Migrating from Final Cut Pro 6 to which new version?

[John Pale]

If you don’t want to give it a go with FCPX…which is buggy and strange, but does have a bit of a following…
Take a look at Adobe Premiere Pro in the Adobe CS5.5 Production Bundle. Pretty much offers the same thing that FCP used to offer.

FCP as you knew it is dead.

[Ben Holmes]

Hi Neil

AFAIK there is no option c) – this sounds like buying a copy of Final Cut Express from somewhere, and as this was discontinued along with Final Cut Studio.

You have a couple of good options though:

1) Try the new FCPX. It’s strange no doubt, but on a new Mac screaming fast – there’s a free 30 day demo anyway so nothing to lose anyway. If you need a video output (such as Kona or BM card) you currently cannot use it. Also, make sure your new system has plenty of RAM and decent GFX (example – it’s very quick on a top spec iMac with 16gb RAM).

2) Buy Adobe Creative Suite for half price. Yup – it’s still going to be around $1000, but then if you make a living with it, that’s easily absorbed. As an owner of any version of FCP you get this ‘bargain’ (actually brings it down to real-world prices for many) which includes the brilliant Photoshop and After Effects packages as well.

If you go for 2) you will be editing with Premier Pro. PPro looks and feels almost exactly like FCP – it can even map FCP shortcuts automatically, so your existing keys work with it. In terms of features, it’s so similar (with some AE gui stuff thrown in) that you will be back up to speed in a few days. Works with existing Kona/BM/Matrox video cards as well.

Personally – I find PPro ok, although there’s little new stuff in there, and compared to FCPX it feels a little dated, but whatever – it’s a sensible choice for Pro work right now (FCPX won’t be there for another 12 months).

Hope that helps.

Ben

Edit Out Ltd
—————————-
FCP Editor/Trainer/System Consultant
EVS/VT Supervisor for live broadcast
RED camera transfer/post
Independent Director/Producer

https://www.blackmagic-design.com/community/communitydetails/?UserStoryId=8757

[Shane Ross]

Option 1: FCP X. $300 from the Apple store. Issues. You will not be able to open any previous FCP projects with FCP X. There is no way to move forward. People have been able to get SEQUENCES, but only by going through RESOLVE and CATDV. This version is the version that Apple will be moving forward with. The editing methodology is VERY different from the current way, and many features are missing (features that FCP 7 has, FCPX does not…broadcast monitoring, OMF export, CURRENT XML I/O…more).

Option 2: FCP 7. You might have luck finding this on eBay or at a retailer…MAYBE at a retailer. But this version has been discontinued…end of lifed. It is a dead product. Yeah, it will work, but any future updates are non-existent. It will work with any current camera technology, and work for years (I know people still using FCP 4.5), but any future advances in camera/codec technology will not be addressed with FCP 7. Only FCPX

Option 3: Adobe Premiere Pro CS5.5. This is an app that will continue on, and get better. And it will import full project XMLs from FCP…meaning it will bring in the bins, sequences and media, and you can just continue to work. Plus it hosts a suite of apps, like Final Cut Studio did. Premiere…After Effects, Encore, Audition. Plus it supports all the current hardware cards, AJA, BlackMagic, Matrox. And if you act now, you can get it cheap, as an FCP user you get a discount. The same price as FCP 7 (if you can find it), only it has a future, where FCP 7 does not. ANd it will bring over current project files, where FCP X will not.

Shane

GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD…don’t miss it.
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def

[Christopher Mcdonell]

Neil,

First of all, the Apple guys who supplied you with this “information” (if you want to call it that) are idiots. Secondly, I don’t understand people on a fcp forum advising you to go with Adobe. I too am a FCS 2 user (vs 6.0.6) planning to upgrade my hardware if and when the new Mac Pro comes out. From what I’ve gathered, FCP 6 will work fine with Lion but will only install with Snow Leopard (or before). So do a little research on that and you should find your answers. Seems you’ll need to downgrade to Snow Leopard, then install FCS 2 from the disks in your possession, then bada boom – you’re ready to go. Users have reported FCS 2 working just fine in Lion (having upgraded from SL) – it’s just a matter of getting it there.

