Final Cut Pro and XDCAM EX -- various topics

Shawn Dooling · March 28th, 2009, 07:53 PM

Me again, lol... is anyone Editing Multi-Cam events like live bands???? I wondering how many streams of HQ EX3 Footage my Macbook Pro can handle in post?

I have the Newest MBP 2.93
4 Gigs of Ram
17"

I'm thinking 2, but has anyone done more?

Andrew Stone · March 29th, 2009, 12:39 AM

There is a LOT of misinformation around about RAM usage and requirements on Macs.

True that FCP stays within a 4gig RAM footprint. Compressor though splits jobs into "threads" - spawning what many would consider many "apps" that consume RAM. If you edit your audio chances are you have an audio app going like Logic or ProTools, Ableton Live, etc., other internet apps. Without Compressor going you could have 6 to 7 gigs of app space on the go. Granted some of this will page into the background but as soon as you use Compressor this is where you want RAM.

I often render 3 to 5 hour event videos and have things set up to use most or all of the cores in my Mac Pro and sometimes hog tie the other Macs in the house. Typically Compressor will grab about 8 gigs of ram. I thought it would grab more but sometimes it does. Depends on whether or not the machine sits idle.

The stuff about 4 gigs is enough is not correct. Yes for FCP but that is only part of the equation. If you use Compressor as "standalone" in rendering and have it set up right it will want more ram than 4 gigs and your render times will be much shorter.

Jay White · March 30th, 2009, 05:15 PM

Hello everyone,

I am trying to import my XDCAM (Sony EX-1) footage, but before I do so I need to choose the XDCAM easy set up. I have installed the latest XDCAM Transfer app and EX Clip Browser, and still no luck. When going to the Final Cut Pro Additional Easy Setups folder (Applications > Final Cut Pro Additional Easy Setups > English) I see the easy setups that I need but they do not show up in my FCP. How can I get this working? Help is greatly appreciated.

Software Specs:

Final Cut Pro 6.0.5
XDCAM Transfer 2.9.0
XDCAM EX ClipBrowser 2.00.00(209.409)

Danny Dale · March 31st, 2009, 06:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jay White

Hello everyone,

I am trying to import my XDCAM (Sony EX-1) footage, but before I do so I need to choose the XDCAM easy set up. I have installed the latest XDCAM Transfer app and EX Clip Browser, and still no luck. When going to the Final Cut Pro Additional Easy Setups folder (Applications > Final Cut Pro Additional Easy Setups > English) I see the easy setups that I need but they do not show up in my FCP. How can I get this working? Help is greatly appreciated.

Software Specs:

Final Cut Pro 6.0.5
XDCAM Transfer 2.9.0
XDCAM EX ClipBrowser 2.00.00(209.409)

I had this problem... read towards the bottom of this thread:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/sony-xdca...tings-bug.html

April 2nd, 2009, 05:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shawn Dooling

Hello everyone, We are about to buy a New Mac System, we will be editing HD Video from our 2 EX3 Camera's. Along with Authoring it to BluRay via Toast 10 and Encore.

The Issue is, how much Ram to get?

The System will be running the following. Do you guys see any problems or any overkill within the system? Your expert knowledge would be very much appreciated.

do we need 16 Gigs of Ram or will a smaller amount do the job.??????

System specs

Final Cut Studio 2
ADOBE CREATIVE SUITE 4 PRODUCTION PREMIUM

Two 2.93GHz Quad-Core IXeon “Nehalem” processors
16GB (8x2GB) 1066MHz DDR3 ECC SDRAM
Mac Pro RAID Card
1TB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s
1TB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s
1TB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s
1TB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s
ATI Radeon HD 4870 512MB
One 18x SuperDrive/Plus external Blu-Ray burner
Apple Cinema HD Display (30" flat panel)

THANK YOU

I would get as much as your budget allows initially, it might be hard to source the ram at a later date..
I would probably swap at least one of your 7200rpm drives for a 10k or 15k. I use 2x WD 10K Raptors in Raid 0 as a 'Render' / temp drive. If your OS drive was 10k or 15k you would notice a huge increase in performace booting and loading programs.
just my 2c

Mitchell Lewis · April 12th, 2009, 09:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shawn Dooling

Me again, lol... is anyone Editing Multi-Cam events like live bands???? I wondering how many streams of HQ EX3 Footage my Macbook Pro can handle in post?

