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Opening an Old FCP Project on a new system
I have a Final Cut Project that I started back when I was at college , It was on Final Cut Pro or the first version of Final Cut Studio its in 1080p HD.
I wan’t to open the project again and work on it. I recently purchased a current model Macbook Pro, I was going to buy FCPX from the app store but I did some research and found that it won’t open old FCP files.
Some stores still have the most recent version of Final Cut express in stock, If I purchase this will it run on my new Macbook Pro and will Final Cut Express open Final Cut Pro Files?
The project only contained basic timeline editing and a few transitions and fades so I think feature wise express would be sufficient if it will open and play the project!Thanks in advance
Steve -
6 Replies
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Final Cut Xpress will not open Final Cut Pro projects, however Final Cut Pro can open Xpress projects.
https://support.apple.com/kb/HT4115
Final Cut X is not compatible with either of these products in terms of projects.
best wishes
Neil
http://www.patience.tv -
So my only option is to find an older system with Final Cut Pro to finish the project?
I don’t really want to buy Final Cut Pro unless I can find it really cheap… would it even run on Lion? -
Yes run
Cheap noRichard M. Harrington, PMP
Author: From Still to Motion, Video Made on a Mac, Photoshop for Video, Understanding Adobe Photoshop, Final Cut Studio On the Spot and Motion Graphics with Adobe Creative Suite 5 Studio Techniques
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Sadly Richard is right in terms of cheap.
FCP Studio 3 will indeed run on Lion quite happily. It is still available to buy as a full version only but is obviously no longer being developed so it is pretty much obsolete. However if you can get enough use out of it in the next couple of years or so then it may be worth your while.
Another option of course is eBay – you will need either:
a full version of FCP Studio 3or
You could buy a full version of FCP Studio 2 or any full version of FCP stand alone and then also a FCP Studio 3 upgrade. (only available used not from Apple now)
This can work out cheaper as the early full versions, especially the FCP stand alone rather than Studio tend to go pretty cheaply.
The upgrade version of FCP Studio 3 is cheaper too so if you get lucky and can find those it can work out less overall.You need to make sure that you get a tranferable license from both versions and just use it as means to upgrade. Load the upgrade directly, it will then request 2 sets of serials, its own and the older full version. (You dont need to load the old software first and cant on Lion in any case)
For example
or this
together with this
best wishes
Neil
http://www.patience.tv -
Since the edit is very basic with only a few transitions/fades, couldn’t you just use the original media and rebuild the edit in the NLE of your choice? Do you think FCP X would fit your needs (putting aside the inability to open FCP Legacy projects)? Of course FCP 7 is great… It’s just dead.
Trying too hard and spending too much money just to open one simple edit in an EOL’d App seems like it’s going to be more difficult both mentally and financially than just rebuilding the edit. Is working with the original edit THAT important?
Maybe the edit is more complex and harder to rebuild than I think.
Just my $0.02
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Even though it’s not very long, I spent days on it and really don’t want to try starting it all over again!
I have had another idea. I’m going back to my hometown for Christmas and I have a friend who has Final Cut Pro (or at least I think he does), I won’t have time to work on my edit while I am there but I could take my hard drive open the file and export it as one video file. Could I then just import the video file into FCPX and continue to work on it by editing the remainder of my footage onto the end of it?
Will Final Cut Express import HD footage?
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