Level 1

10 points

Choppy imported AVCHD footage - FCPx 10.4

Help! I don't know if anyone's replicated this but it's a showstopper bug if there's not some simple workaround.

I am seeing slight but noticeable choppy playback on AVCHD footage imported through 10.4. The choppiness is NOT baked into the file - if I test the imported footage into Premiere or play through Finder, it plays back very smoothly. The choppiness appears in the browser, the timeline, and exports.

I've set the view to best performance, trashed renders and prefs, removed effects, even reinstalled FCPx altogether, and nothing seems to be correcting the playback issue. If I drop the footage into Motion, the problem is there as well. Any footage I imported before 10.4 is fine. Footage that's not AVCHD plays back fine, including some imported Mavic Pro 4k footage. This has been my workflow for 6 plus years with the exact same footage and I don't know what I'm missing. Any thoughts?

On a late 2014 Retina 5k iMac (32 GB) and M295X video card (4 Gb). Camera is a Panasonic AF-100.

Posted on Dec 22, 2017 6:50 AM

98 replies

Mar 19, 2018 8:32 AM in response to Tom Wolsky

yeah....sorry, but i'm skeptical if someone is saying AVCHD footage isn't transcoding properly in HS but is fine in Sierra. Regardless, it's still a FCPX bug and not an issue with the cameras...but if we have to we can say it doesn't work MOST of the time in both HS and sierra. That's the common theme.

Feb 13, 2018 6:09 AM in response to DimitriL1

It's a bug in 10.4...make sure everyone reports it as choppy playback footage for AVCHD imports! Hopefully they fix in 10.4.1 or in a ProRes update

Feb 26, 2018 8:43 AM in response to Allan Gengler

Allan Gengler wrote:

AVCHD wouldn't import at all and what I had to do was use a free AVCHD converter to MOV to make it work.

It's a pain.

Do you have a Canon camera?

DimitriL1 Author

Level 1

10 points

Mar 3, 2018 6:42 AM in response to nordheide

Submit that feedback, if you haven't already. The more they hear about this, the more likely they'll have it fixed by the next update.

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

152,779 points

Mar 18, 2018 5:18 PM in response to inte_moto

What’s the specs of the media? What are the project properties? What drive has the media? What are the specs? How’s it connected?

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

152,779 points

Mar 18, 2018 10:38 PM in response to inte_moto

Real specs would be helpful. The MacPro doesn’t have a hardware H.264 codec and has to decode in real-time using CPU. The MBP has the codec in hardware.

Mar 18, 2018 11:53 PM in response to Tom Wolsky

@Tom

Not a hardware problem. Same problem here with mbpr and macmini on HS and fcpx 10.4.

no problem on imac 2009 with sierra and fcpx 10.3

Mar 19, 2018 6:56 AM in response to nordheide

I have also an Sony EX1R. But as i read there are also problems in 10.4. for importing long files.

This is a also sony problem? No - a bug from apple.

DimitriL1 Author

Level 1

10 points

Mar 19, 2018 7:31 AM in response to ramierik96

Even if you have replicated this issue in Sierra, I showed no symptoms there. I am getting it exclusively in HS via both FCPX and iMovie.

Apr 12, 2018 5:42 PM in response to DimitriL1

Did anyone try the latest update 10.4.1 to see if it helped the issue?

Jan 16, 2018 12:55 PM in response to Luis Sequeira1

I have a late 2017 15" MacBook Pro 3.1ghz i7, 16gb ram, 1TB SSD, Radeon Pro 560 4gb card, graphics 630 1536mb, High Sierra and I get that same annoying choppy playback. I did a full reboot and clean install of FCPX and still get the same choppy playback, I tried everything, proxy media, transcoding and I still get choppy playback. This is a bug that apple needs to be aware of and fix asap. Everything in my computer is up to date, FCPX 10.4 and nothing seems to fix the problem. I hope apple updates this.

DimitriL1 Author

Level 1

10 points

Jan 17, 2018 8:27 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1

Yeah, I always just use the card directly in my Mac, it's been my workflow for the past seven years. Don't have any conflicts like Perian or what not, it's just not playing back right when I import it through FCPx. If I import it through a different program and drag it into FCPx, the footage is fine. If I open the problem clip and drag a version transcoded in Compressor into it, the original clip is completely fine EVEN IF I UNDO IT. If I import via iMovie and open in FCPx, the clips work fine. If I view the original imported clip in Finder, it plays back fine, and if I drop that footage into another editor, it plays back fine. This feels totally like a playback bug.

cigame2

Level 3

548 points

Jan 17, 2018 9:05 AM in response to DimitriL1

And for me, when I import, or even use a library that was created in HighSierra with FCP X 10.4 and use it on Sierra 10.12.6 with FCP X 10.4 it also works fine.

So the question might be:

will an update of HighSierra or FCP X fix this?

But since I have to use Waveburner and DVD Studio Pro from time to time, upgrading again to HighSierra is not so important.

Feb 26, 2018 9:21 AM in response to Tom Wolsky

I have fully updated my Macbook Pro and FCP version and suddenly cannot import my Gopro Hero 5 Black footage shot at 1080 120fps. Inspector shows that these 1080 120fps clips are importing as 1080 60fps, so when I drop the clip on my 30fps project timeline, slow down to Automatic speed (25%), the slow mo is blurred/choppy, and frames are obviously missing. I thought it was the gopro camera, so updated firmware, then called GoPro Tech support. I then tested my old Gopro Hero 3 Black footage shot at 720 120fps, and that clip also imports into FCP at 60fps, not 120fps, so slowing to 25% looks just as awful. What has happened in FCP??? How can I get smooth slowmo from 120fps footage in my 30fps timeline? Again, all firmware is up to date. Thanks for helping a girl out!

Feb 26, 2018 11:00 AM in response to Tom Wolsky

Thank you Tom! Can you tell me where in the MediaInfo image I sent does it indicate the frame rate inaccuracy and variable and inconsistent frame rate? I am also working with GoPro Tech Support and want to share this with them. Thank you!

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Choppy imported AVCHD footage - FCPx 10.4