Running Final Cut Studio 3 on my new Imac

[Shane Ross]

[CHristopher Eric Outridge] “The only draw back is that I lost Motion when I upgraded to the Sierra OS”

That and Compressor and Cinema Tools and Color all died at 10.9.5. BUT…Apple does sell updated stand alone versions of Motion and Compressor. You just can’t SEND TO anymore. Note that FCP 7 might not be fully functional either. The last OS that supported it officially was 10.6.8. Every step you go from that means the more likely it will not work fully. This is true of ANY software that old.

[CHristopher Eric Outridge] “should I stay with 16 Gigs of RAM or should I invest in the 32 gigs? “

FCP 7 only uses 4GB. Period. So the only reason to get more would be to run multiple apps, or for the apps that love to gobble RAM (Photoshop).

[CHristopher Eric Outridge] “Should I get the AMD RADEON R9 M395 with 2 gigs of video memory or invest in the M395X with 4 gigs of memory?”

FCP 7 doesn’t leverage GPU at all. So neither one will matter. Other apps do…so get the one that best works with other apps that you might use.

[CHristopher Eric Outridge] “If I can only have one or the other, which should I invest the most money in? Graphics card or RAM?”

RAM.

Shane
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[Christopher eric Outridge]

Thank you for your reply!! Very helpful information.

Just to clarify, whether I get 8, 16 or 32, it really doesn’t matter because FCP7 only uses 4.

Also, I want to invest in the 4Ghz Quad Intel Core I7 Turbo boost processor, but would it matter if a got the 3.2 GHZ Quad-core Intel Core I5?

[Christopher eric Outridge]

One more question….can I have Final Cut Studio 3 and FCPX on the same machine?

[Shane Ross]

[CHristopher Eric Outridge] “Just to clarify, whether I get 8, 16 or 32, it really doesn’t matter because FCP7 only uses 4. “

Well, the OS might use 4 or more…so 8 would be under powered. 16GB anymore is a bare minimum… 32 if you plan on using any other apps at the same time, or are looking to use current edit software like FCX or Premiere or Avid

[CHristopher Eric Outridge] “Also, I want to invest in the 4Ghz Quad Intel Core I7 Turbo boost processor, but would it matter if a got the 3.2 GHZ Quad-core Intel Core I5?”

i7 is better. Again, look to the future…the longevity of the computer. Both are fine with this 8 year old application, but look to what you’ll do in the future…and how long you want this computer. Get the best you can afford, always.

Although really, all of this is moot when it comes to FCP 7. All of the considerations on what to get depend on what software you would like to use in the future.

Shane
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[Robert Withers]

I kept my MPB 2012 with OS 10.8.5 to keep running FCP7. Now I’m keeping it to run Pr CC 7.2.2 “2013,” which is 5 years old. I’m working on a film project that dates to 2008. I date to 1947 and am still working mostly fully. Steenbeck flatbed film editing machines had a good 25-year life cycle. These computer and software update cycles seem a little ephemeral to me but one has to pay attention.
Cheers,
Robert

Robert Withers

Independent/personal/avant-garde cinema, New York City

[Chris Babbitt]

What am I missing here? I thought that you couldn’t even load FCS 3 on a new iMac running El Capitan or Sierra. Am I wrong?

[Shane Ross]

FCP 6 won’t install. FCP 7 CAN install…sometimes you need to run a small hack to do so. But then there are those who install the OS over the existing one.

Shane
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