Q: FCP 7 and El Capitan?

Greetings Hans;

The last OS version to reliably run Final Cut Studio was 10.9.5.  I would be really surprised if Final Cut worked with El Capitan. 

All the best...

Syd Rodocker

SRVideo Media Design

I have been using FCP 7 on El Capitan on a late 2013 Mac Book Pro for or an hour or two -  So far I have not found any more problems or glitches than 'normal'.  Importing / exporting, reconnecting media, editing EFX all working.  Opened and edited a number of old projects and all good.

If anything FCP 7 appears to be a little more responsive.

Also upgraded MacPro  5,1 and all working well so far...

:-)

Greetings John and thanks for the response!  I'm glad to hear that the transition to El Capitan with FCP 7 was a success.  Just curious, do you use FCP X in your work?  I have it on all of the Macs in my Edit Suite but I'm an "old dog" in this business (I've made my living with Apple since 1989) and the new software never seemed to fit my workflow.  All the best...

Syd Rodocker

SRVideo Media Design

I have continued using FCP 7 whilst learning FCPX over the past year. Both are on both of my machines and work well.

I have to constantly update projects ('events')  so I am at the moment in the process of converting all of the FCP 7 Projects to FCP X  - Using "7toX for Final Cut Pro"  - the conversion tool is (now) about 70% painless.  The main problems I encounter usually involve layered photoshop files that I have used in FCP 7  as a nested sequence - they just don't  convert that well - if at all.

Some EFX are also temperamental and need to be re-timelined in FCP X   

I have suddenly found my-self surprisingly fond of FCP X

Regards

J

Hey there. I'm finding this thread so helpful. I've resisted moving to FCPX and hav not my OS in ages so that I could continue to use FCP7. That is now becoming a problem with other apps. 

Is there any trick to installing both 7 and X on the same machine?  And did you have to reinstall after moving to El Capitan? 

THanks so much!

ac

I already had FCP 7 installed when I installed FCP X  - at that time I was running OSX 10.8  Apart from the two FCP versions refusing to run concurrently -everything just works.

I have since re-run the FCP 7 (Studio)  installer and had no problems (I think I was on OSX 10.10 at the time)

I would say that FCP 7 appears a little more stable on 10.11 than it was on 10.9  (I was only on 10.10 for a month or two before upgrading to 10.11) 

Dragging to copy sequences in FCP 7 from one project to another can hang the program, although copy and paste works fine.   

I think the magic trick is to make sure that you have a working TIME MACHINE backup of your Startup disk before you start  ;-)

I just came across your answer about using FCP 7 on El Capitan on a MacBook Pro. Before I try upgrading from OS 10.8 I thought I should see if you're still happy with how your projects are working now.

Thanks

Have been using my MacBook Pro on a FCP 7 project for the past few days.  I have had no problems re-editing / updating sequences, changing EFX, exporting (or converting to FCP X).  I obviously do not use all the features of FCP 7, but what I do use have been stable.  

Re-converting FCP 7 sequences to FCP  X : I do have some re-working to do when FCP 7  EFX are not available in FCP X,  but there is usually an alternative / workaround.  Failing everything else, I keep the awkward EFX sequence in FCP 7 and export from there -  or remake in MOTION.

Again, I keep a couple of TIME MACHINE backups, just incase everything grinds to a halt, so I can wind back to the last working version of the OS. SO far they have not been needed.

Thanks for testing, johnieuk.

I have a documentary I've been working on for over 2 years on FCP 7, and figure I'll need to upgrade my OS sometime before I'm finished, since nothing stands still in the digital world. I've got FC X, but so far haven't dug into it. But it's encouraging to hear that you've been able to convert FCP 7 projects to FCP X.

Agreed about Time Machine backups. Essential.

" and figure I'll need to upgrade my OS sometime before I'm finished,"

You only need to upgrade if software you need to run only runs on the latest OS. Otherwise, no, you don't. Especially if you have an older computer with old software that you are relying on...DO NOT upgrade that.  At all.  Especially mid project.  Only upgrade the OS when needed, not just because "well, it's out, and I'll need to sometime." 

I'm still running OS 10.9.5.  I haven't even gone to Yosemite, and I'm not going to El Capitan.  Because I have no reason to. And actually, I have more than one reason NOT to. I run Avid and Adobe (and FCP 7) on my computer...both Avid and Adobe say "do no upgrade to 10.11, El Cap, just yet. It's not compatible with our software."  So I'm not.  But I'm usually a couple versions behind...and I only update when needed.  I only went to 10.9.5 about 6 months ago because I needed EditReady to work...

Garrett, I couldn't agree more with Shane's post...especially if you in the midst of a big project.  I so glad that John and others are having success with FCP7 in the new OS world, but I believe that they are the exception and not the rule. 

Bottom line...if what you have is working...and it's what you use to earn a living...there is nothing to be gained in doing the upgrade. 

All the best to you...

Syd Rodocker

SRVideo Media Design