Apple Final Cut Server - Manual (Page 32)

32 Part I Installation and Configuration
About Final Cut Server and Compressor
Final Cut Server relies on Compressor for most of its transcoding needs. These include
obvious jobs like converting a video file to a format with a smaller file size that is easier
to review. However, these transcoding needs also include a variety of other jobs that
happen in the background, such as creating the clip proxy files used to preview an asset.
For this reason, it is important to make sure Final Cut Server and Compressor are
configured to work together efficiently and reliably.
The Final Cut Server installer installs Final Cut Server, Compressor, and Apple Qmaster
on the computer. Once the installation is complete, there are two approaches you can
take in preparing to use Final Cut Server with Compressor:
 Use the This Computer cluster: Compressor creates a cluster named This Computer
when it is installed, and by default, this is the cluster that Final Cut Server uses. For
some installations, this will be sufficient; however, there are several shortcomings to
using the This Computer cluster. See “
About the This Computer Cluster ,” next, for
more information.
 Create a Final Cut Server-specific QuickCluster: This method requires you to use the
Apple Qmaster System Preferences pane to create a custom QuickCluster. While
involving a bit more time during the initial configuration of your Final Cut Server system,
this method greatly reduces the chances of unexpected issues causing problems later
on. See “
About Creating a Custom QuickCluster ” on page 33 for more information.
About the This Computer Cluster
The This Computer cluster that Compressor creates when it is installed is used by
default by Final Cut Server. There are several issues with using it that you need to be
aware of.
 Potential permission issues: When you install Final Cut Server, it remembers and
operates using the name of the user that was logged in when it was installed. For this
reason, it is strongly recommended that you create a local special user account that
has administration privileges to use when installing Final Cut Server. This is to reduce
the chances of this account being removed due to personnel changes later on.
The This Computer cluster operates using the name of the current user that is logged
in to the computer. This means that it is possible that there will be times when
Final Cut Server and Compressor will not have the same access permissions for a
folder or file, which could result in issues such as Compressor being unable to access
a file that Final Cut Server needs to have transcoded.
If you intend to use the This Computer cluster with Final Cut Server, it is
recommended that you always log in to the server computer using the same account
that was used when you installed Final Cut Server.