Apple FINAL CUT SERVER Administration Guide
Final Cut Server
Setup and
Administration Guide
K
Apple Inc.
Copyright © 2008 Apple Inc. All rights reserved.
Your rights to the software are governed by the
accompanying software license agreement. The owner
or authorized user of a valid copy of Final Cut Server
software may reproduce this publication for the purpose
of learning to use such software. No part of this
publication may be reproduced or transmitted for
commercial purposes, such as selling copies of this
publication or for providing paid for support services.
The Apple logo is a trademark of Apple Inc., registered
in the U.S. and other countries. Use of the “keyboard”
Apple logo (Shift-Option-K) for commercial purposes
without the prior written consent of Apple may
constitute trademark infringement and unfair
competition in violation of federal and state laws.
Every effort has been made to ensure that the
information in this manual is accurate. Apple is not
responsible for printing or clerical errors.
Note:
Because Apple frequently releases new versions
and updates to its system software, applications, and
Internet sites, images shown in this book may be slightly
different from what you see on your screen.
Apple Inc.
1 Infinite Loop
Cupertino, CA 95014–2084
408-996-1010
www.apple.com
Apple, the Apple logo, Final Cut, Final Cut Pro,
Final Cut Studio, FireWire, Mac, Macintosh, Mac OS,
QuickTime, Tiger, Xsan, and Xserve are trademarks of
Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.
Finder, Leopard, and Spotlight are trademarks of Apple Inc.
AppleCare is a service mark of Apple Inc., registered in
the U.S. and other countries.
Intel, Intel Core, and Xeon are trademarks of Intel Corp.
in the U.S. and other countries.
PowerPC is a trademark of International Business
Machines Corporation, used under license therefrom.
Java and all Java-based trademarks and logos are
trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun
Microsystems, Inc. in the U.S. and other countries.
UNIX is a registered trademark of The Open Group.
Other company and product names mentioned herein
are trademarks of their respective companies. Mention
of third-party products is for informational purposes
only and constitutes neither an endorsement nor a
recommendation. Apple assumes no responsibility with
regard to the performance or use of these products.
Ducati and the Ducati logo are registered trademarks of
Ducati Motor Holding S.p.A. Used by permission.
Production stills from the film “Koffee House Mayhem”
provided courtesy of Jean-Paul Bonjour. “Koffee House
Mayhem” © 2004 Jean-Paul Bonjour. All rights reserved.
http://www.jbonjour.com
Production stills from the film “Les Poupets”
provided courtesy of Jean-Paul Bonjour. “Les Poupets”
© 2006 Jean-Paul Bonjour. All rights reserved.
http://www.jbonjour.com
1
Contents
Preface 7 Welcome to Final Cut Server Administration
7
Welcome to Final Cut Server
8
Resources for Learning About Final Cut Server
10
Contacting AppleCare Support
Part I Installation and Configuration
Chapter 1 13 Overview of Final Cut Server
13
About Servers and Clients
15
Building a Final Cut Server System
16
Storage Device Strategy
17
Basic Final Cut Server Administration Tasks
Chapter 2 19 Using the Installer
19
About Installing and Setting Up Final Cut Server
21
Using the Final Cut Server Installer
29
About the Customer Profiles
32
About Final Cut Server and Compressor
35
Updating Your License
37
Registering Final Cut Server
Chapter 3 39 Configuring System Preferences
39
Introduction to Final Cut Server System Preferences
40
General Pane Settings
42
Group Permissions Pane Settings
43
Devices Pane Settings
44
Automations Pane Settings
45
Backup Pane Settings
3
Chapter 4 47 Adding Users and Groups
47
About Users and Groups
49
Using the Accounts Pane of System Preferences
53
Using Mac OS X Server Workgroup Manager
56
Adding Groups to Final Cut Server
57
About the Permission Sets
Chapter 5 59 Using Device Setup Assistant
59
Introduction to Devices
60
About Creating Devices
61
About the Default Devices
62
Adding a Device
68
Device Type Configurations
73
Editing an Existing Device
74
Deleting an Existing Device
Chapter 6 77 Using Automation Setup Assistant
77
About Creating Automations
78
About the Default Automations
79
Creating Automations
88
Editing an Existing Automation
89
Deleting an Existing Automation
Chapter 7 91 Backing Up Final Cut Server
91
Introduction to Backing Up Your System
92
Backup Strategies
94
Backing Up Your Final Cut Server Catalog
95
About the Backup Files
96
Restoring Your Final Cut Server Catalog
Chapter 8 99 Installing Final Cut Server Clients
Introduction to the Final Cut Server Client
99
10 0
Using Java Web Start
10 3
About the Java Web Start Client Files
4
Contents
Part II General Administration
Chapter 9 107 General Settings and Preferences
10 7
Final Cut Server Administration Overview
113
Working with the Administration Window
11 5
