Optimal MacBook Pro Settings for Final Cut Pro

[Shane Ross]

Where is the footage stored? Not the internal drive on the computer I hope. Media should never be stored there…or rarely. The OS is busy using it, so it is unreliable for serious editing work.

Shane

GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD…don’t miss it.
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[John Fishback]

Two things may be affecting your results. First, HDV is extremely processor-intensive. Definitely try capturing/transferring your clips to ProRes instead. Secondly, you don’t mention what drives you are using. A fast RAID will help your playback. You should not be using your system drive for your media.

John

MacPro 8-core 2.8GHz 8 GB RAM OS 10.5.5 QT7.5.5 Kona 3 Dual Cinema 23 ATI Radeon HD 3870, 24″ TV-Logic Monitor, ATTO ExpressSAS R380 RAID Adapter, PDE enclosure with 8-drive 6TB RAID 5
FCS 2 (FCP 6.0.5, Comp 3.0.5, DVDSP 4.2.1, Color 1.0.3)

Pro Tools HD w SYNC IO, Yamaha DM1000, Millennia Media HV-3C, Neumann U87, Schoeps Mk41 mics, Genelec Monitors, PrimaLT ISDN

[Cornelius Henke]

Ahh, that sounds like a good reason for why I am having these problems. I guess I will be using my Firewire 800 drive in conjunction with my mobile edits. Thanks I’ll give this a try immediately.

[John Fishback]

That will definitely improve your workflow. Checkout some of the small RAID drives advertised on banners on the Cow. G-Tech, CalDigit and others are well-thought of.

John

MacPro 8-core 2.8GHz 8 GB RAM OS 10.5.5 QT7.5.5 Kona 3 Dual Cinema 23 ATI Radeon HD 3870, 24″ TV-Logic Monitor, ATTO ExpressSAS R380 RAID Adapter, PDE enclosure with 8-drive 6TB RAID 5
FCS 2 (FCP 6.0.5, Comp 3.0.5, DVDSP 4.2.1, Color 1.0.3)

Pro Tools HD w SYNC IO, Yamaha DM1000, Millennia Media HV-3C, Neumann U87, Schoeps Mk41 mics, Genelec Monitors, PrimaLT ISDN

[Cornelius Henke]

I have a 1TB external firewire 800 hdd that i will be using (it has two 7200 rpm 500GB hard drives inside linked as one). I purely use the laptop for when I choose to take a project on the go. At home I have a Quadcore mac pro with 4TB stuffed inside (1TB, and 3TB in RAID 0, with a backup usb 2.0 3TB hdd in a corner. I understand a some of the raid drives you are mentioning would be great, but then that defeats the purpose of mobile. I would have to find a plug all the time to work. Have any work arounds for that one?

[John Fishback]

Sounds like you’re good to go. You could RAID the two 500GB drives in the enclosure to gain speed (if they aren’t already setup that way). There are bus-powered drives, but I don’t know if they’re fast and reliable enough for video.

John

MacPro 8-core 2.8GHz 8 GB RAM OS 10.5.5 QT7.5.5 Kona 3 Dual Cinema 23 ATI Radeon HD 3870, 24″ TV-Logic Monitor, ATTO ExpressSAS R380 RAID Adapter, PDE enclosure with 8-drive 6TB RAID 5
FCS 2 (FCP 6.0.5, Comp 3.0.5, DVDSP 4.2.1, Color 1.0.3)

Pro Tools HD w SYNC IO, Yamaha DM1000, Millennia Media HV-3C, Neumann U87, Schoeps Mk41 mics, Genelec Monitors, PrimaLT ISDN

[David Roth weiss]

[John Fishback] “There are bus-powered drives, but I don’t know if they’re fast and reliable enough for video.
“

The CalDigit VR mini is bus powered two drive enclosure, designed and perfectly suited for video editing with MacBook Pros in the field. They’re only 2 inches tall and 5 inches long, and they weight only a pound and a half. Striped as Raid-0, the VR minis can easily handle any of the compressed formats.

https://caldigit.com/vr_mini/

David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los Angeles

POST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™

A forum host of Creative COW’s Apple Final Cut Pro, Business & Marketing, Indie Film & Documentary, and Film History & Appreciations forums.

[Rafael Amador]

Good hardware, as all my colleagues points, is fundamental to make your machine works fast, but the best hardware won’t do that if your system is not optimized.
Keeping your HDs directories clean (Diskwarrior, TechTools or similar) is the best petrol you can put on your engine.
Get the AJA System test software (free) to test the speed of your HD.
HDs as the here suggested will helps, although FW 800 should be more than enough for HDV (can do 1080 Proress HQ, 10b Unc SD,..).
Best,
rafael

http://www.nagavideo.com

[Chi-ho Lee]

[Cornelius Henke] “I take my timeline out of unlimited (but it is already in safe), “

Actually, put it in Unlimited. Always have it in unlimited. Safe RT is an old setting and doesnt push your machine to its limits.

CHL

Chi-Ho Lee
Film & Television Editor
Apple Certified Final Cut Pro Trainer
http://www.chiholee.com

[Cornelius Henke]

Well without it being bus powered what about something like this:
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136307

A Western Digital WDA4NC20000N 2TB ShareSpace Network Storage with Gigabit Ethernet. Wouldn’t it just be better to use a crossover cable and connect it directly to a machine?