How Do I Down-Grade a Final Cut Pro Project?

Francesca asks:

I’ve been editing feature documentaries on Final Cut Pro for the last 10 years. I have what may be a simple question, but I was not able to find an answer anywhere on the internet.

I’m in the middle of editing a feature documentary in FCP 10.8.1, but I need to use the new Magnetic Mask feature in FCP 11. I know you should not update FCP in the middle of a project, and I know how to safely back up the FCP app and Libraries before upgrading to a new version, but nobody really talks about how to downgrade in case the new version is creating problems.

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Larry replies: The short answer is, no, you can’t downgrade. The problem is that once you open a library in the latest version of FCP, you can’t open it in an earlier version. At all. Period.

So, once you open that library in FCP 11, you can’t open it in FCP 10.8. As well, while you can open earlier versions of an XML export into a later version of FCP (just as you can open earlier FCP libraries in later versions), you can’t move them back.

You could copy the macOS, FCP library and all related plugins to a different drive, then reboot your Mac using the OS drive that you need. This is possible, but it’s a lot of work. However, it doesn’t solve the problem of opening a later library into an earlier version of FCP.

Because you are principally interested in masking, you have two far better options:

1. Install the latest version of FCP on a different machine and move clips that just need the Magnetic Mask to that system for processing. Export them as a ProRes 4444 file with alpha channel – to preserve the transparency of the mask – and import that media file into your project running on FCP 10.8.1.
2. Buy Mocha Pro, from BorisFX, and use it to create your masks. The stand-alone version will create files compatible with your version of FCP.

Truthfully, if all you need is masking, Mocha Pro is the best there is and worth your investment. Here’s the link.

EXTRA CREDIT

This is also an issue when it comes time to archive projects.

• First, always export an XML version of the final edit.
• Then, make a zip file of your project and media.
• For the truly paranoid – or high value projects – make a complete clone of your system, media and project and store it on an external hard drive.

There’s actually no good, reliable way to archive FCP projects – or Premiere or Resolve for that matter – because all these NLEs rely on specific versions of macOS, as well as plugins, and extensions. Archiving media is easy. Archiving editorial projects is not.

We may constantly refer to earlier work, but tech never looks back.