FCP Server Setup help
 

We have six FCP workstations sharing almost 20TB's using a Fiberjet SAN, are there any system integrators in the Los Angeles area we can hire that know how to setup FCP Server?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

You could drop ProMax a line.

-A

I called ProMax, spoke to a well informed salesman, Jason who told me that [not surprisingly] they have not sold much FCP Server.

He did let me know about a book: Apple Pro Training Series: Getting Started with Final Cut Server (Apple Pro Training) by Matthew Geller, but it is only available for pre-order.

They will also do outside consulting at a rate of somewhere north of $1K per day. The challenge here is that since they haven't actually installed FCP Server and don't have first hand knowledge of our workflow they can't accurately estimate the time it will take to integrate, maybe as much as a week. Which really pushes the price up.

We really pushed off making the purchase decision for the right asset management solution. I was hoping that since Apple pushed the release date back a year that they would have used that time to get venders and training ahead of the curve on this so that customers who waited would have more resources available to hit the ground running. But it doesn't seem to be the case.

We're going to have to take a second look at products like Post Map and CatDV. If anyone has any other recommendations that would be great.

Yeah, Apple's secrecy is a bit annoying at times. As well as it's seeming lax development of the Pro Apps the past year or two. By purchases and rebranding apps like Color and FC Server Apple looks like they want to get even deeper into the post world, but going deeper requires more of a commitment in software development and support that they just don't look like they want to do. AFAIK there aren't even any FC server classes offered yet.

I'm in sort of the same boat as you. The company I work for has a very big need for an app like this and we've been waiting w/baited breath since NAB '07 when the first announcement was made. Of course now that it's out the fun begins as we (me and the tech guys) put together a small test environment and begin the trial and error process of getting a dozen editors and, oh, about 80 other people access to a couple dozen TBs of xSan. If I wasn't such a tech geek myself I'd probably be very afraid right now. :)

If you could hold out for a few more months I'm sure by the time July/August rolls around there will be a solid enough knowledge base to meet your needs. I'm a bit surprised ProMax didn't offer a discounted rate since you would be a bit of a guinea pig.


-A