Dear all,

We finally decided to purchase the Sony PMW 320K camera for our next film. Could someone advise me which version of FCP we should install for this camera? We will be using SDHC adapters and class 10 SD cards (and suitable card reader) as opposed to the SXS card system. I have FCP version 5.1.4 and, if possible, just want to pay for an upgrade rather than purchase a complete software package.

Many thanks
Simon

Go to the Sony support website for the camera and look at the system requirements for their Final Cut Log and Transfer plugin. Bookmark the page. For example, here's the page for the EX series:
Sony | Micro Site XDCAM EX (http://pro.sony.com/bbsc/ssr/micro-xdcamexsite/resource.downloads.bbsccms-assets-micro-xdcamex-downloads-LogTransferUtilityAppleFCP.shtml)

If memory serves, your FCP version number corresponds to Final Cut Studio version 1. Unless you want to wait for FCP X this summer, there is no upgrade to only Final Cut Pro, you have to upgrade the whole Final Cut Studio.

If you are on a G5 or other Power based Mac, you can only upgrade to FCS 2. If you are on an Intel Mac then you can upgrade to FCS 3 directly from FCS 1. I don't know what the system requirements are for FCP X.

If you are on a G5 or other Power based Mac, you can only upgrade to FCS 2. If you are on an Intel Mac then you can upgrade to FCS 3 directly from FCS 1. (QUOTE)

To my knowledge you need an Intel based Mac even for FCP Studio 2 (FCP 6)

To my knowledge you need an Intel based Mac even for FCP Studio 2 (FCP 6)

If you are on a G5 or other Power based Mac, you can only upgrade to FCS 2. If you are on an Intel Mac then you can upgrade to FCS 3 directly from FCS 1. (QUOTE)

To my knowledge you need an Intel based Mac even for FCP Studio 2 (FCP 6)

To my knowledge you need an Intel based Mac even for FCP Studio 2 (FCP 6)

I ran it nicely on a G5 for months. Final Cut Studio 3 requires Intel not Final Cut Studio 2

Final Cut Studio 2 Technical System Specification Requirements (http://www.sohoeditors.com/uk/final_cut_studio_technical_specifications)

A Macintosh computer with a 1.25GHz or faster PowerPC G4, PowerPC G5, Intel Core Duo, or Intel Xeon processor
1GB of RAM
An AGP or PCI Express Quartz Extreme graphics card (Final Cut Studio is not compatible with integrated Intel graphics processors)
A display with 1024-by-768 resolution or higher
Mac OS X v10.4.11 or Mac OS X v10.5.3 or later
QuickTime 7.5 or later
A DVD drive for installation

Glad you went card rather than disc based as it will be a more future proof solution and easier to off load during production, I think as said you will need an intel machine and FCP studio 3 to handle this level of codec, it would be best to be up to date anyway as the sony plug in's tend to only work correctly on the latest FCP platforms.

A older intel quad core machine will be enough for what you need to do and if you put plenty of ram in and pop some esata drives in an internal raid 0 array it will be very quick for the sony codec, of course if you wish to go up to the next level of FCP it may make sense to get a new machine that is ready for it but if budget is tight then a 2nd user intel machine will be fine for FCP studio 3.

Dear All,

Many thanks for your advice. We have two MacBook Pros that use Leopard software and are both Intel based. We have the full Final Cut Studio software; this machine uses a 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 2 GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM. Does this suggest any further thoughts regarding my original question? The other machine which is a newer model probably has a more up to date set of specifications.

All the best
Simon

FCP 6.0.2 and up is needed for EX codec. The last version that worked on G5 is FCP 6.0.6 I believe. That came from FCS2. You can no longer get FCS2 from Apple. You may have a hard time finding it though.

The answer is at the link I gave you above for the FCP Log and Transfer plugin. 3rd line down.

Cheers for that; however, am I obliged to buy a whole new FCP suite or can I just buy an upgrade for my version 5.1.4?

Cheers for that; however, am I obliged to buy a whole new FCP suite or can I just buy an upgrade for my version 5.1.4?

In order to use the Log & Transfer Plugin you'd need to upgrade the entire suite. Apple did not sell upgrades independently. Short of eBay you may not be able to find any upgrade FCS2 suites. I think I saw someone selling the FCS2 upgrade on Amazon just north of $700.

Cheers for that; however, am I obliged to buy a whole new FCP suite or can I just buy an upgrade for my version 5.1.4?

As per post #2:
"Unless you want to wait for FCP X this summer, there is no upgrade to only Final Cut Pro, you have to upgrade the whole Final Cut Studio."

I have the same macbook pro and would recommend an upgrade to FCP studio 3 that is around £259, as said you have to but the whole suite but just the upgrade will be fine, you will also need to have a raid 0 disk array on your firewire 800 bus as the 35mbs sony codec will need that to work OK: http://store.apple.com/uk/product/MB643Z/A?mco=MTY3ODQ5OTY

You should be OK for your type of drama production but keep the bit rate down to the 35mbs from the codec otherwise it may all grind to a hault, 2gb of ram is not a lot but it should work.

Many thanks Gary and everyone else. Not being a computer person, I'm not sure what the things are that you mention Gary. Would you mind just telling me how/where I get these things and what they might cost (in addition to the £250 you quoted)? I've used my laptop to edit HDV at full resolution perfectly well in FCP; not lightening fast but perfectly OK with no problems at all. We don't need speed just a reliable platform to edit the rushes each day. The computers will have a couple of external hard drives as well.

Cheers
Simon

HI Simon your laptop will do HDV OK with a firewire 800 drive at 25mbs but the camera you bought uses a better codec that runs faster at 35mbs, you therefore need fast disc access speed to allow it to stream the video off the hard drives in real time.

A raid 0 array is a hard drive array using two discs in tandem to increase the access speed, I use one of these with my macbook pro and it is not a huge amount of cost to give you a decent 2tb of storage : G-Tech G-RAID 2TB Desktop External Hard Drive (4th generation) - Jigsaw Systems Ltd (http://www.jigsaw24.com/product-details/x467ava)

In time if you feel you need more speed it also has esata and you could add an express card if your macbook has a slot and get faster disc speeds.

P.S you will also need the sony FCP plug in for XDcam: https://www.servicesplus.sel.sony.com/sony-software-model.aspx?model=PDZKP1

and have a read of this : http://pro.sony.com/bbsccms/assets/files/micro/hdtapelessworkflow/brochures/25634_XDCAM_AppleFinalCutPro_R1.pdf

note its a large PDF so may take a few mins to download.

Cheers Gary,

This is the version of FCP that I am thinking of purchasing for the Sony PMW 320K, even though Apple say the camera is not on their list for this software!

Final Cut Studio Upgrade - Apple Store (UK) (http://store.apple.com/uk/product/MB643Z/A?mco=MTA4MzI5ODk)

Is it the version upgrade that I should buy?

All the best
Simon

Yes that is the latest and current upgrade version, it came out before the 320 was released but as the EX1 and EX3 use the same video codec it will be OK.

Just remember to allow the FCP update to do it's automatic software updates so you get all the latest bug fixes etc.

Many thanks Gary. I've just ordered this update from Apple, France and it should arrive on the 25th of May.

Simon