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alot of problems with final cut x 10.0.3 on mac os 10.6.8.

i am running final cut 10.0,3 on an I mac , 10.6.8 with 16 gb ram, and v ram 1 gb,


it takes many minutes to make any simple operation. also o open and close a window or , to copy and paste a clip.

Posted on Oct 4, 2012 4:17 AM

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9 replies

Oct 4, 2012 10:54 AM in response to alidav

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 of the OS 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 your playback in FCP X is not good, 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.


The downside of 'Proxy' is that it looks awful. DON'T use Proxy when you're assessing things like video quality - especially focus.


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.


Personally, I work with XDCAM EX and h.264 from a Canon DSLR. Both of these run fine with my system, but I do transcode multicam clips.


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

Oct 10, 2012 12:27 PM in response to alidav

Project files are usually only a few MB so not as critical to hide as event files. Do you have only one event? At any rate I would hide all event files that don't hold clips in the project you are working on, but I wouldnt hide projects that use that event. In your first posting you said your video ram was 1Gig, but now you say 256MB. I f that is true it is likely where your slow performance originates.

Oct 30, 2012 4:11 AM in response to Jim Wanamaker

I used both the computers, a mac book pro with vram 256 and 8 gb ram, and i mac with 1 gb vram and 16 gb ram, all projects was on an external drive fw 800 with 80% free.



I try to describe my work flow, i imported 2 hours of footage shot with two dslr (canon d 5), (and immediately i converted in both proxy and optimized file) and audio recorded separately, (it was a theatrical show)

I edited video with the multicam option in fcx, and synced audio, whole project was two hours.


from this 2 hour i had to edit to extract 5 minutes for a promo

with main project of 2 hours no matter what referenced clip i had proxy or 422 i had same problems in both computers, (for example, many seconds also to move just the mouse pointer).


what do you think the main cause could be

Oct 30, 2012 4:35 AM in response to alidav

alidav wrote:

i imported 2 hours of footage . . . .

I edited video with the multicam option in fcx, and synced audio, whole project was two hours.

Two hours is vastly too long for Multicam to work properly in FCP X. I'm surprised it even synced, let alone played correctly.


If you cut it into 10 minute sections, you should see a big difference.

Andy

alot of problems with final cut x 10.0.3 on mac os 10.6.8.

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