Apple’s official FCP7 EOL

[Michael Gissing]

Pleasure Simon. Clever software.

[Simon Ubsdell]

[Michael Gissing] “Clever software.”

Very, very clever software with an incredible range of translation options, but even more amazing support from Michael Rooney.

Since I posted my comment a few hours ago, he has already run me a test that confirms this is going to be a perfect solution for one of our biggest workflow headaches.

Thanks again.

Simon Ubsdell
tokyo productions
hawaiki

[Andy Field]

So do i understand this correctly AATranslator will

1 open a FCP 7 PROJECT FILE
2 without FCP on the system
3 -give you the option to create an XML that can be read in Premiere and or FCP X and others?

if so that is very cool

Andy Field
FieldVision Productions
N. Bethesda, Maryland 20852

[Bill Davis]

So has theis thread revealed the golden ticket that everyone’s been looking for?

Just asking.

Creator of XinTwo – https://www.xintwo.com
The shortest path to FCP X mastery.

[Doug Metz]

[Andy Field] “So do i understand this correctly AATranslator will

1 open a FCP 7 PROJECT FILE
2 without FCP on the system
3 -give you the option to create an XML that can be read in Premiere and or FCP X and others?

if so that is very cool”

No, AAT is audio project conversion only… no video, nothing to do with FCP directly. Would be cool though.

[Bill Davis] “So has theis thread revealed the golden ticket that everyone’s been looking for?

Just asking.”

Not for Legacy, but a really cool audio tool came to light.

Doug Metz

Anode

[Michael Gissing]

To allay any confusion AAT is not opening any NLE project files. As an audio converter it opens xmls and lots of proprietary DAW project files as well as the standard OMF, AAF & AES31. It can translate audio only to and from a big variety of formats but it isn’t a video & audio translator.

However it is an example of how translator software can read native project files, in this case from a range of DAWs and convert them. Perhaps they might be interested in adding FCP7 project files to an xml output. Certainly worth asking them. They are amazing with support and feedback. The sticking point may be Apple sharing the file format hooks but who knows if these clever guys can’t reverse engineer.

[Paul Golden]

Even though I converted to FXPX more or less with version 10.0, I’ve kept FCP 7 on my MacPro 2013 and MacPro 4,1. Since the 4,1 will not be making the leap to High Sierra, I will leave FCP7 on that machine. To be honest, I’ve rarely had to open FCP7 in the last several years and when I did, I used 7toX and got the hell out of there as soon as possible. It always feels the same when I open Premiere – i.e. THE PAST. I know everyone’s excited about Resolve editing, but I feel the track based paradigm has lost the luster (for me, at least) and FCPX offers a much more modern foundation (and is way more fun.)

At this point, I can’t imagine many people, apart from forensic experts, nostalgia buffs and archivists, wanting to open FCP7 projects, so I have had no expectation that Apple should keep it supported after more than half a decade of warning. Based on a boat-load of old code and QT7, FCP7 has been on thin ice for a while and anyone who didn’t take the hint is putting their professional life in their hands and is living dangerously.

[Michael Gissing]

[Paul Golden]”At this point, I can’t imagine many people, apart from forensic experts, nostalgia buffs and archivists, wanting to open FCP7 projects,”

Whether you can imagine it or not, there are still an astonishing number of broadcast documentaries being cut on 7. As a doco post finisher I still get more from FCP7 than Pr, Avid & X (in that order). I also agree that Apple should be moving on and not supporting old 32 bit programs. But please don’t imagine that a lot of people are not now wondering how to get around the conundrum of an OS that officially kills a much loved and still well used software.

Love it or hate it it doesn’t alter the fact that this is a real and relevant issue for many.

[Paul Golden]

I’m sure that Apple, if anyone, has done the numbers on current FCP7 users, and has concluded there are not enough left by now to justify additional resources. It should still work more or less identically if we don’t upgrade our machines.

As an owner of a vast array of tube amplifiers and turntables and the owner of one car from 1988 and another from 1999, I’m the last guy who would get on his high horse about staying “current”.

There were features I liked better on my Palm Treo, but the iPhone was such an improvement in other regards that I did not regret my decision to move on. Considering that Premiere is a near clone of FCP7 (or maybe FCP8), I think we’ve got enough similar alternatives to get our work done if we feel inclined to move on to the next operating system. No doubt that FCP7 has little niceties that have no direct equivalents , but for my workflow, which is primarily commercials and VFX, I don’t miss it at all.

As an aside, did Apple’s announcement that FCP7 would no longer work on HS mean that was the date when “official” support ends or did Apple stop supporting FCP7 (tech support) a long time ago?

[Andy Patterson]

[Paul Golden] “Considering that Premiere is a near clone of FCP7 (or maybe FCP8), I think we’ve got enough similar alternatives to get our work done if we feel inclined to move on to the next operating system.”

Funny : )

Why not just say Key Grip/FCP was a clone of Avid? Why give Apple credit?