FCP5 projects in FCP 6

[Steve Cohen]

I’m not 100% sure, but updates should be backwards compatible, but upgrades are not.

Wikipedia=Backward compatibility is the special case of compatibility in which the new server has a direct historical ancestral relationship with the old server. If this special relationship does not exist then it not usually spoken of as “backward” compatibility but is instead just “compatible”

[Walter Biscardi]

[Steve C] “I’m not 100% sure, but updates should be backwards compatible, but upgrades are not.”

Not with FCP 5.1, all those updates have changed the Media Management structure, which is why each dot update has caused issues for folks with two different versions of FCP running.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
https://www.biscardicreative.com
HD Editorial & Animation for Broadcast and independent productions.

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[Michael Hancock]

If you take an Avid project, say from Media Composer 2.7, and you open it on an earlier version–say 2.2–and there are features/effects/etc… available on 2.7 that aren’t on 2.2 they just won’t show up. If there’s an effect you use that’s unique to 2.7 it will still be there if it’s rendered (and you transfer all media and render files), but if you try to change the effect or remove it it will disappear. If you use an effect that’s unique to a higher version but it’s not rendered you’ll see the effect icon but it will be blank.

Otherwise, pretty much everything is backward compatible. We take projects from the newest Xpress Pro and Media Composer and we can open them on our old, hardware based Xpress Meridien without problems. You just have to watch that you’re using resolutions the earlier versions recognize and you aren’t using MXF files (pre-MXF media isn’t recognized).

Otherwise, it isn’t a problem. It’s a huge benefit to Avid–you can keep legacy systems around and still use it them to start projects OR finish them.

Michael.

[Jeff Brue]

Its only a benefit when you’re supporting legacy hardware/software that cost 50k and you’re still paying it off.

[Bear Baker]

I’ve worked on several platforms. Quantel, Discreet, Avid, FCP. Not being backwards compatible is standard.

[Bret Williams]

Shall we add all the adobe products to that list as well. Try to open a ps doc from 10 in 7. Nope. It doesn’t really know what is is except for the extension. Isn’t it funny how the ps 7 creators couldn’t forsee the future and make 7 compatible for 10?

Now Avid is a little differnent beast. Since it saves a project file and all the bins adn sequences as separate files as well (hey FCP, might want to look into this idea) file corruption isn’t a problem and often you can get a bin or sequence to open but no guarantees if it has sometihng in it that isn’t understood by the older version. Project files won’t open backward.

[Jerry Hofmann]

Pretty minor stuff actually. At the price of upgrades, there’s really little reason for a pro to not upgrade. During the transition period maybe… but not past that.

Jerry

Apple Certified Trainer

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[Tom Meegan]

My experience with XMLs of FCP projects going back and forth between versions have been less than grand.

Random filters added and subtracted, timing changes, composite modes turned off, media not connecting, etc. It worked, but it was painful for an edit with much complexity.

Your mileage may vary, and probably will vary with each upgrade.

For what it is worth, during upgrade transitions, I duplicate every project I open in the new version and keep a version with the suffix _(old version number).fcp.

I also keep a system back a version until everything is happy. If I didn’t have a second system, I would clone my boot drive, test that boot drive, then put it on the shelf for three or four months.

I probably should do that anyway.

Tom