I need to hotrod my G5 to work faster in FCP…. (help?)

[Jerry Hofmann]

Best bet is a faster CPU, Tiger and 8 gigs of RAM.

Jerry

Apple Certified Trainer

Author: “Jerry Hofmann on Final Cut Pro 4” Click here

Dual 2 gig G5, AJA Kona SD, AJA Kona 2, Huge Systems Array UL3D

[Bryce Whiteside]

ATI 800X graphics card is faster than your 9800. After that you will be at the ragged edge of any additional speed gains.

All things related to Macintosh Performance:
Real World Speed Tests For Performance Minded Macintosh Users – BareFeats.com
https://www.barefeats.com/
MacSpeedZone – Mac upgrade and performance information…
https://www.macspeedzone.com/

Matthew C. Abourezk – For example, flying around a 3300 x 4400 pixel illustrator file in FCP is an exercise in my ability to NOT slit my wrists.

This sounds like a work flow issue. AE 6.5 and Motion are better suited to fly large graphics around. Also, I never make my graphics larger than 2x or 2.5x the video resolution and with some preplanning I may only go 1.5x my video resolution.

As far as sizing graphics, size it in FCP and export a reference frame for Photoshop. Then take the original large graphic and resize it in Photoshop to match your pre-viz FCP export reference frame. Then save your new resized graphic with a different name than your orginal and import in FCP. Scaling in FCP looks like c**p below 50 to 35% where Photoshop or AE does sub-pixel sampling for a better look.

Inquiring minds…
Bryce

Don’t worry Mr. B. I have a cunning plan…

PowerBook 1.67 Ghz ATI 9700 128 MB 2 GB
Final Cut Pro HD
DVD Studio Pro 3
Motion

[Matthew Abourezk]

[[This sounds like a work flow issue. AE 6.5 and Motion are better suited to fly large graphics around. Also, I never make my graphics larger than 2x or 2.5x the video resolution and with some preplanning I may only go 1.5x my video resolution. ]]

Bryce, thanks for the input. I probably need to post to an AE site regarding this as well. The reason I decided to go at this in FCP rather than AE, is that I need to do some very precise moves in time to music. So far, creating a piece in AE that has many audio cues seems like a huge pain. The audio handling in AE is pathetic.

The reason the file is so large is that I need to be zoomed all the way in to a Tiny logo, then pull back and fly around a mocked up web page. I need to land at specific points in the page on cue with the audio, and I need to use 3d filters in FCP to slowly spin the page in 3d space….

So, setting all that aside…. would SCSI drives help?

[Bryce Whiteside]

My educated guess is that the ATI 800x would give you the most speed boost. SCSI would maybe only add 1% to 5% speed boost if at all with a significant cost–the law of diminishing returns. Without changing your production pipeline, the only way to see a good boost in performance is with a new G5 DP 2.7 Ghz or an Apple refurbished G5 DP 2.5 Ghz with the ATI 800x.

As far as After Effect goes, just use it to fly your graphics around. Import your audio only as a scratch track. After rendering in AE, bring your .MOV into FCP and match it up to your audio track.

“More Tips and Tricks Night” from the LAFCPUG has a technique discribed by DV Creators’s Guy Cochran 3/4 of the way down the article. The same technique works with AE, but you highlight your scratch audio track just hit the “asterisk” key to the beat of the music instead of the “M” key as in FCP. The audio should play in AE when you hit the space bar.
https://www.lafcpug.org/meeting_3_26_03.html

I think it is the “asterisk” key. I am not in front of a AE machine right now.
You could then use SHFT+0, SHFT+1,SHFT+2,SHFT+3,SHFT+4, etc. to mark your music bars on the main timeline window like Chris Meyers likes to do.

You might want to do a follow-up question in the After Effects forum about other techniques which AE animators use. You do know that you can display the audio wavefrom by twilling (clicking on the little triangles) down on you audio layer. Does hitting “A” on the selected audio scratch track display the audio channel? Then just display the waveform.

HTH,
Bryce

Don’t worry Mr. B. I have a cunning plan…

PowerBook 1.67 Ghz ATI 9700 128 MB 2 GB
Final Cut Pro HD
DVD Studio Pro 3
Motion

[Chris Poisson]

Matthew,

I totally agree with Bryce about graphics size, especially in FCP. I use the exact same rule of thumb as he and my machine flys.

Regarding working with audio in AE, I do it all the time and find it much easier than I previously percieved it to be. A method I use is hit “LL” to twirl down the audio waveform, and jack up the levels so you can see it better. (turn down your speakers a bit for this part!)

It is usually then very easy to edit to the beat or whatever.

HTH…

[Matthew Abourezk]

EXCELLENT, thanks for the help guys. I asked how to get my work done faster, I didn’t really expect a workflow answer but you are absolutely right. I will try implementing your suggestions as soon as possible…

Thanks again, MUCH appreciated.
Matt

Talkingbox Digital Media Group
http://www.talkingboxdmg.com
(203) 327-6617

[Bryce Whiteside]

Synchronizing Animation to Audio Using After Effects