fcp 3 displays a/v playback problem

Question

fcp 3 displays a/v playback problem

I'm trying to set up FCPX, which I've owned since FCP7 was killed, but I've never used as it has not met my needs. I have worked almost exclusively with PP since 2011 (having used FCP since v2 in the early 2000s), so am unfamiliar with a lot of FCP and need simple answers.

My main problem is that I can only get FCP to use 2 of my 3 screens (2x Dell 2K and 1 HP 1200 lines). HP is fed by HDMI, the others are USB-C. MBP in closed clamshell mode. This set-up has worked for many years with no issue.

FCP lets me use only one Dell at any time (can be either) and the HP, but never both Dells and certainly not all 3. The settings tell me that no A/V output is detected. I want to have the working screens of FCP on my 2 Dells and video monitoring on the HP (this is how I have it with PP and any other editor I happen to use).

Any ideas as to why FCP won't play ball? I just can't use it effectively in this compromised state!

I'm on the latest version of FCP, on Sequoia, using MBP 16" 2019, i9 2.3GHz, AMD5500M, 64GB RAM, 2TB SSD.

Any help much appreciated!

MacBook Pro 16″, macOS 15.0

Posted on Nov 4, 2024 6:32 AM

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Answer 1

Nov 4, 2024 10:52 AM in response to Dominic Witherow

In order to be used as AV Output, a display needs to be set to one of usual video resolutions, HD 1080p, or 4K.

It used to be that it had to be connected via HDMI, but it appears that this restriction has been eased in recent versions (though my one external display is connected via HDMI, so I cannot test if direct USB-C can be used for this).

I have used FCP with three displays, and yes, it works (assuming one can meet the AV Output criteria already mentioned).

In case of 3 displays, and since you were not able to use one of them as AV Output, choosing which two displays it will use involves some tricks that I've been teaching over the years. In principle, once you have set one display as AV Output, using the remaining two should be straightforward, though.

I suggest you see if you can set the HP to 1080p or 4K, and if then the AV Output works (I fully expect it will),

and then start FCP on one display, and switch to two displays - it should (rather naturally) use the two Dells in that situation.

If for some reason this fails, and you want me to tell you how to use the two Dells, let me know, and I will explain.

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Answer 2

Nov 4, 2024 11:43 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1

Thanks - that sort of worked, but only momentarily and then it stopped working. What is more, the whole interface decided to vanish and then go onto only one screen and I couldn't work out how to get it back.

I can't understand how Apple have managed to make it so very counter-intuitive when everything else they do makes sense and is so easy!

Also, the display size limit is just backward. I'm so disappointed in Apple here - hopefully the new update will be more workable and up-to-date.

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Answer 3

Nov 5, 2024 12:36 AM in response to Dominic Witherow

I don't know what it is misbehaving.

I just did a test, using my 16" Intel MBP and two external displays, in fact one projector (connected via VGA), and a monitor (connected via HDMI).

I was able to use the three displays simultaneously. Furthermore, either the projector or the monitor worked as AV Output (when set to 1080p), and the remaining display used as secondary display for FCP, without any trickery: just select the AV Output display, and then Window->Show in Secondary Display->... automatically made use of the other one.

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Answer 4

Nov 4, 2024 6:57 AM in response to BenB

Thanks for your reply.

Unfortunately, neither of those help. I have already gone through the steps in the Apple article and Larry Jordan article is 6 years out of date and doesn't address the issue at all, due to the changes in FCP since then.

Any other thoughts, much appreciated!

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Answer 5

Nov 4, 2024 12:00 PM in response to Dominic Witherow

Dominic Witherow wrote:

Thanks - that sort of worked, but only momentarily and then it stopped working. What is more, the whole interface decided to vanish and then go onto only one screen and I couldn't work out how to get it back.

Can you elaborate on that? Vanish how? By "go onto only one screen" do you mean that it reverted to the way it works normally on one display, or somehow what was in two displays (with, say, the timeline on the second display) was crammed into one?

And then using Window->Show in Secondary Display->... would not work?

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Answer 6

Nov 4, 2024 12:38 PM in response to Luis Sequeira1

It recognised the A/V option, so I selected that for playback, then tried to set 'browser' to one screen and 'timeline' to the other, at which point it ceased to recognise the A/V playback screen and put everything onto a single screen. It then refused to show anything from FCP on either secondary screen (the screens continued to function normally otherwise). So, when I selected 'browser' or 'timeline' or 'viewer' to go to secondary display it just hid that element completely. I reduced the size of the main window, to check if the rest was hiding behind, but no. I was able to move the FCP window around to the other displays but still nothing showed as a secondary display.

I'm sure there's some user error somewhere, but with over 20 years of professional editing experience, working in FCP, Avid, Premiere and even Flame, I'm finding it very hard to justify the time spent so far in trying to get FCPX to work properly. I want to use it for ProRes RAW workflows primarily, but I need the basics to be reliable first.

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Answer 7

Nov 5, 2024 3:23 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1

Thank you so much for your patience, Luis! It seems that everything is dependent on the specific order in which I attempt to make the necessary changes - being used to just dragging panels wherever I need them and adjusting outputs however I fancy, this seems a retrograde step. However, the clear improvement in Prores playback is quite dramatic and hopefully worth the effort!

Now I need to find all my tools - but that should be fairly straightforward!

Thanks again for all your help!

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Answer 8

BenB

Level 6

12,643 points

Nov 4, 2024 6:39 AM in response to Dominic Witherow

Play media on an external display in Final Cut Pro for Mac - Apple Support

https://larryjordan.com/articles/use-two-monitors-with-apple-final-cut-pro-x/

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