FCP 7 on a G4 dual 1.25

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Level 1

19 points

FCP 7 on a G4 dual 1.25

We have final cut pro 7 running on a G4 dual 1.25 and it seems to be working fine, however there is one odd fault:

DV project
DV material

Material plays fine in viewer window, however in the timeline it indicates that it needs rendering (red on Safe and orange on unlimited). It will play in unlimited.

Now I realise that this machine is well beneath the minimum specs however it should easily be capable of this. Is this a problem with realtime extreme not being able to compute properly as it's designed for 2.0 intels and if so is there a way to turn it off.

G5 Dual 1.8, Mac OS X (10.3.x)

Posted on Apr 22, 2010 9:29 AM

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Answer 1

Shane Ross

Level 8

43,110 points

Apr 22, 2010 9:33 AM in response to James Else

7.0 on a G4!?!? That is WELL below spec. And you needed to hack the app to work on that. And now it isn't working right? Hmmm...software running on unsupported hardware not working right. What could be the problem?

If the sequence settings match the clip settings EXACTLY, and it still isn't working...I'd wager it is the fact that you are trying to use FCP 7 on a G4. Now you see why things aren't supported.

Shane

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Answer 2

James Else Author

Level 1

19 points

Apr 22, 2010 9:41 AM in response to Shane Ross

Shane Ross wrote:
7.0 on a G4!?!? That is WELL below spec. And you needed to hack the app to work on that. And now it isn't working right? Hmmm...software running on unsupported hardware not working right. What could be the problem?

If the sequence settings match the clip settings EXACTLY, and it still isn't working...I'd wager it is the fact that you are trying to use FCP 7 on a G4. Now you see why things aren't supported.

Shane

Thanks for your reply.
No thanks for your sarcasm.

I knew that we might need to retire this computer when we got FCP 7, but I don't think there's any harm in trying.

Apple have a history of not supporting hardware that will easily run certain software. Just to put into perspective FCP 1/2 (can't remember which) was running the same type of DV projects on a 350 G3, but that is by-the-by.

I can't see hardly any difference between FCP 6 and 7, and FCP 6 worked on the G4 no problem, so I was just trying to see if there was a workaround, e.g. disabling realtime extreme.

I've checked the sequence settings and clip are exactly the same.

Message was edited by: James Else

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Answer 3

Shane Ross

Level 8

43,110 points

Apr 22, 2010 9:47 AM in response to James Else

FCP 1/2 were designed to work on G3's. And the fact that you were editing DV projects means that you were using the basic format it was designed for...DV. FCP 7 has a LOT of features that requires an INTEL Mac to accomplish, the PRORES codec being one of them. I have heard of people getting the hack to work with a G5, but that too is a far different beast than a G4.

If you try something Apple says clearly is unsupported, then come to the APPLE help site saying, "hey, this isn't working," you are going to get snarky replies. "The specs say that it won't work, but I tried it anyway and it isn't working. Why not?" Uhm...because they said "it won't work?"

C'mon. You tried...and you see tht it doesn't. So go back to a version of FCP that does work on that G4, which should be perfectly fine if all you are doing is DV. Or upgrade your hardware. Stick to what you need to get the work done...FCP 7 doesn't add anything you need for DV. Unless you like markers that move.

Shane

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Answer 4

James Else Author

Level 1

19 points

Apr 22, 2010 9:56 AM in response to Shane Ross

It might be the case that we have to go back a version, but I thought it was worth one forum question. And forgive me if I am wrong, but wasn't prores in FC6? I honestly wasn't expecting the snarky responces, but I guess that's what you get on an APPLE forum 😉.

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Answer 5

Shane Ross

Level 8

43,110 points

Apr 22, 2010 10:04 AM in response to James Else

PRoRes was introduced in FCP 6...more flavors came out in FCP 7. More support for tapeless cameras that you could use them with too. More under the hood stuff that just flat out wouldn't work with anything but an Intel.

You think I am snarky here...you should head to the CreativeCow.net. That place has more professional editors than this site, and we all get snarky when people do things like this. I'm tame compared to Bob Zelin. Heck, be glad that Jim Cookman didn't respond here. He's grumpier than I am.

😉

Shane

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Answer 6

D Gilmore

Level 4

3,525 points

Apr 22, 2010 12:28 PM in response to Shane Ross

Grumpy...be glad the Zeb Master didn't respond

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Answer 7

Apr 22, 2010 1:50 PM in response to Shane Ross

Uncle Grump (Cookman) is a pussycat compared to The Zelin.

To the OP: It's only money. Buy the new MacPro and rejoice. It'll be good for the economy and your sanity.

😉

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