When Final Cut Pro X was first released, there were many gripes and grumbles about the application, but none so prominent as the lack of support for projects created in earlier versions of Final Cut Pro. Third-party developer Intelligent Assistance seeks to change that with its new 7toX for Final Cut Pro converter, available on the Mac App Store alongside the newly released Final Cut Pro X 10.0.3 update.
Developed by Intelligent Assistance president and longtime Final Cut Pro evangelist Philip Hodgetts, the app uses Apple’s XML 1.1 API to help users transfer their Final Cut Pro 7 projects to Final Cut Pro X. Due to the large structural changes present in Apple’s newest version of its professional non-linear editing software, “getting a perfect translation was going to be impossible,” according to Apple senior director of applications marketing, Richard Townhill. “But Philip focused on XML… [and has] done a phenomenal job.”
While all media must be online throughout the process, the converter proposes to handle the transition as smoothly as possible; according to Hodgett, “the process is seamless to the user.” The big stuff—bins and sequences—are translated to Keyword Collections and Compound Clips, respectively. The program will also attempt to match transitions, motion settings, composites, speed changes, and audio/video filters to versions supported by Final Cut Pro X. Additionally, 7toX for Final Cut Pro supports multicam project conversion.
Of course, transcoding a Final Cut Pro 7 project to FCP X won’t be flawless—users will most likely have to do some cleanup and transitional work—but 7toX provides a few nice buffers to ease the move: It marks any changes that occurred during conversion through To Do markers and checks for any media corruption; a detailed help section on Intelligent Assistance’s Website is also available. The app is available on the Mac App Store for $10; if this motivates you to give Final Cut Pro X a try, you can download a 30-day free trial from Apple’s Website.