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Dropped frames in final cut pro 7.0.3
Hi, I’m one in a long line of people who’ve had problems with dropped frames on playback (and now export) in FCP (7.0.3).
Just to fill you in with the situation. I had some 720p HD files recorded using the h.264 codec (29.97fps) from a Canon Powershot handheld. The files were converted to .MOV files in FCP after being synced up with stereo audio files.
I am now trying to edit those .MOV files together with a few linking title screens and a couple of transition effects with some audio. It is the title screens that are throwing everything out. I had a sequence of about 3 mins with three titles screens (one superimposed text with the interviewees name). Just before and just after each title the playback drops frames. I tried just exporting it (using the current settings) and it was a complete dog’s dinner – audio out of sync, frames dropped here and there. Just awful.
My Mac Pro is a 2.66Ghz quad core xeon, two internal HDs (one 640Gb with the OS on it, the other a 2Tb drive with the movie files on it), 8Gb RAM. I am exporting to the 2Tb drive.
I’ve seen on here that perhaps converting the files to Apple ProRes might help. It would mean starting the edit again, but at the minute I don’t have any choice if that was the case. Do I absolutely have to invest in an external firewire drive? If there’s something simple I’m missing I’d really appreciate some tips.
Cheers,
Rob.
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6 Replies
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[Robin Fearon] “files were converted to .MOV files”
Are they h.264 QuickTime Files? Yeah, that’s a problem all h.264 is going to be a problem with FCP7.
Convert to ProRes.
Best,
Jeff I. Greenberg
Author/Master Instructor/Speaker/Consulting
My contact info and more -
[Robin Fearon] “I’ve seen on here that perhaps converting the files to Apple ProRes might help. It would mean starting the edit again, but at the minute I don’t have any choice if that was the case. Do I absolutely have to invest in an external firewire drive? If there’s something simple I’m missing I’d really appreciate some tips.”
Yes…you must convert to ProRes. “.MOV”says nothing other than it is a Quicktime movie. .MOV can contain any number of codecs…the one you want is ProRes. You might not need to re-edit. Simply use the Media Manager to do this (RECOMPRESS OPTION) or use MPEG STREAMCLIP and then reconnect.
And no external drive is needed, as long as your footage in on an internal drive that is NOT your system drive…that’s good. And will be a LOT faster than a Firewire drive.
Shane
Little Frog Post
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def -
Thanks both. Re-coded the original media files and reconnected in FCP and it has certainly solved the problem.
The only problem I can see is that it greatly increases the file size – they are about four or five times larger now. Is there an intermediate solution to this, ie using another codec or file format that will work just as well in FCP but doesn’t take up as much disk space??
I’m going to be doing a lot of editing work and doing it with ProRes looks like it is going to be memory hungry.
One other thing – I used Apple ProRes 4444 for quality purposes, could I use ProRes HQ, LT etc and get just as good a result??
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You certainly don’t need 4444 for your Canon footage, that is total overkill and just creates huge files for no quality gain.
LT is a good codec for your Canon footage but some people prefer to use ProRes 422 (rather than the LT version)
I tend to use 442 for my Canon 550D footage and that works very well so perhaps give that a go.
Either way 4444 is just eating drive space and possibly slowing down your system.best wishes
Neil
http://www.patience.tv -
You’ll get no additional benefit past ProRes 422. Some might quibble about using LT (it’s a little compromised in quality.) HQ and 4444 are just wastes of space. Proxy is too much of a compromise and is not meant to be used other than ‘offline’ edits.
Best,
Jeff I. Greenberg
Author/Master Instructor/Speaker/Consulting
My contact info and more -
Many thanks for your answers. All seems to be working great.
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