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System requirements for Final Cut Pro

I was not able to find this on apples FCP page, maybe I missed it. I'm looking to buy a laptop and FCP and I don't know what the minimum reqirements are for a laptop.

Thanks,
Alex

Posted on Apr 15, 2006 12:33 PM

Reply
16 replies

Apr 15, 2006 2:43 PM in response to Patrick Sheffield

Interesting. Did anyone else notice that the System Requirements used to say a 1GHz G4? Now it says 867MHz G4? Or was I drunk the first time I read them? I ordered the crossgrade from DVDSP4 and the requirements were never listed on the upgrade page. When they were first posted, I looked to see if I even had a computer I could run it on...

-Doug

Apr 16, 2006 12:56 AM in response to hanumang

No, I'm almost certain that on the first day the requirements were posted, they said 1GHz. Because I remember thinking that if nothing else, I could put DVD Studio Pro on my 1GHz 12" PowerBook even though it just met the minimum requirements. I had an 800MHz G4 upgrade in my Cube and I probably would have thought to attempt to install the Final Cut Studio on it even though it had just missed the 867MHz requirement. But I ended up getting a 1.8GHz upgrade for the Cube, so now it more than meets the requirements for Final Cut Pro and DVD Studio Pro.

-Doug

Apr 16, 2006 11:50 AM in response to Jim Cookman

He he! It's installed, but I don't have a project to run on it yet. Motion is not installed, but FCP and DVDSP are. If people can run it on a PowerBook G4, I don't see why I couldn't run it on my fixed-up Cube. I have a single big project I work on every summer with two cameras. I really want to use the multi-cam setup with this project.

-Doug

Apr 16, 2006 11:59 AM in response to hanumang

My 20+ lb box for Final Cut Studio - purchased in June of 2005 - is sitting right next to me.


Yes, but those are not necessarily the specifications for the new 5.1 version. I ordered the crossgrade before the technical requirements for the new version were released. They were not made public until it began shipping. Your specifications don't mention Intel processors, do they? Then they may or may not reflect the specifications for the current version. When it started shipping, I checked quickly and I believe it said 1GHz. I never said I was absolutely certain, but I was surprised when I just saw it was 867MHz.

-Doug

Apr 28, 2006 8:30 AM in response to marlonalex

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=301576

Remember to mark this question as answered.

Minimum Hardware Requirements

500 megahertz (MHz) or faster PowerPC G4 or G5 processor (550 MHz for PowerBook G4) or any dual PowerPC G4 or G5 processors
AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port) Quartz Extreme graphics card
512 megabytes (MB) of random-access memory (RAM); 1 gigabyte (GB) recommended

For HD: 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster PowerPC G4 or G5 processor and 1 GB of RAM; 2 GB recommended

Minimum Software Requirements

Mac OS X v10.3.9 or later
QuickTime 7.0 or later

Apr 28, 2006 11:05 AM in response to marlonalex

From the "Before You Install Final Cut Studio.rtf" document included on the Final Cut Studio Install DVD - Crossgrade Version 5.1

Before You Install Final Cut Studio

This document contains system requirements and things to do before you install the Final Cut Studio applications and content.

WARNING: The Final Cut Studio installer performs a system requirements check before installing. If your system does not meet the minimum requirements listed below, the Final Cut Studio applications are not installed.

Minimum Hardware Requirements to Install All Final Cut Studio Applications
• A Macintosh computer with an 867 megahertz (MHz) or faster PowerPC G4, PowerPC G5, or Intel Core Duo processor
• HD features require a 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster single processor or dual processors; authoring or playing back HD DVDs requires a PowerPC G5 or Intel Core Duo processor
• 512 megabytes (MB) of random-access memory (RAM)
• HD features require 1 gigabyte (GB) of RAM or more (2 GB recommended)
• Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) or PCI Express Quartz Extreme graphics card
• Motion requires the standard graphics card found in any MacBook Pro, iMac Intel Core Duo, Power Mac G5, or iMac G5; a 1.25 GHz or faster PowerBook G4; or a 1.25 GHz or faster flat-panel iMac. One of the following graphics cards is highly recommended:
• NVIDIA GeForce Quadro FX 4500, 7800 GT, 6800 Ultra DDL, or 6800 GT DDL
• ATI Radeon X850 XT, X800 XT, 9800 XT, or 9800 Pro
• ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 or 9700
Note: Go to http://www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/motion/specs.html to find the latest list of supported graphics cards or to download the Motion Compatibility Checker.
• A display with 1024 x 768 resolution or higher (1280 x 1024 resolution recommended)
• A DVD drive for installation

Minimum Software Requirements
• Mac OS X v10.4.4 (or later)
• QuickTime 7.0.4 (or later)

