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FCP Crashes during Export – H.264
Hi All,
I am using Final Cut Pro 6 and need to create a Quicktime movie file that is under 2 GB in size. The film is 2h 3m. The frame size should be 480×270 and 24fps. I am using H.264 as my compressor. To accomplish this, I am exporting from FCP using “Export with Quicktime Conversion”. I don’t know a whole lot about compression, so I have pretty much been experimenting. First I exported using the Bitrate setting as Automatic, but the file was over 5 GB. I then set the bitrate to restrict to 750kbps and the resulting file was 660 MB. However, I wanted to push it to right under 2 GB, for the best possible quality. I tried again with the bitrate restricted to 2000kbps. However, it takes so long to render on my computer (a few days each time), and happened to lose power during this render. So, since then, I have tried various times with these same settings, and every time FCP “Quits Unexpectedly.”Since then I have tried various things to try to isolate the issue and determine what the problem is:
I have deleted all old render files, reset permissions and trashed preferences, and still FCP crashes during export.
I tried exporting a different piece of footage (30 second clip) with the same settings and it works great.
After breaking apart, rendering, seeing if it crashes, cutting that in half, rendering that, seeing if it crashes, etc., I’ve determined that the problem is happening in the last 15 minutes of the film.
I’ve been rendering with these attributes:
Compressor: H.264
480 x 270
2000kbps bitrate
AAC audioI took that section of the film that was crashing on render and rendered just the audio and it worked fine. Then I rendered just the video and it crashes, so I’ve determined it is the video.
I tried rendering at a different bitrate with the H.264 codec and it still crashed during render again.
I also just rendered with two different other video compressors: ProRes 422 HQ and HDV 1080p24 and both rendered that section of the film fine.
This would leave me to believe that it is the H.264 codec at that one section of film crashing. Any idea why this might be, or how I can fix it?
Here are my conclusions:
-It occurs in the last 15min of the film
-Only occurs to video, not audio
-Only to H.264 codec
-Doesn’t matter what the bitrate is at
-Deleting old render files doesn’t fix it
-Trashing Prefs and resetting permissions doesn’t fix it
-First noticed it after I tried rendering after my previous got killed due to a power loss in the houseIf anyone has any input, I would greatly appreciate it! I have been dealing with this for weeks now and can’t discover the problem. I am on my knees praying and begging because this whole film is caught up with this. I appreciate all and any suggestions! Thank you in advance and have a great day!
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7 Replies
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Try exporting a reference QT of your final sequence(whatever settings you edited in)to your desktop and then use Compressor.
The inspector should also give you a pretty good idea what your file size will be. You can change your video rate and see how it effects the overall size.
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Thanks Brad,
I’ll give it a shot and post my results. -
So I took a 8 minute section that was causing FCP to crash upon render, exported that as a reference QT file, put that in Compressor and it worked great.
So I exported the entire film as a Reference QT file, put that in Compressor and started to render. However, after days of rendering, it’s been stuck at 81% for at least a day now. Any ideas?
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From someone else’s suggestion, I took the last 15 minutes of the film, copied them into a new sequence, rendered that sequence, and then exported that out as a self-contained QT file under current settings. It exported perfectly. I then took this new QT file, placed it in a brand new sequence and attempted to export it with the H.264 codec and the settings I am trying to accomplish. It crashed.
I don’t get it! It’s new media, why is it still crashing?! I am completely lost and out of ideas now. I am considering uninstalling and reinstalling FCP, but I’m afraid something with get messed up with the updates and so on. Any ideas are GREATLY appreciated!
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Hi Jeremy,
Do it in two steps. Export a full size top quality master from FC (Prores or Uncompress) and reduce it and convert it in Compressor.
Some times the longer path is the faster.
rafel -
Hi Rafael,
Thanks for the response. I attempted that workflow, however, it didn’t work. During the render in Compressor, the file stopped and reported this “Status: Failed – 3x Crash Service Down”.
Thanks again for the suggestion and have a great day!
-Jeremy -
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