Scarlet footage on older mac

[Graham Foulkes]

I was wondering if anyone has any theories on if the proposed 1080P output on a scarlet could be used on older final cut versions (final cut 5.2 HD). I realise i would not have the great advantages of raw but could potentialy edit with current editing suite until i am able to upgrade it.I operate a community electronic arts centre so budgets are tight. thanks Graham

[Ben Brainerd]

Well, the big issue is going to be transcoding. All of the RED tools require an Intel Mac to handle the footage as it comes out of the camera.

[Graham Foulkes]

i thought i read that the scarlet would be able to do in camera down rezing to 1080P anybody have anymore details ?

[Graeme Nattress]

Will still need an intel based computer to play the files.

Graeme

[Graham Foulkes]

Thanks Graeme looks like its time to get new computer , just trying to get the most out of my not so old macs thanks Graham (same name different spelling)

[Graham Foulkes]

was wondering if it would be possible to run final cut on the latest mini mac and deal with scarlet footage ?

[Graham Foulkes]

Basicly what would be the base level mac for editing in final cut pro?

[Ben Holmes]

You CAN install FCP on a Mac mini, although you have manually install the packages, as some, such as color, are not supported by the graphics card, the last time I checked.

Hoewever, almost ANY other OSX machine would be better for RED footage, it will be horrible to import, transcode etc - assuming the integrated gfx would render the video frame.

If you don't need a video card like the AJA (and I'm guessing you don't) then the iMac is a good idea - you get a great quality screen, and the i7 version is as fast as a quad Mac Pro. That said, you'd still be better off buying a used Mac Pro, or building a Hack Pro if you have mad skillz.

[Stephen Gentle]

Yeah, I'd probably go for the iMac on a budget - there's one with an 1080p screen, 1TB hard drive, 4GB of ram and a decent graphics card for US$1.5 grand.

I'm definitely waiting until around the time I get the camera to upgrade my computer though - there will definitely be new MacBooks before the Scarlet is released, and we will hopefully see a new version of Final Cut Studio later in this year (but early 2011 might be a more likely estimate).

[Graham Foulkes]

Thanks for advice , I am looking at all the options discussed here and presently leaning towards a used or refurbished mac pro tower that can take a red rocket in the future, unfortunatley i purchased my imac 2 days before intel chips started shipping, The hackintosh route is interesting to me, does anybody here have any experience with this ? also wondering if i am too attached to final cut and mac , can anybody speak about moving to a vegas system pro and cons? thanks again