Yeah, Canon’s don’t work with FCP but what about Sony?

[Ben Insler]

What are the problems with FCP and Canon? I’ve never experienced any.

-Ben

[Jeff Carpenter]

I can’t promise you anything, but I can say that I used to use a G4 Powerbook with a Sony VX-2000 plgged into a firewire drive that was plugged into the laptop. It worked fine.

I’ve also used a system very similar to what you’ve described with a Core 1 Duo iMac and a DVCPRO deck. That worked too.

In both situations, however, what I was doing was going on alongside my full Powermac system. It was always a way to get extra capturing and DVD burning done on the side…it was never my primary edit station. So I never put it through as much work as you probably will.

But overall I’d say you’ll be ok. You seem aware of the limitations, and as long as you’re clear on that you’ll be fine. There aren’t other hidden problems you didn’t already talk about, if that’s what you’re asking.

As for Motion, you’ll be able to use it, but it’s not going to be super-amazing when it comes to speed. But if you’re not working in HD, you’ll probably be ok.

[Russell Lasson]

I was unaware too.

-Russ

[Mark Maness]

Ok….

So, let me ask you this. Why are you building a low end system to only put on software that costs as much as everything else? Sounds like you would have been better off with Final Cut Express.

In our industry we have a saying… If you cheap it out, you’ll have major problems.

Besides, I didn’t know you could still find a lowe camcorder with firewire. Almost all of the newest ones have USB support only. It’s not until you get up around the $1000 range that you start seeing firewire.

[Jumpytunes] “BTW-Will that 20″ iMac have horsepower enough to run Color and Motion?”

Not really… or just barely. Look at the specs on Apple’s website. I don’t think they spec an iMac to run FCS2.

_______________________________

Wayne Carey
Schazam Productions
http://www.schazamproductions.com

[Jeff Carrion]

Ben – Russell,

Canon cameras don’t work with FCP if you have external FW drives all plugged into the same FW bus. You need to un-plug your externals and capture to a internal drive. And since an iMac can only have the 1 internal system drive you’re really limited if you have a Canon.

Wayne-

Pretty much all the cheepy palmcorders have iEEE 1394. At least all the ones I looked at do.

And this system is going to be a “work-from-home-1-day-a-week” system with the brunt of my work being done in the office on my main system. My company won’t buy it for me so I gotta come up with the cash myself, otherwise I’d be going all-out.

My other option would be to get the bare-bones Mac Pro tower: 2.0GHZ, 1GB RAM, 250GB HD, all else stock.

“No TV and no beer make Homer something, something…”

[David Smith]

[Jumpytunes] “Canon cameras don’t work with FCP if you have external FW drives all plugged into the same FW bus”

That’s not really recommended for any camera. Sometimes it works, sometimes you’ll be dropping frames. It’s not recommended to capture to your boot drive either, so the iMac has a lot going against it. (I know some folks are using them just fine, but I sure wouldn’t want to purchase a system and find out you’re not one of the lucky ones.)

[Jumpytunes] “My other option would be to get the bare-bones Mac Pro tower: 2.0GHZ, 1GB RAM, 250GB HD, all else stock.”

Or….. the way you’re proposing to outift the iMac, it comes to over $1800. For less than 200 more you could get the 2.16 GHz Macbook Pro, which would give you Firewire 800 AND the Express card slot for adding a second Firewire or an eSATA connection. No worries about choosing a Canon then.

You could also keep checking the Apple Store for refurbished 2.33 ‘books (no pro books at all listed today, but they’re usually there)

[Miodrag Ristic]

“Canon cameras don’t work with FCP if you have external FW drives all plugged into the same FW bus. You need to un-plug your externals and capture to a internal drive.>

The above is true to the extent. I’ve got a G5 2.3 MHz with FC Studio and an iMac G4 with
a FCExpres, using Lacie HDs as well, and love Canon cameras.
I’ve noticed that my My Canon doesn’t like HDs to be daisy chained, and that my
FC Pro doesn’t like my Canon to be connected to something else (a VCR for analog /digital convesrion).
I just organised my set up differently, don’t daisy chain my HDs as I don’t have to.

The beauty of a Mac and Final Cut is that there is always a back up plan, the other way to do the same thing.

But still if I was you, I’d go with bare bones Mac Pro (or MacBook Pro) and if you need
to save money – save it on FC – buy FC Express. For one day a week, you wouldn’t even
have a time to unlock the power of FC Studio.

Good luck, it’s an exciting time in front of you. Enjoy it!

Mick

[Rafael Amador]

And Motion if doesn’t find the necesary hardware it won’t let you even to install it. I can’t in my G4 lap-top.
Rafael

[David Bogie]

> I’m putting together a budget FCP system: 20″ iMac, LaCie FW drives, with a cheepy MiniDV cam as a deck. SD only, no need for HD or HDV.< This is just not a good idea. The iMac is a fun and cool machine but the inability to change graphics or add internal drives makes it a bad choice for an editing platform. Study your requirements for your video production needs and then try to find a machine that you can afford. I'd shop around for a used G5 desktop. They're flooding the market in some cities as the new Intels get into the hands of filmmakers. The older Canon DV units used a weird version of the codec that often led to audio sync issues with clips that were longer than about 20 minutes. Any DV camera on Firewire will exhibit the issues you've described on a single FW bus Macintosh. bogiesan bogiesan This is my standard sigfile so do not take it personally: “For crying out loud, read the freakin’ manual.”

[Ron James]

[bogiesan] “This is just not a good idea. The iMac is a fun and cool machine but the inability to change graphics or add internal drives makes it a bad choice for an editing platform.”

This is bunk. Have you used one of the Intel Imac’s? They’re a lot snappier than a lot of G5 towers I work on. Are you saying G5 towers are more useless than iMac’s now and that you’re stupid if you try to run FC Studio on anything but a spanking new Mac Pro? Not true.

I’ve used Motion and Final Cut on an Intel iMac and it’s a dream to use. I was doing SD, but so is this guy (if I read his posting correctly).

I hate to break that bubble, but a LOT of people are creating amazing things on iMac (and much lesser) computers. Don’t get sucked into the whole “bleeding edge is best” way of thinking, or at least don’t discourage others with it.