I'm getting my Mac soon.

pest22o

pest22o

Well-known member
So I'm getting a Mac soon kinda excited to learn how to use final Cut Studio 2. I thought I look around here and see some of the questions taht people ask. So far I have no Idea what the hell you guys are talking about i'm almost scared, interlacing, decodinng, sub atomic particles in multi-dimensional universes that are more complex then shrodingbergs cat theory. okay so that last one wasnt in there but might as well be I' am so lost. Someone tell me it's easier then it looks.
 
Start simple and play around. There are a few good books, but the manual that comes as a pdf with the software is a good (and free) place to start.

The basic editing part isn't that complicated. Just import some files and see what you can do.
 
Ahh the memories...I actually i don't remember anything I also suffered a concusion. Should I be worried that I never edited anything ever in my entire life?
 
Build your knowledge as you go. The first time I opened FCP I didn't have a clue what I was looking at. So it was a matter of 'Ok, I guess I'd like to have some footage to work with' so I read about how to capture properly. Then it was 'so now I have stuff to work with, how do I assemble it?' so I read about in/out points, three point editing, etc. From there it was 'now I want to show it to other people' so I guess I should learn about exporting and codecs.

The moral of the story is start simple like Jim said. Don't over extend yourself at first because your brain might implode from trying to take in keyframing, compression schemes, color correcting, etc. before you know the difference between the viewer and canvas. Play around, learn what you need to do, and have fun.

There are plenty of books and training dvds out there, but most of all make sure you have the basics down before you move into even the remotely complex.
 
I'd never edited video or film before FCP either. HOWEVER I did do audio editing in a non-linear format.

THAT is the key. Once you understand that all you are doing is taking markers of information that don't exist anywhere other than on the original file and are using the timeline to group these markers and the sequence just does THAT... sequences the markers together to make a whole... well... if you got thru that you'll be ok.

If not... start reading a bit on the NLE concept and do the tutorials that come with Studio.

You'll be fine.

CaptM
 
CaptainMench said:
. Once you understand that all you are doing is taking markers of information that don't exist anywhere other than on the original file and are using the timeline to group these markers and the sequence just does THAT... sequences the markers together to make a whole... well... if you got thru that you'll be ok.
Click to expand...

You are SUCH a romantic! :love4::love4::love4:
 
Mench.... and yes...

I have to say so. I really know how to sweet talk the computer geeks!!

(sorry, Jim)

CaptM
 
Check on your local Public Access stations. I teach a basic and "advanced" final cut class at the one I work at. Even if they have a different platform, the basics are similar enough, once you get over the different layouts and hot keys.
 
Well if you take a little time to know what the different windows do and why they do it then it will come pretty easy. There are a ton of tutorials on dvd and some good ones for free and Jim said it, bring in some footage and fool around. The more you know what each window is for the more power you have at your fingertips. Its not rocket sicence and the more you learn about sequence setup and how to pull in different types of files such as stills and audio and video the quicker you'll get up to speed.

You can read a lot of info on this site and should do some reserch on each new item you run up against because most topics have been covered.

Good Luck
 
-3.06GHz Intel Core 2 Duo iMac
-800MHz DDR2 SDRAM - 2x2GB
-1TB Serial ATA Drive
-NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GS w/512MB GDDR3

This what I'm getting; should this be able to handle FCS 2? I've seen a lot of questions about non compressed HD and SD I have no Idea what that means Yet, will it be able to handle pretty much anything I can throw at it? is it a sufficient enough mac that wont slow down too much?

I asked The guy at the Apple store and he just shrugged and said "yeah" did'nt make me feel to confident, so I'm just asking you guys what you think.
 
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The Imac itself will be fine, I edit HD on a 2ghz Macbook pro daily. But your
system drive is only so big, and it's not recommended to use it for files anyway
(will work though). Your external drive choice is critical. If you have a FW 800 jack,
buy that type drive. If not, you may have to use a FW400 but it will be a data
bottleneck. Don't try to edit with a USB drive- been there, done that, didn't work.
 
Yeah, that's great advice. Keep all of your files on a drive that is NOT the one running your OS. THat being said, the 1TB HD was probably overkill :(

You should be fine with SD files, and some HD work. If yo are doing large HD projects or you start working with 4K, then you might run into some problems.

But I edited a 45 minute SD project on an 800MhZ G4 with 1 gig of Ram, and a buddy of mine edited an SD feature on a mac mini. No matter what you have, it's never enough ;) You should fine
 
4K is the resolution that the RED camera outputs. You can see a resolution comparison chart from SD up to 4K here

As for not keeping your files on the same HDD as the OS, all HDDs will fail. It's not a question of if, but when. But the HDD with your OS and apps will probably fail first. So keeping your files separate is an insurance policy. If you go to boot up your system and you get the spinning wheel of death, at least you know your files are still okay on a separate drive.
 
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