Upgrade to 5 in middle of project?

Is this a bad idea? I've been asked to recut a film that was done in version 4.5 and I want to use FCP5. Has anyone had problems? Does the fact that it's a film project with negative cut make a difference? Thanks.

Never never never change horses in the middle of a stream, buy high and sell low, or upgrade in the middle of a project.

Never.

Unless you have to.... then, be very careful and very aware that all may not go as planned.

For us, we did a wholesale migration from 4.5 to the latest 5.02. (at least 25 systems) We just never have a window where we're not in the middle of a project, and we REALLY wanted to use the multi-clip function. Yes, we had some shows in progress. Yes, we had some minor problems. However, by and large it went better than expected.

Some words of caution. You can always go forward (newer version) but never backwards (new to old). Once you make the change, don't plan on going back.
Save copies of your old project somewhere else if for some reason you need to revert. Read these boards. Pay attention to what people say about upgrades.
The word on this one is that it's pretty smooth. That isn't always the case.

Good luck.

Mark

> Some words of caution. You can always go forward (newer version) but never
> backwards (new to old). Once you make the change, don't plan on going back.

Actually, it seems that now you can -- with the XML option. Check with our resident import/export/XML masta, Nick Meyers.

But I agree -- don't do it in the middle of a project if you can avoid it, and back up like crazy before you do.

First off, you don't mention which computer and operating system version you are on at the moment.

FCP 5 requires, AT Least - 10.3.9 but I think it really is best to jump to Tiger for FCP 5. FCP 5 needs Quicktime 7 and there are people with mixed results on 10.3.9 and QT 7.

If you have a need to move to FCP 5 while you are still working on an FCP HD project, I would suggest it is best to either remove the system drive and install a new one for Tiger so that you could install the former system drive with all apps completely inside the existing system or as a bootable Firewire drive.

That way you can easily jump back to the older - more stable? - system if you experience any problems.

At least that is what I did. You still have FCP HD if you need it.