Preference Settings in the Final Cut Server Client Administration Window
121
User-Configurable Preference Settings
12 2
Administrator-Only Client Functions
12 4
About Unicode Support
Chapter 10 125 Groups and Permissions
12 5
About Groups and Permissions
12 5
Adding Groups to Final Cut Server
12 7
Adding and Managing Permission Sets
Chapter 11 135 Managing Metadata
13 5
Introduction to Metadata
13 8
Metadata Fields
14 3
Metadata Groups
14 8
Metadata Mapping
151
Metadata Lookups
15 4
Managing Metadata Sets
15 6
Metadata Synchronization Policy
15 8
Using Metadata to Configure the User Interface
160
About QuickTime Metadata
Chapter 12 163 Managing Devices
163
About Devices
164
Adding a Device Using the Administration Window
167
Editing a Device Using the Administration Window
168
Deleting an Existing Device Using the Administration Window
169
About Specialized Devices
174
Device Type Details
18 2
Searching Devices
Chapter 13 187 Managing Transcode Settings
187
About Transcode Settings
18 8
Adding Transcode Settings
19 0
Assigning Transcode Settings to Devices
Contents
5
Chapter 14 193 Managing Automations
19 3
About Final Cut Server Automation
19 5
General Automation Tips
19 6
Response Pane and Window
212
Watcher Pane and Window
215
Subscription Pane and Window
217
Schedule Pane and Window
Chapter 15 219 About Jobs and Logs
219
Viewing Final Cut Server Status
220
About Jobs and the Search All Jobs Window
225
About the Log Pane
226
About the Log Window
Glossary 227
Index 233
6
Contents
Welcome to Final Cut Server
Administration
This chapter covers the following:
Welcome to Final Cut Server (p. 7)
Â
Â
Resources for Learning About Final Cut Server (p. 8)
Â
Contacting AppleCare Support (p. 10)
Welcome to Final Cut Server
Final Cut Server is powerful media asset management and workflow automation
software. Final Cut Server makes it easy to manage large collections of media files. Its
capabilities also extend to tracking job status, orchestrating reviews and approvals, and
automating complex sequences of tasks—all in a single product designed to work
seamlessly with Final Cut Pro.
Installing Final Cut Server also installs Compressor. This powerful transcoding
application provides Final Cut Server with a large variety of preconfigured transcode
settings that you can use when uploading or copying media files to Final Cut Server
devices. You can also create custom settings in Compressor that you can add to the
Final Cut Server transcode settings list.
Preface
7
Resources for Learning About Final Cut Server
There are a variety of resources for you to use when learning about your
Final Cut Server system.
Final Cut Server Printed Documentation
This guide is one of two printed documents that are included with Final Cut Server.
Â
Final Cut Server Setup and Administration Guide:
configure, and administer most components of the Final Cut Server system. It does
not describe day-to-day use of the system, such as browsing assets and managing
jobs, productions, and orders, which are described in the
Important:
assumed in the
Â
Final Cut Server User Manual:
Final Cut Server client for the day-to-day use of the system, such as browsing assets,
managing jobs, and managing productions.
An understanding of the material in the
Final Cut Server Setup and Administration Guide.
The user manual describes how to use the
Final Cut Server Onscreen Manuals
Onscreen versions of each of the printed documents are also available while using or
administering Final Cut Server.
Â
From the Final Cut Server client:
users from the client’s Help menu. The
Guide
is also available from the client’s Help menu if you are logged in with
administration privileges.
Â
From the Final Cut Server server’s System Preferences:
Administration Guide
Preferences by clicking the question mark located in the lower-right corner.
can be accessed from the server’s Final Cut Server System
The
Final Cut Server User Manual
Final Cut Server Setup and Administration
This guide describes how to install,
Final Cut Server User Manual.
Final Cut Server User Manual
is available for all
The
Final Cut Server Setup and
is
The content of the onscreen versions of this documentation is identical to the printed
versions. The onscreen versions, however, are fully hyperlinked and enhanced with
many features that make locating information quick and easy:
Â
The access page provides quick access to various features, including the index and
other relevant documents and websites.
Â
A comprehensive bookmark list allows you to quickly choose what you want to see
and takes you there as soon as you click the link.
8 Preface
Welcome to Final Cut Server Administration
In addition to these navigational tools, the onscreen documents give you other means
to locate information quickly:
 All cross-references in the text are linked. You can click any cross-reference and jump
immediately to that location. Then, you can use the Preview Back button to return to
where you were before you clicked the cross-reference.
