FCP X Stability

Question

Level 1

5 points

FCP X Stability

Let me begin by saying that I like FCP X. I like the way that I, as an artist, can work without being tied to timelines and keyframes. But .. it is entirely too unstable and not effective at all with memory management.

I have a newer MacPro with dual QuadCores and 16 Gb RAM. I keep up with updates .. I am now running 10.7.2. I know there is a new one that just came out and I will update to that soon. One would think that a computer of this size could handle almost anything .. certainly it handles very large orchestrations in Logic Pro 9.

I am trying to create a movie and I have only gotten to the intro .. 4 smallish clips converted from MXF to ProRes 422. There is one audio track bounced from Logic Pro 9. I have a few transitions from those installed with the program and a couple of title.

I have one effect on each clip (from Coremelt) and the program cannot keep up and is dropping frames like crazy (it is fine without the effect). When I try to add another effect to one of the clips I get the spinning beach ball and then crashes.

Apple! Please! This is not acceptable. You are forcing me to switch to Premiere Pro and I don't want to go there. Can't you do something about this?

Thanks for listening ..

Catherine

Final Cut Pro X, Mac OS X (10.7.2)

Posted on Feb 3, 2012 10:50 AM

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Answer 1

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

151,089 points

Feb 3, 2012 12:52 PM in response to Taoswoman

Which version are you using? Has CoreMelt updated its plugins?

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Answer 2

Taoswoman Author

Level 1

5 points

Feb 3, 2012 2:39 PM in response to Tom Wolsky

As far as I know, they are up to date. I am also using FxFactory and their partners. I don't know for a fact that this is plugin related, but it could be. Sometimes FCP X crashes when it is just sitting there, doing nothing. I sent 3 crash reports to Apple today and finally gave up even trying to work. I have the latest version .. just updated the other day.

Thank you for any help you can give me!

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Answer 3

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

151,089 points

Feb 3, 2012 3:23 PM in response to Taoswoman

Sometimes FCP X crashes when it is just sitting there, doing nothing.

That sounds like a hardware problem. Like the RAM or virtual memory is running out and not being released. How much RAM do you have? How much free drive space do you have on your system drive?

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Answer 4

Taoswoman Author

Level 1

5 points

Feb 3, 2012 3:29 PM in response to Tom Wolsky

I have 16gb RAM. My system drive is 1 Tb, 404 Gb free. My other drive (where I keep my data) is 2TB, 783 GB free. My computer is a dual quad-core MacPro (2.4 GHz). This is not a small machine.

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Answer 5

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

151,089 points

Feb 3, 2012 3:32 PM in response to Taoswoman

Not at all. If you have the time, make a new project and throw a bunch of material into the timeline, build up about 30 minutes worth. Copy and paste clips if you have and see how it behaves without any filters applied.

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Answer 6

Taoswoman Author

Level 1

5 points

Feb 3, 2012 3:35 PM in response to Tom Wolsky

I know you are right but I have been resisting doing that just because of the time. I just downloaded the new FxFactory and I will check for new Coremelt plugins. I will see how much time I have over the weekend and report back on Monday. Thanks for talking to me!

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Answer 7

Taoswoman Author

Level 1

5 points

Feb 6, 2012 7:08 AM in response to Taoswoman

Good morning .. I had a little time to work on this and here are the results.

I made sure I had all the latest .. OS 10.7.3, FCP 10.0.3, latest Coremelt, latest FxFactory, latest everything. One is a trial (Luca's Grunge Effects).

I loaded up 30 minutes worth of clips .. no problems.

I added a sound track (45 seconds) .. no problem.

I added some transitions (Apple) .. no problems.

I added the Coremelt Filmic filter on 2 clips .. it began to slow down.

I added the Magic Bullet Looks filter on a different clip .. frames began to drop.

I added the Luca's Grunge Effects (a generator) over a different clip .. crash.

When I restarted, it wouldn't come back and I had to force quit and restart again.

I only added these elements to the first 60 seconds.

Granted that the Grunge Effects generator must be huge (these are video textures) but they are very cool and I want to use them. I can't use an editor if I can't make a production length movie with third party effects on a machine of my size.

I an willing to add RAM and even a new hard disk if I thought it would make a difference, but what will I do when I am traveling and need to use my MacBook Pro?

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Answer 8

Feb 6, 2012 1:56 PM in response to Taoswoman

These effects are hugely taxing on a system. If your using a lot of effects try disabling background rendering in the preferences. You should still be able to edit and preview your work. Then if you feel the need to render, do it manually when your computer is idle. That alone and also working with proxy files might make a big difference in performance.

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Answer 9

Taoswoman Author

Level 1

5 points

Feb 6, 2012 2:01 PM in response to Paul Veronin

I know that. I will try the background rendering. But running slowly and crashing without warning are two different things. I may have to either go back to FCP 7 or switch to Premiere Pro, both of which are more stable.

Thanks for your comments.

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Answer 10

Feb 6, 2012 2:24 PM in response to Taoswoman

Disabling background rendering has improved stability for me, I should have mentioned. I am also running Looks, Coremelt, and Fxfactory 3.01 and tested with about 11 effects on the timeline and although a few frames we're dropped during preview, I was able to edit for over an hour with no crashes. I have a '09 dual quadcore 2.93 Mac Pro. I can now edit fairly smoothly with no crashes since I disabled background rendering.

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Answer 11

Taoswoman Author

Level 1

5 points

Feb 6, 2012 2:29 PM in response to Paul Veronin

That is encouraging. I will see what that does. I still find it dismaying that you can only run for over an hour "with no crashes". I am a computer scientist by training (a master of science from the early days of computers) and we were always taught that crashes were absolutely unacceptable no matter what .. that all programs should "degrade gracefully." What has happened to that rule?

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Answer 12

Feb 6, 2012 2:43 PM in response to Taoswoman

I'm sorry maybe I didn't explain it right. It never did crash on me after the hour of editing, I restarted the program and took a break. I'm not entirely pleased with the performance but with the steps I take including optimising media and sometimes using proxy files and disabling BR, It rarely crashes anymore.

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Answer 13

Taoswoman Author

Level 1

5 points

Feb 6, 2012 2:46 PM in response to Paul Veronin

Thanks .. I will give this a try.

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Answer 14

Feb 6, 2012 3:21 PM in response to Taoswoman

No video editing software at version 1.03 has EVER been stable, all new code, it's all new API's for third party developers to get used to, this is what leads to so many problems.

If you want regular stability use FCP7 or wait a year or two. Also as I read, there are plenty of bugs with the new Avid release too and PPro crashed regularly on my system before the last update.

I use FCPX a lot and I find it to be remarkably stable considering it's so new, but I'm wary of third party plugins at the moment.

Also, unless you hit the undo bug (which may have been fixed with the latest update?) when it does crash I haven't lost any work.

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Answer 15

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

151,089 points

Feb 6, 2012 3:52 PM in response to Steve Connor1

In addition to maybe fixing the undo problem, there is also now a 15 minute old backup file that is created automatically and separately from the the application's undo list.

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