Helmut Kobler
Forum Replies Created
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I’ve actually been frustrated with FCP X because it doesn’t feel very fast to me. I love the magnetic timeline, the metadata tools, the auditioning, and the reduced toolset that still lets you ripple, roll, slip clips, etc.
BUT….I’ve noticed that the timeline gets laggy when my projects get to 3-5 minutes, with lots of edits. FCP X needs a second to think when you ask it to zoom in or out of the timeline. Scrolling feels laggy. Sometimes, FCP X needs a second to highlight a single clip I’ve selected. And then there’s sending my project to Comrpressor for output….God, that’s slow. Not the rendering, per se, but when you literally choose the “Send to Compressor” menu item in X, you get a spinning rainbow for 10, 15, 20 seconds before the project appears in Compressor. And then, if you want to set In and Out points for your encoding, there’s another spinning rainbow for about 15 or 20 seconds.
Anyway, FCP X’s tools and interface can make the organizational and creative process of editing faster, but the app’s performance gets bogged down too easily. I’m really hoping Apple has been working on these performance issues, along with the multi cam editing and broadcast monitoring features due in early 2012.
By the way, I have an 8 core 2.93GHz Mac Pro with 32GB of RAM and an 8 drive miniSAS raid, so my Mac’s specs are not the problem….
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Documentary Camera in Los Angeles
http://www.lacameraman.com -
I have the proxy board for the 2700 and I use it to send dailies of interviews to transcribers. That’s about all I use it for, but when I do have interviews to transcribe, I’m always happy I have the proxy board, because it saves so much time vs. creating proxies in Compressor or ProxyMill.
But if any of you consider switching cameras to Panny’s HPX3100, you can get a much better proxy board that creates proxies as .mov files and embeds timecode into the movies as well. And the proxy videos can be set for very high resolution, which makes them great to give to clients at the end of the day.
https://library.creativecow.net/kobler_helmut/Panasonic-AJ-HPX3100-Camera-Review/1
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Documentary Camera in Los Angeles
http://www.lacameraman.com -
Thanks very much, Frank, I appreciate the real-world report.
I’m going to give Apple until March to announce a new Mac Pro. If that happens and it has some Thunderbolt ports as well as its 4 PCIe ports, then I’ll probably buy it. If there’s no new Mac Pro, then I will strongly consider the Z800.
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Documentary Camera in Los Angeles
http://www.lacameraman.com -
Oh, you guys are funny.
All I’m saying is that 20+ crashes a day is not normal for FCP X, there’s something else wrong, besides the application simply being buggy.
P.S. I have to say that Final Cut 7 crashed maybe once a day, which is better than FCP X, but the crashes in 7 usually lost a few minutes of work.
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Documentary Camera in Los Angeles
http://www.lacameraman.com -
I’m still on 10.6.8 as well….working 8 hours a day, I get maybe 2 crashes per day, 3 tops. Out of a dozen or so days, I had one crash that lost 15 minutes of work. Otherwise, all crashes recovered with no work lost. Media coming off a raid, app on the SSD, and native Canon 5D footage.
David, you might try trashing preferences for X or reinstalling it…ie, delete the app and then go back to the App Store and download it again. What you describe is not normal.
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Documentary Camera in Los Angeles
http://www.lacameraman.com -
Man, that looks convoluted. I hate jumping through hoops just to import footage.
My guess is that by the time the c300 ships, there will be a native path into FCP X.
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Documentary Camera in Los Angeles
http://www.lacameraman.com -
Frank, has the switch to the z800 been pretty smooth?
I’m continuing to give FCP X a chance, but if I’m not happy with the next update, or Apple seems like it’s too unreliable, I’ve been thinking about moving over from my 2009 Mac Pro to a Z800 and CS 5.5 and possibly Avid as well.
I love the Z800’s expandability. I could add anything i want to that beast, including some nice graphics cards. But my last PC experiences 3-5 years ago on XP only reinforced my desire to keep as far away from Windows as possible. I know Windows 7 is supposed to be better/more reliable.
Thanks!
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Documentary Camera in Los Angeles
http://www.lacameraman.com -
Panasonic makes a 3 card reader that uses USB3, if you have that connection.
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Documentary Camera in Los Angeles
http://www.lacameraman.com -
I think you make a very valid point, Tony. Apple is positioned to capture this market. The price point is $299. It’s part of the Apple brand, and most journalists I’ve run into are very comfortable with that. Plus, for pure editing work and prep for the web, I think X’s interface is more streamlined and easier to use than the competition.
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Documentary Camera in Los Angeles
http://www.lacameraman.com -
I think it’s too early to tell if Canon made a bad move or not.
Herb, you seem to think nobody will prefer Canon to any other established player at the same $20K price point (more likely to be $16K), but I’m not sure why not. It’s not like Canon is a fly-by-night company. It’s not as if they don’t already have some positive mojo with a ton of shooters via the success of the 5D and 7D for shooting video.
If the new 300 camera delivers a beautiful, cinematic image, with good support for audio, HD-SDI outputs, and great ergonomics, I’m not sure why people wouldn’t favor it over a much bigger Sony F3, or a Red Scarlet that has a much more complicated and cumbersome workflow.
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Documentary Camera in Los Angeles
http://www.lacameraman.com