[Jim Glickert]

Will it run FCP? Yes, it will. I’ve been using a similarly-equipped MacBook Pro for three years to make short HD videos.

The render times can be frustrating, but if don’t go overboard with filters, transitions, etc., it’s not so bad. There are trade-offs with just about everything, and if you can’t afford a faster machine, you just have to get by with what you can.

About those “multiple 1TB externals”. They’re equipped with FireWire connections, right? If they’re just USB, you’re going to have serious problems.

If you can’t afford the 17″ MacBook Pro, at least consider an external monitor for use when sitting at a desk. A 17″ screen is small for FCP; a 13″ screen would be really small.

Hope this helps.

Jim

[Jim Glickert]

Hi Christina. I ordered a new iMac just yesterday. The specs are close to top-of-the-line for the iMac. However, I must say that this iMac will not be my primary computer for FCP (I currently use a MacBook Pro), even though I spec’d it out such that it would be hefty enough to do some FCP/Motion/Compressor/etc. duty on occasion. The lack of eSATA is a real bummer. (Yes, I’m aware of the Other World Computing option, but I’ll see how it goes with only FW800 for a while.)

MAC 27″ $2,598.00

PROCESSOR: 2.93GHZ QUAD-CORE i7
MEMORY: 8 GB 1333MHZ DDR3 SDRAM
HARD DRIVE: 2TB SERIAL ATA DRIVE
GRAPHICS: ATI RADEON HD 5750 1GB GDDR5

If I were buying a Mac Pro, which would obviously become my primary FCP machine, I’d probably go with 12 or 16 GB of RAM.

I considered spec’ing just 4 GB of memory (standard) and a 1 TB hard drive and replacing both with more after-market memory and a higher-capacity drive, but I figured I wouldn’t save a whole lot of money, and I didn’t want to hassle with it. You might find it worth doing so, however.

Hope this helps.

Jim

[Jim Glickert]

Here’s one to check out:

https://stock20.com/commerce/index.php

Digital Juice is another source.

https://www.digitaljuice.com/products/product_volumes.asp?pvid=32

Be sure to do a search on this forum, as well as Google. There are lots of options. The tough part is deciding which one to purchase.

[Jim Glickert]

Hi David.

I own an HV20 and capture HDV footage using ProRes. There was indeed a problem like what you describe that was discussed some months ago. I believe this was addressed in the FCP 7.0.3 update. Check out the release notes for this update:

https://support.apple.com/kb/TS2521?viewlocale=en_US

I think the pertinent item in the list of issues resolved that you’ll see is “Localized versions of Final Cut Pro now recognize HDV devices that use the 1080i60/1080i50 FireWire Basic Easy Setups.”

My obvious question is whether you are using FCP 7.0.3.

I noticed that when I received the “failure to initialize” message and simply clicked on “continue”, I was still able to able to Log and Capture. That is, the error message didn’t stop me. I’d be able to capture as normal, with FCP controlling the HV20 as expected.

At this thread, trashing preferences proved to solve the problem:

https://forums.creativecow.net/thread/8/1097703#1097745

Hope this helps.

Jim

[Jim Glickert]

I think you’d be better off buying a new hard drive. The WD is only going to give you headaches. Get a 7200 rpm (or higher) drive with a higher capacity (1 or 2 TB), and with a fast connection (like FireWire or eSATA). Use your WD as a backup drive. In video editing, it seems like you can never have enough storage.

Jim

[Jim Glickert]

I’ll add my thanks, too. The (free) help and advice on this forum is simply incredible. I think I’ve learned more valuable information from this forum than from reading all the books and manuals on my bookshelf. You guys and gals are a real blessing. I wish I could repay you.

Jim

[Jim Glickert]

Hi Kyle. I second the advice given to you by Walter and Shane. I’ve produced a number of videos for the web that started out as large ProRes files, but even after lots of compression they ended up much larger than 60MB. Here’s a VERY rough rule of thumb, based on my experience. A 640×360 video at 30 fps runs about 4MB/minute in Flash and 10MB/minute in H.264 Quicktime (the latter encoded in Compressor). So, getting your 60 minute video within a maximum of 60MB means a very small display size and/or a low frame rate.

My advice is to reduce the length of the video substantially. Otherwise, you’re going to be driving yourself crazy meeting the size limitation, and the quality of the video image is going to be very unsatisfactory to you. I’m sorry that that’s not what you wanted to hear–especially after having spent months working on the project–but I think you’ll ultimately be glad you did. The work you’ve done isn’t wasted. Just think of your short version as being a trailer for the full one, showing only the best content and in the most concise way.

Good luck!

Jim

[Jim Glickert]

It never ceases to amaze me that companies will spend tons of money developing and marketing products, but completely drop the ball when it comes to customer service. I know I’ve had past experiences like David’s. And with the growth and availability of the Internet, companies should be even more concerned about providing good customer service, because word of bad service can travel quickly and widely.

I hope there’s a favorable resolution to your problem, David.

Jim

[Jim Glickert]

Just thinking out loud here, but if the USB 3.0 drives have sufficient sustained input for video, and if the next update of the iMac includes USB 3.0, I’d be very tempted to go with a new iMac over a Mac Pro.

Jiim

[Jim Glickert]

Whew! I thought I was the only one with this problem. I searched the forum, but didn’t see anything about it.

I’ve been capturing HDV footage from a Canon HV20 to ProRes without difficulty for the past several years, and all of the sudden my capture files are identified as text files when I look at them in the Finder. Strangely enough, FCP allows me to use the clips for editing.

I trashed my preferences last night (but didn’t think of repairing permissions–I’ll try that tonight) and the problem continued after capturing a test clip.

To address, but not solve, the problem, I open the clips individually in QuickTime Player, then save them as QuickTime self-contained movies. It’s a pain in the rear and a time waster, but at least it takes care of it. I delete the “text” files, then import the new files into my FCP project.

I wish I knew exactly when this problem started (such as the update to 7.0.1), but I don’t.

Sometimes I think I spend more time fooling with computer issues than editing video. 🙂

Jim