Hope I have been helpful!
Avid/FCP Editor, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
http://www.pepijnklijs.nl -
Rob,
I was referring to Jerry’s analysis of the weaknesses of the iMac. However, the original MXO is specifically designed to display via a signal from the computer display, as in the DVI out etc.
David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor/Colorist
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los AngelesPOST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™
EPK Colorist – UP IN THE AIR – nominated for six academy awards
A forum host of Creative COW’s Apple Final Cut Pro, Business & Marketing, Indie Film & Documentary, and Film History & Appreciations forums.
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Pepijn,
Yes, the iMacs are fast and cheap, but limited by their connections. In your case, you’re displaying video to a computer monitor, which may look wonderful, but which doesn’t reveal “the whole story” from an engineering standpoint. If you don’t ever to deliver for broadcast an iMac will do just fine, but there’s just no great/easy/inexpensive way to capture, playback, and professionally monitor with an iMac. An IOHD helps, but that’s not a cheap solution by any means.
David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor/Colorist
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los AngelesPOST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™
EPK Colorist – UP IN THE AIR – nominated for six academy awards
A forum host of Creative COW’s Apple Final Cut Pro, Business & Marketing, Indie Film & Documentary, and Film History & Appreciations forums.
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The MXO takes care of all the differences between a computer display and TV set. (the no no is judging the video full screen on a computer display…
Essentially, it turns a native 1900X1200 display into a true video monitor. Read the article on it here at the COW… there’s a review I’m sure. The MXO taps the RGB only from that display port, and then changes the scan to interlaced and at the same time adjusts for the inherent gamma differences. You can even set up that connected display with blue only bars from the MXO’s control panel. Pretty slick.
Full screen monitoring on a computer display is not optimal by any stretch of the imagination, and can only be “trusted” for web delivery.
Jerry
Apple Certified Trainer, Producer, Writer, Director Editor, Gun for Hire and other things. I ski.
8-Core 3.0 Intel Mac Pro, Dual 2 gig G5, AJA Kona SD, AJA Kona 2, Huge Systems Array UL3D, AJA Io HD, 17″ MBP, Matrox MXO2 with MAX Cinema Displays
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Yeah, the Io HD… problem is you can’t capture to a firewire drive on the same bus with it… so it’s not going to be workin too well with an iMac.
Quite frankly, if you can live with the limitations (and there are many) of an iMac, it’s OK with processing power etc.. it’s just not expandable. Even a used tower is a better investment if budget is an issue. A used 8 core Mac is one sweet computer.
Jerry
Apple Certified Trainer, Producer, Writer, Director Editor, Gun for Hire and other things. I ski.
8-Core 3.0 Intel Mac Pro, Dual 2 gig G5, AJA Kona SD, AJA Kona 2, Huge Systems Array UL3D, AJA Io HD, 17″ MBP, Matrox MXO2 with MAX Cinema Displays
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David,
Like I already said, I agree on the mac pro being the best mac to edit with. But still, I can’t fully agree on what you are saying. I mean theoretically you right, very much indeed, but practically…
Almost everything I edit at home enters my front door on a disc, so no more capturing.
Second, 95 % of my work consists of listening, watching, building. I don’t need to broadcastsafe all the time when I’m creating my stories. I just need to relaxed and focussed. (the iMac doesn’t do massages unfortunately).
Most of the time my final product will be a quicktime file that will go to color correction.
So tell me why I should still spend a lot of money on a mac pro? I think times are changing to more filebased workflows and you can do a lot more for a lot less.
Regards!
Avid/FCP Editor, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
http://www.pepijnklijs.nl -
haha, you got a point there! The one firewire connection is very annoying and disappointing. I admit! They should have put more!
Anyway, it all depends on what you want to do basically. We can keep on making lists of what an iMac can or can not do. But the most interesting question is what you want to do with it.
Avid/FCP Editor, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
http://www.pepijnklijs.nl
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