Customer Reviews

Apple Final Cut Server 10 Client [OLD VERSION]

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Anyone who has shopped around for a Digital Asset Management (DAM) System will attest they are often costly to buy, complex to use and require a lot of work getting everything setup. In my opinion Apple has hit a (near) home run with Final Cut Server and the price simply can't be touched by any other vendor .

My company needed a DAM to manage a lot of graphic files for things such as Letterheads, Websites, product brochures, etc. but we also wanted to create a lot of tutorial videos for our customers. The challenge is that we are not all in the same physical location, and this made keeping things organized in folders or trading files by E-mail too difficult and a problem.

We didn't simply need a system to manage Final Cut Pro files, but one to manage all of our digital assets centrally. The name of this product makes you believe that it is only for Final Cut, but it actually handles alot of other file types quite well. We used a lot of web graphics, project plans, etc. and so far everything is working quite well.

The nomenclature can be confusing, since it uses video production terms like "Production" to refer to what we deem as Projects. Other terms like Articles, Commercials and Package refer to standard video production house terms, but you can create your own using the powerful built-in metadata set editor tools.

The best features of the software:
1.) Extendable Metadata Sets - this is a huge plus. You can define your metadata fields, groups and sets to make organization easy and to fit the terms and language used to your environment (especially if you are not strictly video like us). For example, we created one called "Training" based on the Commercial metadata set and it contains only the fields we need and regularly use.

2.) The Java client works well across both OSX and Windows and looks identical. It is like no other Java app I've seen. it is clean, and almost beautiful to look at. If you are used to the rather ugly look and feel of Java, this will be a breath of fresh air and the consistency of look, feel and interface across platforms is terrific.

3.) Setup is quick and easy. The install is much better than expected and only takes 15 - 20 minutes. The instructions are well laid out and easy to understand. It took us a while to understand some of the terms, but one you have things organized, it's painless.

4.) Updates are handled through the Apple's OSX Update services so there is no additional maintenance for another app on your server.

5.) Despite the documentation, for a 10-user system the server requirements aren't bad at all (so far anyway). You do need plenty of disk space (based on your own needs) but the CPU requirements have so far been really low. We have it on a 2.0 Ghz Quad-core Intel-based server along with quite a few other web applications and find no problems at all.

We had a few minor issues at first, but recent updates (delivered through the OSX update feature) took care of most all of them. Today, everything works quite well and we are very happy with the system.

Whether you use Final Cut Pro for video or simply want a good DAM, Final Cut Server is worth a close look. Even if you have to purchase a server in order to use it (reconditioned ones are fairly priced), you simply can't beat the price, usability and extendability of this software. It rivals packages that sell for much, much more.

This is the software that Final Cut Studio users have been waiting for. Even in its first release it's very robust and adds huge productivity gains for networked users.

As a Prime member, I try to make all of my software purchases now from Amazon - no tax and 2-day shipping free!