Apple - Final Cut Server - Blazing-Fast Searches

Find, preview and access the assets you need instantly through powerful search tools, customised metadata, and flexible, personalised shortcuts — now with searches that are up to 10 times faster in large databases.

Powerful, layered searches

For a basic search, type text into a Spotlight-style search field. For greater precision, the advanced search option allows you to use pop-up menus to choose search filters based on metadata fields. You can search the entire asset catalogue or a specific Production. Your Final Cut Server administrator can customise these filters, so all the options you need will be at your fingertips as you search for assets.

Easy-to-use metadata tools

Final Cut Server helps you find assets fast by searching metadata tags. Quickly choose from hundreds of predefined tags or create your own custom fields. You can also group fields in tabbed arrangements to fit your workflow. Production team members can easily add or update tags by making selections from pop-up menus or typing into text fields.

Versatile Production “containers”

Final Cut Server Productions are virtual containers you can create to group related assets. Productions make it easy to track status, manage project files, and link associated media for the entire production process. You can include proposals, scripts, budgets and other documents, as well as media files.

Productions let you organise assets without copying them, so you can include the same assets in any number of Productions — with no increase in storage requirements. You can now organise Productions in a folder-style hierarchy for even more flexibility.

Personalised workspaces

Create any number of Productions for your personal use or share them with your team. You can also save common or repeated searches as Smart Searches in your personal workspace and see the results with a single click. For searches that can be used by everyone in the organisation, your administrator can now create Global Saved Searches.

Time-saving previews

Because Final Cut Server creates low-resolution browse proxies during cataloguing, you can screen proxies right from the catalogue as you evaluate assets. Viewing a low-resolution proxy is significantly faster than opening and playing a large, high-resolution HD video file.

Optimised bandwidth use

Final Cut Server seamlessly adjusts to the bandwidth of your network configuration when delivering files for editing. If you’re editing over a LAN or WAN, Final Cut Server copies all the referenced assets to a cache on the client workstation. If you’re editing over a high-bandwidth network powered by Xsan, the system allows you to begin working immediately with the files in their original locations, without copying them to your workstation.

Robust access controls

Final Cut Server access controls let you browse the catalogue quickly by displaying only the materials that are relevant to your work. They also protect your assets from unauthorised use by allowing only the right people to see the right assets at the right times. Final Cut Server makes it easy to define access permissions for individual assets or for an entire Production. Administrators can now assign permissions to Active Directory as well as Open Directory groups.

Seamless archiving and retrieval

Final Cut Server helps you safely archive assets offline and retrieve them later if they are needed. To protect against archiving an asset that is still in use, Final Cut Server shows a warning message that lists all the Final Cut Pro projects linked to that asset. After an asset is archived, its associated thumbnails, poster frames, proxies and metadata are retained and fully searchable in the catalogue. Restoring the asset is simple — just connect the archive device and click Restore.