 The table of contents and index are also linked. If you click an entry in either of these
sections, you jump directly to that section of the document.
 You can use the Find dialog to search the text for specific words or phrases.
Apple Websites
There are a variety of Apple websites that you can visit to find additional information.
Final Cut Server Website
Go here for general information and updates as well as the latest news on
Final Cut Server.
To access the Final Cut Server website, go to:
http://www.apple.com/finalcutserver
Â
There are also a variety of discussion boards, forums, and educational resources related
to Final Cut Server on the web.
Apple Service and Support Website
Go here for software updates and answers to the most frequently asked questions for all
Apple products, including Final Cut Server. You’ll also have access to product specifications,
reference documentation, and Apple and third-party product technical articles.
To access the Apple Service and Support webpage, go to:
 http://www.apple.com/support
To access the Final Cut Server support page, go to:
 http://www.apple.com/support/finalcutserver
To access the Apple discussion pages, go to:
 http://discussions.info.apple.com
Preface
Welcome to Final Cut Server Administration
9
Contacting AppleCare Support
Information about the support options available from Apple is included in your
Final Cut Server box. Several levels of support are available.
Whatever your issue, it’s a good idea to have the following information immediately
available when you contact Apple for support. The more of this information you have
to give to the support agents, the faster they will be able to address your issue.
 The Final Cut Server Support ID number found on the front of the serial number
sheet included in your Final Cut Server box.
Note: The 11-digit Support ID number is different from the product serial number
used to install Final Cut Server.
 The version of Leopard or Leopard Server you have installed. To find the version,
choose Apple menu > About This Mac.
 The version of Final Cut Server you have installed that you have a question about. To
find the version of Final Cut Server on your computer, choose Final Cut Server >
About Final Cut Server.
 The model of computer you are using.
 The amount of RAM installed in your computer. You can determine this by choosing
Apple menu > About This Mac.
 What other third-party hardware is connected to or installed in the computer, and
who the manufacturers are. Include hard drives, graphics cards, and so on.
To access AppleCare Support for Final Cut Server, go to:
http://www.apple.com/support/finalcutserver
Â
There is also an item in each Final Cut Server client’s Help menu that will take you
directly to the AppleCare website.
To go to the AppleCare website from within a Final Cut Server client:
m Choose Help > Final Cut Server Support.
10 Preface Welcome to Final Cut Server Administration
Part I: Installation
and Configuration
This part of the manual contains the information you need
to install and configure Final Cut Server for a basic system.
Chapter 1 Overview of Final Cut Server
Chapter 2 Using the Installer
Chapter 3 Configuring System Preferences
Chapter 4 Adding Users and Groups
Chapter 5 Using Device Setup Assistant
Chapter 6 Using Automation Setup Assistant
Chapter 7 Backing Up Final Cut Server
I
Chapter 8 Installing Final Cut Server Clients
1 Overview of Final Cut Server
1
This chapter covers the following:
 About Servers and Clients (p. 13)
 Building a Final Cut Server System (p. 15)
 Storage Device Strategy (p. 16)
 Basic Final Cut Server Administration Tasks (p. 17)
This chapter provides a general overview of Final Cut Server, including information on
storage strategies and basic administration tasks.
About Servers and Clients
Final Cut Server is based on a client/server model. This allows many people using
Final Cut Server clients to simultaneously access the Final Cut Server catalog (which
contains all media files and information about the assets and productions
Final Cut Server is managing). Clients can lock and check out assets used in
productions (which are collections of assets and Final Cut Pro projects), preventing
others from making unexpected changes.
13
The computer used as the server for Final Cut Server needs to have Mac OS X v10.5
Leopard or Mac OS X Server v10.5 Leopard or later installed. This computer can be used
to store your assets and productions, or it can be connected to a variety of external
devices that contain the assets, such as media servers or an Apple Xsan volume.
Final Cut Server system
FireWire
device
Client1Client2Client3Client4Client
Media server
device
Final Cut Server computer
Xsan
volume
Clients 1, 2, and 3 do not have
direct access to the Xsan volume
5
and must access the Xsan indirectly
through Final Cut Server. Clients 4
and 5 do have direct access and
can take advantage of edit-in-place
performance improvements.
Because the Final Cut Server client is a Java-based application, the client computers can
be of a wide variety of types. Also, depending on what the user needs to do with the
client (for example, using Final Cut Studio with a direct connection to an Xsan or only
using the client to review assets), the client computers do not have to be as powerful
as the server computer. Clients can be installed on operating systems other than
Mac OS X—Final Cut Server clients are also compatible with Windows XP and
Windows Vista operating systems.
