millwoodsmedia

Q: Random lock up on playback. Fresh install no help

Running FCPX 10.0.5 with OSX 10.8.2 on a 2011 MacPro. FCPX, project files and event files are all located on separate internal hard drives.

 

I'm getting frequent freezes (beach ball of doom) with FCPX from playing timelines, skimming event files and event skiming transitions in the browser. This behavior is never immediate apon launching FCPX but seems to occur with in 15 minutes or so. I've followed apples recommended steps in performing a clean install of FCPX but this has not fixed the behavior. This is occuring across a wide range of different projects, types of footage and even with in the effects/transitions browser, basically anything that can playback in the viewer window. I have an identical setup (10.0.5 & 10.8.2) on a 2011 MacBook Pro working with out this issue which has the same projects & footage.

 

Has anyone else experienced this behavior? Any thoughts on what could be at cause here? Quicktime? Graphics drivers? Harddrive failure? Not sure what direction to go in next.

 

Thanks,

Christian

Mac Pro, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.2)

Posted on Sep 19, 2012 2:52 PM

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Q: Random lock up on playback. Fresh install no help

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  • by millwoodsmedia,

    millwoodsmedia millwoodsmedia Sep 19, 2012 4:33 PM in response to millwoodsmedia
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 19, 2012 4:33 PM in response to millwoodsmedia

    Update

    I've been avoiding this machine due to this issue but after posting I had some solid edit time with it again. Originally I had skimming off so I was seeing it mostly on playback attempts. Now I've found that skimming anything (including mousing over the standard dissolve transition in the effects browser) has a 99% percent chance of instantly locking up final cut and requireing a force-quit.

  • by andynick,

    andynick andynick Sep 19, 2012 10:27 PM in response to millwoodsmedia
    Level 5 (4,943 points)
    Video
    Sep 19, 2012 10:27 PM in response to millwoodsmedia

    This is my pet checklist for questions regarding FCP X performance - you may have already addressed some of the items but it's worth checking.

     

    Make sure you're using the latest version of the application - FCP X 10.0.5 runs very well on my 2009 MacPro 2 x 2.26 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon with 16 GB RAM and ATI Radeon HD 5870 1024 MB. I run it with Lion 10.7.5.

     

    First, check that you have at least 20% free space on your system drive.

     

    For smooth playback without dropping frames, make sure 'Better Performance' is selected in the FCP X Preferences - Playback Tab.

     

    If you have not already done so, move your Projects and Events to a fast (Firewire 800 or faster) external HD. Make sure the drive's formatted OS Extended (journalling's not required for video). You should always keep at least 20% free space on the Hard Drives that your Media, Projects and Events are on.

     

    Check the spec of your Mac against the system requirements:

    http://www.apple.com/finalcutpro/specs/

     

    Check the spec of your graphics card. If it's listed here, it's not suitable:

    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4664

     

    If you are getting crashes, there is some conflict on the OS. Create a new (admin) user account on your system and use FCP X from there - if it runs a lot better, there's a conflict and a clean install would be recommended.

     

    Keep projects to 20 mins or less. If you have a long project, work on 20 min sections then paste these into a final project for export.

     

    If you ever experience dropped frames, I strongly recommend you use ProRes 422 Proxy - it edits and plays back like silk because the files are small but lightly compressed (not much packing and unpacking to do) - but remember to select 'Original or Optimised Media' (FCP X Preferences > Playback) just before you export your movie, otherwise it will be exported at low resolution.

     

    If you have plenty of processor power, for the ultimate editing experience, create Optimised Media - most camera native files are highly compressed and need a great deal of processor power to play back - particularly if you add titles, filters or effects. ProRes 422 takes up much more hard drive space but is very lightly compressed. It edits and plays back superbly.

     

    Hide Audio Waveforms at all times when you don't need them (both in Browser and Storyline / Timeline). They take up a lot of processor power. (Use the switch icon at the bottom-right of your timeline to select a format without waveforms if you don't need them at the moment, then switch back when you do).

     

    Create folders in the Project and Events libraries and put any projects you are not working on currently, in those folders. This will help a lot. There's a great application for this, called Event Manager X - for the tiny cost it's an invaluable application.

    http://assistedediting.intelligentassistance.com/EventManagerX/

     

    Unless you cannot edit and playback without it, turn off Background Rendering in Preferences (under Playback) - this will help general performance and you can always render when you need to by selecting the clip (or clips) and pressing Ctrl+R.

     

    The biggest single improvement I saw in performance was when I upgraded the RAM from 8 GB to 16.

    Andy

  • by Scot Walker,

    Scot Walker Scot Walker Sep 20, 2012 6:51 AM in response to millwoodsmedia
    Level 3 (526 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 20, 2012 6:51 AM in response to millwoodsmedia

    I had the same behavior on my Mac Pro with 24 gigs of RAM and a Radeon 5770. I realized my hard drive was way too slow. I installed an Accelsior PCI SSD drive and put my events on it and now it never crashes or locks up.

     

    So, from my experience, the biggest factor in FCP X stability is the hard drive speed.

  • by millwoodsmedia,

    millwoodsmedia millwoodsmedia Sep 20, 2012 2:20 PM in response to millwoodsmedia
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 20, 2012 2:20 PM in response to millwoodsmedia

    Thanks for the responses guys.

     

    Andy, I did see your best practices troubleshooting list before posting this so I can confirm I've taken card of all said above. The graphics card is approved as a ATI 5870 and I think the 48GB of ram has it covered.

     

    Scot, I have considered an upgrade to SSD drives however all three current drives are 7200RPM and this is a newly developed issue and has been performing just fine in the past with current hardware.

     

    Looking at the timeline of this problem developing I've decided that the most likely corelation was the upraged to Mountain Lion. It's going to be a pain but I'm going to try rolling back to Snow Lepoard. Other ides would still be appreciated and I'll post my solution if anything works.

     

    Thank,

    Christian