FCP 6.0.2 is it safe for HDV?
 

Hi All,

I'm always scared to update if I read a couple bad reviews...anyone using the latest FCP 6.0.2 with HDV with no problems?

Thanks,
Scott

If you read the release notes, the ".2" version of FCP 6 has the greatest HDV compatibility and addresses many HDV-related bugs with previous versions.

Assuming you have a clean-install of FCS2 then your upgrade should go smoothly.

I'm using 6.0.2 + HDV and no major problems as of yet (knock on wood)

No problems here either...

The notes mean nothing to me. Real world experience from users like yourself is more valuable.

Not sure what you mean by a clean install..? I installed it, it works... I've tried hard not to get it dirty. ;)

Thanks,
Scott

Real world experience:

- On my MacBook Pro I have been experiencing strange audio stutters with playback of HDV footage on the desktop. The projects export fine.

- On my dual 2 gig G5 tower and the MacBook Pro I have odd image garble that appears in the canvas and viewer windows from time to time. Parts of the desktop are repeated diagonally across the windows. It goes away as soon as I hit play.

Neither of these things happened with 5.1

Otherwise the program is great especially with mixed formats.

"Clean" install, meaning you didn't install FCS2 over a previous version, but on a fresh install of the OS. "Upgrade" installations of both FCS2 and Leopard are wrought with issues - see the forums for dozens of posts about the same.

6.0.2 is not the MOST stable I've ever had, but it's certainly good enough to get professional work done.

In my experience, using FCP for almost 8 years now, problems come from:

1-Installing FCP on a system that doesn't have a fresh, CLEAN install of OS X on it.

2-Not getting a clean install of FCP on a machine after #1. If you have problems on the first install, chances are you need to wipe the machine and start over.

3-Trying to run new FCP versions on old system software, or vise-versa. Same goes with Quicktime versions.

4-Unfortunately there are such things as "don't do that" on FCP, some esoteric, that generally only learned by trial and error. For instance, don't go using an OS X feature like Expose over and over again in a program that uses OpenGL extensively, like Color or Motion. It pushes graphics card drivers to limits rarely tested.

There's lots of little things like this that you learn over time.

5-User error. This happens the most. I do it all the time. Often it's not the program, it's me doing something dumb.

All that said, if you have a recent Intel Power Mac, HDV is fine and for the most part, as fast as working with DV was 3 years ago. I have a 2.66 Intel tower with X1900 video card, and 8 drive eSATA raid and Kona LH. Working with HDV/XDCAM is so fast, smooth and flawless I marvel a little at people in other programs having trouble getting full framerate previews.