Apple Final Cut Pro Suite - Is it any good. I want to author Blu-ray titles. - Blu-ray Forum

Pato_Londres · 03-03-2008, 09:27 PM

Can I please ask about Apple Final Cut Pro Suite software. I know some (mainly one man bands) that swear by it for DVD and say that it is going to be the HD solution. I have read reports in the press that there is a Blu-ray burner controlled by a special version of Toast that will allow one to make a Blu-ray disc. Considering the difference in cost I don't read of many authoring companies planning to take the product up preferring to buy Sonic or Sony's product which also to my mind seem unproven. I don't get it reading the Apple blurb on the website whether FCPS really works for Blu-ray, I know that now (not in the early days) the software is fine for DVD. Does anyone know? Is it worth waiting? I know that when Apple brought Spruce Technologies (makers of the professional DVD-Maestro) and incorporated it they made a very fine DVD product. There does seem to be one area missing and that is encoding, or am I missing something? The Apple product is at least easy to use, what do you guys (and gals) think of this product? Does anyone have direct experience of it?

mastertang · 03-03-2008, 09:36 PM

As of today FCS only lets you burn HD content onto a DVD. I would not bother with it until they bother to create a decent Blu authoring tool.

NexusFX · 03-03-2008, 09:41 PM

For Final Projects, you can render and finalize them in HD then just send the burn job to Toast 8 since Blu is supported

warhawk21114 · 03-03-2008, 11:14 PM

are you sure, I heard that it compressed it something awful

Pato_Londres · 03-04-2008, 03:53 PM

NexusFX seems to think that I can make a Blu-ray disc using Apple FCPS but warhawk21114 has there doubts that it will work.

Is there anyone with direct experience of authoring using Apple FCPS?

Does anyone know the time-line for supporting Blu-ray? Apple must do this eventually.

Any help or inside knowledge gratefully received.

Thank you.

CptGreedle · 03-04-2008, 04:00 PM

Ok...
FCP will let you render and author things in HD, but when it does, you can not burn BD content. This also means no BD menus and no BD encodes.
So once you have it you can try to burn it using Toast but last I heard Toast will only let you burn BD data and not a movie (i.e. for a BD player). I am not sure about this since I have not tried but there is a strong chance that it will not let you burn a BD movie. Either way it does not have menus and other BD content.
The ONLY software right now that supports BD content and BD menus and the like is by Adobe, called Encore. It is bundled with the pro/suite version of Premiere, and will authorize and encode and burn BD content.
However FCP is likely to add BD support later this year. The only problem is will it be an upgrade for FCP suite2 only? Or will it include FCP suite 1? Or will it be a brand new version of FCP that requires a purchase? Also, when will it be available?
So for now, use FCP to make your videos cause it does an AWESOME job. But you will have to find another way to burn it to Blu-ray until it is supported.

But since there is an official BD encoded DVD, you can try to encode a small amount of data to a DVD (like a short film) that will play in BD players. I have not tried this yet but supposedly it will work.

Pato_Londres · 03-04-2008, 04:13 PM

Thanks for this. What you say is really helpful. Proper support for Blu-ray must come soon to FCPS - I hope!

redblotch83 · 03-04-2008, 04:17 PM

Buy an avid instead.

Bobby Henderson · 03-04-2008, 05:58 PM

Adobe Production Studio is arguably one of the best values in professional level audio video authoring suites.

Lots of Apple FCP fans like to dismiss Premiere Pro, but it's still a very good application. The real stars of the suite are After Effects, Photoshop and Illustrator. Those are industry leading applications most owners of other suites (Avid, Apple, etc.) end up having to buy -and then they end up paying quite a bit more for buying them as separates instead of saving a lot of cash in buying the suite.

For motion graphics and effects compositing, the only things any better than After Effects is the $5000 Eyeon Software application Fusion 5. And then there's extremely high priced systems from Autodesk/Discreet (Flame, Inferno, etc.).

The Windows version of Production Studio CS3 includes OnLocation CS3 -an application that makes it easy to record live video from your camera direct to hard disc.

Chevypower · 03-04-2008, 07:08 PM

Premiere Pro CS3 looks very good, but I would prefer full Blu Ray integration on Macs from iMovie, through to the full Final Cut Studio. This is promising news. http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/0...ay-coming.html

I deal with both consumer and professional solutions, so a full system integration is important to me, and I am sure to a lot of other people too.

HDJK · 03-04-2008, 07:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by warhawk21114

are you sure, I heard that it compressed it something awful

Well, you heard wrong. Compressor (the studios compressing tool) is a very powerful piece of software. But like anything else you need to know what you're doing to get good results.

That being said, we use FCPS exclusively at work. We had a really expensive Spruce for DVD authoring that has been replaced by DVD Studio Pro. I'm not much into editing, but you can get your job done (again if you know the software), at least according to our video editors.

I use Motion on a daily basis. I have to admit, at first I missed my Combustion. But after a while a noticed that Ican get things done much faster in Motion. I would not want to miss it again.

To conclude, bang for buck it is worth every penny. As with all software there are bugs, but hey, you don't like it, turn off the computer

And there is bound to be an upgrade that lets you author BDs soon. Apple will not want to miss on that business now that the war is decided.

McBain · 03-04-2008, 07:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pato_Londres

Thanks for this. What you say is really helpful. Proper support for Blu-ray must come soon to FCPS - I hope!

Current options: http://www.emedialive.com/articles/r...leid=11425#ixp

CptGreedle · 03-04-2008, 07:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by McBain

Current options: http://www.emedialive.com/articles/r...leid=11425#ixp

Wow. Thanks for that list! ($50,000!!!)
Well I guess I will just have to wait till Apple or Adobe or someone gets a BD-J and BD-authoring title out that will not cost a house, or a car. I think I can wait for a little while still.

