AVCHD Log & Transfer crashes FCP7

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AVCHD Log & Transfer crashes FCP7

Hello all,

Been finding a few of these posts around, and so I'm starting my own thread and see if we can all collect some information.

Footage shot on AG-AF100 in London, UK. I'm based in NYC, USA. I have the card files on a harddrive which was mailed to me. 2 loads to be exact, one was a continuous shot for 3 hours, the second for 1.5 hours.

Open up FCP7, L&T, you can see the footage, it plays back just fine in the window, scrubbing too. I've tried many things: trash prefs, moved raw files to other HDDs and desktop, disconnected airport, tried ProRes HQ, ProRes, ProRes LT, uninstalled Perian.

Each time I start the queue, it goes for awhile, then crashes FCP7. In the report, I get this:

*** Terminating app due to uncaught exception 'NSMallocException', reason: '*** -[NSConcreteMutableData appendBytes:length:]: unable to allocate memory for length (89761)'

I, as well as many other editors on the internet, are stumped. Long length clips are the issue, that have to span the MTS files it seems. Any work arounds?

Mac 2.66 GHz Quad Intel Xeon

OSX 10.6.7

FCP 7.0.3

AE CS5

Quicktime Pro 7.6.4

8GB RAM

ProAvio 8TB RAID 5

Blackmagic Intensity Pro

ATI Radeon X1900

RocketRAID 4322 via dual MiniSAS

Panasonic Lumix GH2, Panasonic HVX200A, Panasonic DVX100A, Canon 5DMKII, 7D

My next steps:

Try what this guy did -

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2720990?start=0&tstart=0

I will also be setting In and Out for small chunks. PITA but worth a shot.

Any ideas, suggestions, experiences most welcome!

Thanks,

Joseph

Final Cut Pro 7, Mac OS X (10.6.7), See tech list above

Posted on Jun 10, 2011 11:48 AM

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Answer 1

footagehad Author

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Jun 10, 2011 1:07 PM in response to footagehad

Been setting In and Out points. Transferring smaller sections at a time. Working for now. Will report back with section lengths.

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Answer 2

Nick Holmes

Level 7

30,018 points

Jun 10, 2011 1:14 PM in response to footagehad

NSMallocException

NSString* const NSMallocException;

Availability: OpenStep

An exception used when the system fails to allocate required memory.

From here

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Answer 3

footagehad Author

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Jun 12, 2011 12:49 PM in response to Nick Holmes

Sorry, I'm not versed in this language. I'm guessing this means FCP is not allocating enough memory? So I need to increase it in memory usage? Mine is always set to 100% so not sure that's the solution. Is this a system exception, where the OS isn't allocating enough memory? Can't see how that's true too.

A little layman's speak would be helpful please.

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Answer 4

footagehad Author

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Jun 12, 2011 12:51 PM in response to footagehad

My sections were chosen at random, so anywhere between 20 min. to 45 min. lengths. Doesn't tell me anything really. Only thing is that FCP will transfer sections, not the entire 3 hr. clip as it exists.

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Answer 5

russtafa

Level 1

15 points

Jun 12, 2011 1:55 PM in response to footagehad

Simply put because Final Cut can only address a limited amount of memory being a 32 bit application.

So it is no wonder everyone is having problems with such large chunks of content.

Please see..

http://support.apple.com/kb/TA27734?viewlocale=en_US

No wonder they "archived" that information, hoping they get a massive influx to the apps store on FCPX "D" day.

When we get Final Cut Pro X which will be a true 64bit application then it will give the Apple engineering team a bit more freedom with memory allocation. overflows and lack of memory resources.

So I think you just "have to get by" for now.

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Answer 6

Nick Holmes

Level 7

30,018 points

Jun 12, 2011 2:27 PM in response to footagehad

You can't allocate memory in Mac OS X, neither can a program -it can only request it. That privilige belongs entirely to the system kernel, which does not tolerate any outside intrusion into its authority on a Unix system.

The failure to allocate memory could have several causes, the requested memory might already be in use by other processes. Your OP does not tell us what else was running. It could also be an error.

footagehad wrote:

... Mine is always set to 100% so not sure that's the solution.

You mean the one in System Settings > Memory & Cache? That refers to FCP's addressable memory (currently a maximum of 2.5GB), not the total installed in the system.

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Answer 7

footagehad Author

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Jun 12, 2011 4:07 PM in response to Nick Holmes

Thanks to you both, you have shed some light on this and how OS works. Can't wait for FCPX!

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Answer 8

Aug 8, 2011 8:51 AM in response to footagehad

Any updates on this problem? I'm having the same issue with longer clips. Real short clips are fine. But I have a 30 minute timelapse clip also from an AF100 that keeps crashing FCP. Strangley I've had it happen other times recently, left it alone for the weekend, and then came back and it miraculously worked fine without having changed anything. So, I've basically resorted to prayer on these things. Wish I knew what was going on.

Doug

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Answer 9

footagehad Author

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Aug 12, 2011 9:24 AM in response to Doug Carraway

I take that back. Boooo FCPX!

Doug - no fixies however. Like a previous poster said, we have to work around it, and the only way I was able to was to cut it up into smaller chunks, and sew it back together. You have to be frame accurate to avoid any overlaps or missing frames.

In the meantime, I'm migrating to Premiere Pro. It's designed specifically for tapeless workflows, and can read native file formats like Panny's AVCHD. In regards to long clips, I'm not sure how it handles it because I haven't tried yet.

Best of luck.

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