fcp crashes when working on certain footage…footage doesnt seem to be the problem however

[Rafael Amador]

Change the sequence codec to prores.
rafael

http://www.nagavideo.com

[Michael Gissing]

The reason why experienced people on this forum have been saying that H264 must be transcoded is that it can crash FCP. Look at what the computer was last doing before the crash and you will see H264 was being processed just before the bad access.

Mixed frame rates are the other issue which has been covered here many times. Despite what FCP marketing claim, mixed frame rates do not play nicely. The combination of mixed frame rates plus H264 is asking for a fall.

[Michael Gissing]

Compare your error log to Zachs just a few days ago and you will see the same H264 lines just before the crash

https://forums.creativecow.net/readpost/8/1128075

[Paul Jay]

Your footage IS the problem. Why do you think it isn’t?
You can’t edit H264 in FCP. Because it will crash.
H264 IS your problem.

5D footage should be converted to ProRes in Final Cut Pro 7

YOu are asking for problems this way.

[Dan Freshman]

I am aware that mixed frame rates and h264s caused the crash now…it didn’t make sense to me earlier ( and I still don’t understand) why the same footage didn’t cause final cut to crash on a lesser machine ( same os, same processor, less cores and ram). I guess that wasn’t clear in my earlier post. Thx for the help

[David Roth weiss]

[Paul Jay] “Your footage IS the problem. Why do you think it isn’t?”

I can answer that one Paul. It’s because FCP doesn’t completely balk when you put h.264 on the timeline, and so people are lulled into thinking that we’re all just worrywarts. In a way, it’s kind of shame Apple didn’t just completely exclude h.264 from FCP altogether.

BTW, for the record, apparently h.264 plays like a dream and edits like a dream in iMovie on the iPad. So, it will work just fine in the next version.

David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor/Colorist
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los Angeles
https://www.drwfilms.com

POST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™

A forum host of Creative COW’s Business & Marketing and Apple Final Cut Pro forums. Formerly host of the Apple Final Cut Basics, Indie Film & Documentary, and Film History & Appreciations forums.

[Michael Gissing]

[dan freshman] “why the same footage didn’t cause final cut to crash on a lesser machine”

There are a lot of other variables than just same footage, different machine. Adding filters, dropping a still, a graphic or text over an H264 file will likely trigger a crash. The more complex and mixed elements in a timeline, the greater the likelihood of a crash.

As Rafael pointed out earlier, the sequence setting also matters. For example, ProRes422 seems to be a more stable sequence setting for mixed GOP codecs.

[Paul Jay]

That’s indeed the problem. FCP 7 requires users to think before they edit.
FCP will import anything!!
You can even import a MPG file and start editing.
Or an AVI file.

Which will be the same in FCP X, but hopefully it won’t crash then 🙂

[Kurt Zeisler]

Hi all,

I apologize in advance for not being as technically proficient as others. I have been battling my FCP 7 crashing all day. Project is done and was completed with no issues, but now the day before it’s due, FCP won’t stop crashing. Is it obvious to everyone else that the problem is due to H.264 footage? The project went smoothly the entire time, until it came time to start exporting, rendering, or compressing. Now FCP crashes relentlessly, sometimes when it starts up, and sometimes it lets me make a little progress before shattering my will.

[Dan Freshman]

Hey Kurt,

I’ve experienced many similar frustrations dealing with fcp and footage from canon dslrs. I would say that if you can open and run the project without it crashing it may be best to media manage the project with small handles, then transcode the new media files to prores with the same exact file names (different location), make offline the project files in final cut and then re-connect to the prores.

hopefully that helps if its not too late!
dan