OT: Essential Mac software we couldn't or shouldn't be without...

I just want to say a big thank you to all those companies and individuals (Graeme, Andy, Jon, Matthias and others) mentioned in the thread who supply these wonderful apps and extensions (whether commercially or for free) that allow us to circumvent issues and navigate our way through the amazingly complex matrix of technology we are inextricably joined to through our lifestyle and work.

I have sent out a few emails to the companies in question this week - I'd urge any of you guys to do the same and spread some love/gratitude so the people behind these apps know just how appreciated they are!



For instant answers to more than one hundred common FCP questions, check out the LAFCPUG FAQ Wiki here : [www.lafcpug.org]

In addition to all of the great software mentioned above..

I really like AutoMotion. It's saved the lives of countless, clueless, indecisive producers.

Keylight works well too.

Maybe someone will compile a list and put it somewhere convenient on the LAFCPUG site?

Joe Brown

derekmok Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I used to be technical support for an editing lab
> filled with three years of film grad students --
> around 250 active external drives going in and out
> of that place. DiskWarrior was the "holy saviour"
> in those times. It can rescue drives that appear
> dead to everybody (including Apple's support
> personnel), it can "see" drives that aren't
> visible even to System Profiler and Disk Utility.
> Yes, DiskWarrior only does one thing, but it does
> it remarkably well. TechTool Pro had
> directory-repair functions when I used it, but I
> have a huge bias against TechTool because the last
> time I used it, it managed to push one dying
> system drive over the edge rather than rescue it.
> So instead of a huffing and puffing boot drive, I
> had a completely dead one. DiskWarrior has never
> done that to me.
>

Hi Derek - would you therefore say that a drive which has failed can therefore have it's content recovered and be repaired by diskwarrior?

Quote

Hi Derek - would you therefore say that a drive which has failed can therefore have it's content recovered and be repaired by diskwarrior?

In some cases repairing the directory and the files using Disk Warrior can rescue a seemingly "dead" HDD.

It really depends on the level of damage - if it is not physical damage to the disk (which you cannot always tell) then I would recommend Disk Warrior is your first port of call.

Then there is DataRescue 3 [www.prosofteng.com] which is designed to recover deleted or seriously damaged files. Results vary.

Echoing Derek's comment regarding TechTool Pro; it is useful for the other tests it performs but I strongly suggest you avoid using it to repair the directory of any HDD. Only Disk Warrior in my experience can do this properly.



For instant answers to more than one hundred common FCP questions, check out the LAFCPUG FAQ Wiki here : [www.lafcpug.org]

Onyx maintenance utility.


AJA's System Test for hard drive speed reads, and their Data Rate Calculator.

Ditto Andreas' Digital Rebellion Maintenance Pack.

Ditto Ben's DH Reincarnation, pretty darn good, just used it on a lousy telecine.
And DH's Videospace. With special thanks for a list with links!

Ditto Nick's QuicKeys, of course. Can't live without it.

Derek brought up a good point about clash between TechTool and DW-- I sense they don't like eachother's directory rebuilds. Dunno why. But I stay away from TT's directory repair function, I leave that to DW. I do use TT for disk optimizing, file defragging, etc.

- Loren

Today's FCP 7 keytip:
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Quote
Ditto Andreas' Digital Rebellion Maintenance Pack.

Actually that is Jon Chappell's Digital Rebellion Maintenance Pack.

Of course Andreas has many must have apps too.

Michael Horton
-------------------

I stand corrected.

- Loren

Today's FCP 7 keytip:
Play from Playhead to Out Mark with Shift-P !

Your Final Cut Studio KeyGuide? Power Pack.
Now available at KeyGuide Central.
www.neotrondesign.com

I love this thread. I dont use all of these things. I need to wake up and smell coffee.

I use TechTools which is not excellent and ...

CS5 Masters Collection
Blender ( but c4d is better)
Carbon Copy Cloner
mpeg clipstream ( Rips and sometimes conversion)
Clip Wrap (mts conversion)
Font Explorer
FileZilla & Captain FTP ( FTP and file transfer)
FX Factory (creating nice, quick looks in fcp)
Studiomentry & Things (for planning)
ResCalculator
PROTOOLS 8

BTW, What does R-name do that automator will not? I have it but don't use it.

I use automator for renaming, but dont like the fact that it copies the file with the new name as a new file, dbl'ing the data. Its better than manual input though.


Video & Film Industry people with Android phones check out THESE APPs

I use Celeste Lite, Location Scout, DigiSlate & CamCalc

""" What you do with what you have, is more important than what you could do, with what you don't have."

> > > Knowledge + Action = Wisdom - J. Corbett 1992 """"

>I use automator for renaming, but dont like the fact that it copies the file with the
>new name as a new file, dbl'ing the data.

Not true. Automator will prompt you to add a "copy finder items" node. Just click "don't add". Automator doesn't add or change extensions. You need to download Automator actions for that. Also, automator doesn't let you see the change before committing.



www.strypesinpost.com

I love this thread too.
Ben - a great idea to start this thread.
I think if somebody will sort all the stuff it should go to FAQ -- and I definitively will help.

My opinion is that there should some must have apps which should be on any system (regardless of FCP installed or not). There are other apps which are a must have when working with FCP. And then there are apps which which are a must have when you're working in your special 'niche' (where the 'niche' has to be defined).