There are two versions of Final Cut Server: one that supports up to 10 clients logged in
at one time and another that supports an unlimited number of clients logged in at the
same time. In all other ways, the two versions of Final Cut Server are identical, and this
manual applies to both.
14 Part I Installation and Configuration
I
Building a Final Cut Server System
A Final Cut Server system requires a Macintosh computer, such as an Intel-based Xserve
or a Mac Pro computer, with Mac OS X v10.5 Leopard or Mac OS X Server v10.5
Leopard Server or later installed. In general, while Leopard provides sufficient
administration tools for smaller Final Cut Server systems, Leopard Server is
recommended for most installations. This is because it has many more administration
tools and is better suited for providing for general server needs.
For the best performance, the computer used as the server should not be used for
other duties. Managing assets, particularly transcoding the assets and creating the
proxy files (low resolution versions of the original asset), can require significant
computer resources. You can, however, use the server computer for other tasks,
including using the Final Cut Studio applications, if needed. You just need to keep in
mind that the computer’s performance is affected by any Final Cut Server activity.
Additionally, you may find that configuring Spotlight to avoid searching the folders you
are using as devices can improve your performance. This is especially true for the
Proxies and Edit Proxies devices, which can have a lot of activity, causing Spotlight to
spend a lot of time trying to keep up with the changes. You can use the Spotlight pane
in System Preferences to identify which folders and volumes to make private.
The media that Final Cut Server manages requires access to a large amount of storage
space. You can use the computer’s internal and external drives as well as many
supported network devices and file formats for this purpose. Larger facilities may use
an Apple Xsan storage area network (SAN) for asset and production storage. See
Storage Device Strategy,” next, for more information.
“
You can run Final Cut Server clients on the following computers and operating systems:
 Any computers with Mac OS X v10.4 or later installed
 Any computers with Microsoft Windows XP or Windows Vista installed
See Part I of this manual, “Installation and Configuration,” for details on installing and
setting up your Final Cut Server system. Also see the Before You Install Final Cut Server
document, located on the Final Cut Server installation disc, for details on supported
computers and operating systems.
Chapter 1 Overview of Final Cut Server 15
Storage Device Strategy
Before you install Final Cut Server, you need to decide how you want to store your media.
About Devices
Final Cut Server uses the term devices to refer to media storage locations that you
configure Final Cut Server to use. Devices can be folders on the computer’s boot hard
disk, a second hard disk, a FireWire drive, or on a network-connected volume.
When you install Final Cut Server, several default devices are created. Once the installer
finishes, you can also configure other devices. These can include existing folders on
volumes that already contain media that you would like to include in the
Final Cut Server catalog. Using Device Setup Assistant, you can configure a scan
automation that will add a device’s existing media to the Final Cut Server catalog.
One thing to keep in mind is that using separate hard disks for some devices can be
more efficient. For example, when you upload assets to the catalog, a variety of proxy
files are created and placed in the Proxies device that the installer created. Having the
Proxies device on a different physical hard disk than the device the asset is stored on
(not just on a different partition on the same hard disk) can make the proxy
transcoding process more efficient—one hard disk can focus on reading the asset and
the other can focus on writing the proxy (as opposed to the same hard disk jumping
back and forth between reading and writing).
About RAIDs and SANs
While Final Cut Server can use a wide variety of local and network volumes as devices
for storing and working with your media, a couple of storage solutions work
particularly well with Final Cut Server.
A Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID) can have some advantages:
 Increased performance: One of the primary limiting factors in transferring large media
files is the hard disk’s input/output speed. By splitting the data among several hard
disks, you can reduce the impact of this limitation.
 Increased reliability: Hard disks have the potential to fail at any time. RAIDs can be
configured to supply protection against a hard disk failure, making it possible to
recover the media lost when a hard disk fails.
Having a fast reliable RAID connected directly to the Final Cut Server computer allows
that computer to take advantage of the RAID’s performance, but that does not benefit
the Final Cut Server clients, which must still get the video data over an Ethernet cable.
This is where a SAN can help.
16 Part I Installation and Configuration
I
A storage area network (SAN) allows multiple computers to connect to a storage device
as if it was a locally connected device. This allows you to use the media on the storage
device (typically a RAID) exactly as if it was on a local hard disk.
Final Cut Server includes the ability to configure a storage device that is part of a SAN
as an edit-in-place device. Clients that are directly connected to edit-in-place devices
have the advantage of direct access to the device’s media—the clients do not need to
cache a local copy of an asset before being able to use it in a Final Cut Pro project. This
can be a huge advantage when working with large video files.
Note:
SAN-connected devices are not the only ones that can be configured as edit-inplace devices. However, they are the most common types of devices that can support
the high performance required.
