FCPX performance issue – the perils of compound clips

[Simon Ubsdell]

Printing them up now – what’s your size?

😉

Simon Ubsdell
Director/Editor/Writer
http://www.tokyo-uk.com

[Bill Davis]

[Simon Ubsdell] “Printing them up now – what’s your size?
“

I normally wouldn’t even respond to this – but after a many, many month long dedication to improving my personal health – I’m ecstatic to report that over the past couple of years I’ve dropped from a 2XL to a simple large!

Which means when I actually win a “gimme” t-shirt these days – at least I can actually wear it!

(it’s never too late folks, I’m proof!)

“Before speaking out ask yourself whether your words are true, whether they are respectful and whether they are needed in our civil discussions.”-Justice O’Connor

[Daniel Rutledge]

I am a little dissapointed but not surprised that compound clips are such a problem. I remember when I first discovered that I could add sequences into a sequence and use them like clips in legacy. I thought that I had discovered this great new way of working. I quickly discovered the limitations of this workflow. I recently started switching my company’s edit facility over to FCP X. I Created a 15 minute cut that was completely finished and fairly complex. It contained a performance made up of three songs. My plan was to edit my interview footage into the same project, cut the compound clip into three pieces, and use the magnetic timeline to easily arrange the pieces. I never really got past the first step. As soon as I put my complex 15 minute project into a compound clip, my computer came to a grinding halt. I tried resolving the issue in a few ways, but it quickly became clear that what the OP posted was happening. It wasn’t really a huge inconvenience to cut sans compound clip. I could basically follow my original plan with all the elements loose in the project. When I made another huge compound clip at the end so I could a add a universal grade to the project, it actually performed worse than nested sequences in legacy. I managed to do what I wanted, but it took a lot longer than I hoped it would. I think the most irritating thing is that on the apple site, they sell the feature as something that can be used this way.

[Phil Hastings]

Gentlemen,

Thank you for the insight into the compound clip issue. I’ve been battling this for a few days now. I had 30+ compound clips, each with 3-4 clips, some scaled. I’ve broken them all apart and everything seems to be working much better. I’ll update if there is a change in my progress.

Phil

https://www.coilproductions.com