[Jeff Meyer]

If you set up a Q-Master Virtual Cluster (System Preferences) you can export a Quicktime out of Final Cut using current settings and compress to H.264 through Compressor. You should be able to cut your time in half using this workflow. Keep your current export going of course, but in the future this workflow could save you time. Google “Compressor Virtual Cluster.”

The difference is Final Cut Pro is not multi-core aware. When you set up a virtual cluster in Q-Master you are able to tap into the 8 cores your machine has available. Also, because Final Cut Pro isn’t multicore aware feel free to use Safari without concerns of slowing down your export.

[Jeff Meyer]

I agree with Shane. Don’t be afraid to shutter up if you have the light – it’ll help to freeze the action for more fluid slow motion.

[Jeff Meyer]

I suppose this is why there are different products on the market.

Cheers

[Jeff Meyer]

We can sit here and have an academic discussion about it, but instead I’ll just say thing things I’ve observed.

• Hardware development is going to multicore. MacPros with 24 logical cores (12 x2 for hyperthreading) are on the market. Dual core phones are on the market. Multicore is where the future is at.
• Clock speeds aren’t increasing. In fact they stopped increasing at about the time HyperThreading came on the scene. Physics pretty much says there’s a barrier and we’ve found it. To continue getting faster we need either a developmental breakthrough or we need segmented processing.
• Software development is moving to multicore. Adobe CS5.5 makes great use of multicore on my machine. I regularly see Activity Monitor showing 1600% processor usage out of CS5.5 apps. That may be only 2/3rds of what my machine can do, but it’s a lot faster than FCS. Final Cut X is supposed to be multicore aware. (I don’t have it, so I don’t have a clue.) People complaining if things aren’t multicore aware, and developers are responding.
• Video lends itself to segmented processing by virtue of being based on individual frames that can be treated separately.

You can call it marketing if you want, but I would say it’s where things are headed.

[Jeff Meyer]

I went through a similar debate a little over a year ago. I decided to go with the 12 core box. The 8 core may be a bit faster for Final Cut today, but the 12 core is buying for tomorrow. Things very clearly moving towards multicore friendly solutions.

[Jeff Meyer]

I’m cutting XDCAM HD422 50mbps with the occasional ProRes4444 (1080) graphic off of G-Speed drives over AFP file sharing on a gigabit switch. Your mileage may vary depending on the codec you’re chopping.

[Jeff Meyer]

Easy there mate. A new computer will come with OS X Lion. I think the only way to get FCS2 on a Lion machine is to have it working on Snow Leopard and then upgrade to Lion. The FCS2 installer (and only the installer) relies on Rosetta if memory serves correctly – which is not a part of Lion. You might do some research and see if there is a way to install FCS2 onto Lion.

[Jeff Meyer]

I usually do what everyone else is doing, original video on V2, blurred, lower opacity copy on V1. On the layer on V1 I play with the DISTORT and SCALE sliders on the Motion tab in the Viewer until I have a frame-filling image. Since it’s blurred out I don’t find the need for arbitrary precision – eyeballing it seems to be sufficient.

[Jeff Meyer]

Often bus-powered drives are 2.5 inch drives and drives that require power are 3.5 inch drives. 3.5 inch drives tend to be faster and have much greater capacity. This is a sweeping generalization of hundreds of drives, so don’t take it as the authoritative word on the state of the market.

By nature of it falling behind RT when capturing HDV you know it’s a slower drive. Play around with it, if it meets your needs when editing then expect import and export to take a bit longer, but it works otherwise. If it doesn’t cut the mustard for editing or you don’t want to wait at the end of an HDV capture go exchange the drive.

[Jeff Meyer]

I went down this road about six weeks ago. The solution for me was XDCAM Browser and XDCAM Transfer installed, which will add “Sony XDCAM Browser” to your Export menu. You can get them here:
https://pro.sony.com/bbsc/ssr/micro-xdcam/resource.downloads.bbsccms-assets-micro-xdcam-downloads-XDCAMSoftwareDownload.shtml#apps

There could be something else out there that’s better, but the output looked fine, and the network was happy with the resulting file. That’s enough for me.