Warning Dropped Frames?

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Level 1

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Warning Dropped Frames?

I keep getting the following message whilst I'm trying to edit my footage? "Warning - Dropped Frames, one or more frames were dropped during playback". I have been ignoring it but now it's literally popping up every minute or so. What's happening here and can it be harmful to my project. If frames are going missing (if thats what it means) then might this mess up my audio sync and dislodge my projects timing? I've spent a long time editing this video and really don't want to mess it up now. How can I stop it?

The message suggests:

Turn off "Unlimited RT"
Lowering your compression data rate
lowering the preferences for real time audio tracks

I don't really have a clue how to go about accomplishing the above suggestions. Any help, as usual is greatly appreciated!

Thanks
Kev

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.5.8)

Posted on Nov 5, 2010 8:12 AM

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Answer 1

MartinR

Level 7

25,328 points

Nov 5, 2010 8:29 AM in response to kevtim

Hello,

What kind of video are you working with - pls. tell us your clip properties & sequence properties. Do they match for codec, frame rate & frame size? How many video tracks are you using in your FCE project?

What model MBP do you have, how much RAM, what versions of QuickTime and FCE? What is the capacity of your internal hard drive & how much free space is on it?

Are you using an external hard drive; if so, what is it, what format, how is it connected to your MBP (USB or FW), what is its capacity & free space.

Do you have any other apps running the same time as FCE?

Quick answers - if your internal HD is getting full (less than about 20% free space, 40GB minimum free); if your external HD is not formatted as Mac OS Extended, if it is connected via USB, or is getting full -- these are common reasons for the kind of problems you are seeing.

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Answer 2

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

152,819 points

Nov 5, 2010 8:24 AM in response to kevtim

Also what drives are you using? How are they formatted? How are connected, and how full are they?

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Answer 3

kevtim Author

Level 1

0 points

Nov 5, 2010 11:29 AM in response to MartinR

Hi

I'm working with DV pal. Where do I find my clip properties and sequence properties? What's the codec? Sorry I've only been using the program for a month and I'm fairly new to editing.

I'm using four video tracks (two are only black matte's however to create a wide screen effect at the desired width). I am using three audio tracks. That is audio from my camera and audio from a dictaphone.

Here is the specs of my mac:

MacBook Pro
Model Identifier: MacBookPro5,5
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2.53 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache: 3 MB
Memory: 4 GB
Bus Speed: 1.07 GHz

I have quicktime player 7.6.6 and Final Cut Express 4. There is 232 GB on my internal hard drive and there is 104GB of free space left.

I'm not using an external hard drive (although I want to invest in one soon).

I only have FCE 4 running whilst I'm working on my project.

Hope some of this helps. If you tell me how to find the properties I'll get back to you with them.

Thanks a lot!
Kevin

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Answer 4

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

152,819 points

Nov 5, 2010 11:36 AM in response to kevtim

Select the sequence in the browser and go to Edit>Item Properties. What's it say for the sequence? The system looks good enough and should not be giving dropped frames.

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Answer 5

kevtim Author

Level 1

0 points

Nov 5, 2010 3:00 PM in response to Tom Wolsky

Brilliant cheers Tom, it reads as follows:

Tracks 4V, 6A
Vid Rate 25 fps
Frame Size 720 x 576
Compressor DV-PAL
Pixel Aspect PAL - CCIR 601
Field Dominance Lower (Even)
Audio 2 Outputs
Aud Rate 32.0 Khz
Aud Format 32-bit Floating Point

Any ideas?

Thanks
Kev

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Answer 6

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

152,819 points

Nov 5, 2010 3:59 PM in response to kevtim

Sorry, I can't see any reason you'd have dropped frames unless you have a lot of effects and multiple tracks of video and audio, but even so you should get red render bars before you get dropped frames.

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Answer 7

kevtim Author

Level 1

0 points

Nov 6, 2010 5:31 AM in response to Tom Wolsky

Strange... I haven't really used any effects (certainly nothing that needs rendering).

What does "dropped frames" actually mean any how?

Cheers
Kevin

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Answer 8

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

152,819 points

Nov 6, 2010 5:33 AM in response to kevtim

It means the computer hard drive cannot play back the video fast enough at the resolution it's in without skipping frames during playback. This is surprising for DV material, which is quite low resolution and data rate.

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Answer 9

Davinab

Level 1

0 points

Dec 5, 2010 5:48 PM in response to Tom Wolsky

Can you use MPEG Streamline and convert using 1920X1080 (unscaled) and unclick interlace scaling? Is this too large for FCE to work with in live mode? I am getting the same dropped frame warning as mentioned above and I have similar system specs

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Answer 10

Dec 13, 2010 4:28 PM in response to kevtim

Hey Kev. I've been having this problem also. Got totally frustrated, even upgraded to the new Final Cut Express 4. Then I FINALLY figured it out......just "un-check" the "Warn Next Time" box on the bottom left and your worries & frustration with go away!.....Ya, the video will drop some frames here and there, but it will be WAY quicker to edit your video with some missing frames, and then do a full "RENDER ALL" AFTER you have done some cool editing with your footage....

Well, this is the way that I am choosing to fix it. Basically, you are only dropping frames during playback of your footage. Once you render it you will be totally fine. The "Unlimited RT" (with dynamic checked on both) option gives you the opportunity to edit your video at a MUCH lower quality, but MUCH FASTER. Then, once you are happy with a section of your video, or the whole thing, render it. After rendering it, you can view it at full quality.

Cool, hope this helps man. Can't believe it took me so long to re-discover this....I remember that I went through this same scenario about 3 years ago...uuuuggghhhh.....

Blessings,
Rick

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