Will FCP X Run Smoothly On This iMac?

I am thinking of purchasing the 27" 3.1 GHz iMac with 12GB RAM (default 2x2 with an additional 2x4). Will FCP X and Motion 5 run smoothly on this or would I need to upgrade to 16GB RAM, 3.4 GHz, and the AMD Radeon HD 6970M 2GB?

This is my pet checklist for questions regarding FCP X performance. It should help you set things up correctly if you decide to go for FCP X - a truly amazing application.
Make sure you're using the latest version - FCP X 10.0.3 runs very well on my 2009 MacPro 2 x 2.26 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon with 16 GB RAM and ATI Radeon HD 5870 1024 MB. I run it with Lion 10.7.3.
First, check that you have at least 20% free space on the Hard Drive that your System and your Media, Projects and Events are on.
Check the spec of your Mac against the system requirements:
http://www.apple.com/finalcutpro/specs/
Check the spec of your graphics card. If it's listed here, it's not suitable:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4664
If you are getting crashes, there is some conflict on the OS. Create a new (admin) user account on your system and use FCP X from there - if it runs a lot better, there's a conflict and a clean install would be recommended.
Keep projects to 20 mins or less. If you have a long project, work on 20 min sections then paste these into a final project for export.
Create Optimised media - most camera native files are highly compressed and need a great deal of processor power to play back - particularly if you add titles, filters or effects. ProRes 422 takes up much more hard drive space but is very lightly compressed. It edits and plays back superbly.
If you are short of drive space, use ProRes 422 Proxy (FCP X Preferences > Playback) - but remember to select High Quality when you export your movie.
Hide Audio Waveforms at all times when you don't need them (both in Browser and Storyline / Timeline). They take up a lot of processor power. (Use the switch icon at the bottom-right of your timeline to select a format without waveforms if you don't need them at the moment, then switch back when you do).
Create folders in the Project and Events libraries and put any projects you are not working on currently, in those folders. This will help a lot.
Move your Projects and Events to an external HD (make sure it's formatted OS Extended - with journaled on or off) and run from there.
Unless you cannot edit and playback without it, turn off Background Rendering in Preferences - this will help general performance and you can always render when you need to by selecting the clip (or clips) and pressing Ctrl+R.
The biggest single improvement I saw in performance was when I upgraded the RAM from 8 GB to 16.
Andy

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x

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First, look for a refurbished Powerbook G4 on Apple's store website. I have purchased computers from ebay, but you really take a chance doing that, especially if you don't know what specific questions to ask the sellers... The Powerbook G4 will run the Adobe CS2 faster than the MacBooks at this time because of the Rosetta issue (emulation issue--the intel processor cannot read the "old" PowerPC code without translation and that takes some time).
Second, go ahead and get your MacBook and live with the slightly reduced performance of your Adobe CS2. It will still run much faster than what it does on your current G3. Then, wait for Adobe to join the Universal band wagon and upgrade (Adobe's upgrade pricing is generally very reasonable). At that time, you will be in a position to take full advantage of the speed of your new MacBook or MacBook Pro.
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Hi,
I'm running an iMac 27" (mid 2011) 3.4 Ghz Intel Core i7 AMD Radeon HD 6970M 1024 MB.
I have a question about Mavericks (10.9.1). I called Apple and they couldn't guarantee that FCP 7 or any other third party programs such as Toast 9, DVD SP4, Compressor 3.5.3, Streamclip, Motion 4.0.3, Epson NX 415 scanner, etc.
I'm especially concerned about FCP 7 because, although I have taken and plan to re-take the FCP X Rippletraining tutorial for which I need Mavericks to run FCP X on, I still have some ongoing FCP 7 projects that I want to be able to run.
Apple suggests backing up my current OS (Mountain Lion 10.8.5) on Time Machine and re-installing if necessary.
Have you heard of any problems with Mavericks and FCP 7 and any other 3rd party programs that run OK on Mountain Lion?
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Yes, I've heard of problems. Just today someone said that Log and Transfer didn't work properly...kept crashing the system.
http://forums.creativecow.net/readpost/8/1181053
There have been reports of it not launching, exporting out of sync...saying CODEC NOT FOUND when working with XDCAM. How far ranging is that? Dunno. We only hear about the problems on the forums, not the successes. If you sat in the waiting room at a hospital you'd think everyone was sick, that there was some sort of pandemic.
I do know others that have reported now issues. But it all depends on what part of it you use...I guess. The OS wasn't designed for FCP 7 in mind. If you must use it to earn a living, I HIGHLY recommend you install it on an older OS, or keep around the older computer that you have it installed on to revisit those projects.

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Hi,
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I have an old Power Mac 5.1 with an Inter Quad Core Xeon processor. (OS10.6.8) Will FCP 5.1 work with this computer?

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I'm a bit confused, PowerMac 5.1 is the old G4 Cube, Quad Core Xeons would be a Mac Pro 1.1 to 6.1, but if you're asking about running it on the IntelMac in 10.6.8...
According to this... not very well...
http://snowleopard.wikidot.com/
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Will I be happy with a new iMac & FCE4?

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Your thoughts are appreciated... am I correct in my assumptions below? I do not have the $$ for a new MacPro, so...
I have a Power Mac (Tower) Dual 2 GHz PowerPC G5 with 2G of RAM and about 750 G of HD space.
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My eyes just glazed over...Please in the future break down each of your issues with paragraphs separated by two carriage returns. It would be much easier when trying to address your issues.
Go to Apple menu -> System Preferences -> Keyboard and Mouse -> Mouse
And edit your mouse settings to do what you want it to do.
Secondly, this is not the place to vent. If you have a complaint, there is:
http://www.apple.com/feedback/
or http://www.apple.com/contact/
We are just end users here helping other end users.
Third, from my understanding, it would appear you are concerned about the noise the hard drive makes when it falls asleep? Why not put your machine in screen saver mode instead? Apple menu -> System Preferences -> Energy Saver turn off all Energy Saver settings, or set them to run Never.
Fourth, if your machine was purchased just a few days ago, you may still be able to get an exchange from the store, quicker than you can get a repair done. You may want to look into that possibility.
Fifth, it does appear you found the Logic forum. I would persist in asking there how to solve your technical issue with Logic regarding the audio. It may be you don't have to do anything special to the hard drive. Remember audio can be transmitted by wire, avoiding ambient sounds.
Good luck!

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