Apple has available a set of products that can be easily configured to provide these
features. These include Xserve, Xserve RAID, and Xsan. See
xserve for more information.
See “Using the Final Cut Server Installer” on page 21 for more information on creating
the default devices using the Final Cut Server installer, Chapter 5, “Using Device Setup
Assistant,” on page 59 for information on creating devices using Final Cut Server
System Preferences, and Chapter 12, “Managing Devices,” on page 163 for information
on creating devices using the Administration window of the Final Cut Server client.
http://www.apple.com/
Basic Final Cut Server Administration Tasks
An administrator must configure a variety of settings in Final Cut Server before the
system can be used. Additionally, other settings need to be changed as additional
users, resources, and productions are added to your workflow. These include settings
that relate to the following tasks:
Â
Installing and setting up Final Cut Server:
and Configuration,” for details on installing and setting up Final Cut Server.
Â
Managing users and groups:
groups based on Mac OS X Open Directory to validate users. You use either the
Accounts pane in System Preferences or the Mac OS X Server Workgroup Manager to
add users and groups to the computer. You then import the groups into
Final Cut Server, applying a suitable permission set to each group to define its level of
access to the Final Cut Server catalog. See Chapter 4, “Adding Users and Groups,” on
page 47 and Chapter 10, “Groups and Permissions,” on page 125 for more information.
Â
Managing devices:
productions in its catalog. Devices can be as simple as folders on the computer’s
internal hard disk or they can be from a wide variety of networked computers. See
Chapter 12, “Managing Devices,” on page 163 for more information.
Chapter 1
Overview of Final Cut Server
Final Cut Server uses devices to store all the assets and
Final Cut Server can use either local users and groups or
See Part I of this manual, “
Installation
17
 Managing metadata and metadata sets: A very powerful feature of Final Cut Server is
its ability to use metadata to help manage a large collection of assets and
productions. You can work with default metadata formats as well as add custom
fields and create custom groups of metadata fields. See Chapter 11, “Managing
Metadata,” on page 135 for more information.
 Managing watch and respond behaviors: Final Cut Server includes a variety of features
that help automate your workflow. These include the ability to set up watch folders
that have their contents automatically added to the catalog. Final Cut Server also
includes scheduling, subscription, and response features. See Chapter 14, “Managing
Automations,” on page 193 for more information.
You use four main areas to administer your Final Cut Server system. The one you use
depends on what you need to change. In some cases, you can perform the same
administration task using more than one area.
 Accounts pane of System Preferences: When running Final Cut Server on Leopard or
Leopard Server you can use the user and group settings that you configure here.
 Mac OS X Server Workgroup Manager: When running Final Cut Server on
Leopard Server you can use the user and group settings that you configure here.
 Final Cut Server System Preferences: These panes allow you to configure the most
common Final Cut Server settings. These panes also include several setup assistants
to make it easy to add devices and automation.
 Final Cut Server Administration window: This window, accessible from a Final Cut Server
client when you are logged in as an administrator, contains extremely detailed
settings and configurations covering all aspects of Final Cut Server. You should need
to access this window only for your more complex configurations.
See Chapter 9, “
General Settings and Preferences,” on page 107 for more information
about using these areas.
18 Part I Installation and Configuration
2 Using the Installer
This chapter covers the following:
 About Installing and Setting Up Final Cut Server (p. 19)
 Using the Final Cut Server Installer (p. 21)
 About the Customer Profiles (p. 29)
 About Final Cut Server and Compressor (p. 32)
 Updating Your License (p. 35)
 Registering Final Cut Server (p. 37)
About Installing and Setting Up Final Cut Server
The first step in installing Final Cut Server is to use the Final Cut Server installer.
Before you use the Final Cut Server installer, be sure to familiarize yourself with the
application’s system requirements. You can read about them in the Before You Install
Final Cut Server document, located on the Final Cut Server installation disc.
2
Important: Final Cut Server can only be installed on a system with
Mac OS X Server v10.5 Leopard or Mac OS X v10.5 Leopard installed.
Note: The installation disc contains the files required to install Final Cut Server on either
PowerPC-based or Intel-based Macintosh computers that have Leopard or
Leopard Server installed. The installation process is identical for both.
19
You should also familiarize yourself with all of the chapters in this part (Part I) of the
Final Cut Server Setup and Administration Guide. In general, you should install and set up
Final Cut Server in the following order:
Step 1: Use the installer
This installs Final Cut Server on your system. It also configures Final Cut Server to match
the customer profile you select. This profile customizes the installation so that
Final Cut Server automatically includes the items best suited to your workflow needs
and leaves out those that are not necessary. See “About the Customer Profiles” on
page 29 for details about the customer profiles from which you can choose.