CreativeX · 03-06-2008, 11:38 PM

There is a post here on doing BD-J (http://dostudio.netblender.com/wikip...itheclipse.asp) with an open source project from Sun. I tried following it but its over my head.

03-03-2008, 09:27 PM	#1
Pato_Londres Junior Member Member since:Mar 2008	Apple Final Cut Pro Suite - Is it any good. I want to author Blu-ray titles. Can I please ask about Apple Final Cut Pro Suite software. I know some (mainly one man bands) that swear by it for DVD and say that it is going to be the HD solution. I have read reports in the press that there is a Blu-ray burner controlled by a special version of Toast that will allow one to make a Blu-ray disc. Considering the difference in cost I don't read of many authoring companies planning to take the product up preferring to buy Sonic or Sony's product which also to my mind seem unproven. I don't get it reading the Apple blurb on the website whether FCPS really works for Blu-ray, I know that now (not in the early days) the software is fine for DVD. Does anyone know? Is it worth waiting? I know that when Apple brought Spruce Technologies (makers of the professional DVD-Maestro) and incorporated it they made a very fine DVD product. There does seem to be one area missing and that is encoding, or am I missing something? The Apple product is at least easy to use, what do you guys (and gals) think of this product? Does anyone have direct experience of it?

03-03-2008, 09:41 PM	#3
NexusFX Member Member since:Aug 2007 Location:Merriam, KS Blu-ray collection:35	Actually For Final Projects, you can render and finalize them in HD then just send the burn job to Toast 8 since Blu is supported

03-04-2008, 04:00 PM	#6
CptGreedle Blu-ray Ninja Member since:Jul 2007 Location:Sworn super-hero now services Atlanta (and suburbs). Blu-ray collection:128 Blu-ray reviews:5	Ok... FCP will let you render and author things in HD, but when it does, you can not burn BD content. This also means no BD menus and no BD encodes. So once you have it you can try to burn it using Toast but last I heard Toast will only let you burn BD data and not a movie (i.e. for a BD player). I am not sure about this since I have not tried but there is a strong chance that it will not let you burn a BD movie. Either way it does not have menus and other BD content. The ONLY software right now that supports BD content and BD menus and the like is by Adobe, called Encore. It is bundled with the pro/suite version of Premiere, and will authorize and encode and burn BD content. However FCP is likely to add BD support later this year. The only problem is will it be an upgrade for FCP suite2 only? Or will it include FCP suite 1? Or will it be a brand new version of FCP that requires a purchase? Also, when will it be available? So for now, use FCP to make your videos cause it does an AWESOME job. But you will have to find another way to burn it to Blu-ray until it is supported. But since there is an official BD encoded DVD, you can try to encode a small amount of data to a DVD (like a short film) that will play in BD players. I have not tried this yet but supposedly it will work. Last edited by CptGreedle; 03-04-2008 at 04:02 PM.

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03-03-2008, 09:36 PM	#2
mastertang Active Member Member since:May 2007 Blu-ray collection:62 Blu-ray reviews: 3	As of today FCS only lets you burn HD content onto a DVD. I would not bother with it until they bother to create a decent Blu authoring tool.

03-03-2008, 11:14 PM	#4
warhawk21114 Active Member Member since:Jun 2007 Location:Maryland Blu-ray collection:4	are you sure, I heard that it compressed it something awful

03-04-2008, 03:53 PM	#5
Pato_Londres Junior Member Member since:Mar 2008	NexusFX seems to think that I can make a Blu-ray disc using Apple FCPS but warhawk21114 has there doubts that it will work. Is there anyone with direct experience of authoring using Apple FCPS? Does anyone know the time-line for supporting Blu-ray? Apple must do this eventually. Any help or inside knowledge gratefully received. Thank you.

03-04-2008, 04:13 PM	#7
Pato_Londres Junior Member Member since:Mar 2008	Thanks for this. What you say is really helpful. Proper support for Blu-ray must come soon to FCPS - I hope!

03-04-2008, 04:17 PM	#8
redblotch83 Member Member since:Dec 2007 Location:Los Angeles Blu-ray collection:27 DVD collection:6	Buy an avid instead.

03-04-2008, 05:58 PM	#9
Bobby Henderson Power Member Member since:Jan 2008 Location:Oklahoma Blu-ray collection:96 Blu-ray reviews: 12	Adobe Production Studio is arguably one of the best values in professional level audio video authoring suites. Lots of Apple FCP fans like to dismiss Premiere Pro, but it's still a very good application. The real stars of the suite are After Effects, Photoshop and Illustrator. Those are industry leading applications most owners of other suites (Avid, Apple, etc.) end up having to buy -and then they end up paying quite a bit more for buying them as separates instead of saving a lot of cash in buying the suite. For motion graphics and effects compositing, the only things any better than After Effects is the $5000 Eyeon Software application Fusion 5. And then there's extremely high priced systems from Autodesk/Discreet (Flame, Inferno, etc.). The Windows version of Production Studio CS3 includes OnLocation CS3 -an application that makes it easy to record live video from your camera direct to hard disc.

03-04-2008, 07:08 PM	#10
Chevypower Special Member Member since:Feb 2008	Premiere Pro CS3 looks very good, but I would prefer full Blu Ray integration on Macs from iMovie, through to the full Final Cut Studio. This is promising news. http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/0...ay-coming.html I deal with both consumer and professional solutions, so a full system integration is important to me, and I am sure to a lot of other people too.

03-06-2008, 11:38 PM	#14
CreativeX Member Member since:Feb 2008	There is a post here on doing BD-J (http://dostudio.netblender.com/wikip...itheclipse.asp) with an open source project from Sun. I tried following it but its over my head.

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