Re: Final Cut Server - $$$ ?

Hi Jessica,

It is possible to DIY Final Cut Server but I can tell you first hand its a journey. Even if your IT guys are like super-uber-geek-heroes, they will struggle with FCS and its idiosyncrasies. If you can afford a little downtime here and there and your not already busting at the seams with deadlines and pressure, I'd say pay the $1000 and have a go.

The $80k you've been quoted must include some hardware, some of which you may need, and some you may not. Apple will take you down the fibre road for centralised editing, but that may not be necessary, depending on what you're editing etc and your workflow.

For example, we have about the same number of editors as you, but we work predominantly (but not exclusively) in SD formats (DV, ProRes normal etc). Our editors all work off central storage over ethernet, not fibre, and some of them are just on iMacs. It all works great, but it took some serious fiddling.

All that said, I DO NOT regret installing FCS ourselves. We are now extremely intimate with the product and can pretty much make it do whatever we want without being at the mercy of another company's time and knowledge. Worth the pain!

If you want to spend a bit of money on some help to get going, I can recommend a consultant that has helped us immensely by remote.

Feel free to contact me offline and I can tell you more about what we've done here.

Cheers,

Matt