Lost Projects on FCP7 moving to FCPX

[Mads Nybo jørgensen]

Hey Mark,

There are much smarter people on this forum, than me.
But as they are in another time-zone, here is a bit to work with:

A recent thread that you might want to jump on to:
https://creativecow.net/forums/thread/fcp7-to-fcpx/
There is likely to be someone local to you with an old Mac that has FCP7 on it.

And, if the projects can be opened without relinking the media, then it should be easy to export the XML. That should at least give you an “edl” that will link the footage to all of your cuts.

And then this thread that mentions Send to X.
Obviously, if you don’t have the XML, it is for now moot point.
https://creativecow.net/forums/thread/converting-fcp7-to-fcpx-problems/

Although this will not fix your initial problem of recovering project data and link to footage:
If you are not used to edit on FCPX, you should consider moving to Davinci or similar for working with a time-line that feels like FCP7.

Every NLE tool has pros and cons. But if you are “starting over”, now is the time to think about the delivery process for those 10 projects.

Hope that it works out for you.
Do let us know how you solved it?

Atb
Mads

creativecow.net

FCP7 to FCPX - Apple Final Cut Pro X - Creative COW

FCP7 to FCPX - Apple Final Cut Pro X - Creative COW

[Mark Norfolk]

Ok got it thank you

[Doug Metz]

Hi Mark!

If you’re comfortable sending the FC7 project files (don’t need the media), I can export XML, convert to .fcpxml, and get them imported into new FCPX libraries.

[Doug Metz]

FWIW, you’ll be able to use the XML exports with pretty much anything, but FCPX really is a joy to use once you get the hang of it.

Happy to answer any questions you might have.

[Mark Norfolk]

Hi Doug,

Thank you very much for your very kind offer. My previous computer had become a victim of a firmware freeze, locking me out of my Projects. It was a refurbished comp when I bought it so I have no idea where the firmware code, that was asked for, came from. Despite many hours with Apple online and in their shop I couldn’t get them to unlock it. The invoice for my purchase of the comp wasn’t good enough, they wanted the original invoice attached to that comp. I did find some companies that would extract the data from the hard drive but that was very expensive. So I decided to invest that money in a brand new comp with FCPX and recreate my Projects from scratch which I am in the middle of. All my work so far is community orientated without cost to anyone. I have been able to redo two projects so far with eight to go. I do enjoy FCPX, I have a lot to learn. I started with FCP 1 many years ago having migrated from Avid MC. I am making mistakes but do recognise the immense power of the new FCPX. I have a Mac Air running a M3 chip connecting eventually to my old Apple Cinema Display 30″. I have done tutorials but do note that some guidance does differ depending on who is doing it. I do start by creating Libraries and leaving my data in place. The creation of Events has been challenging particularly as one project is potentially one hour long. And Projects equalling Sequences is another thing I am getting my head around. For the long film I am doing I would like to cut it in sections then join those sections together and then fine cut. What do you think would be the best work around for this? Once again thank you for reaching out. All the best, Mark, Victoria, Australia.

[Doug Metz]

“I do start by creating Libraries and leaving my data in place.“

I’ve found this to be good practice, since I re-use much of my media in different projects. To keep track of everything outside of Final Cut, I use an app called NeoFinder (which I began using over 20 years ago when it was called CDFinder). It has been an essential tool for me, and I highly recommend – https://www.cdfinder.de/

I’d also recommend turning Off background rendering, and using fast external storage. I got in the habit of reserving my boot disk for OS and Apps Only long ago.

“The creation of Events has been challenging particularly as one project is potentially one hour long. And Projects equalling Sequences is another thing I am getting my head around. For the long film I am doing I would like to cut it in sections then join those sections together and then fine cut. What do you think would be the best work around for this? “

For larger, long-form projects, I use a single library. Then create individual events for each shoot, and another event for timelines, GFX, and music. Creating multiple timelines for segments of a single long film is perfectly fine, and there are multiple ways to merge the resulting segments.

As always, maintain a backup. Happy cutting!