Pro Res 4444 MOV file displays black screen on M1 MacBook Pro, can't be viewed, rendered or exported by FCP.

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Level 1

4 points

Pro Res 4444 MOV file displays black screen on M1 MacBook Pro, can't be viewed, rendered or exported by FCP.

Using a 2021 M1 Max 64GB RAM MacBook.

I have a number of Pro Res 4444 clips that have been exported from Da Vinci Resolve and sent to me.

When I try and play the clips on Quicktime, I'm presented with a black screen. The play bar tells me that it's playing but I can't see or hear anything. I can, however, view the clip just fine on VLC.

When I import the clip to Final Cut Pro it will display the picture but only when paused. Furthermore, if I try to export the timeline to any format, it fails and gives me Error 10004 (can't create frame), and Error -12911 c (can't render). It won't let me render the clip on my timeline either.

The only way I can actually playback without it giving me a black screen on Final Cut Pro is by setting the Range Check to 'All'. Still won't render or export like this.

This has happened before, but the way I went around it was by loading it up on an older MacBook (Intel i5), which worked just fine. I suspect that there is some kind of optimization flaw with the M1 chip, but unfortunately, I can't change the 'Render/Share GPU' option in the playback settings of Final Cut Pro.

Worth mentioning that when I was on FCP 19.6.1 it didn't even show me the frame when paused, but when I updated to the latest 10.6.4 it shows me the frame when paused.

I've rebooted, updated, reset preferences, deleted generated files, render files etc. Compressor & iMovie has the same problem. I've attached information about the clip below as well as errors and settings. Thank you!

MacBook Pro 14″, macOS 12.2

Posted on Sep 21, 2022 11:21 AM

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Answer 1

hudsonriver1 Author

Level 1

4 points

Sep 21, 2022 12:51 PM in response to Luis Sequeira1

Thanks for the reply Luis. Please see the link for the sample file below.

If I export something from FCP in Prores 4444 it all runs smoothly, yes. So maybe it is just a Resolve issue.

I've opened the test I exported in FCP as well as the troublesome clip in Mediainfo and this is what I'm shown. Was this what you meant?

One difference shown that might be relevant is the version of Prores 4444; the Resolve file is 'Version 1', and the FCP file is 'Version 0'. Could this mean something?

Thanks

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Answer 2

Sep 21, 2022 12:09 PM in response to hudsonriver1

In addition to posting that sample file as Tom requested:

If I understood correctly, this only happens with these files produced with DaVinci Resolve, right?

In particular, if you export a ProRes 4444 file out of FCP, or Compressor, do those files play normally?

Could you open one such file that works, and one that doesn't, in MediaInfo, and post screenshots?

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Answer 3

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

152,073 points

Sep 21, 2022 1:13 PM in response to hudsonriver1

I assume you have the current version of Pro Video Formats installed. It might be useful to see a full EtreCheck report. Give the application Full Disk Access in Privacy System Preferences. Copy the report and use the Add Text button to paste the result into reply box.

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Answer 4

hudsonriver1 Author

Level 1

4 points

Sep 21, 2022 1:49 PM in response to Tom Wolsky

I think Terry is referring to the screenshots I supplied earlier on.

The 'FCP' file is a different size and aspect ratio to the Resolve one because I used a different clip to create the Prores 4444 file in Final Cut Pro.

Hope that makes sense.

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Answer 5

terryb

Level 4

2,710 points

Sep 21, 2022 2:31 PM in response to hudsonriver1

You've got the evil Google keystone agents installed. These break the video toolbox and are known causes of ProApps problems. To completely remove, follow the instructions at https://chromeisbad.com and then you'll need to reinstall FCP. Simply trashing Chrome or Google Earth is not enough, you must follow the instructions above.

BTW, I also had no problem playing the clip in QT or working with it in FCP.

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Answer 6

terryb

Level 4

2,710 points

Sep 21, 2022 4:37 PM in response to hudsonriver1

Not sure if I'm reading the report correctly but do you have only 48GB free space on your 1TB boot drive? If this is correct, your drive is beyond full. 10-15% minimum free space needed.

I don't think it should matter but are you running FCP Trial? I see both in the crash list.

Have you tried creating a new admin user, logging in as that user, creating a new library and importing one of the files to see how it behaves?

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Answer 7

hudsonriver1 Author

Level 1

4 points

Sep 21, 2022 5:10 PM in response to terryb

Thanks Terry, great idea about the admin user but still no luck.

I now have at least 15% space on my machine. I downloaded the FCP trial to see if it would give me different results but no success so I deleted the trial version.

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Answer 8

terryb

Level 4

2,710 points

Sep 21, 2022 5:15 PM in response to hudsonriver1

Does FCP have Full Disk Access? Full Disk Access is in System Preferences->Security & Privacy->Privacy. If you don't see FCP in the list, add it and make sure it's enabled with a check mark.

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Answer 9

terryb

Level 4

2,710 points

Sep 21, 2022 5:49 PM in response to hudsonriver1

If it's something odd in the Resolve export I wonder if transcoding with ffmpeg might clean it up. Would be worth a quick test.

From https://ottverse.com/ffmpeg-convert-to-apple-prores-422-4444-hq/

$ ffmpeg -i input.mov -c:v prores_ks -profile:v 4 -vendor apl0 -bits_per_mb 8000 -pix_fmt yuva444p10le output.mov

EDIT: Just saw your post Tom that you tested on an M1 with no issues.

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Answer 10

terryb

Level 4

2,710 points

Sep 21, 2022 5:52 PM in response to hudsonriver1

Since Tom tested on an M1 and had no issues it might be worthwhile to install a fresh macOS on an external drive, don't restore anything, install FCP, then boot from that drive to see if there's any difference in behavior.

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Answer 11

hudsonriver1 Author

Level 1

4 points

Sep 22, 2022 3:17 AM in response to terryb

Update! Seems like I was in need of a minor update to Monterey 12.6 as it's working fine now. Maybe it was the reinstallation of the OS that fixed it?

Thanks so much, guys. Really appreciate you taking the time to help me out with this.

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