I have the Newest MBP 2.93
4 Gigs of Ram
17"

I'm thinking 2, but has anyone done more?

Just turn all your settings down in FCP. (Unlimited RT, Dynamic, Dynamic, etc..). That why you won't get the "Dropped Frames" message and you'll probably be able to play 3 or 4 streams of XDCAM footage. The quality won't be as good, but when you render and export it will switch back to the highest quality.

Jennie Stenhouse · August 24th, 2009, 06:16 AM

Howdy all.

So i need a solution to a problem i am facing.
I have a large amount of footage ( 20hrs ++ )
the director wants to do a drag and drop from the hard drive storage into his own organisation in a FCP file. I am highly parionod about this whole tape less process and I have noticed that if I drop a file from disc into FCP my handy dandy log note has gone. This i was using as a link back to the data.

I originally used XDCAM transfer through FCP to get my footage off the cards
is there a way to find where this info has been stored? or get it back into FCP?

I swear i am going to go grey before this shoot is over! its the first time i am working with only data ( 3 data and two footage backs up isn't over kill right?)

thanks in advance for your help

Jennie

March 28th, 2009, 07:53 PM	#46
Shawn Dooling Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: St. John's, NL Canada Posts: 79	FCP - MBP 2.93 - Multi-Cam Editing???? Me again, lol... is anyone Editing Multi-Cam events like live bands???? I wondering how many streams of HQ EX3 Footage my Macbook Pro can handle in post? I have the Newest MBP 2.93 4 Gigs of Ram 17" I'm thinking 2, but has anyone done more?

March 30th, 2009, 05:15 PM	#48
Jay White Tourist Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: VA/NYC/PHL/LA Posts: 4	XDCAM HD Easy Setups Missing in FCP Hello everyone, I am trying to import my XDCAM (Sony EX-1) footage, but before I do so I need to choose the XDCAM easy set up. I have installed the latest XDCAM Transfer app and EX Clip Browser, and still no luck. When going to the Final Cut Pro Additional Easy Setups folder (Applications > Final Cut Pro Additional Easy Setups > English) I see the easy setups that I need but they do not show up in my FCP. How can I get this working? Help is greatly appreciated. Software Specs: Final Cut Pro 6.0.5 XDCAM Transfer 2.9.0 XDCAM EX ClipBrowser 2.00.00(209.409) __________________ www.jeromewhi.com

August 24th, 2009, 06:16 AM	#52
Jennie Stenhouse Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: SOUTH AFRICA Posts: 40	Get info into FCP from clips Howdy all. So i need a solution to a problem i am facing. I have a large amount of footage ( 20hrs ++ ) the director wants to do a drag and drop from the hard drive storage into his own organisation in a FCP file. I am highly parionod about this whole tape less process and I have noticed that if I drop a file from disc into FCP my handy dandy log note has gone. This i was using as a link back to the data. I originally used XDCAM transfer through FCP to get my footage off the cards is there a way to find where this info has been stored? or get it back into FCP? I swear i am going to go grey before this shoot is over! its the first time i am working with only data ( 3 data and two footage backs up isn't over kill right?) thanks in advance for your help Jennie

March 29th, 2009, 12:39 AM	#47
Andrew Stone Major Player Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Vancouver, Canada Posts: 975	There is a LOT of misinformation around about RAM usage and requirements on Macs. True that FCP stays within a 4gig RAM footprint. Compressor though splits jobs into "threads" - spawning what many would consider many "apps" that consume RAM. If you edit your audio chances are you have an audio app going like Logic or ProTools, Ableton Live, etc., other internet apps. Without Compressor going you could have 6 to 7 gigs of app space on the go. Granted some of this will page into the background but as soon as you use Compressor this is where you want RAM. I often render 3 to 5 hour event videos and have things set up to use most or all of the cores in my Mac Pro and sometimes hog tie the other Macs in the house. Typically Compressor will grab about 8 gigs of ram. I thought it would grab more but sometimes it does. Depends on whether or not the machine sits idle. The stuff about 4 gigs is enough is not correct. Yes for FCP but that is only part of the equation. If you use Compressor as "standalone" in rendering and have it set up right it will want more ram than 4 gigs and your render times will be much shorter.