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Q: QuickCluster doesn't appear in Compressor 3.5.3

I am having the following issue with Final Cut Pro 7.0.3 and Compressor 3.5.3.  Please note that utilizing multiple cores for encoding HAS WORKED IN THE PAST for me on this very computer.  One day, I couldn't access my cluster, and I can't figure out why.  Nor can I seem to fix it via any of the threads I've found on this board.

 

The cluster should be set up properly because it shows up as an "Idle" Service when I click on the Qmaster icon in the menu bar, and the cluster also appears  - and I can even select it - in the Batch Monitor.  However, whether I use the "Send To" function from Final Cut, or render out a self-contained movie and add the file to Compressor, the cluster does not appear in the Pop-Down menu where I should be able to select it after submitting the batch.

 

This worked for me right after I purchased this system in November of 2011... somewhere along the line, the cluster stopped appearing as described above, and I have not been able to get it back since.  I've read various reasons for this problem, but no one has any solutions in the past 3 years.  All the threads I can find instructing me to how to properly fix this are from around 2009, and 2 or 3 OS X's prior.  One person said that only Compressor 4 could access multiple cores, as it is a 64-bit application and mine is only 32-bit, but I have gotten this to work in the past so that can't be a reason.

 

Any help would be MUCH appreciated.  This computer encoded SO much faster when I could access all 8 cores.

Final Cut Studio '09, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.1)

Posted on Sep 4, 2012 8:55 PM

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Q: QuickCluster doesn't appear in Compressor 3.5.3

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  • by Russ H,

    Russ H Russ H Sep 18, 2012 11:48 AM in response to cinEmotion pictures
    Level 7 (21,800 points)
    Quicktime
    Sep 18, 2012 11:48 AM in response to cinEmotion pictures

    I was referring to this  in the blog:

     

    So be aware that using this method will require considerably more memory than rendering on a single instance. Apple recommends 1 GB RAM per instance but again, this depends on the media you are transcoding to

     

    The current manual recommends 2 GB per instance.

     

    Sorry to hear old problems have returned – along with the new ones.

     

    If I were in your shoes I would also be pretty ticked off…but almost surely it's more complicated than Compressor-QMaster alone.

     

    According to your profile you are currenly running ML on a computer you purchased in 2011. What did you upgrade from and did you do a clean install?  Did these problems surface first after the upgrade to 10.8?

     

    Russ

  • by cinEmotion pictures,

    cinEmotion pictures cinEmotion pictures Sep 18, 2012 1:17 PM in response to cinEmotion pictures
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Sep 18, 2012 1:17 PM in response to cinEmotion pictures

    Okay, here's an update...

     

    I still could not get a batch to avoid fail, even after trying EVERYTHING on this post:

     

    https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-2591

     

    However, on a whim, I tried one little (seemingly) insignificant thing in Compressor, and suddenly everything works.  The "Elementary Stream" setting I was using to encode a blu-ray asset had the frame rate set to "Automatic."  When I imported the source file, that pop-down menu for frame rate changed to "24."  That is the editing timebase I used in Final Cut Pro 7.  When I changed that to "23.98," voila!  No issues with encoding (though I have yet to attempt an encode using a cluster... this one was completed using just "This Computer").

     

    After everything I've read in the last week while attempting to solve my issues, I've been told that 24 is actually 23.98, yet Compressor has them as two different settings.  If I was editing in 24, I'm not sure why 24 would cause a crash in Compressor, but at least I've figured this out.  I can't understand why a Compressor setting would inaccurately recognize the frame rate of a source video like this, but oh well.  At least I know now.

  • by Michael Grenadier,

    Michael Grenadier Michael Grenadier Sep 18, 2012 3:37 PM in response to cinEmotion pictures
    Level 7 (20,362 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 18, 2012 3:37 PM in response to cinEmotion pictures

    24 and 23.98 are not the same although they are often confused.  24fps is the rate that film is usually shot at.  When it's transferred to video, it's usually slowed down slightly to about 23.98 so that 3:2 pulldown can be added to make a 29.97 frame per second video (NTSC - North American standard).  In Europe, the film is usually just sped up to 25fps the PAL - European video standard.

     

    And computers can play any of these frame rates. 

     

    To make things more confusing, complicated and frustrating, I'm now preparing a documentary that was shot and edited at 29.97 fps for conversion to a digital cinema print which has to be 24 fps (not 23.98).  Oy.

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