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does FCP hate large projects?
Hello, and thanks to whoever responds to this post.
so i have a feature that i’ve been editing and FCP just kind of seems unhappy. when I onlined the project, many many clips had their inpoints changed (so in the timeline i’ve had to re-edit – very frustrating), and if there were speed changes, it seemed as though the entire clip was squished into the in/out points that were set. i’ve had to fix the same clips repeatedly. and, when i’m trying to fix the clip, and adding a dissolve, it just doesn’t want to work and there’s no crossfade where there should be one.
I’ve had to render the same clips repeatedly, and in certain audio crossfades, audio from other clips has been somehow inserted into the crossfade. i’ve had major audio dropouts (one time half the film had no audio) and compressor refuses to encode it.
i’ve repaired permissions, reinstalled, etc… could it be a system problem? i don’t have problems at all with smaller projects… i’ve heard that FCP doesn’t like large projects. does anyone else have problems with large projects?
i’ve also talked with other editors, and they’ve had problems onlining. so does that mean that if one was to work with hi-def footage at lower resolution, that down the line problems could arise when uprezzing? if this is true, would this, in a way, make FCP a defective product?
thanks again.
ken
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6 Replies
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polite version: Media Manager is less than perfect.
we live with it and turn a blind eye so as to better enjoy all the things that are great about FCP.
there are some things to avoid and a few workarounds … just type Media Manager into the search here at the Cow and you will find them allgood luck
Andy -
Ken,
What you’ve experienced is unfortunately, quite common. There are some well publicized workarounds for some of the issues you’re raising. The bottom line is, DON’T just assume that when you turn over your off-line cut that all will go smoothly. We hand check and conform EVERY SINGLE EDIT in our timeline. So, plan on the time to check it and correct it.
The speed change thing is well documented. Open up your “motion” tab on the new high res version. You’ll probably see one errant key frame that is causing the “compression” that you’re observing. Frequently, deleting just that one “Bad” keyframe will bring your clip back to what you wanted.
As for all the other stuff, I can only suggest that you upgrade to the most recent version of FCP out there (5.03). I believe that some of these issues may have been resolved with the most recent version.
The size of the project will cause slow openings, but not the kind of issues that you’re experiencing.
Mark
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This is all my opinion and observations about how FCP deals with clips over the past 5 years….
FCP has a much easier time with tapes that are logged and captured as “Scene and Take”. Every problem related to “slipping” ins and outs or trouble with speed fx seem to be directly related to this. It seems as if the newer editors are capturing entire rolls as a rule. I get paid to rescue a lot of these shows and have found that many don’t even log clips at all, even after subclipping.
I never have issues with long form pieces, but I meticulously log each and every clip as a single take. Short and discrete clips have a lot less trouble with media management, speed control and other basic editing tasks.
I doubt anyone will change their “evil” ways of attempting to capture entire rolls with unsupported firewire drives. Don’t say I didn’t warn ya! 😉
Kevin Monahan
Take My FCP Master’s Seminar!
fcpworld.com -
I’ve now edited several complex feature-length docs w/FCP back to back with high shooting ratios. FCP doesn’t always go smoothly with large projects, it’s true.
I’ve got into the habit of splitting them down into separate projects which you can have open simultaneously, thereby keeping the individual project file size down. Break them down initially into Media/Edits, then further in any way that seems logical (Slates, Interviews etc etc). It’s no problem copying and pasting from one project into another as you wish. It’s a workflow which I’ve managed to adopt with minimum hassle.
This won’t solve your speed changes (unfortunately), nor is this a solution for those working in multi-editor setups, but it’s certainly worth a try for any project that’s getting too unwieldy.
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[John Burgan] “nor is this a solution for those working in multi-editor setups”
Actually, John, we DO use this method (smaller, separate projects) with all of our multi-editor projects. Using X-SAN/X-raid, we take advantage of the fact that with FCP your media does NOT have to live in a project. Therefore, you can store, organize, and find your media just using the basic mac finder functions. Of course this requires some attention to detail and discipline in the digitizing phase, but in the end, it’s worth it.
We regularly have at least three editors working on a single, one hour episode using various different projects to access the media. There are close to one hundred editors in our shop using this method.
Let’s recap: Big projects, bad. Small projects, Good! And… most importantly, you don’t need an FCP project to store, organize and use your media.
Mark
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Mark,
Are you capturing entire rolls or “scene and take”?
Capturing tape rolls is at root of the problem, I think,
“cause I see this over and over again.Kevin Monahan
Take My FCP Master’s Seminar!
fcpworld.com
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