Visual QuickStart Guide [Electronic resources] : Final Cut Express HD for Mac OS X

Lisa Brenneis

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  • System Requirements

    Final Cut Express has the same basic system requirements as its big brother Final Cut Pro, but because fast CPUs and built-in FireWire ports have spread throughout the Macintosh product line, FCE wannabes can keep pace on just about any recent Mac. If you''re unsure whether your Power Mac makes the grade, go to the AppleSpec page at Apple''s web site and look up its complete specifications at http://www.info.apple.com/support/applespe168.

    Apple is continuously testing and qualifying third-party software and third-party external devices for compatibility with Final Cut Express. To review the latest list of Apple-approved video hardware and software, go to the Final Cut Express web site at http://www.apple.com/finalcutexpress/qualificatio179.

    Tip

    Real-Time System Requirements

    FCE''s real-time technology (dubbed "RT Extreme" by Apple marketing wizards) performs its effects-previewing magic without additional hardware, so you''ll need a fast G4 to see the show. You''ll need a 500-MHz or faster single-processor Power Mac G4 system (or any model dual-processor G4 system) with at least 512 MB of RAM to see any real-time previewing at all. FCE has been programmed to check the processor speed of your Mac and to scale the quantity and quality of real-time effects available. Macs with faster processors (or dual processors) can process and preview multilayer scaling, motion effects, and selected transitions.

    For more information on real-time system capabilities, see Chapter 18, "Real Time and Rendering." Why are real-time effects discussed in the rendering chapter? Because you can preview all sorts of FCE effects while you edit your show, but you still have to render many of them before you can output a full-resolution final program.

    Software requirements:

    • Mac OS X 10.3.7 or later

    • QuickTime 6.5.2 or later

    Minimum hardware requirements:

    • Power Mac G4 with a 500-MHz processor and an AGP graphics card

    • 384 MB of RAM (though more is always welcome)

    • DVD drive (required for installation)

    • 40-GB A/V (audio/video-rated) drive

    • True color (24-bit) display

    FCE application disk space requirements:

    • 1 GB for the FCE application installation

    • 5 GB for Soundtrack media

    • 9 GB for LiveType media

    DV hardware requirements:

    • FireWire-equipped camcorder or DV deck for video capture

    • FireWire cable plus any additional cables you may need for connecting your camcorder or deck to an external TV monitor and speakers

    What''s the Difference Between DV and Digital Video?

    When you refer to

    digital video , you could be talking about any video format that stores image and audio information in digital formit''s digital video whether you store it on a DV tape or on a DVD disc.

    DV is a specific digital video format whose identifying characteristic is that the conversion from analog to digital information takes place in the DV camera. So

    DV is a camera-based digital video format.

    There are a few different flavors of DV; the differences between them come down to tape format and tape speed:

    • DV usually refers to MiniDV, used by most consumer digital camcorders.

    • DVCAM prints the same DV bitstream to a larger, more robust tape stock.

    • DVC Pro uses a professional-grade tape as well, and it supports a high-quality modeDVC Pro 50which digitizes at twice the data rate as DV.

    • HDV uses the same miniDV tape stock to record compressed digital video with frames sizes up to 1080:1440 pixels at data rates similar to standard DV rates.