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let's talk turkey! Final Cut Studio 2 on ......

liketom

liketom

macrumors 601
Original poster
Apr 8, 2004
4,191
68
Lincoln,UK
ok i will be buying FCS2 and i would like to hear some of your feedback on what it runs on.

does it run on and your experiance if any on

Macbook 2.0Ghz 2gb ram (current version)
iMac 20" 2gb ram (current version)
Mac Mini 2.0ghz 2gb ram (current version)

And what would your ideal Notebook/Desktop config be to run FCS2 well?

FCP and DVD Studio is my main concern Motion i have not had too much play time with so not essential for me just yet. I will be editing mainly DV footage and some HD footage from a run of the mill consumer camcorders.

Thoughts ?
 
Of the three choices you listed, I'd only recommend the iMac. Officially, Apple doesn't support FCS 1 or 2 on a MacBook or the MacMini. They do support it with a properly equipped MacBook Pro.

That said, I have seen parts of FCS run on a MacBook ... all apps except Motion and Color. Those have specific graphics card requirements that the MacBook and Mini cannot meet.

My personal choice would be a MacPro (desktop) due to its expandability.

-DH
 
excellnt points - i just got off a chat with the apple store asking why macbooks can run FCE4 but not FCP :D was given the spill of sys requirements ;)

i am when they are shipping going to buy a new MBP but i also am about to buy a new Macbook for my wife + FCS2 (to run later on the MBP)
 
I've seen FCS2 run on an Intel Mac Mini with 1 GB of RAM. Not everything worked (Color didn't seem to), but it ran.

FCS1 runs on a Mac Mini, because that's what I've got right now. Motion is not fully supported, but it'll install and run.
 
elvirav said:
I've seen FCS2 run on an Intel Mac Mini with 1 GB of RAM. Not everything worked (Color didn't seem to), but it ran.

FCS1 runs on a Mac Mini, because that's what I've got right now. Motion is not fully supported, but it'll install and run.
Click to expand...

but can you work on it ? or is it -it run's yeah, but dog slow :p
 
I work a lot with FCS1, and it's not dog slow for me. But I do mostly DV (not HD) and my video work is not very long (short projects of 3-4 minutes) and not very complex. Of course I guess everyone's idea of "dog slow" differs.

FCP6 did not appear to be noticeably slower (compared to FCP5) on the Mac Mini, but I only saw work done in DV (DVCPRO50, etc) with it as well. I personally wouldn't mess with HD on a Mac Mini.
 
Hey I am running a Macbook 2.0 ghz Core2Duo with 2 Gb Ram, and have Final Cut Studio 2 running on it. I can say with absolute certainty that everything runs exceptionally well except for Color and Motion (which wont run at all, it actually quits immediately if you try because of the integrated graphics card). However, everything installed perfectly from the discs, and I have very similar performance in rendering times as my friend who recently purchased a Macbook Pro. Just to reiterate, Final Cut Pro 6 runs extremely well. However keep in mind that I am using SD not HD at the moment.
 
If you're buying a new mac strictly for FCS2, go with the MBP or MP. Definitely not a MacBook, considering it won't work with the intergrated graphics chip..
However, I am running FCS2 beautifully on my Aluminum iMac 2.8ghz and 4gb of RAM. So if the MP or MBP is out of your price range or etc. the iMac is a great system - I Love mine. But yeah defintely MBP or MP is you're strictly wanting it fro FCS2...
 
I've edited music videos shot in DVCPROHD codec on my Macbook C2D2GHZ, 2GB RAM running FCP 5.1 and it was fine.. the interface was a bit sluggish though probably due to the low RAM.

media drive was a OWC firewire400 160GB 2.5" drive and a Seagate USB external drive.
 
bogman12 said:
media drive was a OWC firewire400 160GB 2.5" drive and a Seagate USB external drive.
Click to expand...

this is where your problem is... 2.5" drives are slow (even the 7200rpm ones) and USB doesn't bode well with sustained transfer.

firewire 3.5" 7200rpm drives are minimum for video editing. for DVCProHD (100Mbps) I would bump that to FW800 and possibly a 2 drive RAID.
 
