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What are the biggest issues with FCP?
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I never buy the fastest model…usually it’s 10% faster and 30% more expensive than the 2nd fastest model, which is not much of a payoff. Also, if you can use a screwdriver, you probably have enough technical ability to install your own RAM and hard drives, and you will save a lot of money buying these from someone other than Apple. otherworldcomputing dot com and crucial dot com are a couple of favorites for memory, and newegg for drives.
Joe Murray
Edit at Joe’s
Charlotte, NC -
I think most of us have never seen Vegas in action, so it’s hard to make a judgement call for you. One thing I know you cannot do in FCP that you can in Vegas: trim and move tracks as you play back.
I don’t know how you Vegas guys do that anyway. Very trick!
Kevin Monahan
http://www.fcpworld.com
Author – Motion Graphics and Effects in Final Cut Pro -
I want to second the large project = slow system issue. The common defense is ‘sloppy work, clean up your project’. You know what? Sometimes a project is big. Sometimes there really are hundreds of hours of footage and thousands of photographs. Sometimes we need dozens of sequences to organize everything. Sometimes the early rough work is better served by 4 or 5 hour long sequence that gets whittled down. And honestly, it doesn’t take even that much.
Split my sources between multiple projects? Break the sequence into shorter pieces? Who’s working for who here? Is the system working for me or am I working for the system? Maybe this isn’t the biggest issue for most users but it is a real issue for many users and it has been excused for far too long. Right tool for the job I always say.
Having said that, I will say one of Final Cut’s greatest strengths is one of its biggest weaknesses. That is, its openness. I can bring in anything you can throw at me and make it work for what I am trying to do. If I don’t want to accept the way Final Cut handles it, I can make it into what I want in some other piece of the suite. I actually recently used Cinema Tools to prep some footage for an Avid Symphony Finish. Right tool for the job. the problem with all this openness is the range of options often leads to confusion and mistakes: projects being set up wrong, footage being brought in wrong, renders to the wrong codec and format, assumptions that cost time and quality down the line, and so on.
So is Final Cut good? Of course. Is it the best? None of them are. Every system has its own strengths and weaknesses. Areas where they excel and areas where they are just miserable. Let’s face it, a lot of it comes down to the editor, their personality and experience. But there are still things that I will do in Avid without hesitation the thought of which makes me cringe in Final Cut.
What am I getting at? Final Cut doesn’t deserve a pass just for being Final Cut. Is Avid bogged down in history? Yea, a history of innovation and problem solving that changed the world as far as post production is concerned. Have they slipped? Definitely. Will they recover? I think so and I hope so for as much as Final Cut is the current game changer, I sure don’t want a world where it is my only choice. Although, what’s been catching my eye lately? Adobe. Premiere Pro may be the cinderella story of the next couple years. Right tool for the job.
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[Dean Stapleton] “Walter, thanks for your reply. Can you give me an idea of where I need to be regarding a good system for FCP? “
Click my profile and you will see all three of our primary systems in full detail. These are all set up for Uncompressed HD and even 2K post.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Biscardi Creative Media
HD and SD Production for Broadcast and Independent Productions.STOP STARING AND START GRADING WITH APPLE COLOR Apple Color Training DVD available now!
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Good post…be prepared to be attacked…..
Paul Harb-Producer/Director
Wrong Beach Multimedia
Dual 3.2 GHz Quad/10.5.5/8GIG RAM/FCP 6.0.4/QT 7.5.5 -
[Paul Harb] “Walter Im curious what feature your doing? What studio is it for? “
The film is called “Keepsake” from Stormcatcher Films in Virginia and distributed by Lion’s Gate.
I posted this information on my blog on Oct. 7th.
https://blogs.creativecow.net/node/623I posted this information on my website on the same day.
https://www.biscardicreative.com/article2.php?ret=archive&newsid=99You can read everything on the Stormcatcher Films website.
https://stormcatcherfilms.com/films/keepsake.htmI don’t really “claim” anything, I just do and then let the folks here know what I’m doing and what I used to accomplish that goal.
Just like when we finished something like 66 episodes of Good Eats in HD here for the Food Network. The first 12 we graded on Final Touch 2.5 / 2.6. Then we graded some on Colorista. Then we switched back to Color when we discovered a major bug in Colorista. You can read all about those by searching back through the Color Forum and on his forum.
We’ve also provided all editorial for a 5 part documentary series for PBS called “Assignment Earth” with Gary Strieker that is also Produced by Gary Strieker with Environment News Trust. All those were graded in Color and we’re scheduled to produce up to 8 more episodes in 2009.
We’re providing all editorial for four feature length documentaries this coming year for Cielo Productions that will be graded in Color. Three are scheduled for independent feature film release and at least one may appear at Sundance. All three will then be re-cut for either PBS or National Geographic depending on where Cielo takes them.
We did a really neat project with Cielo Productions and Edward Norton this year for a national foundation. We provided all editorial and graded that project in Color. This was right before his Incredible Hulk came out so the timing was pretty cool.
You can read about pretty much all of these projects in my blog or the website.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Biscardi Creative Media
HD and SD Production for Broadcast and Independent Productions.STOP STARING AND START GRADING WITH APPLE COLOR Apple Color Training DVD available now!
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[Dino Sanacory] “I want to second the large project = slow system issue. The common defense is ‘sloppy work, clean up your project’. You know what? Sometimes a project is big. Sometimes there really are hundreds of hours of footage and thousands of photographs. Sometimes we need dozens of sequences to organize everything. Sometimes the early rough work is better served by 4 or 5 hour long sequence that gets whittled down. And honestly, it doesn’t take even that much. “
With large projects you need a lot, and I mean a LOT, of overhead in your storage to keep editing at a decent pace. We currently have just under 20TB total in our shop (8TB, 8TB and 3TB for each system) and we’re preparing to switch over to 24TB of shared storage in preparation of the documentaries next year. Over 250 tapes of material currently (30 to 60 minutes each) for all three docs with about 100 more to be shot next year. Most of that material will live on our systems.
So I want to make sure our array never gets more than 16TB to 18TB full or it will really start to bog down badly. Also, all of our systems have 8TB or more of RAM.
Big projects will bog down, but the best way to prepare for them is to go for extreme overkill on your media storage.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Biscardi Creative Media
HD and SD Production for Broadcast and Independent Productions.STOP STARING AND START GRADING WITH APPLE COLOR Apple Color Training DVD available now!
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