Q: Final Cut Pro X freezing on top spec new 27" iMac, help!

1.

Mac Pro

Mid 2012

3.2 GHz Quad Core Intel Xenon

6 GB 1066 ATI Radeon HD 5770

OS X 10.8.2

FCPX 10.0.6

I imported 1 minute of 1080p footage into the timeline.

Added 6 Titles including Far, Far Away and Blur. Changed style to Dream on all. Transformed. Changed font.

The machine hummed! Not even a stutter. Took very little time to render even though I jammed multiple operations down it's throat! Perfect!

2.

iMac 27"

Late 2012

2.9 GHz i5

8GB 1600

NVIDIA Geforce GTX 660M 512

OSX 10.8.2

FCPX 10.0.7

I imported 45 seconds of 1080p footage into the timeline.

Added 5 Titles including Far, Far Away and Blur. Changed style to Dream on all. Transformed. Changed font.

The machine plugged right along! Not even a stutter. Slower than the Mac Pro on rendering, which is to be expected. Never crashed.

3.

iMac 21.5

2.9GHz quad-core Intel Core i5

8GB

NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M with 512MB

OSX 10.8.2

FCPX 10.0.7

I imported 1 minute of 1080p footage into the timeline.

Added 6 Titles including Far, Far Away and Blur. Changed style to Dream on all. Transformed. Changed font.

The machine plugged right along! Not even a stutter. Slower than the 27" on rendering, which is to be expected. Never crashed.

My machine:

3.4 GHz i7

32 GB 1600 MHz DDR3

Graphics  NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680MX 2048 MB

OS X 10.8.2

FCPX 10.0.7

I imported 1 minute of 1080p footage into the timeline.

Added 2 Far, Far Away Titles. Changed style to Dream on all. Transformed. Changed font. Crashed immediately.

Throughout the thread we see the 680MX as the common factor. This is basically what I found when I went to the Apple store. I used Pixie Dust or whatever it is and choked that machine in short order.

Has anyone tried to determine what FCPX versions have this bug? I'm wondering a couple of things: If a version earlier than 10.0.7 might not have the bug, and if so, is it possible to obtain that version and install it? Because if it is, that might allow some people to actually get some work done until the problem is fixed. Of course, that assumes they won't need the newer features, and also that their FCPX projects can be opened by the earlier version.

Anyway, just a thought.

Dan

Dan Thomas (DAGWare) wrote:

 

Has anyone tried to determine what FCPX versions have this bug? I'm wondering a couple of things: If a version earlier than 10.0.7 might not have the bug, and if so, is it possible to obtain that version and install it?

It's pretty likely that someone who has contributed to this thread would have archived a previous version. I have, but (unfortunaely) don't have the latest, greatest iMac with the 2 CB GPU.

Russ

Unfortunately I believe the problem is with the OS and the card, and AFAIK you can't backslush the new iMac to an earlier OS. The thread started in mid-January. 10.0.6 came out in October and 0.7, which was not a major change and did not even update events and projects, came in early December.

In the FCPX manual, in the "What's new in Final Cut Pro 10.0.6" section, is the following line:

     "Faster sharing and export using the GPU and background processing."

What I'm thinking is, perhaps this change in 10.0.6 exposed the bug by excercising the GPU in a different way, and it's possible that prior versions don't.

Dan

Maybe, but it seems to be happening even when background rendering is off.

Got an e-mail from the FCPX team. They're aware of the issue, they seem to think that the GPU in question (680MX) causes it and say that they are "trying very hard to get it fixed as soon as possible". It's a complex issue, "if it were an easy fix it would have been done by now. Sometimes problems with something as complex as the GPU can be very difficult to track down and address. Hang in there."

So... fingers crossed, help is apparently on the way.

Finally! Not much info but they came out of the closet. It's like pulling teeth to get these guys to talk. It's like throwing a bone at a starving dog. The poor thing will chew on it until something better is thrown at it....;-)

Thanks for sharing Hirschkorn.

le500 wrote:

 

Finally! Not much info but they came out of the closet. It's like pulling teeth to get these guys to talk.

That's exactly right. I wish they would learn that expectations are everything. It only takes a couple of minutes to tell us they really, truly are working on this. And when they do, we can breathe (slightly) easier.

The thing they really ought to do is create a blog of some kind, with, say, daily posts that keep reminding us they're actively working on the issue. They don't need to tell us details - just something like "the team really worked hard today, eliminating some portions of code from suspicion" or something like that.

Although if they wanted to give details, that would be truly awesome, but I wouldn't expect that. Just some simple communication. You know, like normal people do. Even something like "Sut up! I'm working on it as fast as I can, and you're bugging me!" would be better than nothing. 

Dan

So what would it take to get Apple to install another video card and give me my couple of hundred $$ back for the "upgraded" 680MX?

In my opinion a good convincing speech to your AppleCare agent online and convincing them that they have the obligation to ensure the machine works especially with their own software. I know that having been in sales all my life I could talk my way into this one. But I still prefer to wait and get a fix and keep my really fast card...;-)

<Edited by Host>

Just to be clear, I don't blame the FCPX Team for this communication issue - I blame the higher management.

Hirschkorn,

employes cannot and should never be blamed for what they do. They always folow orders or directives and rules. Management is ALWAYS to blame, even when you get incompetent and ignorant employes doing the wrong moves and saying stupid things because that again needs to be linked with managements innability to provide them with proper training and adecuate supervision or even communication faillure to tell their people how to treat clients.

I know sometimes employes take the beating and the wrap and the anger from clients, I myself get carried away sometimes, but in the end I always ensure the person I talk to understands I don't blame them for giving me the wrong answer.

To all FCPX team members, please take note we love you and on the other flip side of the coin, if everything was perfect with Apple products the whole team would be out of a job.....LOLOLOL

Here's a minority report, which I hope will be food for thought.

This morning I tested the 3.4 Ghz Fusion Drive model with the 680 MX at the Derby Sq. Store.

I only had 10 minutes until I had to leave to keep a commitment so the test was brief. But it was also a substantive test and, in short, I found the machine to be incredibly impressive.

The test was 1080 P24, a minute in length, transitions, gaussian blur, several secondary story lines, four titles, two of which were Far Far Away. I continually made revisions as I worked – adding – removing effects – adding then deleting secondaries connected to secondaries and (because background rendering was on – I could not keep orange render bars displayed. The export to a master file took literally several seconds – maybe 5 or 6 seconds.

This confirmed the same impression I had in a visit to the same store several weeks ago. At that time I did far more extensive tests on a more complex project, but with similar results on what I think was the identically-speced machine. The one reservation I had about reporting that earlier test was I wasn't 100% certain the machine had the 2 GB GPU.

The good news is when you finally do get this sorted out, you're in for quite an editing experience.

Good luck.

Russ