FCP7 vs High Sierra

MsJustine wrote: No that is wrong and you know it.

I listed 3 apps that are professional in nature, that have a long...I would suggest that Final Cut Studio has a long life span ahead, sure it was not loved by Apple, and terminated very quickly, and Apple being Apple will not support it, fine, accepted..

If Apple have EOL'ed this app, then why not just throw it onto the web, warts and all, to Apple it has zero value, like a used paper coffee cup, why not give the code away so that others can keep it alive????

Upvote. Yup.

Bill Russel
Apple has always prevented newer hardware from running older OS's it is part of the EFI code. No surprise that your new iMacPro won't run anything except HS. Interesting about VM as restrictions were mostly about booting.
Caution and question to the community, Will the latest 2017 iMac 5K even run Sierra? I think not but can't test this. The latest version ships with HS and maybe won't run earlier OS version???
Bill if I am right, then you would have to buy one generation older iMac/MP/MBP, why would you want to if you already own a Mac that can run FCP7, and take a big production hit on all future work by getting rid of your iMacPro for the few times you need FCP7? Over time the iMacPro will more than pay back a $1,000 especially with all the apps you run. Or you could sell it, get a even older laptop, install FCP7, put in closet and pocket the difference in $$.
Haven't opened 7 in long time, hope I won't ever

Hope this Helps, Greg
p.s. Sorry if I poo poo in your car, just wanted to warn you about latest iMac may not run Sierra either

My 2017 5K iMac shipped with Sierra (I forget which version), so it can run Sierra. You'd have to have an installer disk for Sierra (the latest version) to do an erase/install of the OS. I've run into an issue before where an older OS couldn't install because the hardware required a minimum version (a later dot release). So if you have an installer thumb drive already for Sierra, just make sure it's the latest so you don't run into that.

Thanks, guys, really. It's been helpful. I'm just frustrated about the whole snafu, I suppose. I'll keep the old computer in tow just so I can open FCP projects, sigh. In the "normal" world, newer versions of software open older projects intact (filters too, no translations necessary, "intact" being the key word) -- AE, Premiere, Photoshop, hell even Avid 8 opens Avid 4 projects. Meanwhile, Apple disappeared a whole industry built around FCS in one snap of the gauntlet. (See what I did there?)

I've always made a practice of exporting masters -- master, textless, M&E, etc., so thanks for the advice and worry not, I do have that covered. Still, it comes up that I need to open projects. For instance, a series we started years ago (plug - get your Biffle & Shooster on Amazon now!) recently sold to Kino Lorber, and that involved a few re-edits and lots of additions. The matting and filtering and effects on these shorts are... well, maybe later I'll share a screenshot of a timeline, you'll get the idea!

The Larry Blamire movies (I know, Google him) are similarly complex on the timeline, going all the way back to 2002, and have moved not just through distributors but owners as well. The films live on and on in themed event screenings and as fodder in fun new projects. Eventually, I'll be making 4k image sequences (that better DCPs can be made from), and want to go back in and redo some things first, re-composite some things that have never held up beyond SD.

Documentaries have similar lives too. Crazy Wisdom began in the '70s, 16mm flatbed work prints. Work resumed early 2000's, then again late 2000's. It's meat lives in FCP. The film had its festival and television run, but still bounces around in specialty / educational screenings, given the subject matter. Same with No Mas Bebes. (I know I'm name-dropping films you never heard of, but, well, just go with it. Let's just say in illustration of how tied into the FCP7 I am, we are.) I've even graded and onlined in FCP7, on to layback to sail through QCs at HBO, BBC, History Channel, Sony North American theatrical (that would be Lost Skeleton film-out, but there are some technical qualifications to talk about on this one).

Folks forget how "big" (original) FCP was at one time. How many industry seminars have I been to? I know plenty of people who still have it and still use it on their films, not in small part because their projects span years. (Also, some are luddites, but okay.) And well, they already have it, know it, like it -- subscription-free to boot. I know one facility that keeps it around for one task only: If they ever need to lay something back to tape. Blackmagic equipped FCP7 deck control is easy right off a timeline, robust and just works. I know FCP is still used elsewhere in the world in community centers, vocational schools, local television, what have you.

