FCP running slowly

[Jim Glickert]

Hello Kai.

What format (i.e. codec) is the output from DAZ Studio? It may be in a format that doesn’t work well in FCP.

Do your Sequence Settings match the format of the footage you’re using? For example, if you’re using 720×480 DV footage, but your Sequence Settings are 1440×1080 HDV, the mismatch is going to cause you problems.

What render settings are you using? Safe? RT?

You didn’t indicate the details of your system, but not having enough memory can cause problems, as well as trying to run too many applications at a time.

One thing you might try is saving your project, close FCP, and then re-open it. Do things return to normal when you do this?

Jim

[Kai Mariah]

Hi.
I don’t know what codec DAZ Studio uses. I’ll ask the tech guy. My settings are 4:3, 30 FPS, and it makes a .mov file when it renders. I bring the .mov file into Final Cut Pro.

In Final Cut Pro, my settings are NTSC 4:3, anamorphic 16:9, 29.97 FPS. I don’t know where to look if its in safe RT.

My system is iMAC running on Snow Leopard with 1 TB internal hard drive and 1 TB external hard drive. It’s brand new (only 1 week old) — nothing else on it except DAZ Studio and Final Cut Pro. I was running it on a MacbookPro up until then — which had been upgraded to Snow Leopard and I don’t know how much memory was added. It was doing the same thing — running slowly on certain clips. My settings were the same on the MacbookPro.

My film project is 90 minutes long. I want it to look like widescreen that’s why I checked anamorphic 16:9. My music guy can only work with 29.97 FPS not 30 FPS.

Would it work if I make a new sequence and have it set to NTSC 4:3 and 30 FPS. Then before I render it to send it to my music guy change the settings to anamorphic 16:9 and 29.97 FPS?

Why does it only do this on certain clips and not the whole thing?

Thanks.
Kai

[Jim Glickert]

“Why does it only do this on certain clips and not the whole thing?”

That puzzles me, too, since everything else seems to be OK.

I forgot ask a couple questions: Did you apply any effects to the clips that need constant rendering, or have you “stacked” several video tracks on top of one another in your timeline? I’m just going to assume you answered “no” to both.

It’s going to take a little detective work, I think. What I would do is leave my existing sequence alone and close the project. Then, I’d create a new “test” project, using the appropriate settings, and import into that project just one of the “problem” clips that needed constant rendering in the other project’s sequence. If the clip doesn’t need constant rendering in the new project, then that suggests the problem is not with the clip. If it does need rendering, then it’s definitely related to the clip.

Another thing I would try is going into DAZ Studio and re-exporting one of the clips that have been giving you problems. Double-check the export settings.

Go to the DAZ Studio website and check the support information. There may be some information relevant to this problem. Also, search Apple’s FCP discussion forum:

https://discussions.apple.com/category.jspa?categoryID=123

Finally, it wouldn’t hurt to search Google.

Hope this gets you closer to a solution.

Jim

[Kai Mariah]

Hi.
The constant rendering happens on all clips. If I bring it in I have to render it. If I move it I have to render it. If I change the size or reposition the clip (using wire + frame), etc.

The section of clips that causes it to run slowly (and take forever to render) do have effects applied to them – .jpg files that I’ve applied a cartoon filter to.

My whole film has the cartoon filter applied to .jpg files but it seems like the slow down only happens on certain sections.

Kai

[Jim Glickert]

Have you tried turning off or removing the cartoon filter to see if that’s the cause of the problem? You don’t need to do it to all the clips in the sequence to check. Just pick a clip that’s giving you problems, turn off the filter, and see what happens. A still photo (e.g. .jpg, .tiff, .png, etc.) to which no filters are applied shouldn’t need constant re-rendering. Try applying a different filter instead, to see if the same problem occurs with other filters.

Are the photos approximately the same size as your 720×480 timeline? If they’re much larger than that, you might consider resizing them, but I don’t think that’s causing the problem you’re having.

There are no cartoon filters that come with FCP, so from which third-party developer did you get the cartoon filter plug-in? New Blue? Boris? Have you checked the developer’s website for help?

Also, you said that the DAZ Studio output files are in QuickTime (.mov) format. So your timeline is a mix of only .mov and .jpg files, right, with a cartoon filter applied to everything, or just applied to the .jpg files?

Jim

[Kai Mariah]

Hi.
The .mov files that I bring in from DAZ Studio do not have the cartoon filter applied (which is NewBlue).

The background files I create in DAZ Studio I render as .jpg because it’s faster and there’s really no need to make them a .mov file.

The people generally are done on blue screen, again because the render is faster.

I re-downloaded the NewBlue cartoon filter because for some reason it was putting a watermark on there. I was working on a different section of the film last night. I have my film broken up into smaller sections (i.e. scenes 1-25, 26-50, etc.)

The section I was working on last night seemed to be working much better than on the one that’s having problems. I’ll try working on that clip today and let you know if I’m still having problems.

I still have to re-render everything if I make changes to the timeline, but at least the render seems to be going faster than it was.

Kai

[Jim Glickert]

I think I’m getting a better idea of what your timeline looks like. You probably have your background (a still image .jpg) on video track 1, and then your .mov animations on track 2 that overlay the background. If that’s the case, then I can understand why re-rendering becomes necessary every time you move an animation clip in the timeline–FCP can’t play back that part of the timeline (that’s just been changed) in real time because there’s too much video information to process. The addition of a filter or transition makes re-rendering even more necessary.

If my understanding of your timeline is correct, turn off the still image track by clicking on the green button (it’s to the left of the track) that makes the track visible or invisible. You shouldn’t need to see the background image (since it’s static) when you’re editing your animation track, and turning off tracks and filters will make real-time playback more likely. When you’re done, simply turn on the background track by clicking the visible/invisible button again. Give it a try. I think you’ll find some improvement.

Jim

[Kai Mariah]

Hi.
It’s working better! YAY!!!!

Can you help me with one more thing? I’m trying to get my still photos to pan from right to left. I did it once a while ago but now I can’t get it to do it. I can’t remember what the steps are.

Thanks.
Kai

[Jim Glickert]

I’m glad that things are finally working better for you. You’ve probably learned a lot of things along the way. That’s good!

To pan a photo in FCP, first double-click on the photo “clip” in your timeline. This will cause the photo to appear in your Viewer. Click on the Motion tab at the top of the Viewer window. In that Motion tab, you’ll use the Center parameter, in combination with keyframes that you’ll set, to change the center of the photo. It’s pretty easy. If you need help, type something like “changing motion parameters” in your FCP help window. It’ll give you more help than what I can give here.

Good luck!

Jim

[John O’brien]

I feel that, if you can convert to .mov file using the ProRes codec, you will not have to render, ever again! Yay!