Anyone using iMac/fcp? Opinions?

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I have used Adobe Premier for years, but with my recent entry into the P3 hobby, my old PC just cannot handle 4k video (not to mention 1080p video very well if much color grading is done). I also own an older (4+ years) copy of Premier, and do not relish the new cloud based subscription model if I want to get to the latest version. Adobe is such a hog, and that led me to start looking at alternatives...

Considering a change to an iMac. Would look at the 27" 4.0ghz 16 gb ram, 4gb graphics card, 512gb flash memory. And along with the switch to Mac... switching to FCP. Have read mixed reviews, but thinking I can learn it in a few weeks. Anyone using FCP? And any opinions on rendering 4K video on an iMac?
 
I have used Adobe Premier for years, but with my recent entry into the P3 hobby, my old PC just cannot handle 4k video (not to mention 1080p video very well if much color grading is done). I also own an older (4+ years) copy of Premier, and do not relish the new cloud based subscription model if I want to get to the latest version. Adobe is such a hog, and that led me to start looking at alternatives...

Considering a change to an iMac. Would look at the 27" 4.0ghz 16 gb ram, 4gb graphics card, 512gb flash memory. And along with the switch to Mac... switching to FCP. Have read mixed reviews, but thinking I can learn it in a few weeks. Anyone using FCP? And any opinions on rendering 4K video on an iMac?
I use FCPX and it is fantastic. It's intuitiveness reminds me of how I picked up Avid in college where I learned so much in marathon editing sessions. Great thing is its a one time purchase. About to cancel my CC sub for Photoshop and Lightroom as I hardly use them
As for using an iMac, as long as it's Retina you should be ok. I had iMac with 650m 1gb graphics when I first got my GP4 Black and it couldn't keep up with do to VRAM issues.
 
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Thanks! So you think that an iMac could run it well? No need for a Mac Pro? I am by no means a professional, but do a lot of photo editing (astrophotography is my other hobby -- claustonberry.com). But I migrated from PS for that and use PixInsight now for all my post work there. So I just can't see paying monthly for the creative suite. FCP certainly looks like a good alternative... from someone who has never owned a Mac or used anything but Premiere for vid editing.
 
I run it on an 27" iMac w/24gig of RAM. ;)
4K is not a problem. Not a big fan of the 'newer' FCP, it used to be pro software, now its like iMovie on steroids. Still works well.
 
Great. Do you have the upgraded processor or the 3.2? Can't decide if that is worth the money.

I have dabbled with premiere for years but by no means am I a professional (or even competent). I probably use 15% of its capability. But iMovie isn't quite enough. So hopefully it will be the sweet spot for me.
 
Great. Do you have the upgraded processor or the 3.2? Can't decide if that is worth the money.

I have dabbled with premiere for years but by no means am I a professional (or even competent). I probably use 15% of its capability. But iMovie isn't quite enough. So hopefully it will be the sweet spot for me.
Buy as much as you can afford. I always go the best I can on the hardware and buy the ram aftermarket. I did opt for traditional platter drive since SSD's are small & expensive ATM.
 
I use FCP on a MacBook Pro with the 3.5 processor. It works well but is mandatory with this setup to have external storage. I use a 3 TB Passport and that seems to be able to keep up. All my video files and libraries are also on the passport.
 

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