Minimum Hardware Requirements to Install Individual Final Cut Studio Applications
• Final Cut Pro 5
• A Macintosh computer with a single 500 MHz or faster PowerPC G4 or G5 processor (550 MHz for PowerBook G4), any Macintosh computer with dual PowerPC G4 or G5 processors, or any Macintosh computer with an Intel Core Duo processor; 1 GHz or faster single processor or dual processors required to use HD
• 512 MB of RAM (1 GB recommended); 1 GB required to use HD
• AGP or PCI Express Quartz Extreme graphics card

• DVD Studio Pro 4
• A Macintosh computer with a 733 MHz or faster PowerPC G4, PowerPC G5, or Intel Core Duo processor; PowerPC G5 or Intel Core Duo processor required for HD
• 512 MB of RAM (1 GB recommended); authoring HD DVDs requires 1 GB of RAM (2 GB recommended)
• AGP or PCI Express Quartz Extreme graphics card
• 8 MB of video memory (32 MB recommended)
• Playback of DVD Studio Pro 4-authored HD DVDs requires a PowerPC G5 or Intel Core Duo processor
• For writing finished projects to disc: Apple SuperDrive or other DVD recorder
• For writing finished projects to a double-layer disc: a double-layer-compatible recorder and double-layer media
• For transporting projects on tape to a replicator (suggested for DVD-9 projects): DLT drive
• For transporting projects on disc that contain copy-protection or dual-layer features to a replicator: authoring DVD drive
• Source material requirements:
• Edited video files in MPEG-1, MPEG-2, HDV, HD DVD-compliant H.264, or QuickTime format
• Edited audio files in PCM, AIFF, MPEG-1 Layer 2, AC-3, DTS, or QuickTime format

• Motion 2
• A Macintosh computer with an 867 MHz or faster PowerPC G4, PowerPC G5, or Intel Core Duo processor (dual 2 GHz or faster processors recommended)
• 512 MB of RAM (2 GB of RAM or more recommended for real-time interactivity)
• Motion requires the standard graphics card found in any MacBook Pro, iMac Intel Core Duo, Power Mac G5, or iMac G5; a 1.25 GHz or faster PowerBook G4; or a 1.25 GHz or faster flat-panel iMac. One of the following graphics cards is highly recommended:
• NVIDIA GeForce Quadro FX 4500, 7800 GT, 6800 Ultra DDL, or 6800 GT DDL
• ATI Radeon X850 XT, X800 XT, 9800 XT, or 9800 Pro
• ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 or 9700
Note: Go to http://www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/motion/specs.html to find the latest list of supported graphics cards or to download the Motion Compatibility Checker.
• A display with 1024 x 768 resolution or higher (1280 x 1024 resolution recommended)

• Soundtrack Pro
• A Macintosh computer with a single 500 MHz or faster PowerPC G4 processor, dual 450 MHz or faster PowerPC G4 processors, or any PowerPC G5 or Intel Core Duo processor (867 MHz or faster processor recommended)
• 512 MB of RAM (1 GB recommended)
• AGP or PCI Express graphics card
• A display with 1024 x 768 resolution or higher (1280 x 854 resolution recommended)

Available Disk Space
• 4 GB of disk space required to install all applications (Final Cut Pro, DVD Studio Pro, Soundtrack Pro, Motion, Cinema Tools, LiveType, Compressor, and Apple Qmaster)
• Additional 42 GB required to install all optional templates, loops, content, and tutorials (may be installed on separate disks):
• 9 GB for DVD Studio Pro content
• 8 GB for Motion templates, Motion Series LiveFonts, and tutorial media
• 8 GB for Soundtrack Pro content
• 12 GB for LiveType content
• 5 GB for Apple Pro Training Final Cut Studio Tutorials media

Before You Install
Make sure you do the following before you install the software:
• Turn off any virus-protection and security software that you may have installed on your computer.
• Upgrade to Mac OS X v10.4.4 (or later) and QuickTime 7.0.4 (or later).

For installation instructions, see the Installing Your Software booklet.


Copyright 2006 Apple Computer, Inc. All rights reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, DVD Studio Pro, Final Cut, Final Cut Pro, iMac, Mac, Macintosh, Mac OS, PowerBook, Power Mac, Quartz, QuickTime, and Soundtrack are trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. Cinema Tools, LiveType, MacBook, and SuperDrive are trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc. PowerPC is a trademark of International Business Machines Corporation, used under license therefrom. Intel and Intel Core are trademarks of Intel Corp. in the U.S. and other countries. Other company and product names mentioned herein are trademarks of their respective companies. UP01180

February 7, 2006

May 6, 2006 12:13 PM in response to marlonalex

hello i have a issue and i need any one who can help i have been offered a blue and white g3/g4 upgraded sonnet to g4 800mhz i know the catch is lowered from 100 to 66mhzs i mean the bus and was wondering will this affect it much in terms of it being able to run final cut pro 4 on it well please advise me if you can let me know my email address is paulbrogden2004@yahoo.co.uk

System requirements for Final Cut Pro

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