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Apple just released the new iMac's and they are incredible. For the first time you can get into a Quad core Final Cut system for under $3000. That's right the iMac line now has a quad core machine. If that's not enough the top end iMac now has a 27 inch screen with 2560 by 1440 resolution, and a 512MB ATI Radeon HD 4850 graphics card.
At GeniusDV we use iMac's in our classroom for our Final Cut Studio training. Aside from some limitations to what you can hook up to an iMac in terms of peripherals, the iMac's make for great Final Cut systems. I have personally edited numerous jobs on an iMac, and find them to be quite satisfactory.
I always tell students that unless you need to have MacPro for whatever reason, consider getting both a MacBook Pro, and an iMac. I find that you can get so much accomplished having two systems. Personally I can't imagine not having a MacBook Pro, because I travel so much, and do plenty of editing at 30,000 feet. With this new iMac I can now have a powerful desktop system as the primary Final Cut Studio editing system, and the MacBook Pro system too, for thousands less than a high end MacPro system.
As you may have noticed, Apple has retired LiveType as of Final Cut Studio 3. Fortunately for you LiveType folks, though, you can get to almost all of LiveType's functionality in Motion (plus a lot more).Background
Our students really seem to like LiveType's LiveFonts -- sets of animated glyphs with which you could type as if they were a regular font. In my grouchy opinion, the stock LiveFonts quickly grew stale as they began to appear all over the place, but even I have to acknowledge that there are some really nice third-party LiveFonts available, and many of my students have chosen to invest in those.
Motion can indeed use all of your LiveFonts, although it might not be immediately obvious. If you're new from LiveType, you should first realize that the Inspector in Motion works very similarly to the Inspector in LiveType -- and all of the LiveFonts functionality is controlled there. Motion's Library also contains thumbnail previews of all of the LiveFonts you have installed.
Read on for the Step by Step ...
Continue reading LiveFonts in Apple Motion.
Google's Sketchup is an amazing 3D modeling program that has users from all walks of life from professionals to first timers. Whether you're an architect, civil engineer, or filmmaker, you will be astounded at what Sketchup can do for you. And the best part? It's one of the easiest programs out there to learn and use. With Sketchup, you can build everything from basic 3D models to entire scenes with a virtual walk-through, and it allows you to add your 3D elements into your video projects.
Other features of Sketchup is the ability to facilitate the placement of models in Google Earth, which is a great tool for video producers when trying to figure out where your shadows lie at a specific time of day during a video shoot. Another great feature is the ability to use the 3D Warehouse, which lets users search for models that are created by other users and lets users contribute their own models to the warehouse.There's no limit to what you can create with Google's Sketchup. There is a limit however to our class size, so call today to reserve your spot!
Using Live Fonts in Motion or LiveType is a popular way to create professional titles with Final Cut Studio. If you have a particular Live Font you like to use often, you can save it as a Template in Motion, and it will appear in Final Cut Pro as a Master Template.

Continue reading Creating Live Font Master Templates in Motion.
Final Cut Studio 3 came out this week, and we are seeing many new an exciting features. We are already hard at work updating our Final Cut Studio training classes to incorporate the new features of the various applications.
Some of the most notable changes in the Final Cut Studio come in the export options of Final Cut Pro 7, that utilizes the power of Compessor 3.5. Final Cut 7 also introduces an exciting new Apple Pro Res 4444 codec, and improved slow motion. Compressor 3.5 has a number of new features including the ability output directly to Blu-ray, YouTube, or Mobile Me.
One sad note is that LiveType is not shipping with the Final Cut Studio any more. LiveType was always a great complimentary application to Final Cut Pro. The expectation is that users will go to Motion for all of the features that they would have used LiveType for. However LiveType had a much simpler learning curve, and it in fact was a great application to learn as you progressed into Motion. The Timing ability of LiveType is unmatched in any application of the current Final Cut Studio, and will certainly be missed. Luckily for those of us who are upgrading to Final Cut Studio 3 from Final Cut Studio 2, will still have LiveType.
The list price of Final Cut Studio 3 is $999, and the upgrade is $299. sign up to recieve GeniusDV posts about the new features of Final Cut Studio 3.
