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FCP – Disk speed problem – Crash
Hello everyone
Forgive me for going over a topic that has already been discussed – I’ve had a look through previous threads and have tried to self-diagnose my problem, I would just like some expert opinion to confirm my suspicions.
I’m running FCP6 on a MacBook Pro with the following spec:Intel Core 2 Duo
2.53 GHz
Memory: 4 GB
NVIDIA GeForce 9400M
External HD: WD MyBook 1TB with USB 2.0 connection.For the last few months, Final Cut has been working perfectly. I have been capturing footage from my Panasonic DVX100A and storing it entirely on the external HD.
I have just completed a project and exported it using QuickTime Converter as an Mpeg4, no problem. But now, when I go back and try to use footage from the same project, or start a new project too, the FCP quickly freezes and I keep getting the message:“One or more frames were dropped during playback. If this frequently occurs, try
– Turning off Unlimited RT
Lower my compression data rate
Close open sequences
Lowering the preference for real-time audio tracks
-Increase the speed of my system and/or disk drives and/or network connectionit adds in red colored ink….
RT Extreme determined that it was caused by “slow discs” and that I should try:
-Increasing the speed of my disks
-Decreasing the number or RT layers
-Limiting my RT bandwidth in User PreferencesI have tried all the suggestions bar actually increasing the speed of my system – I’m confident my machine is powerful and fast enough to handle the project.
From what I’ve seen so far, it looks to me like a problem with my external HD. Although I have been editing similar material for months, is it possible that the HD has simply had too much? Or is no longer fast enough? Do I need a firewire connected HD? There is still 600GB space left on the harddrive and I can access all the files on there with no trouble.
Does everyone agree it is a harddrive problem? I live in Kenya so new external HDs aren’t easy to come by so I would like to check all the alternatives because it may be a while before I get chance to buy another one.
Many thanks in advance for your help.
Mike -
5 Replies
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USB is your problem. You need to use a Firewire drive.
Steve Eisen
Eisen Video Productions
Vice President
Chicago Final Cut Pro Users Group -
Many thanks Steve, I appreciate your quick response.
Just a quick question – I capture from my camera using the Mac’s firewire port, what should I do if the external HD is using the port? My scratch disks are currently set to the external HD.
Mike -
A firewire hub will help a lot. On my machine the external drive has multiple ports so the camera goes in there, and the drive into the computer. You can get an external raid that’s USB/FW400/FW800/eSata. Works in all sorts of conditions and the raid gives you better performance and some level of data protection.
Non-linear: all the time and nothing but.
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Brilliant. Many thanks Rob, I’ll look into it.
Mike -
I have a large 1T raid I can drag around. I have my eye on one of the small g-technology raids. I only need it when I want to take something home to work on.
Non-linear: all the time and nothing but.
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