The only item I have in my project and on my timeline is a ten hour, 800 MB .mp4 file that I'm adjusting the EQ on. (It's a white noise video I want to post to youtube).
Every single time I've applied then attempted to adjust the EQ frequencies on the file, FCP freezes. (Activity Monitor says "not responding")
MacBook Pro (2017 – 2020)
It's possible the keystone stuff has damaged FCP. Move it to the Trash but don't empty it. Then open the AppStore app and login with the AppleID you used to purchase FCP. At the lower left of the AppStore window, click your AppleID to show your Previous Purchases and redownload FCP by clicking its cloud icon.
Post a screenshot from the QuickTime Player of the mp4's Movie Inspector with all the details twirled open.
Run the EQ test with some different footage. Something short.
Whenever FCP starts acting strangely an easy thing to try is deleting FCP preferences. Hold Option and Command while launching FCP and choose Delete Preferences... It will open the default Untitled library. Re-open the library you were working on, set the Preferences back to the way you like them (disable background rendering, etc.) and see if the issue has been resolved.
If you still experience the same issue, post an https://etrecheck.com report after giving it Full Disk Access in System Settings. This anonymized report can help identify problems or conflicts with other installed software.
Thanks for posting the report. One thing I see is Google's keystone software is installed which can cause havoc with the ProApps. Follow the instructions at https://chromeisbad.com on how to completely remove. Simply deleting Chrome.app is not enough.
What is MEGAsync?
10 hours is a long project. How long did you let FCP think about it? "Not responding" doesn't always mean a crash, just that the underlying process is blocking the UI. I agree with Luis, try it on a shorter, 30 minute project as a test.
Luis, it might be a sleep or concentration aid, sort of like the long videos of rain, a babbling brook or waves on a beach.
I fail to understand why you’d do this, but anyway… try with a smaller duration: same problem?
SUCCESS! Trashing and Reinstalling FCP worked! THANKS Terry!
I cut the project length down to 30 minutes, then after that didn't work, down to 30 seconds.
With the 30-second clip (no other clips on the timeline) I let the wheel spin for 10 minutes and it never stopped. Immediately upon the wheel displaying (and for the entire time after) Activity Monitor showed in red font "Final Cut Pro (Not Responding)", until I force quit.
*BTW you're right about why it's ten hours long. It is intended for sleep/focus.
Well, deleting the Google keystone files seemed to work at first, but it's still freezing/beachballing.
I deleted those files, emptied trash, restarted my MacBook and FCP allowed me to play with the Channel EQ frequency GUI controls much longer without freezing, but then it still became unresponsive after about 30 seconds (as opposed to the 5 seconds from before) of moving the frequency waves around.
I'm getting discouraged here...
*Edit: could it be the file type I'm editing (.mp4)?
Basically, we need more details.
Here's the etreCheck report.
I deleted preferences the way you said to. Didn't work.
Thanks for trying to resolve this though.
Ok I'll give that a try. Mega is a cloud storage software. I don't use it anymore, so I can delete it.
Great! Glad I could help and thank you for reporting back so others can see the solution.
Adjusting the Channel EQ always causes Final Cut Pro to freeze (spinning wheel)
