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Real Time Effects
Hi all
I’m the proud owner of a shiny new dual G5 running FCP HD. I recently upgraded my RAM capacity to 2.5 Gb. The OS is seeing all the RAM and my system preferences in FCP can see it all as well, but I can’t run even the most straightforward transitions in real time.
Playing with the playback RT safe/unlimited settings apparently makes no difference. I’ve trawled the manuals several times and I have to admit I’m a bit stuck. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
Sean
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3 Replies
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Realtime has very little to do with RAM and a lot to do with hard drive speed and data throughput. you need fast drives to get realtime effects. For instance, my FW800 drives give me plenty of RT running DV material, but not as much running 8bit uncompressed. But my Fibre Channel array gives me a ton of realtime from DV to HD.
On a slower drive system, simply drop the quality of the playback in the timeline and that will allow you to edit with more RT effects, then switch to high quality and render when you’re ready to output.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Creative Genius, Biscardi Creative Media
https://www.biscardicreative.comNow in Production, “The Rough Cut,” https://www.theroughcutmovie.com
“I reject your reality and substitute my own!” – Adam Savage, Mythbusters
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First off, your video card has more to do with Real Time effects than the RAM does. (Although RAM does help!) What kind of card do you have?
Second, make sure Final Cut is taking advantage of the RAM. In the FCP prefrences somewhere (sorry, can’t remember offhand and I’m not at my Mac) you’ll find a slider that lets Final Cut use more or less of the total computer RAM. With 2.5 GB you should be able to slide that all the way up to 100%. (I believe that will work out to 2 GB.) That leaves 512 KB free for the rest fo the system which should be just enough RAM, but you should probably leave other “big” programs (like Photoshop or Motion) closed when editing for the best performance.
And third, leave all the real time settings on “Dynamic.” That tells the computer to set the quality level at whatever it needs to for a particular shot and it changes as the timeline plays.
So let us know about the card. We can suggest a better one if the one you have is not so great. Spending between $300 and $600 will make a big difference in ‘Real Time’ if you’re currently working with a low-end card.
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Thanks guys
My drive is a G-Raid FW800, my card is a Syncrotech DAC-100.
I’ve tried changing the playback settings in the timeline to no avail, and I’ve got the RAM usage sliders in system settings all the way up at 100%.
Should I have my effects handling options set to use the card rather than FCP?
Sean
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