switching from Final Cut Pro to iMovie mid-project

February 17, 2016 3:33 PM

I have slightly less than two weeks to edit a video project. Due to unforeseen circumstances, I'm going to start editing on a MacBook with Final Cut Pro (in Location A) and then have to finish on an iMac with iMovie (in Location B). My Final Cut Pro clips should import to iMovie without any loss of quality, right? I assume yes, but I just need to double check so I'm not pulling my hair out in a week.
posted by roger ackroyd to Media & Arts (2 answers total)

It's been many, many years since I've messed with iMovie, but last I checked it didn't support all of the same codecs and formats as FCP. For example, I don't think iMovie supported ProRes last I knew. So I think this question may require more information to answer accurately (or you'll need to do the research to make sure you export from FCP into a format that iMovie will be happy with).

If I were you, I'd just login to my AppleID on the other computer and install FCP. Changing editing software mid-project is fraught with peril...
posted by primethyme at 3:36 PM on February 17, 2016

Response by poster: The Final Cut Pro is not mine, unfortunately. I'm planning on editing as much as I can in FCP, then outputting those segments as video, and then starting a new project in iMovie to stitch everything together.
posted by roger ackroyd at 3:44 PM on February 17, 2016