Based on this post by Dylan Reeve I have put together a list of mac apps that I carry around on a usb drive in order to get myself and others out of sticky situations. There is a bit of overlap, but I think that this is a great start to making a final cut power tool. There’s nothing worse than sitting down at a machine and realizing you have nothing but a bare-bones install. Here you go MacGuyver, get yourself out of that sticky situation.
apps
perian – codecs for tons of odd formats all wrapped up into one package.
mpeg streamclip – great for batch encoding to prores, deinterlacing, or a lot of other useful procedures.
vlc – an alternate to quicktime when you find yourself dealing with a tricky file. VLC also correctly reads in pixel size more frequently than quicktime does.
helpers – not full apps, but still useful
compressor presets / droplets.
some applescripts like these
magic bullet looks
etc – not necessary, but will save you some googling
bookmarks to resources
after effects expressions
Oh yeah, one other thing. I don’t actually put this on a usb drive. I wash/lose/forget them far too frequently to keep one in my pocket. I put all of this up on my dropbox (free!) in a folder so I can access it anywhere the internet is.
UPDATE – 03.03.2010
Apps from Alex, linkified for your viewing pleasure
– BigTime (if the client has a pre FCP7 version)
– Flip4Mac (watching WMV files)
– Handbrake / MacTheRipper (for DVD ripping)
– Jes Deinterlacer
– NameMangler (for mass renaming – such a time-saver)
–VisualHub (for speedy conversions and DVD burning)seems to be discontinued.
– Senuti (Useful for ripping songs quickly off of my ipod)
