New Mac User!
 

Well I finally did it. Just bought a 17" Mac Book Pro. Got the 7200 Seagate and 2 meg of ram. Also purchased FC Pro HD. Now if I can just figure how to work with MAC! Longtime PC user and Vegas. I'm looking forward to figuring out FC. I edit both HDV and SD down convert HDCam. Hopefully things will progress and the MBPro will be a great remote tool and I can go further with a raid array in order to edit HDCam. Anyway, I'm amp'd and ready to start. Thanks in advance for all the answers I'm sure this forum will give.

Jeff

Keep us updated as to your progress and your opinion of the new Mac Book Pro after you have had some time to work with it.

opinion
 

One thing was right out of the box, the unit failed. I bought it from a video house in Dallas. After they loaded FC, and a firmware upgrade, it kept crashing. IE, wouldn't stay on. As soon as you tried to open FC it shut off. Had to send it back for a new one. That customer service was excellent. I just downloaded the lastest firmware update and it works great. Not too hot and definitely not too noisy. I'll let you know more later.

Thanks,

Jeff

Sounds great.

Welcome Jeff... we've got room for more! :-)

I haven't used any of the Intel Macs yet but I'm also interested to hear everyones' stories.

Real Time
 

Maybe I was wrong with my homework and I probably should have captured footage from my Z-1 before I bought but my hdv doesn't preview in real time. I thought I could edit HDV native. Anyone have a comment?

Jeff

Hello,

Using software only, FCP offers previews for playback using the RT feature. Try adjusting the RT setting to dynamic. Slower systems will sometimes require the user to render a timeline before a full resolution preview (especially with mixed resolutions). You'll need a thrid party card to support full resolution playback on a monitor (LCD or CRT). There are many to choose from if you have a workstation, but I see that you have a MacBook Pro. The best solution for that is the Matrox MXO box. It will accelerate the RT playback of your HDV sequences and allow you to preview your timeline in full quality on a LCD or CRT monitor. The MXO box uses your DVI port to achive results. There may be other solutions, but the MXO box looks like your best bet for FCP on a laptop.

Hope that helps,

CJ Rogers

Thanks Cale,

Someone mentioned that when I make my easy setup that I have to apply it to the timeline as well and tha tmade it work, I guess. Still reading the manuals - ah learning still!
Jeff

I'm not real clear on what's happening, but you need to realize that you can't edit HDV by connecting a monitor to the camera and connecting the camera to the computer via firewire (like you can with regular DV). This isn't an FCP or Mac issue AFAIK... there aren't any systems capable of doing that.

Either you need a capture card (or maybe a box like Cale describes), or you can use the "Digital Cinema Desktop" feature in FCP to view your footage on a computer monitor.

Hi Boyd,

Thanks for the response. I think I was premature in making the statement about not playing back in real time. I just got my MBPro and capture a 3 minute clip to test it. When I played the clip back off of the timeline, it was lagging. I contacted the guy I bought it from and he walked me through some settings. I recaptured the same clip and it previews perfectly.

BTW, I am actually reading the manuals before I start a re-edit of my project from Vegas to FCP. The books appear to be very well put together. There are like 5-6 volumes though. Any suggestion for a training DVD that can get me up to speed on the basics?

Thanks for everyone's help.

Jeff

Hello,

Training DVDs are the way to go. They take the bite out of the learning curve. The best training DVDs I've used are made by:

http://www.totaltraining.com
Extensive, but expensive. Their training DVDs cover everything you want to know about FCS and many other applications.

http://www.rippletraining.com
They have a number of short specialized video lessons including a podcast (free).

http://www.digitalmediatraining.com.
Their FCS series is mid priced and covers most everything. Not as extensive as the Total Training DVDs, but they cost less. I've used their FCS series DVD and found it to be helpful for the money.

Take a look at their samples to see what material you want to cover. That should get you started.

Jeff,

There is another great training aid which is a few miles down HWY 121 in Plano. It't the FCP Dallas User Group. They meet on the second Thursday of each month at 7 PM. Novice and experienced are all welcome. The meetings had been taking place at the Apple Store in The Shops at Willow Bend Mall next to the tollway. Send me private mail by clicking on my name at the left of the post and I will get you the information.

regards,

-gb-

or check out lynda.com 25 bucks a month for unlimited access to their library of training movies. Larry Jordan handles most of the Final Cut Studio. Check out his site also at larryjordan.biz and sign up for his free newsletter.

I believe apple has some video info on their own site about FCP