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Extremely Slow HDV export
I have a Dual 2.7 G5, 4.5 gig RAM, 2.4 terabyte Burly RAID running FCP 6.0.2 on OS 10.4.11 and QT 7.3.0. My video card is a ATI Radeon 9650 w/256MB DDR SDRAM. I also have a Blackmagic Decklink Extreme card running 6.2.2 of the driver.
It takes FOREVER to export an HDV timeline! In this case a 13 minute movie. It’s only a roughcut, so there’s virtually no effects, just a handful of text tool graphics, typically over black, that’s it.
It doesn’t matter if I export self-contained or not, but it takes well over 30 minutes to export.
I had excepted this as a side-effect of HDV and my aging Mac, but while editing this same project on the road with my even slower 1.67gHz G4 laptop it only took 5 minutes to complete the task–it may be important to note I’m running OS X 10.4.10 and FCP 5.1.4 on the laptop. But even before my upgrade to Studio2 on the dual G5, I was still encountering very slow HDV exports.
Has anyone else encountered this?
I’ve also tried the different render settings for the sequence (same as codec vs. ProRes) and get the same slow results.
If I export directly to Compressor to create a smaller h.264 version (for online client approval) single pass, 15fps, 220 kbits, it takes nearly an hour (about 4x realtime).
Again, on my G4 laptop it rendered the h.264 faster.
Any thoughts?
Is it possibly a video card issue? I seem to remember that my 17″ Powerbook is supposed to be able to run a 30″ cinema display while the card in my G5 can’t.
I’ve tried trashing prefs, rebuilding permissions, and even doing a clean install of the OS and FCP (on a different hard-drive, but a clean install just the same).
Thanks for your help.
David
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5 Replies
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We’ve all encountered slowness from HDV, so most of us are avoid it altogether, however if you must use it, transcode it to ProRes, and edit that way. Ton’s faster. It can be done with a capture card or through compressor after capturing native HDV. Takes an intel Mac to transcode during capture however…
Jerry
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[Jerry Hofmann] “It can be done with a capture card or through compressor after capturing native HDV. Takes an intel Mac to transcode during capture however…”
Jerry,
There is another method. As Chris Poisson revealed here recently, 6.0.2 has a new capability, which is HDV to Pro Res transcode via firewire on the fly, with even a non-Intel G5. I can confirm, I’m using this method now on my dual 2.3ghz G5. It doesn’t come in full raster however, as it would when catured through a capture card, but it is no longer long GOP.
David
David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los AngelesPOST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™
A forum host of Creative COW’s Business & Marketing, and Indie Film & Documentary forums.
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Check out my thread here when I was having same problems as you.
+ Before exporting have you ticked all options on rendering, even full? Because if you haven’t that would explain the long exporting times.https://forums.creativecow.net/thread/8/964979#964979
the way I see it you have 2 options: before exporting rendering your HDV footage to same as codec and exporting likewise or rendering in a Prores sequence and exporting likewise.
Hope that this will help you.
iMac 24″ 2.8 extreme, 3gb RAM, 500 gb internal disk + 500 gb FW800 external drive.
OSX 10.4.11, FCP 6.02, QT 7.3 -
Thanks Pelai,
I think I finally see the light (or darkness) regarding HDV. What’s ironic, however, is that FCP will playback the mixed sequence (HDV & ProRes) in realtime, yet, to send it to compressor to make an h264 file for the web, it still seems to conform the movie first to HDV then to h264, at least that’s what seems to be happening based on the time it takes.
I’ll have to re-evaluate my workflow. Ideally, I’d like to capture HDV to a client drive (for back-up and keeping the media nearline–HDV is so efficient on drive space), and quickly convert it to a more friendly format (ProRes or other) onto my RAID for editing. At the end of the project, I’d use MediaManager to create an editable final sequence for future revisions–barring major changes, of course.
I’m just dealing with the growing pains of moving into HD. Most projects are delivered in SD, but we’re shooting HDV to future-proof the assets. Once Seagate or someone makes a 2TB drive that sells for $150 this will all be moot, but in the meantime…
Thanks again.
David
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Hi David, ironic is the word I agree. I hope apple will take a look at this exporting issue in future updates. Until then I too will have to change my workflow.
I’m thinking of trying to edit my HDV footage coded into Prores from now on but am afraid my FW800 connection to disks will not make this easy, and maybe even slower than HDV native.Anyway I hope my tips have been able to help you.
Cheers!
iMac 24″ 2.8 extreme, 3gb RAM, 500 gb internal disk + 500 gb FW800 external drive.
OSX 10.4.11, FCP 6.02, QT 7.3
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