RequestCVPixelBufferForFrame Error Message

There is an issue whereby duplicated or black frames caused by decode failures will cause Compressor to show the RequestCVPixelBufferForFrame error. The same input file in FCP will cause the export to abort, but no error is given.

One scenario I'm investigating is apparently caused when using Resolve Studio to transcode BRAW to ProRes on an M1 Ultra Mac Studio. It might also be caused in other scenarios involving different hardware and software.

In the cases I've examined, it manifests as duplicated or black frames in a ProRes input file. If you set FCP Settings>General>Time Display to "Frames", then go to that approximate location in the timeline and play it for about +/- 15 sec around that point, you will see that problem.

In this particular case, the problem is not caused by FCP or Compressor, but by whatever camera or application that produced the file. The source file is damaged, and the error is just how Compressor reacts to that.

So there is the side where the damaged file is *produced* (Resolve, camera, utility, etc) and the side where the file is *read* (FCP, Compressor, etc). In my tests thus far, the production of the damaged file seems limited to BRAW and Resolve Studio 18.6x on M1 Ultra. There is a random nature to it, and it may happen once per 15 minutes. or 3-4 times every 5 min. However, there are likely various possible causes of an internally malformed video file.

In general, there is no real fixable bug in FCP or Compressor -- the input file is damaged. If it's just a few frames, you may be able to edit the source file and then re-import the media file. A good way to edit those without re-encoding or otherwise altering the file is using the CMD+Y (split) mode of Quicktime Player. See the available documentation and video tutorials about that.

But once that damaged spot is in the input file, Compressor will fail at that same point every time. With FCP it's harder to tell since in my case it doesn't throw an error, just prematurely halts the export.

It is possible to view the errors in more detail by using the MacOS terminal "log show" command. However, this produces lots of output and is best viewed with a purpose-built text editor like BBEdit.

E.g, if you suspect Compressor will hit the error, have this command ready to run in terminal, and test it beforehand. Then, the moment the error happens, quickly run this command and inspect the output using BBEdit, etc. It exports the previous 60 seconds of all system log messages to an output file.

sudo log show --last 60s > ~/Documents/LogShow60s_OutputFile.txt

Search for portions of these errors. The other ones will be grouped nearby. They imply the ProRes hardware accelerator was trying to read a frame, and it apparently hung, likely due to the damaged input file.

"cannot be rendered"

"kernel: (AppleProResHW) ERROR: AppleProResHW hangRecovery(): TLimit reports back 0 outstanding"

"ProMSRendererTool: (ProCore) An error was generated when rendering the frame"

I encountered the same issue and tried the same steps as the OP. While the event had a yellow exclamation mark, none of the clips or anything in the index showed the same error indication. By honing in on the range of frames producing the error I was able to figure out which clip was creating the error. In my case the clip had an outdated effect plug-in applied to it (Dashwood Editor Essentials: White Balance). The effect was unchecked so there was no visible error. I'd removed that plug-in from my computer and, apparently, just having it inactive on the clip was enough to produce the Compressor error. I deleted the inactive effect and the file exported to Compressor with no issues.

I'm convinced this is some bug with FCP and or Compressor. I'm seeing this a LOT on M3 Macs lately. Same project, same SSD and NVME's, same cables, only the Mac's are different. They were M1's but the place just switched all to M3's this week and now, even exporting projects that were cut and exported (via Compressor) successfully on M1's fail with a bad frame now.

I can swap camera angles (these are 8 camera multicam projects) right at the bad frame and it will export successfully. So far 9 projects have this issue. 6 of them were started on M1's, three started on M3's but they all have export issues now. The only difference for us is swapping out M1 Mac with M3's. The M3's we have are default state, we've only installed FCP and Compressor.

Start by deleting render files.

Delete the application preferences: To delete preferences, hold down command and option while starting FCP X and click Delete Preferences. The application will start in a default state, and open an "Untitled" library. Reopen the library you were working on, set the preferences the way you like them, and try again.

If the issue persists: Please run Etrecheck and post its full report here. Use the "additional text" button and paste the report into the text box. Do you happen to have Chrome on this machine?

