Up grading to Maverick to have the benefits FCP 10.1 ... is it risky or save

upgrading to maverick I only would do to have the the benfits of the new FCP 10.1

Inbetween projects I can afford a week of "Gambling" or should I still wait ...
any comments welcomed ...

Thank you

Danny

You should prepare you well before you update to FCPX 10.1. For example with Ripple Training: FCPX 10.1 in depth, tutorial. I have not updated yet, since my new computer is just arriving later this week. But as you, I a am bit hesitating.

If you are not in the middle of a project you should be okay. Just be aware that some people have experienced problems after having updated Mavericks over an older OS. For Mavericks it seems a clean install (wiping the system drive and do a clean install of Mavs and your apps) is the best way to prevent any issues.

Once you have installed Mavericks and 10.1 it is indeed advised to do some careful reading before you update your older projects to 10.1.

- Ronny

Apple's own updating support doc is something I highly recommend.
support.apple.com/kb/ht5550

thank you for the hint ... my question is: would it be possible to have a, let's say Lacie thunderbolt drive, make it a bootable one ... install maverick and FCP 10.1 and leave the 'old system" as it is ... in which case I can start new projects with 10.1 and have not to worry about screw ups which in most cases I would cause

again thank you for taking your time

cheers Danny

That would be perfectly possible. Just make sure you don't put any 10.1 Libraries or media on the same external drive. This could slow down your editing.

Here's a layout on how to create a bootable drive for Mac:

support.apple.com/kb/ht5911

- Ronny

Ronny, do you mean that if the disk is partioned, let say one for system clone other for media and libraries. No library or media on that disk at all ? So I should use a second drive for system clone. Sorry I am struggling with the English language.

When you partition a drive you create two volumes on that drive, but it stays the same drive. If your media, your operating system and FCPX are on the same drive, even on different partitions, this may affect performance. So you should use a drive for your operating system + your applications, and a different drive for storing your FCPX media and Libraries.

- Ronny

That was good information. Thank you for this answer Ronny.

Plus, partitioning by itself, can contribute to degrading a single drive's performance slightly.

I agree 100%.

- Ronny

Although it may not be in budget or practical for everyone, this is what I do:

- Make a cloned bootable copy of my system drive to a cheap external. This comes in handy for plugins that haven't been unregistered first. It also allows you to boot your computer just as it was before updating it.

- Back up FCP X projects and files to another drive. Or in other words the link that BenB posted followed to the letter.

- Do a fresh install of the newest OS, then get my apps through the app store.

- Update the backups to 10.1.1 FCP X, then cross fingers.

If you do have problems and you backed everything up, you can always go back to what you had. For most this is overkill, but it has saved me in the past.