Important: Be sure you know which profile you want to use before you start the
Final Cut Server installer. You cannot change this profile selection later. However, you
can manually make changes and additions to the installed Final Cut Server application
after the installer has finished, allowing you to combine attributes from the profiles.
Step 2: Configure System Preferences
Once the Final Cut Server installer has finished, you can configure the Final Cut Server
System Preferences panes. These panes include:
 General: This pane includes a variety of general Final Cut Server settings.
 Permissions: This pane is where you add Mac OS X groups to Final Cut Server. See
Chapter 4, “
Adding Users and Groups,” on page 47 for more information.
 Devices: This pane includes an automated assistant to step you through the process
of adding devices to your Final Cut Server system. These devices include a variety of
popular file storage systems. See Chapter 12, “Managing Devices,” on page 163 for
more information.
 Automations: This pane includes an automated assistant to step you through the
process of configuring watch folders and respond behaviors. See Chapter 14,
“Managing Automations,” on page 193 for more information.
See Chapter 3, “Configuring System Preferences,” on page 39 for more information
about all of the Final Cut Server System Preferences settings.
Step 3: Add users and groups
Final Cut Server uses the user and group accounts you configure in the Accounts pane
of System Preferences or in Leopard Server Workgroup Manager. You also assign each
group a permission set. By creating groups of users and applying different permission
sets to each group, you can control the level of access for the users. See Chapter 4,
“Adding Users and Groups,” on page 47 for more information.
20 Part I Installation and Configuration
I
Step 4: Install Final Cut Server clients on other computers
Once you have configured Final Cut Server System Preferences and added users and
groups, you are ready to install the Final Cut Server client software on your users’
computers. You install the client across a network connection. See Chapter 8, “Installing
Final Cut Server Clients,” on page 99 for more information.
Using the Final Cut Server Installer
Once you are ready to install Final Cut Server, you can insert the Final Cut Server
Installation disc into the computer you are using as the server for Final Cut Server.
Note: You must install Final Cut Server directly on the computer you are using as its
server. You cannot remotely install the application onto a different computer.
Important: The Final Cut Server installer enables the computer’s web services (when
installing on Mac OS X Server v10.5) and web sharing (when installing on Mac OS X v10.5)
if they are not already enabled.
About the Final Cut Server Installation Disc
The Final Cut Server Installation disc contains:
 Before You Install Final Cut Server: This document provides system requirements and
things to do before you install Final Cut Server and its accompanying content.
Important: To ensure that your system meets the minimum requirements, be sure to
read this document before you begin the installation process.
 Final Cut Server installer: Double-click the Final Cut Server installer icon to begin the
installation process.
 Documentation folder: The folder contains the Final Cut Server Setup and
Administration Guide (a PDF of this document) and the Final Cut Server User Manual.
Before You Install Final Cut Server
Before you install Final Cut Server, you must make sure you have the latest versions of
Leopard or Leopard Server and QuickTime installed.
Important: Even if you bought and installed Leopard or Leopard Server to use
Final Cut Server, you should still run Software Update to ensure that your computer has
the latest version.
Chapter 2 Using the Installer 21
To update Leopard or Leopard Server and QuickTime:
1 Choose Apple menu > Software Update.
A dialog appears showing new or updated software available for your computer.
2 Follow the onscreen instructions to update Leopard or Leopard Server and QuickTime
to the latest versions.
It is also a good idea to install and update Final Cut Studio and other applications if you
intend to use them on the computer you are using as your Final Cut Server server.
Did You Upgrade Your Computer from Tiger Server to Leopard Server?
When you upgrade a computer from Tiger Server to Leopard Server, Apache is not
upgraded automatically. You can verify its version and manually upgrade it if needed.
Important: You must have Apache version 2.2 installed on a computer using
Leopard Server before installing Final Cut Server. If not, you will not be able to install
any Final Cut Server clients.
Note: If you are installing Final Cut Server onto a non-server version of Leopard, you
can skip this section.
To verify and upgrade Apache on a Leopard Server computer:
1 Open the Server Admin application.
2 Click the disclosure triangle next to the computer’s name, look on the left side of the
window to see if an item named Web is listed, then do one of the following:
 If Web is listed, skip to step 4.
 If Web is not listed, go to the next step.
22 Part I Installation and Configuration
I
3 To get the Web item to appear, click the Settings icon, open the Services pane, and
select the Web item.
Click the Settings icon.
Click Services to display the
Services pane.
Select Web to configure
web services.
The Web item appears on the left side of the window.
4 Select the Web item, then click the Overview icon.
Click Web to configure
the web service settings.