If I’m wrong, I’m sure someone will soon humble me. If not, good luck and happy editing!

Chris

[Ben Holmes]

Chris – you may be right to say that FCP6 works under SL, and it may well even run under Lion (doesn’t sound like a good idea to me though as it won’t be supported) but new models of Macs released since Lion (i.e. Macbook Airs and Minis, and any future model of MBP or Mac Pro) cannot be downgraded to SL – the hardware is simply not coded into or supported by earlier versions.

If you bought a current iMac or Mac Pro, you’re ok – as they were released originally with SL. Anything newer WILL NOT support it.

Edit Out Ltd
—————————-
FCP Editor/Trainer/System Consultant
EVS/VT Supervisor for live broadcast
RED camera transfer/post
Independent Director/Producer

https://www.blackmagic-design.com/community/communitydetails/?UserStoryId=8757

[Shane Ross]

[Christopher McDonell] “I don’t understand people on a fcp forum advising you to go with Adobe”

Because Premiere Pro CS5.5 is the FCP 8 we all wanted. It does what we need, and more. And CS6 is going to be better. I would have recommended Avid MC5.5, but I didn’t think it would suit his needs.

I am, above all, an editor. I am not tied to one NLE. I use the one that works. When people ask for advice on what they should get…I’m honest.

And what Ben said…new machines come with Lion installed, and firmware that makes installing Snow Leopard impossible. However, people have installed Rosetta from their SL installers and have gotten mixed results.

Shane

GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD…don’t miss it.
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def

[Christopher Mcdonell]

[Shane Ross] “And what Ben said…new machines come with Lion installed, and firmware that makes installing Snow Leopard impossible. However, people have installed Rosetta from their SL installers and have gotten mixed results.
“

I almost bought a brand new MBP about a month ago that had SL installed on it and was given the option of keeping that or having them upgrade it to Lion. So if they can run both, I don’t understand why the consumer couldn’t just install the OS of their choice. Is nothing backward compatible anymore?? This just might suck! (Off to do more research…)

Thanks for the heads up, Shane.

[Neil Orman]

Thanks to all who have replied to this post. Much appreciated. I guess my biggest question relates to Shane’s response, about not being able to work on any previous FCP projects in the new Final Cut X. Is that right?? I was just at the Apple Store, asking about that very point, and he said he thought that issue had been fixed by the recent update. Is that true? If not, I’m thinking my only real option, since I had a number of unfinished FCP 6 projects in progress, is scrounging around for a copy of FCP 7.

Sorry if I’m misunderstanding anything that was said. And again, my big concern is I have projects I was working on in FCP 6 before it stopped working, and I need to be able to continue working on them in whatever program I get. So it would be great to just be able to download FCP X if that issue was truly fixed by the recent update.

Neil

[Shane Ross]

I will let others reply to this too…but the recent .0.1 update did not address this. THey came out with a NEW version of XML…but not one that interfaces with FCP 7. It works with RESOLVE and CatDV, and people have toyed with getting FCP Sequences (not projects…sequences) from FCP 7 to FCX via those apps, and have had some minor success. But that means you then need to buy those apps, and only bring over your sequences, not full projects.

You can try to get FCP 6 working by installing Rosetta onto this new machine with the SL installers…then install FCP 6. See if that works before you go looking.

Shane

GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD…don’t miss it.
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def

[Neil Orman]

Thanks a lot, Shane. So to take your advice here, I guess I should buy Snow Leopard from the Apple store for $30 or whatever and then try installing just Rosetta from those installer disks. And then I may be able to install Final Cut 6 on my new machine? Just let me know if I misunderstood anything, and thanks again.