Were you exporting the same project from the M1?

Can you post a screenshot of the error message you’re getting?

This can be a corrupted frame or render file. Delete generated files and make sure background rendering is disabled.

Eu também fiz este teste, mas então o problema muda de localização, não é nada exato, agora com a mudança desse ponto, foi para o quadro 860, que é o início da tomada, se eu remover a tomada, o problema é diferente, se eu tentar exportar sem compressão, o problema se torna diferente e assim por diante, agora se eu abrir este projeto em um M1 ou M2, não há erro ao exportar. Há algo na decodificação do vídeo gravado, hoje eu uso um Sony A7IV em XAVC S 4:2:2 10 bits

olhe

News, with the new update FCP 10.8 it seems that the export problem has been resolved. Test and give your feedback

There is no logic, I tried a lot of things, which I read here and on other channels, as far as I know someone contacted support and they were not even able to resolve it, but what it seems is that it cannot decode or there is a problem decoding the files, the only certain information is that they are files with H.264 codec from Sony A7IV in XAVC S 4:2:2 10 bits

Final Cut Pro 10.7.1

Macbook Pro 17 M3 PRO 18GB

Thank you. 870 is the connection point to the title? Try shifting the title three frames earlier and seeing what happens. Only export a 10 second region around that point.

There have been numerous reports of H.264 decoding errors on Resolve unique to the M3. Disabling hardware acceleration avoids the problem, but is much slower.

I thought we hadn't seen M3-specific decode/encode errors on FCP, but the previously-posted Jerry Schulze video implies there's an issue.

The problem is (as Tom said), the CVPixelBuffer errors can happen from other causes such as damaged media.

I have the M1 Max MBP, M1 Ultra Mac Studio and M2 Pro Mac Mini, but I don't have an M3. I've taken scenarios on Resolve that were guaranteed to reproduce it on M3 but on my M1 and M2 machines it doesn't happen. That implies an M3-specific manifestation may also exist on FCP.

If someone with an M3 having this problem could work directly with me offline, I could obtain some debugging information that might help Apple solve it.

It shows the error as if the file was corrupt, but it's not, if I render the project, it skips the problem and finds another one. As I said, the fact happens, not only in this project, but if I use another processor to render the project, such as M1 or M2, everything goes well. The problem is that I invested in Macbook pro M3 machines for the agency, now I can't go back, I never thought that something like this would happen if I used all the setup from the same brand.

Tom/Luis/LocaAlicia: Do you have any idea if this problem is isolated to just the M3 Pro, or does it happen on other M3 CPU types?

The symptom in this case is the RequestCVPixelBufferForFrame error, but that can have several causes. If it only happens on M3 Pro that implies it's the same problem related to hardware-accelerated decoding seen on Resolve. Unfortunately FCP does not have a trace flag or DEFAULTs command to disable video acceleration when troubleshooting problems like this.

I think when people report this, they may just say "M3" and not differentiate between regular M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max. So the reported details are not always reliable. I first thought it was on any M3 CPU.

However after reviewing several reports on both Resolve and FCP, it might be only the M3 Pro.

On Resolve it happens on 4k 10-bit 4:2:2 H.264 material from Sony and Panasonic Lumix cameras, if the encoded bit rate is from 140 mbps to 280 mbps. It happens on both PAL and NTSC frame rates.

I don't have an M3 Pro so I can't test it.

One more test, removing all generated files and renders

Same thing with m3. Also I have video flickering in main screen while playback. Partly solve problem with few time rendering project (render once, close FCP, open, some videos still not render, render again). It's just horrible :(

My Macbook Pro M3 18GB is having the same problem when exporting any new or old project.

While I was using my old Macbook Pro M1 16GB, I didn't have this problem when exporting, I've tried absolutely everything and I haven't gotten a light so I can continue working.

There is a link on YouTube with some people trying to help with this problem, but so far the only explanation for this is the processor of the Macbook Pro M3, because from what they said the Macbook Ais M3 works without problems.

So Apple, we have a problem here, can you help us?