Switching from PC to Mac and FCP5 – Still some concerns – please help and advise!

[Mitch Ives]

In reading your post I’m a bit confused. First, if all of this stuff is so important to you, and Canopus is so perfect in your mind, then why are you looking to switch? Whatever your reason, I feel comfortable telling you that if you try to adapt a new tool to and old method of workflow you are virtually assured of disappointment.

Second, I’m wondering if you realize that rendering is often a good thing? Many rendered effects look better than anything done in realtime (regardless of price). DVD encoding is a good example.

Third, whoever thinks that DVD encoding is poor in Compressor, clearly does not know how to use it…

Mitch Ives
Insight Productions Corp.
mitch@insightproductions.com
http://www.insightproductions.com

[Enzo Tedeschi]

Mitch,

You are absolutely right on all counts.

Even on our Avid Adrenalines with HW acceleration, I wouldn’t dare play anything to tape without a full render anyway.

As for Compressor, I posted on the COW when I first got my system for advice, and no suggestions I received really solved the quality issues I was having.

I would be over the moon to solve the probs I am having with it, but I have found that encoder quality seems to be such a subjective thing!

Anyhow, in short I think RT hangups should stop anyone from buying into what is essentially a good, solid system….

Enzo Tedeschi
____________________________
Westbound Sign Productions
Sydney, Australia
http://www.westboundsign.com.au

[Steve To]

Hi Mitch,

it’s not so much that Canopus is perfect – far from it and the weekly patches are a royal pain in the….

I am trying to decide on a new HDV edit system and want to make a decision based on an easier workflow which i think the Mac will give me with FC Studio. I’m used to using one program to edit, one to title, one to export and one to author DVD. This is the same as Mac land but with my current PC system none of the programs communicate with each other, so making changes is a time consuming affair. The workflow just isn’t there. Also i seem to get a better bang per buck with G5/FCP route for the same performance and without having to use an intermediate codec like the Canopus option.

If i didn’t use Slow Motion then it’s a very easy decision, but i do and i need to make sure this aspect os covered before i do make the switch.

Can anyone recommedn a site or info on how to get the performance and quality out of compressor2 as this seems to be abig bone of contention right now with FCP5.

Thanks

Steve

[Steve To]

Enzo (and others)

any ideas on how to integrate FCP editing and Procoder MPEG2 encoding? Then i could just edit on the Mac and punt the MPEG2 encoding off to the dusty PC in the corner, and get on with the next project while it encodes. Then get the FW drive back and author the DVD in DVD studio? (will the FW drive be readble by pc and mac?)

Thanks

Steve

[Steve To]

ps…

https://www.mediafour.com/products/macdrive6/

using FW Mac formatted drives…will MACDRIVE 6 do this? i could;

quickly export the project to avi(?) from FCP5 to my FW drive
connect the FW drive to PC
use procoder2 to encode MPG2
reconnect FW drive to Mac, load up MPG2 into DVD Studio and voila!

I’m sure there’s something i’ve forgotten but this may give me the best of both worlds?

I know this isn’t the dream workflow i’ve been looking at, but does get me the superb FCP, Motion2, LiveType, Sountrack Pro, DVD Studio functionality that I’m convinced are superb, whilst still being able to use my existing PC for high quality and fast MPEG2
encoding?

Anyone?

[Enzo Tedeschi]

That will definitely work.

It would also provide the ability to do multiple format encodes at once (ie spit out a web version at the same time as DVD MPEG2. You could also just use a QT export from FCP.

You might be able to shortcut the process by setting up a FW network between the PC and Mac?

If you use a FW drive, mac format is preferable, as going pc formatting drastically restricts your file sizes.

Anyhow, I would personally love to get to the bottom of the whole Compressor settings thing, so keep an eye on this:

https://www.creativecow.net/forum/read_post.php?postid=111880870832428&forumid=155

Enzo Tedeschi
____________________________
Westbound Sign Productions
Sydney, Australia
http://www.westboundsign.com.au

[Mitch Ives]

[Steve DSV] “any ideas on how to integrate FCP editing and Procoder MPEG2 encoding? Then i could just edit on the Mac and punt the MPEG2 encoding off to the dusty PC in the corner, and get on with the next project while it encodes. Then get the FW drive back and author the DVD in DVD studio? (will the FW drive be readble by pc and mac?)
“

Yes, pressure Canopus to make an OS X version. Two years ago I asked them about that and they smiled and said it wouldn’t be that hard if there was demand for it. Apparently the development team for Procoder is heavy with Unix experience. Organize an email campaign and et them know Mac users still want it…

Mitch Ives
Insight Productions Corp.
mitch@insightproductions.com
http://www.insightproductions.com

[Mitch Ives]

[Steve DSV] “I am trying to decide on a new HDV edit system and want to make a decision based on an easier workflow which i think the Mac will give me with FC Studio. I’m used to using one program to edit, one to title, one to export and one to author DVD. This is the same as Mac land but with my current PC system none of the programs communicate with each other, so making changes is a time consuming affair. The workflow just isn’t there. Also i seem to get a better bang per buck with G5/FCP route for the same performance and without having to use an intermediate codec like the Canopus option.”

All true. I used to edit on PC’s and I know exactly where you are… it’s intolerable.

[Steve DSV] “If i didn’t use Slow Motion then it’s a very easy decision, but i do and i need to make sure this aspect os covered before i do make the switch. “

I think you’ll find the rendered slo-mo in FCP looks better than what you currently have. I have yet to see any realtime slo-mo that can match it. FCP was the first thing to catch up to the M100 in slo-mo quality.

[Steve DSV] “Can anyone recommedn a site or info on how to get the performance and quality out of compressor2 as this seems to be abig bone of contention right now with FCP5.”

I’ve only read a few posts complaining about it. I’ve made too many DVDs with it and I’ll bet I’m fussier than most about quality, especially with MPEG2 (one of the reasons I’m a critic of HDV).

Mitch Ives
Insight Productions Corp.
mitch@insightproductions.com
http://www.insightproductions.com

[Steve To]

Thanks again to all, and in particular Enzo and Mitch, as you have all been superb in answering my questions and been surprisingly patient . After reading posts galore, I’m going for it!! G5 2.7 and FC Studio here i come!

I’ll figure out the MacDrive6 program to read/write my Mac OS drives on the PC, and still use my PC for MPEG2 encoding of the final Mac produced .mov (or .avi?) files. This will hopefully allow me to move onto the next project while the PC encodes away for me over the other side of the room! (hope it works!)

Thanks again and I’m off to email my Apple reseller…… (but i’m bound to be back at the second sign of trouble – at the first sign i’ll read the manual!)

Cheers

Steve

[Enzo Tedeschi]

Good luck with it, Steve. I think you’ll be so blown away by the workflow that you won’t care about the other issues. Every NLE will have it’s quirks and workarounds.

Look forward to seeing you on the COW.

Enzo Tedeschi
____________________________
Westbound Sign Productions
Sydney, Australia
http://www.westboundsign.com.au