Stuttery playback in FCPX

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Level 1

20 points

Stuttery playback in FCPX

I have the newest model iMac, everything is upgraded, and 64 GB of RAM. All software is the latest versions. I'm running into an issue where I play the timeline in FCPX and after about a minute, it'll start to stutter and drop frames. Same thing happens when I try to watch a ProRes 422 export file in QuickTime. If I plug in my 2014 MBP running Yosemite, I have no issues at all. One would expect the iMac to perform better... I'm guessing I have some software thing causing issues. Anyone know what could be causing it?

Posted on Jul 26, 2016 8:40 AM

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Answer 1

Russ H

Level 7

22,432 points

Jul 26, 2016 8:48 AM in response to kleinbc

You're right to expect the high spec iMac to be faster. Are you comparing the same file in the machines? Are the files on an external drive? How much free space on the iMac and MBP boot drives.

Russ

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Answer 2

kleinbc Author

Level 1

20 points

Jul 26, 2016 8:56 AM in response to Russ H

I unplug the thunderbolt drive from the iMac and plug it into the MBP. Then open the same files. They are on an external drive. An OWC Thunderbay 4 running raid 0.

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Answer 3

Russ H

Level 7

22,432 points

Jul 26, 2016 9:03 AM in response to kleinbc

What about third party software that is on the iMac but not the MBP – especially something like MacKeeper?

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Answer 4

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

152,816 points

Jul 27, 2016 5:04 AM in response to kleinbc

You might also try testing using a clean admin user and see if that works.

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Answer 5

kleinbc Author

Level 1

20 points

Jul 26, 2016 9:06 AM in response to Russ H

Nothing like MacKeeper. (At least that I know of.) The machines are similar, but not exactly the same. I'm thinking I need to do a clean install...

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Answer 6

Russ H

Level 7

22,432 points

Jul 26, 2016 9:08 AM in response to kleinbc

Well, Tom's suggestion is a lot less hassle and may tell us something.

kleinbc wrote:

Nothing like MacKeeper. (At least that I know of.)

Might want to download and run Etrecheck, which is safe and may report something interesting.

Russ

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Answer 7

kleinbc Author

Level 1

20 points

Jul 27, 2016 5:07 AM in response to Tom Wolsky

That's a trick I've done in the past, but forgot about for whatever reason. It appears that a clean account has done the trick... at least in the limited use that I had testing it yesterday. Is there any way to fix the old account? I may just reinstall everything anyway, just to start over fresh.

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Answer 8

Jul 27, 2016 6:14 AM in response to kleinbc

kleinbc wrote:

That's a trick I've done in the past, but forgot about for whatever reason. It appears that a clean account has done the trick... at least in the limited use that I had testing it yesterday. Is there any way to fix the old account? I may just reinstall everything anyway, just to start over fresh.

You may start by following Russ's suggestion and run Etrecheck.

It is usually an illuminating exercise. Over time, we tend to add things and not remember. As we upgrade the OS, old software may be running and causing problems. Kernel extensions, login items, and such. The Etrecheck report provides a clear picture of what you have running in your machine.

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