Paul, thanks.
Here it is, there are actually two things.
1) When rendering in FCP X, rendering stops, spinning disc appears, the only way out of this state is to manually shut the laptop down.
What I have done:
--bought a second external drive (just like the one I was using). G-Drive 1 TB, 7200 rpm, firewire 800.
--moved all project and event files to new drive, fe-format old drive re-import old media
--behavior exists on both drives
--behavior also occurs when working from the internal boot drives (meaning I moved one project and all event files to the internal boot drive and this still occured). This was suggested as a permanent solution by TWO Apple Pro Reps who told me you should always edit from the internal boot drive. I have a MacBook Pro, it only has one drive in case anyone thinks they may have been talking about a second internal drive, I clarified this with both reps who told me this. Insane, I know, but true.
--I have trashed preference files, re-installed FCP X, had the harware scanned (by Apple at their store), run Disk Warrior, checked for permission errors and corrupt files (using Pro Maintenance Tools)
--this behavior also happened with totally different media, not just my camera clips
--my camera records AVCCAM and I usually shoot 1080p 60fps, and import as optimized footage, which transcodes to Apple Pro Res.
--The behavior happened in a totally new project, (whose media was not even imported until a few days ago) using imported highly compressed QT files, jpegs, it has happened when rendering title elements from FCP X (not third party stuff) and generators from within FCP X
If there is a pattern of some kind to why this happens, I have not seen it.
2) After a project is totally rendered (this render fail described above happens intermittently, but more and more frequently) I close the project, then when re-opened, some clips show as being unrendered, when FCP X renders them, they are now corrupted, elements like titles now flash (I dont mean dropped frames, I mean strobe). This has happened a lot.
I have a MacBook Pro from 2009, 2.8 GHz Intel Core Duo, 4 GB RAM 1067 MHz DDR 3, 500 GB hard drive.
I have used FCP X since it came out, this is a recent issue. So hardware checked out, behavior occurs with a variety of clip elements, always happens during rendering, no other time. Internal or external drive does not matter, and there appears to be no pattern, I have been dealing with this for two weeks, so I have seen it happen in a variety of projects.
--the $198.00 I paid to Pro Care support (Apple Extra care expired) for this was wasted, not becuase they could not fix the issue, but because some of the people I talked to were unprofessional, all said they were "Senior Advisors" in Pro App support--these were the folks who told me "always edit from the internal boot drive, it's how FCP X was meant to be used". I wasted so much time on the phone and the reason I had to buy care twice, is because every time I called in, I was told "sir, your Apple Care has expired, you have to purchase pro support to talk to a rep, it is $99.00. Every time. Over 20 calls in total. The "agreement" number I was first given was not valid, even though my card was charged and fully processed. So, I bought another, and every time I called, the agreement number was invalid, so not only was pro support a total letdown, but it would take me 10-20 minutes each time I called just to get through to a tier one person, THEN, be passed up to pro care. It was like dealing with the cable company. I will get my money back. One customer care person called me last night to tell me, "sir, I see you talk to 'x', he suggested taking your laptop to the Apple store for a hardware test. So, if you dont do do that, they cannot help you any more". The not funny part of that is I had taken my laptop in and had the test done hours earlier, and had two subsequent conversations with 'x' even before I called her. I am done with the keystone cops game. I will file a formal complaint to the State Attorney General to get my money refunded and am left with no other option but to wipe the whole hard drive and start a new.
Seriously, if I could afford it, I would dump all this and go straight to Adobe, like so many others have and so many warned me about FCP X and Apple's attitude toward the product. If they truly have the kind of pro people I have talked with in the past, who were knowledgable and professional, they have all been on vacation the last 10 days or so. Meanwhile, the projects fall further behind and money goes out the door.