Just take me and my needs as an example.
I don't do any fancy TV spots any more, I don't cut any TV shows or movies anymore. My work is to cut movies for R&D which involves a lot of VFX, Color Corection, Color matching, rotoscoping and retiming of clips/movies and also organizing this often real big amount of clips. (We are going just to final backup a last years project - it's about 20 TB.) For me FCPS, AE, Twixtor and FileMaker are essential beside my standards like Disk Warrior, CCC and Cocktail. Also Skype often had been a live saver either for me or my customers.
On the other hand I do often organize those crazy daily soaps I never will look on TV and therefore there are other apps involved I don't use personally but I test them and recommend them as usable or best to use.
As some of you know I'm also involved in subtitling which gets more and more important in global digital TV and this Internet TV stuff. Bouke, Martin and me (even though we are competitors) try to get a common standard for our subtitle text generators in the part of language(ID) - and it's open to any developer who wants to integrate XML to interpret this 'standard'. All of our generators are different, but at least one of those is a real must have if you want to do good subtitles and want to stay organized. Andy Mees and me also started to create some title generator some time ago based on the Apple generator FX example - both of us never published any thing, but there might be something soon (it's already in Motion).
I'm also involved in organizing multiple cameras and external sound. Plural Eyes is the very best and a must have if you don't have (or can't afford) the equipment to sync all cameras and maybe audio devices by hardware. So for me - even if I use it only randomly - it's a must have in this case. There is also Bouke's LTC reader, Philip's sync tool or my sequenceLiner which could be helpful. But that's a flavor of my/your work.
Here we come to some hardware (dependent on the job you are doing). For example the Ambient LockIt and LancLogger or similar product can save you a real lot of time - if you know how to use it. It's a basic device for some of the upcoming big movie releases.
There are also card readers which accept all kind of cards - including P2 cards.

So finally I just wanted to say: It's just about the job we have to do. I got mine, you got yours. It would be great to sort the stuff a bit.

Andreas

OK. Outside the main graphics / edit software packages and plug-ins, these are vital to my sanity:

WMV Studio Pro HD
PFHoe
Skype
iStat Menus (use this many times every day - MUST HAVE)
Firefox
CoRD
Screen Sharing (within the OS)
Citrix VPN Client
Coconut Battery
Aspera Connect
SWF & FLV Player
FileZilla
Canon Camera Window
AJA System Test
AJA Data Rate Calculator (iPhone as well)
AJA TV
Handbrake
Microsoft Office
Perian
Epson Scan
uTorrent
MPEG Streamclip
Cinebench
Disk Warrior
Layer Splitter
Star Wars Icon Set (so I'm a SW geek...you got a problem with that?)

...probably 10 or 15 more items I can't think...too many plates in the air right now...

When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

Layer Splitter is very cool - hadn't heard of it but buying it now - thanks for the advice!

You can use it to break out a single massive layered PSD document into individual TARGA files w/alpha. Great app.

When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

I just thought of another one. I use Firefox and when I want to download a YouTube movie or Vidoe or something, I have what's called "DownloadHelper" which is an "add-on" right within Firefox. Allows me to download FLV's & such while they are playing in my browser.

As my friend Ben would say: Brilliant. Cheers.

When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

Panic Transmit for FTP -- save your logins as Droplets that Compressor can use to automatically upload jobs.

Digital Heaven Loader -- saves a LOT of time converting and copying audio to the scratch disc

PluralEyes -- I'm never manually syncing dual system audio again. Ever.

Chronosync -- This will synchronize the contents of two folders or directories; absolutely essential when you have a tower plus a laptop and need to make sure you have a mirrored version of a project folder before you leave town.

_______________________________________
SCQT! Self-contained QuickTime ? pass it on!

For everyone following this thread Alsoft just released the latest upgrade to Disk Warrior 4.3

[www.Alsoft.com]

If you haven't got Disk Warrior I suggest you get it.



For instant answers to more than one hundred common FCP questions, check out the LAFCPUG FAQ Wiki here : [www.lafcpug.org]

Andreas wrote-

[There are also card readers which accept all kind of cards - including P2 cards. ]

Which of these do you recommend?


- Loren

Today's FCP 7 keytip:
Play from Playhead to Out Mark with Shift-P !

Your Final Cut Studio KeyGuide? Power Pack.
Now available at KeyGuide Central.
www.neotrondesign.com

Loren,

I've seen the Sonnet in action with a customer, I don't use it by myself.
Was really impressive because of the eSATA speed and the hardware interface. But it is really not that cheap. But if you need it on the set it's really worth the money.

Most of my customers do send hard disks with the cards already copied. So there is no need for me to buy a 'real' card reader. For stuff from the Canon EOS or Pana G(H)2 or others I do have some REVOLTEC USB card readers. They are only USB 2 -- so you stuck with that speed. But they are well designed, work nicely and accept all of the standard cards except P2 or other custom format cards - you get five different slots. And it sells for 30 bucks. Having a few of them and an USB hub is not fast but convenient.

Andreas

I just picked up this nice piece of software [ DiskLibrary ] which catalogs your external drives, DVDs, CDs, networked drives, USB sticks or whatever and gives you a searchable iTunes like database. Love it. I will be spending all day in geeky bliss filling it up with info.

Every one has named my 'have to have' apps though I was unfamiliar with R-Name. Would like to add: Super Duper which I use once a month and either App Delete or App Zapper as they find all those little hidden caches and files when I need to delete an app. Great thread.
Steve

steve-sharksdelight

TextExpander
Transmit
and a phone

------------------------
Dean

"When I see you floating down the gutter I'll give you a bottle of wine."
Captain Beefheart, Trout Mask Replica.