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Utilities....
June 08, 2006 12:35PM
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Registered: 17 years ago
Posts: 13
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Just getting into FCP, Mac, and all that that implies...coming from the Unix world (20 years!)...and the Windows world (too many years!!)...
In terms of promoting a healthy environment for the mac to run fcp-studio and be connected to the internet (unfortunately), what utility software components does the membership recommend to this newbie?
Things like...
Add-ons to FCP?
firewalls
spyware
Virus protection
File recovery
Miscellaneous...
Thanks...
I'll start.
Firewall? OS X has one built in (System Preferences > Sharing). Haven't heard anyone say much about it pro or con, but it probably works pretty well. I don't feel the need for it with my home DSL, and at work we have a "real" firewall so don't use it there either.
Spyware/virus protection? NO. Don't install any; disable anything already there. Messes with FCP badly, and frankly gains you nothing but performance degradation. Macs -- so far -- are immune to the crap that infects PCs.
File recovery? Disk Warrior.
Add-ons to FCP? An endless list, mainly effects plugins and such. Best to see what FCP can do for you, then decide what seems to be lacking. Hang around this forum for discussion of all this stuff.
Scott
another vote for "nothing but disk warrior".
like everybody else says, macs arent largely subject to all that crap that effects windows machines. all the virus software will just slow down your machine and negatively effect FCP
Also get copy of MacJanitor - free here [ www.versiontracker.com] to run your unix daily, weekly, and monthly maintenance scripts whenever you want with a single click.
Mind you, as a Unix master, you'd probably be just as comfortable in the Terminal. 
DiskWarrior. No virus, spyware, adware junk required.
Since you asked an intelligent question, I will try to fill you in on what's available for MacOS X.
1- Everyone agrees on DiskWarrior. What is DiskWarrior?? It is a utility that does only one thing, but very well. It rebuilds disk directory structures on a hard drive. The reason that this can save your bacon is that most failures to access data on a MAC disk are directory related.
2 - TechTool Pro - Micromat has a winner with this utility! It does about everything pretty well. It tests your hardware and software files. It can test memory extensively. It can optimize your files on a disk. It has the ability to take a 8 GB partition from one of your drives and build an eDrive. This allows you a bootable medium that can hold all your utilities that you would normally have to startup from the CD to run them, including the Apple Disk Utilities.
3 - Apple Test Suite - Every MAC comes with a copy of the Apple test suite specifically for your MAC. If you call in for help using Applecare they will most likely ask you to run this suite of tests.
4 - In cases where DiskWarrior can't recover data loss, there is Data Rescue. This utility will attempt to resurect data from a drive that won't even mount!
All other packages are optional and may add some value to your system. There's Cocktail - MacJanitor and many others. Use at you own disgression.
No for the Don't s - Don't use any Symantec products for viruses or disk utilities. They are deadly in MacOS X - and Final Cut Pro, no matter what Symantec or others say.
Post Edited (06-09-06 05:45)
> Don't use any Symantec products for viruses or disk utilities.
Symantec products are crap. And they have the worst "customer support" I've seen anywhere. I had bought a copy of Norton Utilities and Internet Security when I'd first started owning a Mac, and not only did they never fix anything I could see, they also a) increase the occurrences of the Spinning Beach Ball of Death by about twofold; b) have a year-long license you'll have to pay for every year in order to get updates; and c) have Indian phone operators that are rude, condescending ("we are computer people, you are not"  , don't speak English nearly well enough, and will hang up on you. I had paid them to renew my license but never received the right codes to get my security updates, and their phone operators were so incompetent both linguistically and in terms of customer service that I just let it go, deleted everything with the words "Symantec" or "Norton" from my system. And my system began behaving more normally again.
Death to Symantec!
I'll chime in on plug-ins for FCP:
One's I use all the time:
CGM
BCC--expensive but worth it.
Joe's Filters--I swear I didn't think I'd use it much, but the arrow and shapes I use all the time.
Eureka
I'll second the motion on Disc Warrior and MacJanitor. If you ever have a crash, repair permissions using the built-in utility every time.
AND
Not sure how other people feel about this, but I usually rebuild my hard drive from scratch at the end of the year (because it's a slow time for me). Takes a day, but it seems to clear up the small bug-a-boos that build up over time.
Then again, I am using a Cinewave capture card, which is kind of like handling fine china. It is awesome, if you're careful.
Craig Hotti
Pen to Pixels, Inc.
www.pentopixels.net
Onyx is a nice full-featured OSX housekeeping utility.
FCP Rescue is *very* important for uninterrupted workflow. Great piece of scripting.
Now, if rather than PC or Unix you came from Mac OS9 -- there are still a few holdouts -- and you're hurting for some of the classic interface with OSX snap and pizazz, that's another set of utilities. Check this out:
www.lafcpug.org/feature_osx_tools.html
I mean, some folks really don't like the Dock popping up over the timeline.
- Loren
Today's FCP 5 keytip:
Preview effects sections with Option-P or Option-Backslash!
The FCP 5 KeyGuide?: a professional placemat.
Now available at KeyGuide Central:
www.neotrondesign.com
great link loren! i have been living and dying by fruitmenu and windowshade x for years now. i know im about to go off topic and open a big can of worms, but i think that osX in general is full of holes from a user experience level and replaced elegant functionality with a bunch of poorly executed eye candy.
fruitmenu and windowshade x bring conjure welcomed ghosts of a bygone and smarter era.
now if we could just figure out a way to kill the dock without hindering other more useful parts of the interface...
[now if we could just figure out a way to kill the dock without hindering other more useful parts of the interface.]
Wayne, check for "one more thing" at the end of that article. I'm still using the solution described there and it works fine in Panther and Tiger. I max out my timeline edge to edge and along the bottom of the Cinema Display without the Dock popping over it.
- Loren
Today's FCP 5 keytip:
Preview effects sections with Option-P or Option-Backslash!
The FCP 5 KeyGuide?: a professional placemat.
Now available at KeyGuide Central:
www.neotrondesign.com
hey loren, maybe im a big dummy - but i followed that link, copied the script. opened my com.apple.dock.plist in text edit, deleted the content and replaced it with the new, saved and restarted.
dock wasnt gone. it was bigger, didnt hide and my custom apps were now question marks.
any hints as to what i did wrong?
At the very least it should be a tiny Dock pinned to the lower right corner. It's possible you have some Dock prefs set which fight it. Checkl Dock contorl panel. I have mine set to Right, no magnification, etc.
You did archive your original Dock plist, right?
- Loren
Today's FCP 5 keytip:
Preview effects sections with Option-P or Option-Backslash!
The FCP 5 KeyGuide?: a professional placemat.
Now available at KeyGuide Central:
www.neotrondesign.com
oh of course! just dropped the old plist back in and things were fine!
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