FCPX is really slow..??

Question

Level 1

18 points

FCPX is really slow..??

I have a early 2008 2 x 3ghz 4 core mac pro with a quadro fx 5600 1.5gb graphics card, a 250gb ssd for user and apps (only using 180), (3) 4 TB 7200RPM HDs and 32GB of Ram and FCPX is still slow. I just upgraded to FCPX on this computer yesterday so I literally have only one project open. I imported a video thats about an hour and 15 minutes (720p) and before I even started editing it was giving me problems. The marker in the time line is tracking very rough during playback and the video freezes often while audio still plays...I'm using 2.5 GBs of memory and about 15% of CPU so I know im not maxing out...any thoughts? I have FCP 7 on the same machine and no issues.

Posted on Aug 11, 2013 3:15 PM

Reply

Answer 1

yusford

Level 1

9 points

Aug 11, 2013 4:14 PM in response to JasonA.

i have the same , 2008 , 2.8 ghz 8 core, mac pro , 10gb ram ,, raid and the new GTX 680 MAC EDITION . Finalcut X last update , lagggg , too much lagg , imosible work... Something is happenig whith FCPX , Its a shame , Adobe Premiere Pro works fine , perfect , and whith cuda acelaration. FCPX its die. After ten years of final cut its the end. BYE

Reply

Answer 2

JasonA. Author

Level 1

18 points

Aug 11, 2013 4:29 PM in response to yusford

Ive been reading alot about how bad FCPX is and its really unforianate because personally I really like the layout and all of the plug ins available for FCPX and Motion. What I dont understand is, how are all of these other editors that make these plug ins and tutorials getting it to work so well for them...

Reply

Answer 3

Russ H

Level 7

22,432 points

Aug 11, 2013 5:53 PM in response to JasonA.

You told us about your system, but not about how you are configuring FCP or about the project and media that are giving you problems. Where are your events and projects located?

Not defending the software, but you could also read a lot about how good it is and how fast it is by many discussions among pro editors.

Russ

Reply

Answer 4

JasonA. Author

Level 1

18 points

Aug 11, 2013 6:04 PM in response to Russ H

Please defend the software, I love for someone to show me and everyone else how to get great performance. I know its possible because theres many editors that use it flawlessly, Its just so many people that arnt quite at the pro level like myself (I edit sermon videos for a large church in alaska) are struggling to find what were doing wrong.

I havent messed with any of the configurations because honestly I dont know what it all means yet. Its still at the factory settings. The one file I tried was stored onto the SSD, once I get it working properly Id like to store all of my projects and media on one of the internal 4TB HD's with all my media from FCP 6.

What would you like to know about our media files? Mostly its MP4's that are being captured by a Black Magic H.264 Pro Recorder at 720P or 1080 .MOV's off a Canon 60D.

Reply

Answer 5

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

152,819 points

Aug 11, 2013 6:09 PM in response to JasonA.

MPEG-4 should not be used in FCP. The material needs to be optimized. If the BM recorder is really making MPEG-4 you should contact them and find out if they have a solution that records QuickTime with uncompressed audio.

Reply

Answer 6

Russ H

Level 7

22,432 points

Aug 11, 2013 6:20 PM in response to JasonA.

The DSLR clips can be edited natively, but I would optimize them anyway. The mp4 files definitely need to be optimized.

Not everyone agrees, but I would store both events and projects on a drive separate from my boot drive.

There are graphics card that are better for FCPX and that will work with your MP.

Russ

Reply

Answer 7

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

152,819 points

Aug 11, 2013 6:18 PM in response to JasonA.

What OS is this? I'm not seeing that graphics card on the compatible list, though I think it is OpenCL capable, but maybe only on some OSs.

Reply

Answer 8

JasonA. Author

Level 1

18 points

Aug 11, 2013 6:36 PM in response to Tom Wolsky

Its 10.8.4, I really hope the graphics card is still ok because it was alot of money in 08.

Reply

Answer 9

JasonA. Author

Level 1

18 points

Aug 11, 2013 6:43 PM in response to JasonA.

Just checked the Pro Recorder manual and it can only record in MP4. The settings on that capture device are slim to none...

Reply

Answer 10

Russ H

Level 7

22,432 points

Aug 11, 2013 6:43 PM in response to JasonA.

Research this card with the 2008 MP.

But also try the recommendations to optimize.

Russ

Reply

Answer 11

JasonA. Author

Level 1

18 points

Aug 11, 2013 6:47 PM in response to Russ H

Ok Ill try it right now. Thanks Russ

Reply

Answer 12

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

152,819 points

Aug 11, 2013 7:04 PM in response to JasonA.

That's quite a long time ago in computer life where one generation is usually 18 months. It may not be OpenCL capable in a 64-bit OS like 10.8.x. Though if you downloaded it into that machine from the App Store it should work.

Reply

Answer 13

JasonA. Author

Level 1

18 points

Aug 11, 2013 7:16 PM in response to JasonA.

Ok so, I did that and it seems to have solved the lag with playback so far.

Reply

Answer 14

JasonA. Author

Level 1

18 points

Aug 17, 2013 2:21 PM in response to Tom Wolsky

So I thought that optimizing media had solved my lag but it didnt. Im working on a 4 min clip (all from a dslr) with about two dozen transitions and it has been giving me trouble for the last 2 days. Its like everytime I try to do something it has to take a couple seconds to think before it desides to respond. Ive been looking at changeing the graphics card and I read on Mac Rumors that, while apple doesnt list the 2008 being compatable with the 5870 upgrade, that it is and actually is faster by about 20 fps than a 6 core with the same card. My hangup is I dont know much about graphics cards and to me it seems like going form 1.5 gb ddr3 to 1 gb ddr5 would be going backwards but is ddr5 substantially better than ddr3? I willing to cough up about $500 if it fixes my problems and im not partial to any particular card as long as it gets rid of the delay time.

Reply

Answer 15

Russ H

Level 7

22,432 points

Aug 18, 2013 7:26 AM in response to JasonA.

Hi Jason.

Sorry to hear that.

You might want to visit theMP discussions forum to get advice on your GPU questions. You could do a search on 3,1 graphics and/or start a new thread. If you purchase a new card, you should find out what the vendor's return policy is – in case you find out the card wasn't the problem. AFAIK, your $ risk would be a re-stocking or re-packaging fee, but it would be good to be verify the terms.

Good luck.

Russ

Reply