Ordering Final Cut Pro--Any Suggestions?

[fieldproducer]

Thanks to all who responded with helpful advice in my decision between Adobe and Final Cut Pro. After a LOT of thought, it's looking like I'm going the Final Cut route. The two biggest reasons--the majority of freelance editors in this area know FCP, but don't know or aren't as familiar with Adobe, and the production houses in this area all have FCP, which would allow for a little easier transfer of projects if we're going back and forth.

That said, here's the list of what we're looking at:

(1) Mac Pro 2.8 GHZ QC, 2GB/2X5GB/2XSD
(1) 2 GB Kit Dimms Mac Pro
(2) 23” LCD Monitors
(1) Applecare Protection
(1) Final Cut Studio 2
(1) Mercury Elite Firewire 500 GB
(1) Final Cut keyboard

I'm more familiar with the creative end, not so much the tech end, thus, PLEASE feel free to chime in. Any thoughts on whether this is sufficient or whether I should be going a different route on the order?

Thanks!

 

[fieldproducer]

Just had the suggestion to increase RAM (4GB) with faster processing (3.0 or 3.2).

Also had the suggestion to consider photoshop for Mac, so add those two things to the previous list.

 

[TexasDave]

Smart move on the duel monitors. Depending on what media you'll be in, you may want to consider a Kona card. I'm not very technical, but I hook all my beta deck cables into the kona card, which goes into the mac.

I've got a few great tutorials as Quicktime movies I'd be happy to share with you. I don't know if you've used FCP before, but if not, these will be a lifesaver. Dry at times, but very helpful. PM if interested.

I wish I had photoshop. I'll work on that budget in the future. You can do amazing things with Motion and photoshop.

 

[Chugach3DGuy]

Congrats on your soon to be new system! If you're looking to save a few bucks, I'd suggest looking into buying your Mac Pro with as little RAM and Hard Drive space as possible and buying that memory from a different source. The last time I looked at Macs, Apple tends to overcharge for some of the components. If you're not comfortable installing things like that yourself, then go ahead and load it up. Peace of Mind is always worth something! Also, you'll get the most bang for your buck if you choose a processor that's one or two steps slower than the fastest chip available. You will always pay a premium to have the very latest.

Also, I highly recommend picking up a copy of Photoshop. If you don't have enough to spring for the full-blown Photoshop, at least pick up Elements. It's such an indispensable tool that will be worth its weight in gold- I can't pound that recommendation enough!

Dual monitors totally rock, and I find they help greatly with screen organization. As for something like a Kona card, it depends on what formats you'll be dealing with regularly. If all you work with is DV or HDV directly from the camera, then you should be fine with a simple firewire interface. If you're going to be doing things for broadcasters or "higher grade" work, or if you're going to be working with formats like Betacam SP or HDCAM, or formats that require a deck or a form of capture that firewire can't handle, look into a dedicated capture card. Like Texas Dave said, look into a Kona Card. Also, check out manufacturers such as Black Magic or Matrox. I know videoguys.com is having a sale on some Matrox cards for Macs right now.

That's all I can think of for now, but I'm sure others will pitch in with some good tips for you!

 

[gwedits]

Blackmagic...

I bought a Blackmagic Decklink HD Extreme card for my Quad G5 and love it. It has HDMI output which I use to drive my 32" Westinghouse HD Monitor. I also use it to downconvert HDV to Apple ProRes from my Sony HVR-M15.

A lot of people love Kona cards, but the price difference was $1,000.

Once you use three monitors, it's really hard for me to work on a laptop!

 

[micaelb]

Just food for thought...if you are an NPPA member and use that discount you will save about $600, minus the $110 membership, about $500. Got anything that you would like to add if you had an extra $500?

Have fun, I'm just learning FCP and it is amazing!

 

[Alaska cameradude]

Ya, Apple tends to overcharge for RAM and drives and such. You can buy that stuff
from OWC or someone similar and save a bundle. And the Mac Pro is set up for
easy no tool install......even a dummy like me can do it. Photoshop is a good
idea, I'd actually get AE if you can swing it and Encore if you want to do any
Blu-Ray discs on a Mac. You'll need some kind of capture card if you are
doing anything other than DV or HDV as well. But you've got a good setup
going and should be fine.....O yeah, one more thing, get a GOOD pair
of audio monitors, you need those just as you need a NTSC or HD monitor
for video.