The amount of memory allocated to Final Cut Pro can make a big difference in performance. This article discusses how much memory should be allocated, as well as how to do it.

While the minimum system requirements for Final Cut Pro specify 128MB of RAM, serious users are advised to have at least 256MB of RAM installed in their machine. While Final Cut Pro will run with the default 65MB of RAM allocated to it, it is preferable to have anywhere from 80 to 150MB of RAM allocated exclusively to Final Cut Pro. A larger RAM allocation will allow higher performance for longer projects, as well as for those with numerous layers.

To allocate more memory to Final Cut Pro, users should first know how much free memory they have available to them. Follow the steps below:

1. Quit out of Final Cut Pro

2. From the Finder, with no other applications running, go to the Apple menu and select "About this Computer"

3. In the resulting dialog box, note the "Largest Unused Block" in megabytes. This is the total amount of memory not used by the System, and is the most you can possibly allocate to Final Cut Pro. Note: It is not prudent to allocate all of your free memory to Final Cut Pro. Instead, subtract 15 from this total, and write this number down as your maximum memory allocation.

4. Close this window

5. Now, select the Final Cut Pro application icon

6. In the File menu, select Get Info>Memory

Figure 1 Memory Sub-menu

7. In the resulting dialog box, set the Preferred Size to be at least 80MB, preferably closer to 150MB if you have this much RAM free (especially important for longer projects)

Figure 2 The Memory Info Box for Final Cut Pro. Note that Virtual Memory is Disabled.

8. Optionally: Users may also set the Minimum Size to match the Preferred Size. This will insure that Final Cut Pro allocates all the memory you've specified every time it launches. If memory is not available, a warning will be issued and Final Cut Pro won't launch. In this case, users may either quit out of other currently running applications, or allocate less memory to Final Cut Pro in both Minimum and Preferred boxes.

Doing this will make sure that Final Cut Pro always has the amount of memory allocated that you expect it to, even in cases where users have multiple applications running simultaneously.

Figure 3 Changing Minimum Size last