Upgrading to FCP5 now or later

Hi there. We have just taken delivery of FCP5 & Soundtrack Pro upgrades. Currently we are using FCP4, and still have a couple of projects to complete on the system. Can anyone kindly tell me if it?s ok to upgrade to version 5 now, and will I still be able to finish off the projects currently on the system, or is it better to clear them off and start only with new projects. My main reason for asking is that I would very much like to be able to do some post audio work using the enhanced audio features found in Soundtrack pro. Any thoughts from the FCP community would be most appreciated.

Cheers
Rod

DO NOT Upgrade in the middle of a project! That is the standard wisdom.

The real reason is that in all know cases of upgrades from FCP A to B, you can not ever go back to A from B once B has touched the project file.

Don't forget, you need at least MacOS 10.3.9 to load FCP 5 and Soundtrack, including Quicktime 7.

That combination could get messy and installing FCP 5 overwrites FCP 4.5.

I choose to remove the boot drive which has FCP 4.5 and QT 6.5 and replace it with a new drive to load Tiger and FC Studio on. I loaded the Panther disk into a Firewire enclosure so that I can still access it when necessary.

John's method of leaving both FCP4.5 and FCP5 installed works very well as a safeguard against potential problems. The 4.5-5 upgrade has been especially perilous because we've had many cases reported where the upgraded machines simply don't work, and major problems (such as the capture device suddenly not being able to communicate with FCP) arise that can seriously jeopardize your schedule.

However, even the dual-FCP approach doesn't guard against whatever may happen to your project files. We do now have a way to get some "backwards compatibility" -- if you accidentally upgrade a project file from 4.5 to 5, you might be able to export an XML and go back to 4.5. Still, doing an all-around backup of your projects before an upgrade is standard procedure. If you have many active projects, I'd say stick with 4.5. It'll be six to nine months before compatibility with the majority becomes a real issue, and FCP4.5 is very stable, in my opinion. I myself am still waiting for them to work out all the kinks in FCP5 and Tiger before I upgrade, and the *only* reason for me to upgrade to FCP5 would be if I had to co-ordinate with other editors who have FCP5. I used FCP5 on a gig several weeks ago and found none of the new functionalities to be useful to my own style.



Post Edited (08-23-05 08:02)


www.derekmok.com

John / Derek, thanks guys for your thoughts, I will take your advice and wait awhile yet.

cheers
Rod

Rod,

My hand was forced, so I went against my better judgement and I went the other route.

I was on Panther / FCP 4.5 and I had a FCP project file that would not launch. I had just saved to it a few minutes earlier and closed it for lunch. I came back from lunch and launched it - instant quit with no error message. I had been putting off the upgrade for weeks (all the boxes have been sitting under my desk) because I, too, believe in NOT UPGRADING in the middle of a project (and I am in the middle of 3 projects). This time I had no choice...I had to try something to get this FCP project file back - the deadline is 2 days away and my last 3 days edit / sound design are in there!

Long story short: I used "Copy Cloner" to clone my boot drive over to my RAID tower (just in case) and then I did the "Upgrade The OS" option from the Tiger installation disk and installed FCP Studio like normal and that FCP Project file CAME BACK TO LIFE!!! All the apps work fine - just installed the most recent Aja IO templates and I was back in the saddle. All the settings from my previous OS are there. The interface even seems snappier - quicker!

I have never had an easier more successful upgrade with any OS version - EVER.

Food for thought...

- Joey



Post Edited (08-24-05 19:58)

When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

Hi Joey. Phew?what a story. Fortunately I?m not working to such a tight deadline, but like you, FCP5 & Soundtrack Pro are just sitting there under my desk, and I keep thinking should I?, cos I?m really dying to try out all the new audio features in Soundtrack Pro more than anything else. But, as Smeagol in the Lord of the Rings says? caution me precious, so I think I?ll just put the boxes where I can?t see them, and hold off till I complete these to outstanding projects. But thanks for the info anyway It is very much appreciated.

Cheers
Rod