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FCP 7 strange playback issue gets worse over time
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Even at ProRes 422 you can be bottlenecking when you have too many streams of video, with filters, effects, etc. If your timeline is quite long and complicated, FW800 drives (raids or daisy chains) will still falter at 100% res.
You should render all to get rid of all colored bars and whatnot, and see if that helps. Streamlining your master clips to one place will help too. When I was having issues, I moved my audio clips and audio render to a different drive and that seemed to help a little.
To do complicated edits, you really do need good bandwidth with HD material. If you are thinking future proof for multiple edit stations networked to one place, I would look into turn key systems such as SANs and the likes. If you are thinking a single RAID array for one edit station, there are tons of options out there, but FW800 will still be your bottleneck. You could look into an eSATA card and try connecting with that, but I haven’t tried it and don’t know about its performance, in theory it’s better than FW800. Worth looking into.
Many turn key RAIDs plug and play are expensive, and the really good ones still require PCI-E RAID cards. I wrote a tutorial for building a DIY RAID array for single edit bay, for under $2K. If you want, send me your email and I’ll email it to you. My DIY RAID is beefy and I have not had any trouble with complicated feature length edits in ProRes 422 HQ.
This route doesn’t set you up for future networking and SANs. When you want to do that, you’ll have to invest in outfitting stations with the appropriate hardware to network multiple edit bays.http://www.tulpapictures.com
Twitter: @tulpapictures
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/tulpapicturesMac 2.66 GHz Quad Intel Xeon
OSX 10.6.8
FCS2
CS5
8GB RAM
ProAvio 8TB RAID 5 Dual Mini-SAS
Blackmagic Intensity Pro
ATI Radeon X1900
RocketRAID 4322 via dual MiniSAS
Panasonic Lumix GH2, Canon 5DMKII, 7D, Panasonic HVX200A, Panasonic DVX100A -
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Hey Oren,
I’ve been thinking about it, and with the new update to FCPX bringing in some much needed functionality, it’s looking more mature and I might be moving over to it from FCP7 soon. But that’s not why I’m writing. I’ve been reading up, especially this article, where the demo presented to the editors by Apple was with an iMac, AJA IOXT box for broadcast monitor output, a Promise RAID, all via Thunderbolt.
https://tinyurl.com/79al2o3
Add to this set up the real possibility that Apple will probably kill the Mac Pro this year, and force everyone to not only relearn their NLE, but to rebuild their systems as well in order to stay up on tech and hardware and speed. Can you imagine walking into an edit bay and seeing this set up? Eye opening for sure, and impressive, although I’m not a fan of a bunch of desktop peripherals. However, we are animals that evolve to our environments, so making those adjustments to my system is something I can get over.
With all that said, you might want to add to your considerations and equations, and look a little further into your work’s near future, since your computer will soon be outdated, too slow, and require hardware that is no longer supported (as is my computer is already there, coming onto 6 years old now). This is only going to make it tougher. I wonder if it is better to price out a new computer with Thunderbolt connectivity, and see where that lands you after you upgrade everything to handle the technology and be able to function on a professional level?
FCPX, Thunderbolt interface, and the peripherals, plugins, etc will continue to bolster themselves collectively. It’s gonna get better, and for me, since I am in need of a new tower, like right now, I think I should consider how to fold in Thunderbolt. I’m just waiting to see if Apple drops a new Mac Pro, and if my current hardware will be compatible with it. If it is, I will likely buy it or a refurb from last release like a 12 core, and I can hold out a few more years until all the new tech bugs and updates are worked out and it’s at a pro level that I require. If it is not, then I may have to make that move over to smaller but faster computers and Thunderbolt. My RAID 5 array may soon be a very expensive paperweight. 🙂
Sorry to get off topic, but thought this might be helpful in deciding what to do to fix future bandwidth issues.http://www.tulpapictures.com
Twitter: @tulpapictures
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/tulpapicturesMac 2.66 GHz Quad Intel Xeon
OSX 10.6.8
FCS2
CS5
8GB RAM
ProAvio 8TB RAID 5 Dual Mini-SAS
Blackmagic Intensity Pro
ATI Radeon X1900
RocketRAID 4322 via dual MiniSAS
Panasonic Lumix GH2, Canon 5DMKII, 7D, Panasonic HVX200A, Panasonic DVX100A -
However, this is enlightening and has some good info links.
https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1179272
But this is getting off topic and requires it’s own or existing thread.
http://www.tulpapictures.com
Twitter: @tulpapictures
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/tulpapicturesMac 2.66 GHz Quad Intel Xeon
OSX 10.6.8
FCS2
CS5
8GB RAM
ProAvio 8TB RAID 5 Dual Mini-SAS
Blackmagic Intensity Pro
ATI Radeon X1900
RocketRAID 4322 via dual MiniSAS
Panasonic Lumix GH2, Canon 5DMKII, 7D, Panasonic HVX200A, Panasonic DVX100A -
Hey Joseph,
Funny you should write this this morning, as I just got out of a team meeting where we are talking about how much work is coming down the pipes and how it will affect our workflow. Basically, we have a lot of stuff coming in, and more and more we are continually re-purposing old footage, so it looks like we will need some kind of Digital Asset Management solution (maybe CATDV) soon, and definitely will need some kind of large RAID, maybe networked, for allow for more editors.
