Final Cut Server 1.1
source: http://www.networkworld.com/news/2008/072408-final-cut-server.html
-
-
- smorrisey
- added this
Apple's long-awaited Final Cut Server 1.1 is a complex and powerful tool for Final Cut Pro users who have advanced requirements for organizing large amounts of footage, working with multiple editors and/or artists, or needing to automate certain production steps.
Final Cut Server is a client-server-based workflow tool that can potentially help you in three ways: in cataloging and searching assets, especially video-based assets; with version control through check-in and check-out capabilities and approval; and with automation capabilities to convert, copy, and execute scripts.
Interface
You can run the server side of Final Cut Server with a variety of hardware, from a high-end Xserve to a Mac Pro. From the main interface, you can see thumbnails, double-click to see small H.264 previews, see all the shot metadata, and drag a shot or group of shots directly into Final Cut Pro--very slick. The interface is intuitive and most features are pretty obvious and user-friendly. The software never crashed during my testing, and the documentation is up to Apple's usual high standards. I was not able to evaluate setup and installation because Apple provided a system that was preconfigured and had the software installed.
Catalog and search
Final Cut Server has powerful, flexible, and easy-to-use catalog and searching capabilities. This is useful when you have hundreds or thousands of clips for multiple projects that pull video from the same collection of footage, or one massive project for which you need better searching capabilities than those in Final Cut Pro.
The way Final Cut Server catalogs files, and the ease with which you can create detailed, customized, savable searches are major selling points. These will be the most readily usable features for most users.
Unlike other asset-management systems I've used that were aimed at Web or print production, Final Cut Server does not copy your footage or other assets and store them in a separate catalog file or database. Instead, it updates a catalog when new files are placed in folders it has been told to "watch" (more on that later). This allows you to organize your assets in exactly the way they are already working for you.
When assets are added to the catalog, either manually or via the folder-watching feature, the program will generate still and video thumbnails of the clips, and gather metadata (information about your assets) such as the shot name and any logging notes you made, all of which you can search later--even if the source files are in separate storage drives not connected to Final Cut Server. This is handy for shops that have lots of FireWire drives filled with footage...
...You can also create scripts for complex operations, like publishing content to a custom Web page and having a client provide feedback via the Web back to Final Cut Server. The catch is, many of the advanced capabilities are contingent on custom scripting. You can use Ruby scripts, Automator scripts, and others, but it is up to you to provide or build them. That is a huge barrier for most users, and significantly limits the usefulness of the product for nonscripters if the application doesn't already do what you want it to do.
Final Cut Server is great for consultants and developers--the package is inexpensive for enterprise-level software, but to really get the most out of it, you could easily spend more on the custom integration work than on the software will.
Final Cut Server is a client-server-based workflow tool that can potentially help you in three ways: in cataloging and searching assets, especially video-based assets; with version control through check-in and check-out capabilities and approval; and with automation capabilities to convert, copy, and execute scripts.
Interface
You can run the server side of Final Cut Server with a variety of hardware, from a high-end Xserve to a Mac Pro. From the main interface, you can see thumbnails, double-click to see small H.264 previews, see all the shot metadata, and drag a shot or group of shots directly into Final Cut Pro--very slick. The interface is intuitive and most features are pretty obvious and user-friendly. The software never crashed during my testing, and the documentation is up to Apple's usual high standards. I was not able to evaluate setup and installation because Apple provided a system that was preconfigured and had the software installed.
Catalog and search
Final Cut Server has powerful, flexible, and easy-to-use catalog and searching capabilities. This is useful when you have hundreds or thousands of clips for multiple projects that pull video from the same collection of footage, or one massive project for which you need better searching capabilities than those in Final Cut Pro.
The way Final Cut Server catalogs files, and the ease with which you can create detailed, customized, savable searches are major selling points. These will be the most readily usable features for most users.
Unlike other asset-management systems I've used that were aimed at Web or print production, Final Cut Server does not copy your footage or other assets and store them in a separate catalog file or database. Instead, it updates a catalog when new files are placed in folders it has been told to "watch" (more on that later). This allows you to organize your assets in exactly the way they are already working for you.
When assets are added to the catalog, either manually or via the folder-watching feature, the program will generate still and video thumbnails of the clips, and gather metadata (information about your assets) such as the shot name and any logging notes you made, all of which you can search later--even if the source files are in separate storage drives not connected to Final Cut Server. This is handy for shops that have lots of FireWire drives filled with footage...
...You can also create scripts for complex operations, like publishing content to a custom Web page and having a client provide feedback via the Web back to Final Cut Server. The catch is, many of the advanced capabilities are contingent on custom scripting. You can use Ruby scripts, Automator scripts, and others, but it is up to you to provide or build them. That is a huge barrier for most users, and significantly limits the usefulness of the product for nonscripters if the application doesn't already do what you want it to do.
Final Cut Server is great for consultants and developers--the package is inexpensive for enterprise-level software, but to really get the most out of it, you could easily spend more on the custom integration work than on the software will.