Click the Overview icon.
Verify the Apache version. It
should be version 2.2.
Click Upgrade Apache
Version if your current
version is 1.3.
The version of Apache is listed. If it is version 1.3 you need to upgrade it by clicking the
Upgrade Apache Version button. If it is 2.2, you can proceed with installing
Final Cut Server.
Chapter 2 Using the Installer 23
Starting the Final Cut Server Installer
When you install Final Cut Server, it is installed and configured based on the customer
profile you choose.
Important: Refer to the Before You Install Final Cut Server document on the
Final Cut Server installation disc for a list of minimum system requirements for
Final Cut Server.
Note: Before you can install the software, you need to log in to your computer with a
computer administrator account, using an administrator password. See Mac Help for
more information.
Important: Do not remove the administrator’s user account that you use to install
Final Cut Server from the server computer. Final Cut Server requires this account to
continue to be available on the computer. To reduce the chances of this user account
being deleted (for example, due to personnel changes), you can create a local special
user account that has administration privileges to use when installing Final Cut Server.
To enter the serial number and install Final Cut Server:
1 Insert the Final Cut Server installation disc into your computer’s DVD drive.
2 Double-click the Install Final Cut Server icon, then follow the onscreen instructions.
3 The installer performs a system requirements check to determine if Final Cut Server can
be installed. Click Continue.
4 Read the Welcome information, then click Continue.
5 Read the Software License Agreement, click Continue, then (if you agree) click Agree.
6 Select the startup disk, then click Continue.
7 In the User Information pane, enter your first and last name. Entering an organization
is optional.
24 Part I Installation and Configuration
I
8 In the Serial Number field, enter the Final Cut Server serial number printed on the
Software Serial Number label attached to the serial number sheet included in your
Final Cut Server box, then click Continue.
Following are some tips for entering your serial number correctly:
 Make sure you are copying the original serial number that is on the front of the serial
number sheet.
 Make sure you enter the software serial number, not the Support ID number.
 Make sure you enter a zero and not an O, a 1 and not a lowercase L, where appropriate.
 Include dashes in the serial number.
 Don’t enter spaces before or after the serial number.
 Verify that you have typed the serial number correctly.
Important: After three incorrect serial number entries, the installer quits. To begin the
installation process again, return to step 2.
The Customer Profile Selection pane appears.
Chapter 2 Using the Installer 25
9 Select one of the customer profiles, then click Continue.
See “About the Customer Profiles” on page 29 for details on the available customer
profiles.
The Settings for Profile pane appears.
10 Enter the following information, then click Continue when finished.
 Proxy Media Location: Enter the location to store the proxy files created for the media
assets. While the proxy files are generally much smaller than the original media files,
this location contains the proxy files from all devices. Be sure to choose a location
with plenty of hard disk space.
Important: It is strongly suggested that you do not choose a location on the server
computer’s startup disk. The devices created by this setting and the Production Media
Location contain large media files and can use all of the available disk space on their
hard disk, which causes serious issues if that hard disk is also the startup disk.
Storage Device Strategy” on page 16 for more information on choosing
See “
locations for both of these settings.
 Production Media Location: Enter the location to store your production media. This
can be a folder on this computer or a networked device, such as an Xsan or Xserve
RAID. The installer creates the following devices based on this location: Library,
Watchers, Media, Edit Proxies, and Version.
Note: Although it is not typical or suggested, you can make the proxy and
production media locations the same place. Keep in mind that the production media
location can require a large amount of disk space. Also, you can add more locations
for the storage of media once the installer has finished.
Important: You cannot easily change the proxy and production media locations later.
26 Part I Installation and Configuration
I
 Outgoing Mail Server (SMTP): Enter the outgoing email server address. You can
change this in Final Cut Server System Preferences later.
Note: If left blank, this setting defaults to “localhost,” which you can use if this
computer has Mac OS X Server v10.5 and is configured as an SMTP email server.
 Enable Version Control: Select this checkbox to configure Final Cut Server to
automatically enable version tracking of assets and Final Cut Pro projects uploaded
to the Final Cut Server catalog.
Important: This setting does not apply to assets and Final Cut Pro projects added to
the catalog by a scan response created with Final Cut Server System Preferences. See
“About Scan Responses” on page 200 for more information. Also see “Setting Up the
Version Device” on page 170 for more information about setting up a version device.
 Enable Edit Proxies: Select this checkbox to have Final Cut Server automatically
generate Apple ProRes 422 codec proxy files (in addition to the normal proxy files
stored at the proxy media location) whenever a Final Cut Pro project is added as an
asset. Due to the potentially large size of the files, the Apple ProRes 422 codec files
are stored in a special device named Edit Proxies at the production media location.