And it’s my job to figure out how to make all this work! I’ve been eyeing FCPX for a while now. I really like the looks of it, but was nervous about the jump. I really don’t want to switch to AVID or Adobe, but all the Apple fear mongering (you know, all they care about is iphones, not us professionals, boo hoo. . . ) has gotten to me so I’ve been really hesitant.
I’d love to get FCPX, Thunderbolt, maybe CATDV, and a killer RAID to plug into, but this will be a huge investment in a particular workflow that is pretty untested. I’m going to need whatever it is to work. . .!
Interesting times. What do you think? Does FCPX have a future for professionals beyond the one person shop? Do you know of any small to medium sized production houses that have adopted FCPX?
The MacPro question is another thing that makes me wonder. . .
Okay, now we are really off topic (but not really)!!!
Cheers!
Oren
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Well, I’m a one person shop and I am very hesitant myself, and will not make the jump yet. There are too many factors and I want to wait and see how it all plays out. Your fears I believe are legitimate, and many professionals share it. I have not heard of any post houses adopting FCPX completely yet, only purchasing one app and playing with it, staying up on it, and seeing how it will fold into their current workflows. For the most part, post houses using FCP7 for majority of their work is sticking with that until FCPX really shows them they can “trust” Apple and FCPX. Or testing other NLEs. Walter Biscardi is a big proponent on this and has written alot about it. Time will only tell.
I do believe that Apple has shown that they want to be in the pro game. They are working on FCPX and it is getting better and eventually it will get there I think. But when that is, is the big question.
If you are under a time crunch and need a solution for upcoming work right away, either stick with FCP7 or you might need to move over to a different NLE that you are more comfortable trusting on the long run. If you have time, then waiting a little while longer to see what happens could be worth it. Not sure, it’s a tough call.
Thunderbolt isn’t tested in the situations that you are describing, so I wouldn’t trust it yet. FCPX and sharing volumes is still in the works and not ready I think. These new workflows needs real world testing.http://www.tulpapictures.com
Twitter: @tulpapictures
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/tulpapicturesMac 2.66 GHz Quad Intel Xeon
OSX 10.6.8
FCS2
CS5
8GB RAM
ProAvio 8TB RAID 5 Dual Mini-SAS
Blackmagic Intensity Pro
ATI Radeon X1900
RocketRAID 4322 via dual MiniSAS
Panasonic Lumix GH2, Canon 5DMKII, 7D, Panasonic HVX200A, Panasonic DVX100A -
You know, ethernet is still a very viable and affordable networked SAN connection. I think I read somewhere that Walter Biscardi connects his entire post house via ethernet. I could be wrong tho.
http://www.tulpapictures.com
Twitter: @tulpapictures
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/tulpapicturesMac 2.66 GHz Quad Intel Xeon
OSX 10.6.8
FCS2
CS5
8GB RAM
ProAvio 8TB RAID 5 Dual Mini-SAS
Blackmagic Intensity Pro
ATI Radeon X1900
RocketRAID 4322 via dual MiniSAS
Panasonic Lumix GH2, Canon 5DMKII, 7D, Panasonic HVX200A, Panasonic DVX100A -
Joseph,
Did you ever solve this problem? I’m having something very similar happen on my mac pro. I’m on a fiber SAN, so disk speed is not the issue.
Jeremy
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Well, I don’t think Oren “fixed” his problem, more like identified what could possibly be slowing his system down.
For you, it’s not your scratch location, it sounds like something internal. Have you checked your RAM health? Disk health? Graphics card? You aren’t giving us much information, so we’re just shooting in the dark here.
In fact, you should start a new thread, as your problem is different from the OP.
Thanks,http://www.tulpapictures.com
Twitter: @tulpapictures
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/tulpapicturesMac 2.66 GHz Quad Intel Xeon
OSX 10.6.8
FCS2
CS5
8GB RAM
ProAvio 8TB RAID 5 Dual Mini-SAS
Blackmagic Intensity Pro
ATI Radeon X1900
RocketRAID 4322 via dual MiniSAS
Panasonic Lumix GH2, Canon 5DMKII, 7D, Panasonic HVX200A, Panasonic DVX100A -
I am also having a very similar issue as Oren. If I connect my audio mixer to the headphone/line out on my Mac Pro, the signal is fine. However, when I connect to the RCA outs on the Blackmagic card, I get the audio stutter, dropped frames, etc.
FCP 7.0.3
Mac OS 10.6.8
2 x 2.8 Quad-Core Xeon
6 GB DDR2 RAM (800 MHz)
NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT (512 MB)My capture scratch is a G Technology ES Pro, RAID 5, using a MiniSAS connection.
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