Just finished an HD project on my Macbook (2.0 ghz Core2Duo, 2Gb RAM) with FCS2. My scratch disk is a 3.5" 7200 RPM MyBook via USB. I had to run it through USB because the Macbooks have only one firewire port.

I had no problems with sluggish interface or real time edits. The only pain is the final export to compression. For my five-minute short, it took about an hour or so to compress using H.264 codec.

Overall, I have absolutely loved these Macbooks even for editing HD. However, I already owned a Macbook and would definitely recommend a different machine if you are looking to purchase now. I am just trying to illustrate, if you don't have twice the money, how capable a Macbook really is.

My camera is a Canon XH-A1 and I'm shooting in 1080i at 24f (canon's version of 24p).

If you would like to see the final product, here it is on Vimeo. http://www.vimeo.com/754479
 
This Answers my question i was going to ask then.

So everything but Motion is fine to run on MacBook 2.16GHz, 1GB Ram (Upgrading to 2Gb or 4GB if it can take it) that should be fine right???

TaKashMoney nice video :)
 
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northy124 said:
This Answers my question i was going to ask then.

So everything but Motion is fine to run on MacBook 2.16GHz, 1GB Ram (Upgrading to 2Gb or 4GB if it can take it) that should be fine right???

TaKashMoney nice video :)
Click to expand...

Everything but motion and color. Don't forget Color, it is one of the most important apps of FCS2.
 
TaKashMoney said:
Hey I am running a Macbook 2.0 ghz Core2Duo with 2 Gb Ram, and have Final Cut Studio 2 running on it. I can say with absolute certainty that everything runs exceptionally well except for Color and Motion (which wont run at all, it actually quits immediately if you try because of the integrated graphics card). However, everything installed perfectly from the discs, and I have very similar performance in rendering times as my friend who recently purchased a Macbook Pro. Just to reiterate, Final Cut Pro 6 runs extremely well. However keep in mind that I am using SD not HD at the moment.
Click to expand...

Hi!

I read your comment and am trying to install final cut studio 2 on my macnotebook, with 2.0GHZ etc. The problem is I dont have enough space on the computer since it is just a 80GB hard drive. How did you manage?? I tried to install it on an external hard drive, but the installation does not work ( it says, it needs to be installed on teh running system or something) Do you have any suggestion???

Thanks!!
Krystallia
 
Krystallia it's 52GB (I think) to install so a HDD upgrade is in order as i assume that your 80GB HDD is pretty full with other programs/videos/pictures/documents which is why it won't install.

Thought Color ran fine oh well doesn't matter if i miss out those two programs as i don't see the benefit just yet. Thanks BigBossBmb
 
Ok thanks! how does it work to upgrade it? Do i need to go to a mac store and do you have any idea of how much it would cost?
 
I don't know how much it would cost as i'm not the one buying it. it is up to you how much you want to spend, There are guides that tell you how to upgrade around the forums
 
Hold on lia!

Hey lia, before you go running off replacing your Macbook's HDD (and needing to backup, reinstall, etc) just use your external HD!

Final Cut Studio 2 works great for laptops because of its extremely easy use of an external HD. The entire suite does use something like 60Gb but most of those GBs are templates. You only need the actual programs on your internal HDD. And the programs only take up, like others have said, about 4gb. All the other templates can be installed very easily on an external.

During the install process, FCS will give you the option of where to install the programs. Put the programs themselves on your main internal HD, but expand each of the menus (the little triangle things) and select all of the templates to go to a file on your external. Full installation takes several hours, but ends up working wonderfully on a Macbook/MBP. Just remember that COLOR and MOTION will NOT run on a Macbook.
 
Hello!
Ok, now i think i understand:) So i install one, and then remove the templates to the external and then continue with program efter program.

I will definitely give it a try then!

Thanks alot for your help, i am so amazed how great these forums are, and how helpful people are:)
 
no lia. You shouldn't have to install each one individually. Actually the method u described will probably be pretty problematic because each program won't know where to look once the templates are moved to the external. Final cut studio should allow you to install all programs and templates at one time. When the installer comes up simply specify that you would like each program installed on your internal hd and the templates on your external. Click install and then it will ask for all of the disks one after the other. If you specified each correctly than the installer will be smart enough to figure out what should be installed where. I hope this is more clear.
 
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