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HDV Playback suddenly defaulting to Medium quality with “High” grayed out – help!
I’ve posted a couple times over the last month regarding the same issue and nothing is working!
Essentially, I’ve been cutting a doc using HDV footage in an HDV timeline for the last year and a bit with no playback issues at all. But after my PowerPC G5 suffered a kernel panic, I seem to have lost “High” quality as an option. I can set playback to High in settings. But under RT, it is grayed out and defaulting to Dynamic and sometimes Medium. Even when I start a new project with nothing in the timeline!
Here’s what I’ve done thus far:
I’ve talked to Apple Care and followed their instructions. I’ve erased my harddrive, reinstalled a clean version of Mac OS X, upgraded to 10.5.8, installed FCS 2 from scratch, upgraded everything… and still, the problems persist! I’ve had two kernel panics already, with fans blaring. I’ve consequently opened up my G5 and blown away the dust. There wasn’t much, so I doubt that’s it. Is there a correlation between the crashing and FCP issue? I don’t know.
But when I open FCP from scratch (in case my own file is somehow corrupt), and select the HDV 30p setting, the “High” setting under RT in the timeline is still greyed out. I’ve turned off “report dropped frames”, set playback to High in settings, and with not a single file even in the timeline, it’s still defaulting to dynamic or medium quality. The same goes for when I drop in a HDV file.
I’ve trashed the 4 pref files, opened again – this time choosing the default DV easy setup. And for the first time, “High” is NOT greyed out. I then opened a new sequence within this test project – with settings changed to HDV 30p – and “High” is back to being greyed out. Click back to the DV sequence and High is still available. I tried the same with ProRes 422 – no “High”.
Oh, and I also bought a brand new external harddrive and transfered over all the media to rule out that (before reinstalling the OS X).
Is this happening during the “Profiling for RT Extreme” upon setup (after prefs trashed)? It seems to me that somehow my bloody computer is telling FCP, “No! I won’t play HDV in full quality anymore!” And it doesn’t matter whether it’s one video layer or ten, rendered or unrendered.
Can anybody help? Please… I’m dying here.
Chris
2 GHz Power PC G5, 2.5 GB DDR SDRAM, Apple Cinema Display, LaCie d2 Quadra 1TB
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14 Replies
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Did you upgrade FCP and QT after the reinstall?
Kevin Monahan
60 Blu-ray Templates for Final Cut Studio 2009
http://www.fcpworld.com
Author – Motion Graphics and Effects in Final Cut Pro -
Yes I’ve upgraded FCP but not QT. I took the computer into Apple today. Will find out tomorrow if it’s hardware related…
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Me again. I took the computer into an Apple Store here in Vancouver. They ran tests on it for 2 days… and couldn’t find a single thing wrong with it! They’re telling me it’s playing like a brand new machine. Go figure. They don’t have an explanation for why FCP is defaulting my quality settings to something lower. Nor why I’ve had all these kernel panics.
My concern at the moment is that I’ve now lost about 2 weeks of editing time and still have no solutions for getting my playback quality back. I can edit in the interm w medium, but not indefinitely. Could it be some stupid setting that is off? Something I’ve missed. Any suggestions or continued help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks…
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Perhaps when you reinstalled, you upgraded past the point to where you were when you first editing. FCP is trying to tell you that your machine is not fast enough to get that quality.
Something tells me that if you want to continue with HD post, you may need to upgrade your rig.
Kevin Monahan
60 Blu-ray Templates for Final Cut Studio 2009
http://www.fcpworld.com
Author – Motion Graphics and Effects in Final Cut Pro -
Thanks for getting back to me Kevin. I would love to upgrade my rig but that is not possible at the moment. I hope your other suggestion is correct. One of the apple guys suggested I reinstall leopard, then fcp, and open a project before upgrading anything. I\’m in the process of doing that now. If I can get high quality back for hdv, to then upgrade one software at a time and keep testing. Perhaps I upgraded to an os firmware or something that is now preventing my computer from performing in fcp as it had previously. This is my only hope at this point. I\’ve reseated the ram, reset the nvram and pretty much ruled that out as a culprit. What else can I do? I\’ll post back with my results.
Chris -
Results?? I’m having the same problem now. I upgraded to fcp 7, then quickly to 7.0.1, and i think since 7.0.1, i can’t even get medium quality while playing 1 stream of hdv /w no filters!
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Cade, thanks for waking up this post. I did what I said I would in my last post and it didn’t make any difference. I’m working with the latest version of 6.0.6 now, which I’m pretty certain is the same I was using before. Interesting that you’re now seeing the same thing in vs 7. I truly hope someone can shed some light on this for the both of us!
Chris
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I concluded that something wasn’t working right with the “rt extreme profiling” because it took sooooo long, and it gave me low playback quality only for codecs i knew played perfectly on my G5. I was trying to edit the profile preference that fcp makes after it profiles. but someone else identified that it was a problem with the profiling process not expecting to run on a g5. basically you have to let it know it’s on a g5(or g4…) then it can make a proper profile.
Here is the post from: https://forums.macrumors.com/archive/index.php/t-755629.html -credit to Smudo
I have the same Problem with g5 Quad 6 gb Ram & Geforce6600
The good& better RT Settings in the Timeline are grayed out.
