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fcp error: out of memory
Am working in FCP 6.0.5
Imported an mp4 clip yesterday – edited into sequence, everything was fine.
changed dimension of sequence, which messed up aspect ratio, so want to re-insert clips instead of re-size.
mp4 clip will no longer load in viewer. get “general error” message and “error: out of memory.”
scratch disks and cache were routed to my hard drive – 200+ gigs of free space. changed that to the external, 600+ gigs of free space, didn’t help.
re-imported the clip, restarted the computer – nothing.
the clip opens fine in quicktime.
created a new project – still can’t open clip.
all the other clips load fine.
please help!!!!
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6 Replies
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[Tammy Jez] “Imported an mp4 clip yesterday – edited into sequence, everything was fine.”
Everything was fine except one thing… MP4 is not an editing codec in FCP, and thus problems like the one you’re experiencing often crop up. You always need to transcode MP4 files to a proper editing codec such as ProRes 422 before you start editing.
David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor/Colorist
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los Angeles
https://www.drwfilms.comPOST-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.
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oh ok, thanks!
2 questions tho:
why did it originally let me use that clip in my sequence??
how to transcode?? (i’m an avid editor and not very knowledgeable of fcp)
thank you david!
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Because these formats kind of work sometimes, but not really. They should be transcoded.
Chris Tompkins
Video Atlanta LLC -
Chances are your mp4 files are from a camera that records in the h.264 codec. H.264 is an extremely compressed “delivery” format, compared to a less compressed “editing” codec like prores.
In other words, your mp4 files use a much more complex compression algorithm than FCP is capable of editing live. At first it probably worked, but because of the complex compression, it requires FCP to process way more information per cut, and will eventual start causing out of memory warnings.
It’s the same reason that mp3 files always need to be rendered, but more intense cause it’s video.
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[Tammy Jez] “why did it originally let me use that clip in my sequence??”
Unfortunately, FCP does make it seem that MP4 is editable, and yes, that’s a problem. FCP should absolutely balk at all non-editable codecs, however the app’s heritage is one of open framework, and it has always offered editors a limited supply of “realtime codecs,” able to use all FCP bells and whistles, and a supply of non-realtime codecs, which FCP would put up with, but never very happily.
H.264 and MP4 trick FCP and many editors into thinking they are of the non-realtime family of codecs, but that is just an illusion. That being said, anyone editing for a living needs to stay in tune at all times with the technical side of the business. Editing issues with MP4 and h.264 are not new, and they are discussed daily on this and other websites.
So Tammy, I encourage to come to this forum as often as you can so you will know what you need to know before you need to know it…
As Dave LaRonde mentioned, use Streamclip to transcode to ProRes 422.
Hope this helps you,
DavidDavid Roth Weiss
Director/Editor/Colorist
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los Angeles
https://www.drwfilms.comPOST-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.
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good advice David. thanks all for your help 🙂
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