G5 / FCP Performance Problems

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Level 1

28 points

G5 / FCP Performance Problems

hi I had this posed in the G5 forum and was suggested to move it here.

G5 seems to be really slow. I never remember it being this slow.

I have a huge project that I dare not even start because rendering a one minute video takes like 10 min with just a few transitions and key frames.

Ive re-installed the OS
Ive ran Disk Warrior on all disks
it has 8G of ram and Ive ran a ram tester which says the ram is fine.

there must be something with this machine that I cant put my finger on.

I have a little zbox plastic pc with 160g sshd, and 4g of ram that runs way faster (although Im not asking it to render video)

any other performance suggestions out there?

how does your G5 handle rending a simple 1 min video?

CPU says 243 threads and 59 processes

under system memory:

page in/outs (I dont know what this is) says 93173/0

free memory is 5.59GB

disk usage

D1 = 150GB free

D2 = 420GB free

I set the scratch disks to an external

.. I shot in DV 24P 720x480 anamorphic -- although after import it says 29.9fps NTSC 3.2 DV

NTSC CCIR 601 DV

render control is "same as sequence codec"

its Mac OS X Version 10.4.11 (Build 8S165)

I get the beach ball when using compressor but today, I'm not even at the stage of using compressor yet. just putting some keyframes in a 1 min video.

anything else Im missing?

just switched to Adobe Pro res for editing... will not play a simple transition unless its rendered!

RT is set to Unlimited and Dynamic.

G5 Power Mac, Mac OS X (10.4.11), 2x 2.6Ghz DCPs, 8GB Ram, 4+TB storage Acer X243W

Posted on Jan 28, 2013 7:30 AM

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Answer 1

Russ H

Level 7

22,432 points

Jan 28, 2013 7:57 AM in response to M-323

Sounds like there is a mis-match.

Create a new sequence. Edit one of your anemographic clips to the TL. You should get a message asking whether you want the sequence settings to match your clip. Click yes.

Good luck.

Russ

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Answer 2

M-323 Author

Level 1

28 points

Jan 28, 2013 8:26 AM in response to Russ H

Russ, I did that initially thanks.

I dragged a clip onto the timeline, got the message, clicked yes.

still wants to render a simple non-additive dissolve.

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Answer 3

Jan 28, 2013 12:19 PM in response to M-323

Hi

And of course the external hard disk is

- Mac OS Extended formatted (MUST)

- and connected via FireWire - as USB/USB2 performs badly when Video editing is the task.

else I observed reg iMovie, iDVD and FCP 6 - speed increase by

TO GET IT TO WORK SLIGHTLY FASTER

• Minimum of 25Gb free space on Start-Up hard disk

• No other programs running in BackGround e.g. Energy-Saver

• Don’t let HD spin down or be turned off (in Energy-Save)

• Move hard disks that are not to be used to Trash - To be disconnected/turned off

• Goto Spotlight and set the rest of them under Integrity (not to be scanned)

• Set screen-saver to a folder without any photo - then make an active corner (up right for me) and set

pointer to this - turns on screen saver - to show that it has nothing to show

• No File Vault on - Important

• NO - TimeMachine - during iMovie/iDVD work either ! IMPORTANT

• Lot's of icons on DeaskTop/Finder also slows down the Mac noticeably

• Start a new User-Account and log into this and iMovie get's faster too - if a project is in a hurry

• And let Mac run on Mains - not just on battery (PB G4)

Yours Bengt W

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Answer 4

M-323 Author

Level 1

28 points

Jan 28, 2013 12:41 PM in response to Bengt Wärleby

Bengt

thanks for your input.

Im using a G5 Power Mac desktop and Final Cut Pro 6

disk usage

D1 = 150GB free

D2 = 420GB free

changed scratch disk to internal 1TB drive with 420GB remaining

doesn't seem to make much difference.

also I tried to make a new user account but FCP would not even open in that account. Why would that be?

I have trashed the FCP preferences too.

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Answer 5

Jan 28, 2013 12:49 PM in response to M-323

Yes - then we use very similar set-ups

• dG5 2.5GHz

• several external FW-800 hard disks

BUT - I use in 99% - interlaced SD-Video as result most often got to DVD

I'm VERY conservative regarding

• Video Codec - as I do not want to slow Mac down and make lot's of renderings

(StreamingDV)

• AUDIO - I ONLY USE .aiff 16-bit 48kHz or from Audio-CD (.aiff) 44.1kHz

NO - .mp3, .wma or other alient formats - All converted to .aiff first - then imported into FCP 6.0.6

• Photos - .jpg or .psd (from photoshop - often with layers)

This use to work OK - BUT Space on Boot Disk must never go less than 25GB - ever

Yours Bengt W

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