Vimzo Films

Q: Is anyone having issues with playback from the story line?

Just wondering if it's my hardware or maybe graphics card. FCP X 10.0.8 seems to not like to play back quick edits. Could it be the pro res files need an SSD drive to playback smoothly when edited clips are just a few frames long?

Mac Pro 2x2.8 quad core, 16 gig ram and ATI Radeon HD 5770. Shold the drives be in a raid?

Final Cut Pro X, Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Posted on Jul 17, 2013 8:35 AM

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Q: Is anyone having issues with playback from the story line?

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  • by Tony Gay,Helpful

    Tony Gay Tony Gay Jul 17, 2013 5:48 PM in response to Vimzo Films
    Level 4 (1,654 points)
    Photography
    Jul 17, 2013 5:48 PM in response to Vimzo Films

    try using the Blackmagic Disc speed test app to determine if the issue is with your drive speeds.

     

    https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/blackmagic-disk-speed-test/id425264550?mt=12

     

    Your graphics card does appear on "the" list,

     

    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4664

     

    Tony

  • by Russ H,Helpful

    Russ H Russ H Jul 17, 2013 6:19 PM in response to Vimzo Films
    Level 7 (21,835 points)
    Quicktime
    Jul 17, 2013 6:19 PM in response to Vimzo Films

    Pro Res files should be easy for your MP to play. No SSD drives required. No RAID either  unless you're editing several streams. Chack whether your playbak preferences are set to Better Performance.

     

    Using the speed test Tony suggested will be helpful. Also check Activity Monitor to make sure your RAM is getting released.

     

    Russ

  • by Vimzo Films,

    Vimzo Films Vimzo Films Jul 19, 2013 5:33 AM in response to Russ H
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 19, 2013 5:33 AM in response to Russ H

    Thanks for the response, It seems like there is a lag after I hit the space bar before clips play. sometimes almost a second. FCP 7 dosen't do that.  Also, the slimmer doesn't read video are it's very choppy we skimming over a clip or story line.

    Any thougths?

  • by Russ H,

    Russ H Russ H Jul 19, 2013 5:53 AM in response to Vimzo Films
    Level 7 (21,835 points)
    Quicktime
    Jul 19, 2013 5:53 AM in response to Vimzo Films

    What you describe is definitely not normal.

     

    FWIW, I find FCPX to be more responsive than legacy versions in nearly every area – except certain kinds of audio editing.

     

    Skimming should be instantaneous in moving though a clip – as fast as you can move your mouse from left to right or the reverse. It's not like scrubbing where you click and drag; you just move the mouse.

     

    JKL navigation as well as spacebar to start should be at least as fast as FCP7.

     

    You didn't mention where your events and projects are stored. IMO, the ideal setup is for events and projects to be on a drive other than your start-uo. (More importantly, it's also the recommendation of instructors like Larry Jordan and Tom Wolsky.)  You probably know that the start-up drive should probably have a minimum of 15% free.

     

    If you've checked Activity Monitor and have run a speed test and saw good throughput, two other things you could consider are running OnyX to do kind of a general housecleaning… cleaning caches, fixing premissions, verifying preferences. And creating a new user account and testing FCP responsiveness from that account.

     

    Good luck.

     

    Russ