Final Cut Pro 7, OSX 10.6.x, QuickTime "magic" combo?

[Shaun Roemich]

Hi folks... well, after all my complaining about FCPX, I decided to grab a copy of FCS3 and buy a new iMac in the interim while I decide what to do for the long term.

There USED to be a web "almanac" of stable combinations of FCP versions indexed to OS and QT combos that were stable. Google hasn't turned it up.

Was hoping for feedback on what combos people are running successfully.

I have the FCP7.0.3 update waiting, I'm CURRENTLY running OSX10.6.7 and have installed both QTX and QT7.6.6

Any advice, ESPECIALLY on a new 27" iMac i5 2.7GHz would be ASTOUNDING!

[Tim Dashwood]

Hi Shaun,

The latest updates of snow leopard and quicktime 7 should work perfectly with FCP 7 on your new iMac. It's Avid that you have to be careful with OS updates. I think the OS 10.6.8 broke something in Avid but I can't remember for sure.

[Shaun Roemich]

As always, Tim... a VERY sincere Thank You!

[Robert Lane]

Hi Shaun,

Many have complained that ever since they forced the App Store into the builds starting with 10.6.6 that things have moved more slowly than before. In my test-bed machines I too did notice that things like sleep, shut-down and sometimes startup did happen much more slowly after the .6 update.

What I've found is that the directories past the .5 version have become just a tad unstable mainly because Apple has been pushing in new code to prepare for updating to Lion. If you have a copy of DiskWarrior you can fix it easily, otherwise if you continue with the update path you may need to boot from your original Snow Leopard install DVD and use Disk Utility to use the fix permissions and Repair Disk routines to keep things smooth.

I would not update past the .6 update *unless* you plan on being an early-adopter of Lion's new architecture.

Lion is set to release tomorrow (supposedly) and as I mentioned in another thread my advice to all OS X users is to wait at least a few weeks if not longer to let the code-monkeys wrangle any bugs that may come up.

[Shaun Roemich]

Thanks Robert. Unfortunately, I bought YESTERDAY and OsX10.6.7 is the installed version so I can't "roll back" to .6

Addendum: and the very REASON I bought yesterday was to avoid Lion altogether as I have a sneaky suspicion it might break FCS...

[Martin Mayer]

Originally Posted by Shaun Roemich

There USED to be a web "almanac" of stable combinations of FCP versions indexed to OS and QT combos that were stable. Google hasn't turned it up.

That's here. But it stopped at FCP 6.0.6! :(

[Shaun Roemich]

Thanks anyway, Martin! I KNEW I had seen it somewhere and thought it was Larry Jordan...

[Rick L. Allen]

Running FCP 7.0.4, QT 7.6.6 & 10.6.8 - no problems.

Moving to Adobe Premier Pro soon however.

[Shaun Roemich]

Thanks Rick. EXACTLY what I needed to hear... like I said, this is an interim solution to buy me some time and still allow me to purchase the Thunderbolt enabled Matrox MXO2 series later this month when they drop for legacy I/O...

[Robert Lane]

Rick/Shaun,

Ever since the FCP X debacle started I've been working on adding content to the workshop I'm hosting that will specifically address those who ultimately want to move away from FCP and Apple hoodwinks into a stabilized NLE platform. That being the Production Premium suite from Adobe, since it currently is the *only* other full-fledged NLE suite for Mac.

So in the coming weeks after this first workshop is completed I'll be posting info on the "switching" process and how to avoid - if any - pitfalls to keep the transition as smooth as possible.

If you want to get a head-start now, Adobe has launched several pages both on learning Premiere Pro and the switching process.

And taking advantage of Thunderbolt is absolutely going to be the game-changing add-on for this year for any NLE package.

[Shaun Roemich]

Robert: If/when I jump ship from FCP/FCS, I'm moving away from Apple hardware completely... I'm a spiteful fellow... avoided getting an iPhone and went Android instead.

[Robert Lane]

Hey Shaun,

While I share the "stop screwing me Apple" sentiment, you'd actually be shooting yourself in the foot by dumping the Mac hardware. As of today, for example, Apple released the first Thunderbolt-equipped 27" inch display, which would enable not only to be used as it's primary function but also as a dock for MBP and be the T.B. hub for other devices - such as the R6 array from Promise.

So far none of the PC manufacturers have jumped on the T.B. bandwagon in this fashion; most certainly they will eventually but with this new tech Apple actually brings next-gen capabilities that PC's just can't touch. Right now, that is.

And don't forget, you still get the best of both worlds with Boot Camp and Vista/Win 7 is fully equipped to handle TB devices with driver installation.

It may well come to pass that Apple will continue to divert itself away from pure pro offerings even in hardware but today you're ahead of the game if you stay on the platform. For what it's worth.

[Shaun Roemich]

The lack of Apple support for BD-R's is also problematic for me... I PERSONALLY don't need to author BluRay video disks but the sheer fact I have to jump through hoops to burn a BD-R DATA disk is going to get old...

I'm not getting RID of my existing Apple hardware and if I decide I need a Mac pro tower to run FCP7 down the line I will but I'm no longer a WILLING Mac Fan...

I use the right tool for the job and frankly a LOT of the gloss has fallen away in the past month for me...

If the cases weren't so gosh darn sexy...

Addendum: missed the TB hub display announcement. Thanks... that actually solves a problem for me... and a substantial one at that!

[Marcus Durham]

Originally Posted by Shaun Roemich

Robert: If/when I jump ship from FCP/FCS, I'm moving away from Apple hardware completely... I'm a spiteful fellow... avoided getting an iPhone and went Android instead.

Remember once you are on the Adobe platform you can switch OS at a later date. This is certainly how it appears to me having just started the switch as they sent me both PC and Mac serial numbers.

My gut instinct is that Apple are no longer interested in selling to Pro users so a few years down the line when I do need to upgrade I'll be able to hop OS with ease. We've already seen the plain Macbook dropped today and an OS that has alot in common with the iOS platform has been launched. 3 years down the line Apple probably think the market will be college kids sitting in Starbucks editing cameraphone footage on a iPad.

BTW so far everything is going swimmingly with CS5.5. Delighted to load in FCP projects to Premiere and only have my filters missing. Even the Motion projects go into it fine. Get it while it is half price and you can ease yourself over as I plan to.

[David Knaggs]

Originally Posted by Robert Lane

And taking advantage of Thunderbolt is absolutely going to be the game-changing add-on for this year for any NLE package.

Hi Robert.

I'm very likely going to pick up Production Premium at the end of the month, plus a Thunderbolt iMac, with the idea of phasing out FCS and running Prod Premium alongside FCP X going forward. I know that they pushed FCP X out the door as a "half-done", but I still hold out some hope that Apple will eventually complete it. But you can't rely on that, so I'm looking at turning Prod Premium into my professional workhorse.

Which brings us to Thunderbolt. I'll be very interested in any testing you might do in leveraging Thunderbolt to run an external NVIDIA graphics card (in a Thunderbolt enclosure) to a new iMac or MBP to take advantage of the CUDA acceleration.

I think that's going to be a real boom area (attempting to leverage CUDA externally using Thunderbolt) for the Mac users adopting Prod Premium.

Originally Posted by Robert Lane

So in the coming weeks after this first workshop is completed I'll be posting info on the "switching" process and how to avoid - if any - pitfalls to keep the transition as smooth as possible.

Perhaps we should lobby Chris to set up a new sub-forum under the Adobe Creative Suite forum called "Creative Suite for FCP editors"?