When using a still image in Final Cut Pro, consider down sizing the image based on the application. For example if you are using a 3456 x 2304 (8 Megapixel) photo in a DV sequence (720 x 480) then Final Cut needs to do the scaling. If you were doing a photo montage with 200 pictures, this would cause a serious slow down in performance, and you would have plenty of opportunities to stare into the spinning beach ball.

Depending on how much you are planning to zoom in on an image, you will choose the size to reduce to. If you are working in a DV sequence and not zooming in on the photo at all, or applying a subtitle Ken Burns effect setting the height to 700 will provide a 1050 x 700 image. which will work great. When working in an HD sequence size your pictures to a height of 1500, which will give you a 2250 x 1500 image. You can do the down sizing using iPhoto, Aperture, Photoshop, or many other applications. You can export 1 image, or an entire folder of images.

Not working with images larger than they need to be is certainly a easy way to increase your productivity with Final Cut Pro.