Suggested “Must Haves” for the FCP editor?

[Tom Daigon]

Trapcode and Zaxwerks plugins for After Effects (CS3). Automatic Duck to expediate the sharing of info between FCP and AE (for major effects bulding). Aja/Kona 3 card, Panasonic 2600 engineering HD monitor, Fast and Big raid (Maxx Digital / Dulce),sync generator would be on my wish list.

[Steven Gonzales]

I’d suggest the HVR-M15U, since it will do both HDV and DVCAM and DV.

[David Peralta]

STORAGE!!!

hmm… I wonder what this button does…

[Michael Sacci]

The government is running out of money, lets spend more!

Sorry. I’ll go sit down now.

[Michael Lynch]

That’s the way it works – spend it before they take it and use it on something else, like bailing out more fat cats in the banking industry!

MacPro 3.0GHz 8 Core – 4GB RAM
FCS2; AE; PS

[David Bogie]

Umm, tell us what your plans for the future might be.
For you to invest in an HDV camera would be silly but investing in an HD camera would be equally silly if you cannot afford the capture system to support it.
All plugs for Final Cut that take you into 3 dimensions require huge learning phases and even longer rendering times. Forget 3D.
Forget all that stuff.
Get a new Macintosh, a nice 30″ Cinema display, a good UPS, and a huge stack of training materials to get you not only up and running but conversant with each of the roducts you already own.

Everything else can wait.

bogiesan

This is my standard sigfile so do not take it personally: “For crying out loud, read the freakin’ manual.”

[Kevin Monahan]

Storage, can never be too big or too fast. Add to that: Shared Storage is king in a group environment.
Studio Audio Monitors, not cheap game boy speakers. Make it 5.1, why not?
1 Large or 2 medium computer monitors. Make it two large ones, sure!
A HD Display, not a “TV”.
A Kona 3, so you can be ready for any format AND monitor it.
Full Blown Mac Pro. Tons of RAM.
Video Deck for your main formats.
RS-422 setup.
HD Waveform Monitor/Vectorscope.
Large Plasma for Client Monitor.
Adapter units for driving Client Monitor.
Waccom Tablet.
UPS.
A $4000 Gift Certificate for Red Giant.
CS4 When Available.
Automatic Duck.
A soundproof edit bay.

Kevin Monahan
http://www.fcpworld.com
Author – Motion Graphics and Effects in Final Cut Pro

[Tom Daigon]

You are just fine with your current system…..

MacPro 3.0GHz 8 Core – 4GB RAM
FCS2; AE; PS

More ram is always a wise investment…training manuals/dvds are also
key to getting the most of what you have….Trapcode Plugins (not 3D)
add to the production value of your work as do the Zaxwerks (not all
of them 3D). Faster and bigger storage is always a good idea as well.

[Vick Sepetjian]

Hey Bogiesan , I’m thinking about putting something together too….without Goverment money. When you say ,” get a new Macintosh “….. what’d be the minimum you’d get if you wanted to run all of Final Cut Pro 6 and maybe Adobe CS3 apps. I’m thinking in the lines of a Macbook Pro……but should an Imac be considered if I don’t need portable ? Thanx

“It’s Mind over Matter”…If you don’t Mind,It doesn’t Matter !

[Michael Lynch]

So far so good with the responses. I understand David’s comments – the 3D stuff is almost out of control. I wish we had a graphics/effects dept. That’s part of the reason I was thinking of a Digital Juice library.

For the record, I’ve got HD cameras (mostly shoot in SD, as we don’t have an HD delivery system other than the web yet), and a 30″ Apple Cinema display; 5 TB of total disk space…

The Kona card has my interest as does the 5.1 audio option, although I’m not familiar with the physical ins and outs of 5.1.

Thanks for the ideas so far!

MacPro 3.0GHz 8 Core – 4GB RAM
FCS2; AE; PS