System Requirements for Final Cut Pro HD
Apple's Web site states the minimum computer requirements for Final Cut Pro HD: Macintosh computer with 350 MHz or faster PowerPC G4 or G5 processor and AGP graphics card Mac OS X v10.3.2 or later QuickTime 6.5 or later 384 MB of RAM For Soundtrack, 500 MHz or faster single processor or 450 MHz or faster dual processors 512 MB of RAM recommended For RT Extreme, single 500 MHz or faster PowerPC G4 (550 MHz for PowerBook G4) or any dual PowerPC G4 and 512 MB of RAM For DVCPROHD, 1 GHz or faster single or dual processors and 1 GB of RAM 1 GB of available disk space for application installation 5 GB of disk space for Soundtrack content 9 GB of disk space for LiveType content DVD drive for installation
However, your editing system is more than just your computer. And, in fact, there are a number of other pieces you will need in order to successfully launch yourself on the road to editing glory…or, um, well, at least to get started.Minimal System Configuration
Everything on Apple's list, plus the following: More RAM. Try to give Final Cut between 1 GB and 2.5 GB of RAM. It will work faster. A second hard drive to store media (more on this in a moment). A DV camera to use in transferring your media into the computer. Final Cut Pro HD. A copy of this book.
NOTE | Why a Second Hard Drive?
Although it is technically possible to edit using only one hard drive, it is not a wise idea to do so. This is because your hard drive has many, many, many calls on its attentions: the operating system, Final Cut, any background applications, all background processes, then, finally, and dead last in priority is playing your media.Yet, unless your media plays smoothly, without any fits and starts, the rest of your editing system is useless.By adding a second drive you not only provide a whole lot more storage space for your media, you significantly improve the performance of your system by allowing your boot hard disk (that is, the one that contains the operating system and applications) to concentrate on serving the needs of the operating system and Final Cut, while the second disk concentrates on playing all media.For editing DV (by which, I mean MiniDV, DVCAM, or DCPRO-25), an internal drive will be faster than an external FireWire drive. If you are editing larger file formats, such as DigiBetacam, an external RAID (Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks) will be faster. It is beyond the scope of this book to detail all the different hardware options you have for storage; however: RAIDs are the fastest, largest, and most expensive storage devices. The fastest RAIDs are Fibre Channel or SCSI-based. There are some new, less expensive FireWire RAIDs, but it is too early to tell how effective they are for video editing. Internal hard disks are faster and generally cheaper than FireWire drives, but are not portable. Be sure to get one that spins at least at 7200 RPM. FireWire drives are portable and will generally meet the needs of editing DV, provided you get a FireWire drive that has at least a 7200 RPM spin, 8 MB cache, and an Oxford 911 chip for FireWire 400 or an Oxford 922 chip for FireWire 800. Brand names are not always good guides as to drive performance, so be sure your hard drive meets or exceeds these specs.
In Chapter 14, "Additional Resources," you'll find Web sites and other resources you can use in selecting and maintaining your system. |
Suggested Accessories
The following accessories will make your editing environment more efficient and productive. However, not everyone needs all these, so consider this a wish list for future purchases. (In my project studio, I use all of these.) DV deck:
Very useful because it reduces wear and tear on your camera, plus you can wire the deck into your computer and monitors, which means you can stop plugging and unplugging cables whenever you want to switch between shooting and editing. NTSC (for North America) or PAL (for everywhere else) monitor:
Allows you to watch your productions on a TV screen, rather than the computer, which has several advantages: The color display is accurate. Computers don't display video colors accurately. Interlace artifacts disappear. These are the horizontal "forked" lines that appear on your computer monitor when you watch video with fast action. You can, generally, see a larger image on the video monitor than on your computer monitor. However, bigger is not better for video monitors. The best sizes to buy are between 9-inch and 14-inch monitors. Audio speakers:
The tiny speaker on your computer is inadequate for anything, much less working with audio. Again, you can choose among a wide variety of speakers; my recommendation is to spend a couple hundred dollars and buy studio monitor speakers. mAudio, Tannoy, Event, Mackie, and JBL are all good brands. (I use mAudio in my studio.) Also, avoid subwoofers for mixing. Subwoofers are good for listening, but not for mixing your audio. Audio mixer:
This is really useful for monitoring audio from your computer as well as plugging in a mike to record narration or voiceovers. There are lots of mixers to choose from; my favorite, above all others, is Mackie. Final Cut keyboard:
This is a standard computer keyboard with the normal keycaps replaced by brightly colored ones that show which keys to press to select a particular tool, task, or effect. (Final Cut ships with little stickers that you can put on your keyboard as reminders of what the keys do. While useful, I find them annoying. The FCP keyboard is available at a variety of retail and mail-order outlets.) UPS (uninterruptible power supply):
This protects your computer from surges, lightning strikes, and power failures. RAID:
This high-capacity, high-performance storage system is exceedingly useful when you have hours and hours and hours of documentary footage to edit, or you need the ultimate in performance. Not needed for DV, but necessary for all other formats. Software, plug-ins, and other stuff:
Your editing system is, in the end, as individual as you are. Depending on what you are doing, you can add Sound effects libraries Music libraries Graphics software Video effects software Audio production software Effects and transition plug-ins for Final Cut Two-button mice Shuttle controllers And dozens of other accessories
The purpose of all this customization is to give you the creative tools you need for your productions. However, don't feel you need to buy everything at once. Start editing and see what you needwhere you are spending your time and what needs speeding up. I can assure you that you will always think of something else you "absolutely have to buy."Sigh…
NOTE | Thoughts on Final Cut and Multiple Users
One of the strengths of Final Cut is that it takes advantage of the multiple-user capabilities built into OS X.For instance, if you have multiple people who will be using this computer, assign each one of them a separate login and user account (using System Preferences > My Account). Final Cut stores each user's preferences separately, so that when Brooke finishes editing and Julian logs in and starts, all of Brooke's customization and preferences are safely stored and replaced by Julian's so that to each user, Final Cut appears exactly as they left it.Another example is that if you are using Final Cut at home, create a separate user account for your editing. That way, all your editing files and preferences are safely stored when someone else is using your computer. |
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