In general, this option is most useful when you are working with Final Cut Pro
projects using uncompressed SD or HD content since the Apple ProRes 422 codec
can provide significantly smaller file sizes at nearly the original media quality.
You are able to change this setting in the Preferences pane of the Final Cut Pro
client’s Administration window. See “
more information.
 Catalog Media device automatically: Select this checkbox to have Final Cut Server
automatically configure and enable a schedule automation that includes a full and
add only scan of the Media device. If this checkbox is not selected, the schedule and
responses are not created; however, you can use Device Setup Assistant in the
Final Cut Server System Preferences or the Final Cut Pro client’s Administration
window to create these automations. See “Editing an Existing Device” on page 73 for
information on using Device Setup Assistant and Chapter 14, “Managing
Automations,” on page 193 for information on using the Administration window.
Important: If you are installing Final Cut Server as part of a recovery process where
you will restore the system from a previous backup, be sure to not select this
checkbox. This will prevent the automation from trying to scan an empty Media
device, which can lead to issues with proxies and the Final Cut Server catalog. See
Chapter 7, “Backing Up Final Cut Server,” on page 91 for more information.
Proxies Preference Settings” on page 117 for
Chapter 2 Using the Installer 27
The Standard Install pane appears.
11 Do one of the following:
 Click Install or Upgrade.
This automatically installs Final Cut Server on the computer’s startup disk.
Important: You may see the Upgrade option even on computers that do not have
previous versions of Final Cut Server installed. This is because the installer has
detected at least one file on your system in common with the files it installs; this is
considered normal.
 Click Change Install Location.
This opens a pane that allows you to choose the volume on which to install
Final Cut Server. This volume must be this computer’s startup disk.
28 Part I Installation and Configuration
I
12 A dialog appears requiring you to authenticate yourself by typing your name and
password. Click OK when finished.
The installer displays a progress bar to indicate its status. Once the installer finishes, a
pane appears that confirms the installation was successful.
13 Click Close to close the installer.
After you have finished the installation, you are ready to begin configuring
Final Cut Server System Preferences. See Chapter 3, “
on page 39 for more information.
Configuring System Preferences,”
About the Customer Profiles
During the installation process, you must select a customer profile that best describes
your intended use of Final Cut Server. These customer profiles are intended to
customize your Final Cut Server installation by adding items (metadata sets, permission
sets, and automations) you are most likely to need and eliminating those you won’t.
Important: You cannot later select a different profile; however, you can manually
customize Final Cut Server, once the installation finishes, to contain any specialized
settings you need.
Chapter 2 Using the Installer 29
Following is a list of the five customer profiles to choose from, including a list of the
production metadata sets used by each (see “About the Production Metadata Sets,”
next, for more information about the production metadata sets):
 Television Station: This profile is graphics and video based. It includes provisions for
format transcoding, review and approval, content delivery, and content cataloging.
The Television Station profile uses the Show, Promotion, Commercial, and Package
production metadata sets.
 Video Production: This profile is video based. It includes provisions for asset
creation, review and approval, application integration, content cataloging, and
archiving. The Video Production customer profile uses the Show and Package
production metadata sets.
 Film Post Production: This profile is video and still sequence based. It includes
provisions for asset creation, production creation, application integration, review and
approval, still sequence conversion, and content cataloging. The Film Post Production
customer profile uses the Trailer and Package production metadata sets.
 Education: This profile is video based. It includes provisions for asset creation,
production creation, application integration, review and approval (assessment), still
sequence conversion, archiving, offlining, and content cataloging. The Education
customer profile uses the Commercial and Package production metadata sets.
 Other: This profile is for general cataloging. It includes provisions for asset creation,
production creation, and application integration. The Other customer profile uses the
Article, Commercial, and Package production metadata sets.
About the Production Metadata Sets
The primary difference between the customer profiles is the production metadata sets
they offer. All other aspects, such as devices, automations, permission sets, and the
asset metadata sets are identical.
There are six possible production metadata sets that the installer can create. Each
production metadata set is made up of one or more metadata groups. All of the
metadata groups are installed on all Final Cut Server systems, regardless of which
customer profile you choose. This means that you can easily create any of these
production sets and add the appropriate metadata groups to them. Additionally, you
can create your own custom production metadata sets and groups as needed. See
“Managing Metadata Sets” on page 154 for details on creating metadata sets.
Note: Many of the metadata group names are used multiple times. Be sure you match
the metadata group ID (for example, PA_GRP_CUST_PRODUCTION_RIGHTS) to ensure
you are using the correct metadata group name when attempting to match any of
these metadata sets.
30 Part I Installation and Configuration
Loading...