Must Uninstall FCE Before Installing FCS? Issues?
 

Just got this HEAVY weight black box on table and ready to install.

Is recommendable uninstall Final Cut Express before install Final Cut Studio?

Any issues about it or doesn't exist conflicts both remaining in?

I have an iMac 24" Intel + 4 G-Ram

Final Cut Express 4 in.

Final Cut Studio 2 ready.

Thanks in advance.

I have the *exact same* question, believe it or not. Hoping to have both co-exist peacefully.

FWIW I have the original FCE 1.0 and FCS2 coexisting on the same iMac 3.06---although I haven't actually run the FCE since installing FCS2.

I can't imagine having both on the same drive will be a problem. They use a nearly identical interface, but are completely independent programs and will allocate necessary support files into separate dedicated folders where appropriate.

I believe a few versions ago, when there used to be an available upgrade path from FCE to FCP, I think the FCP install defaulted to an Upgrade tab during the process (requiring the authorizing FCE key to validate the upgrade), but I don't think such is the case anymore. (I am speculating on that.)

The only two extra notes I would offer would be:

1.) If you install additional third-party plug-ins or filter sets into either one or both apps, you may want to just double check the support file folders for both to ensure those plug-ins were properly placed where they need to be, especially if said plug-ins are compatible with both apps. Some third-party plug-ins and filter sets come bundled with their own independently coded installers and may not be as "option aware" as others - meaning that if you want the plug-ins to be available in both apps, make sure it is accessible in both apps by being installed where both apps expect to find them.

2.) Make sure you maintain proper organization of your scratch disks. If you decide to set them both up with the same system of capture and render folders, utilize a workflow that accommodates that. ie: FCE cannot handle as broad a scope of formats as FCP can, so if you start a project in FCP with render files that you then attempt to open with FCE, know that there are a number of reasons (such as format incompatibility) that such an endeavor may not work - or at least be problematic or require redundant rendering.

Otherwise, I am pretty sure the two apps can co-exist quite peacefully on the same drive.

-Jon

You can have both installed on the same machine ... you can actually run them both at the same time.

Thanks for the inputs.

Much appreciated -- thanks fellows,

yup.

-J.

And one other thing that I've heard over time is that if you start a project in FCE and then work on it in FCS, you can not work on the same project back in FCE again.

Jonathan

It seems to me that it should be able to be opened again in FCE, although I don't have FCE on my system to try this out.

If you have file extensions displayed and you changed .fcp to .fce (I think), than I suspect that might work, as would likely right-clicking the file when you select it to make it open in FCP from the contextual menu.

But I would think the advised method would be to export/import using the XML file. I am pretty sure that should work, although I am only speculating here. Of course, even if it does open, because FCE is more limited in functionality than FCP, this may result in some error alerts pertaining to parameters (such as codecs, filters, and such) that fall outside the scope of FCE. If the project does not contain a lot of FCP-specific bells and whistles or exceed the track limitations of FCE, I would think using the XML process should work as long as you are also using the most recent version of FCE.

Can anyone confirm this?

-Jon

I'm sorry if I can't inform about experiments with both applications.

Removed FCE before installing FCS2. (Do not want headaches with experiments working, I've had enough with Windows).

Cheers.