So, I have been editing on Final Cut Pro 7 for the past million years, and I do not want to upgrade to 10. I bought a new iMac last december (holy God is it good) and was able to install 7 once again via discs that I'd kept. I'm just wondering if in the future I will not be able to install via disc. I edit for fun/ sometimes for a project for someone for money, but mainly for fun, and I really don't want to change software or anything. So, if there is someone who understands the technology better than I do, will I be always able to install 7 on any Mac in the future, as long as I keep these discs? Thank you!
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How long will I be able to keep installing FCP7 from the discs?
- Thread starter berthaconners
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No. Eventually FCP 7 will no longer be compatible with Mac OS. I'm actually surprise it works with OS X Mavericks though I've heard about problems with some features not working properly.
I interpreted your question more as a hardware one than a future compatibility one.
If you use an external USB DVD drive, you'll be able to access the installation software on DVD.
But as Lethal says, that doesn't necessarily mean that you'll be able to actually install and then run the software.
If you use an external USB DVD drive, you'll be able to access the installation software on DVD.
But as Lethal says, that doesn't necessarily mean that you'll be able to actually install and then run the software.
That sucks :/ I wish Apple would stop forcing us all to change....
Oh well, it look like I will just have to keep this computer for as long as possible. Who knows, they might have a change of heart someday, and allow their dedicated consumers to use the programs they love....???
They last updated FCP 7 5 years ago and officially cancelled it 3 years ago. No company supports dead products and, like I said before, I'm surprised FCP 7 still works on new Macs. Time to either 'freeze' one of your computers in time (i.e. never update it) or find another program to edit with. Thankfully for the second option there are a variety of NLE's to choose from. FCP X, Avid MC, Adobe Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve (not a full featured NLE yet but getting there) and Lightworks (Mac beta releases in a couple of weeks I think).
We cant predict the hardware/software restrictions that apple will introduce, so that means its hard to predict if/when FCP 7 will be unable to be installed.
I would propose looking into premiere. I'm an editor of many years, and recently had to switch from FCP to premiere (for a new job) and the transition was minimal.
You are able to import FCP projects (via XML export/imports) and pick up where you left off. Currently I am an online/finishing editor.. which means I conform from the offline edits (with editors editing in Avid or FCP) and finish the project (color correction,cleanup, vfx, etc) with premiere (those tasks arent all done in premiere, but premiere is where it all comes together)
Avid is great, but has a steep learning curve. And while the interface is somewhat what FCP is, it is a whole new environment.
My advice would be to stick with your current OS and dont update.. as long as your machine runs, whats the point of jumping to the next OS release?
I would propose looking into premiere. I'm an editor of many years, and recently had to switch from FCP to premiere (for a new job) and the transition was minimal.
You are able to import FCP projects (via XML export/imports) and pick up where you left off. Currently I am an online/finishing editor.. which means I conform from the offline edits (with editors editing in Avid or FCP) and finish the project (color correction,cleanup, vfx, etc) with premiere (those tasks arent all done in premiere, but premiere is where it all comes together)
Avid is great, but has a steep learning curve. And while the interface is somewhat what FCP is, it is a whole new environment.
My advice would be to stick with your current OS and dont update.. as long as your machine runs, whats the point of jumping to the next OS release?
I agree. I just graduated from my undergrad and used premier for most of my stuff. Granted, I learned on premier, but from what I understand, they are pretty similar. A benefit of premier is that it is part of the adobe suite, which includes like tons of creative stuff like photoshop, dreamweaver, aftereffects, fireworks, and just a ton of useful (expensive) stuff.
Here's what you do.. take the disks and insert each one.. go to disk utility and click on the cd on the left and at the top of the window, click new image. it will make a .dmg of each disk which will total about 49 gigs.. if you need to do a clean install of the software, you mount all disk dmg's and go to the install and double click the install icon. it will go through the install process as if all 5 disks were loaded at the same time.
I will keep this in mind too. If I do this, I could move the files onto whatever mac I get next, and it would install the programs onto it, like almost for sure? I understand your process, but If this is the case, why can't I just keep the discs as I already am, and just install the discs onto the next mac?
As you can tell, I'm not exactly really intelligent with computers. I can run this program very well, but in terms of computers themselves, I am far from literate.
Because the production tv network i work for relies on final cut so much, its much more sufficient to have dmg backups than disks. Anything could happen to the disks and make them not work like scratches. The other reason why we make dmg back ups is because our mac lab gets reformatted once per year. it takes about 2 hours to install final cut studio 3 on each machine versus 40 mins with dmgs. other than that, if you have dmgs you can put the dmgs and duplicate them and do the install process on 10 machines at the same time and not be stuck with using 1 set of disks for those 10 computers.. having dmgs is better for saving time and having an emergency back up in case of damaging the disks.
that is a good idea with the files on the computer. I dont see myself upgrading for a while (computers are expensive) but when I do, I'll keep this in mind
No, pwhitehead's suggestion makes installing FCP 7 faster but it doesn't guarantee FCP 7 will work on future of OS X. Basically any software update you do for OS X or even iTunes could break FCP 7 without warning.
Mirroring pwhitehead here.. I work in TV as well, I just ripped all the disks to a dmg using Toast/Disc Utility and simply mount all the disc images simultaneously when I need to install and just sit back and let it do its thing.
It also guarantees the disks will never get damaged as they are stored safely away.
It also guarantees the disks will never get damaged as they are stored safely away.
The only version of final cut studio that wont work on current OSX systems like lion, mountain lion and mavericks is Studio 2 which is final cut pro 6 ext.. There is a work around for this.. If you can download a torrent or have your old operating disk from snow lepard, pop the disks or mount the dmg. Go to optional installs and install rosetta. Rosetta is the program that needs to be installed to mount cds and dmgs from older apple softwares. I know this works cause i tried to install Final Cut studio 2 on Lion when it first came out, and i had the same problem. Final Cut studio 3 works just fine on mavericks, but i don't like mavericks and currently use final cut pro on mountain lion. I do do production with a guy that uses mavericks and he has no issues.
Right, it works on Mavericks now but any update could break it. The OP's original question was can he install FCP 7 on any Mac from now until forever as long as he has the installer and the answer is no. Eventually Apple will release an update to Mavericks or the next version of OS X and FCP 7 will not be compatible with it.
So, basically, whenever apple decides to "break" this program from my computer, I will absolutely HAVE to adapt? That seems kinda rude, considering how much I paid for it. I understand that the times change, and I will do the digital file as recommended, but why does apple always crap on their best products?
Because that is what apple does. Yet for some reason they still have a cult following. Explain that.
You can use FCP 7 from now until the day you die, you just have to use it on a Mac that will run it. Old hardware and software not being compatible with newer computers is nothing new and nothing unique to Apple.
In other words, in order to use the products that you like to use, you must never update the computer, and buy another computer to do newer things. Seems like a bit of a rip to me.
Especially since so many people loved FCP 7
Hardware and software becomes obsolete/unsupported. It's the nature of the beast.
I understand that programs change. Obviously.
But there is nothing better than learning that an xbox console, per say, is backwards compatible. I want to have the xbox one. Not an xbox one, 360, and an original.
Some say I'm a dreamer....
It's worth remembering that, 3 years on from being superseded, FCP 7 runs on the latest OS. And that may continue in the next OS release, and the one after that...
If FCP7 is really this important, I would keep an old compatible version of OS X on a partition next to the partition containing "Today's" version of OS X, thus guaranteeing compatibility. Otherwise yes, you'd have to adapt to a new app if you intend on using a new operating system...