Sots62

Q: Choppy FCPX playback while editing

I am trying to edit a 5 minute clip using 4K footage. I am already using proxy. When I playback, both the sound and the image are jumpy. All my footage is in exterior hard drive with plenty of room available and my iMac has 227 GB free.

Any ideas?

Many thanks.

Posted on Nov 5, 2015 11:50 AM

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Q: Choppy FCPX playback while editing

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  • by Russ H,

    Russ H Russ H Nov 6, 2015 4:58 AM in response to Sots62
    Level 7 (21,835 points)
    Quicktime
    Nov 6, 2015 4:58 AM in response to Sots62

    Unfortunately, the GPU is not replaceable.

     

    If you had a USB3 interface on one device and USB2  on the other, you would get USB2 speeds. But your speed test was great.

     

    The fact that your long projects play better than shorter ones goes to David's point about RAM.

     

    Open Activity Monitor and see how well your Mac is managing memory while working on a short project and then a long project.

     

    Russ

  • by Sots62,

    Sots62 Sots62 Nov 6, 2015 5:22 AM in response to Russ H
    Level 1 (12 points)
    Desktops
    Nov 6, 2015 5:22 AM in response to Russ H

    Thank you very much to both of you for your time! The problem is that I must finish this 5 minute clip and to edit it in this jumpy manner is real ****...

    I sincerely do not like Apple products... I wonder how do you all manage unless you have a huge budget... I am stuck with it and I gather I will have to deal wit it. All the best.

  • by Tom Wolsky,

    Tom Wolsky Tom Wolsky Nov 6, 2015 5:34 AM in response to Sots62
    Level 10 (118,348 points)
    Apple TV
    Nov 6, 2015 5:34 AM in response to Sots62

    TThe problem is you decided to produce in 4K and you don't have the equipment to support it. The computer isn't fast enough. The drives aren't fast enough. The speed tests show you can support HD, not 2K or 4K. Even in proxy you're going to have problems without a fast system if youre working in cinema size formats.

  • by Sots62,

    Sots62 Sots62 Nov 6, 2015 5:40 AM in response to Tom Wolsky
    Level 1 (12 points)
    Desktops
    Nov 6, 2015 5:40 AM in response to Tom Wolsky

    Thank you Tom, Yes, this seems to be the problem... If I get 8GB more of Ram and an a blu ray external hard drive, do you think it would work?

  • by Tom Wolsky,

    Tom Wolsky Tom Wolsky Nov 6, 2015 6:04 AM in response to Sots62
    Level 10 (118,348 points)
    Apple TV
    Nov 6, 2015 6:04 AM in response to Sots62

    DOnt know what you mean by Blu-Ray external drive. That's a disc recorder. It can't store your media.

  • by Sots62,

    Sots62 Sots62 Nov 6, 2015 6:15 AM in response to Tom Wolsky
    Level 1 (12 points)
    Desktops
    Nov 6, 2015 6:15 AM in response to Tom Wolsky

    I am not sure what is it called... fire wire external hard drive?? Something that would help the system to work faster.

  • by Tom Wolsky,Helpful

    Tom Wolsky Tom Wolsky Nov 6, 2015 1:56 PM in response to Sots62
    Level 10 (118,348 points)
    Apple TV
    Nov 6, 2015 1:56 PM in response to Sots62

    FIreWire isn't good enough any more for that size media. USB3 is better, but barely adequate.

  • by Luis Sequeira1,Helpful

    Luis Sequeira1 Luis Sequeira1 Nov 6, 2015 1:55 PM in response to Sots62
    Level 6 (12,500 points)
    Mac OS X
    Nov 6, 2015 1:55 PM in response to Sots62

    Sots62 wrote:

     

    Yes, I have already done what you have suggested and the playback is always choppy. You mention USB2 and 3? Could I change the connections of my existing hard drives or do I have to buy new ones??

    Would it really make a difference if I buy an  xtra 8GB of Ram??

     

    By your BlackMagic Disk Speed Test results, the drive there is definitely USB3. USB2 tops out at 480Mbps which would correspond to 40MB/s tops.

    With USB3 the speed of the actual drive, not the connection, becomes the limiting factor. As was said already, that should be enough to handle a single 4K stream in proxy, no problem.

     

    Extra RAM would be good, but unlikely to help with the present issue. The i5 and the GPU with 1GB of VRAM may be only marginally adequate, but those can't be updated.

     

    I see you have a very big library. Maybe you use just one library for everything you do. This may contribute to your problem, especially with only 8GB of RAM.

     

    Try this: close this library, create a new library and import one or two 4K clips. Make a small project and play it back. How does that go?

  • by Sots62,

    Sots62 Sots62 Nov 6, 2015 1:55 PM in response to Luis Sequeira1
    Level 1 (12 points)
    Desktops
    Nov 6, 2015 1:55 PM in response to Luis Sequeira1

    Thank you very much, I will try it!

  • by Russ H,

    Russ H Russ H Nov 6, 2015 2:53 PM in response to Sots62
    Level 7 (21,835 points)
    Quicktime
    Nov 6, 2015 2:53 PM in response to Sots62

    Earlier today you replied to me that you had already tried that with no effect.

     

    RUss

  • by Sots62,

    Sots62 Sots62 Nov 7, 2015 1:07 AM in response to Russ H
    Level 1 (12 points)
    Desktops
    Nov 7, 2015 1:07 AM in response to Russ H

    Yes, I tried to start a new project with a section of the jumpy material, what I have not yet tried is to create different libraries. I gather I should buy new external hard drives and connect them once at the time with as little material possible...

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