Wouldn't surprise me if around the entire world you still have a count of, I dunno, users numbering in seven figures. I'll be the first to lay down hundred bucks on the donationware that installs and launches FCS in High Sierra and beyond. There's a hidden market for it, I guarantee it!

It's late and this is how I procrastinate, pontificating to an empty room. G'nite!

bill.russell wrote: // full quote //

Sorry a question, I have a mac pro 2010 with an AMD RX 580 8gb with high sierra, I would like to install el capitan and then fcp7, do you think the rx 580 will be recognized by fcpx and el capitan?
thank you

I personally have not seen a Mac running legacy FCP nor met anyone still using 7 professionally. Man, that's YEARS old and such a PITA to keep a legacy Mac running it. It isn't necessary for any reason but personal preference.

Thanks friend for your advice

Your graphics card should not be a problem. El Capitan should run legacy FCP7.
The last OS that supported FCP-7 (Final Cut Studio 3) was Sierra.

To be honest, a very small handful of folks still run an older Mac with FCP7, and I've never heard a valid reason for doing so. Digitize old videos. If you have so many tapes, do you really access them? I doubt it. That content has to be so out of date now... Digitize it, upgrade, how may folks drive a model T because they have spare parts for it?

Or if you have decades' worth of long-form projects (often unmigratably FX-heavy documentaries) that require access from time to time. Yes, because legacy Final Cut Studio relies on Quartz regardless of OS version, I maintain a separate Mac which -- you said it -- is a PITA. I have boxes and stacks of several filmmakers' project harddrives, and rarely but absolutely require access to legacy FCP Studio material. I haven't used FCP7 for years for editing, but I do need to pull from projects for reference or to convert and conform to current systems; and also will occasionally just do exports as needed from original (still rendered!) sequences. I'm a rare breed -- but know that I am not alone. (I still get consulted about how to migrate long-term projects from legacy FCP or Avid. I keep an old NT workstation too!) I would give a left foot (not my own, I want to keep it) to be able to launch FCP7 on my current system and happily eight-six my old Mac Pro.

Special taskers who need to pull from old Flash, ActiveX and the like can relate to this. (Yup, know a guy.) Or, indeed, this is not unlike the necessity for VHS, U-Matic, Digibeta and DV decks in order to access and manage a videotape archive library. Legacy technology in every area will always be required by a few (but more people than you think)!

Cheers -- stay healthy, stay safe

Thanks friends of your advice, it was actually just out of nostalgia, I wanted to remember the old days 20 years ago when I worked with fcp studio 2 and I had fun, I'm a nostalgic, but I did some tests and actually now fcp7 is obsolete in 2020, and as premiere pro cs6, too far behind and limited, better to use fcpx latest version where I find all the best for video editing, thanks again hello.

But sorry for a question, I have tried fcp7 with el capitan and a GTX 960 2gb, but you say that fcp7 also works on os sierra right?
But is an RX 580 8gb video card recognized on os sierra?
thanks

I’m similar in that regard, it’s an audio engineer I keep a DAT machine, an ADAT recorder, reel to reels, etc just in case someone contacts me to convert an old audio master. So the nature of the technology is forcing me to keep an analog machine and maintain it.

So I think it’s all about perspective. Because FCP7 is software you feel that it should work on todays OS but really the solution is to keep that legacy Mac running.

I have one, I keep a Mac Mini just for anything legacy (lots of audio hardware relies on fire Waite and therefore is dated).

So if people expect you to be able to open those old archives, there’s a trade off I suppose. I charge an archiving fee to help pay for me to maintain old backups and such. And part of archiving would be to eventually move the projects to something newer.

Gotta day though after reading your explanations it makes a lot more sense why you need to be able to run FCP7.

Well, you're right, in terms of fairness, there's no reason for, say, Apples to support compatibility for dead horses. In terms of convenience, it would be awfully nice to have a hack -- probably involves a quartz imposter -- to fire up FCP7.

BTW, was at a dub house early "19 that still uses FCP7 for machine deck control. They said it remains the most problem-free solution for them. I think they said they like it for setting up batches.

Now I know who to hit up for accessing DATs or quarter inch reals! How about analog multi-tracks? Be neat to access separated tracks film sound-design / re-record sessions,

- be well