out of memory

I can't remember seeing out of memory errors caused by a hardware problem (doesn't mean it's not possible).

And unfortunately, Mac geniuses are often not geniuses, (but that doesn't mean they're always wrong).

I understand your frustration, but let's try an eliminate other possibilities.

out of memory errors when rendering are usually caused by using cmyk or grayscale graphics or a non fcp friendly format like h264 or mp4. And the problems can be intermittent so although you may see the problems on one machine, they may not turn up immediately on another system.

What are your sources and what are your sequence settings?

If you want to send me an xml export of your sequence, I'll take a look and see if I can figure out what the problem is.

How much hard disc space do you have left on your internal drive where FCP resides?

I too often have the 'out of application memory message'. I have solution that works for me 100% of the time.

Open up Activity Monitor

Find 'installerS'

Force Quit

Memory is back.

'installerS' is a memory pig that steals memory.

One thing nobody addressed is the number of still images in your sequences. Remember the FCP is basically a big database that accepts instructions. And a still image is only a virtual clip. When you apply motion, color correction, dissolves etc you are adding to the amount of stuff FCP has to keep in active RAM-- along with every other clip and sequence in your project. AND fcp is only a 32 bit application. It can be possible to so load up the ram that there's no room to render.

The "Out of Memory" notification actually has to do with RAM (Random Access Memory).Final Cut Pro 7 is a 32 bit software, and the drawback to 32 bit software is the maximum amount of RAM they can use is 4GB. FCPX is 64 bit, which means is can use much much more RAM than FCP 7. So, for FCP 7, it doesn't matter how much RAM you have (4GB, 8GB, 16GB) installed, it can and will only use 4GB. And when all 4GB of it is used, you will get the "Out of Memory" notification.