I look any hours around in the Final Cut Contents Tree and find a solution for this.The Problem is: FCP7 can´t detect the correct RT Settings for the Quad ppc Cpu´s and so FCP runs unter lowest RT Quality.
The Solution is very simple.
go in the Final Cut File in the Application Folder(right click and choose Show Package Content)
Then got into the Folder Content/Resources/Non-Localized Settings/FXScripts/Enablers and open the File “RT Software Enabler.txt with TextEdit.This File gives Final Cut the information about the differnt CPU Types.
And you can see: there is no ppc Support!Now change in the Line 34 ( i think it was 34) cpuspeed from 2330 to 2500 (for a quad g5) and change in the same line cpu type from “cputtype_x86” to “cputtype_ppc” and from “&& x8664bit” to “&& ppc64bit” (this is on the end of the line.)
When you made this changes and save it, Final Cut think your g5 quad ppc CPU is cpuclass 22. And this is very good!
Restart Final Cut and change your RT Settings in the Timeline to highest!
BTW: i work with this option since 2 Weeks every Day with FCP7 on a ppc without Problems, everything is Working (without AVCIntra)
Please let other people know about this, cause it’s very hard to find, and effects a lot of users!
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Cade, good to hear you’ve solved things on your end! I’m eager to try, but would like some clarification before I muck things up. (I’ll copy the original anyway). Is this a fix for FCS3 on a G5 quad though? I’m working with FCS2 on a 2 GHz PowerPC G5, single core I think. Should I try the same numbers, as seen in your last post, or should I modify the CPU speed for instance? This is pretty much a foreign language for me. Anyone else have something to add, be my guest…
Here’s a copy of my RT Software Enabler file, if that helps. Top portion only…
Chris
//
// FCP Real-time Enabler for Software Effects
//
// Copyright 2001 – 2007 Apple Inc.
//FileVersion(25168, 29199, 726086)
startuponly
code// —————————————————————————–
// Capture Data Rate (~300k/sec) & Settings…This is used in determining CaptureNow Limit and in Batch Capture
// The codec gives has a highly variable data rate, so the actual average (~300k/sec) is doubled for assurance
//
// NOTE: we always add this chunk of data, regardless of if RT is enabled, to support consistent capture using JPEG
//
dictputmany(“_rt_JPEGCapture”, 0,
“preferredSpatialQuality”, 364,
“avgVideoDataRatePerSec”, 600000,
“preferredHeight”, 240,
“preferredWidth”, 320);float cpuclass
if (dictget(“switches”,”realtimeVideoFX”,”cpuclass”,”value”) == 55)
cpuclass = 55
else if (cpucount > 7 && cpuspeed >= 3200 && cpubusspeed >= 1600 && cputype == cputtype_x86 && x8664bit )
cpuclass = 54
else if (cpucount > 7 && cpuspeed >= 3000 && cpubusspeed >= 1300 && cputype == cputtype_x86 && x8664bit )
cpuclass = 53
else if (cpucount > 3 && cpuspeed >= 3000 && cpubusspeed >= 1300 && cputype == cputtype_x86 && x8664bit )
cpuclass = 52
else if (cpucount > 7 && cpuspeed >= 2800 && cpubusspeed >= 1600 && cputype == cputtype_x86 && x8664bit )
cpuclass = 51
else if (cpucount > 3 && cpuspeed >= 2660 && cpubusspeed >= 1300 && cputype == cputtype_x86 && x8664bit )
cpuclass = 50
else if (cpucount > 3 && cpuspeed >= 2000 && cpubusspeed >= 1300 && cputype == cputtype_x86 && x8664bit )
cpuclass = 49
else if (cpucount > 3 && cpuspeed >= 3000 && cpubusspeed >= 1300 && cputype == cputtype_x86 && x8664bit)
cpuclass = 43
else if (cpucount > 3 && cpuspeed >= 2660 && cpubusspeed >= 1300 && cputype == cputtype_x86 && x8664bit)
cpuclass = 43
else if (cpucount > 3 && cpuspeed >= 2000 && cpubusspeed >= 1300 && cputype == cputtype_x86 && x8664bit)
cpuclass = 43
else if (cpucount > 1 && cpuspeed >= 3006 && cputype == cputtype_x86 && !(ispowerbook) && x8664bit)
cpuclass = 48
else if (cpucount > 1 && cpuspeed >= 2800 && cputype == cputtype_x86 && !(ispowerbook) && x8664bit)
cpuclass = 47
else if (cpucount > 1 && cpuspeed >= 2330 && cputype == cputtype_x86 && !(ispowerbook || ismini) && x8664bit)
cpuclass = 46
else if (cpucount > 1 && cpuspeed >= 2160 && cputype == cputtype_x86 && !(cpuspeeddynamic || ispowerbook || ismini) && x8664bit)
cpuclass = 45
else if (cpucount > 1 && cpuspeed >= 2000 && cputype == cputtype_x86 && !(cpuspeeddynamic || ispowerbook || ismini) && x8664bit)
cpuclass = 44
else if (cpucount > 1 && cpuspeed >= 2000 && cputype == cputtype_x86 && !(cpuspeeddynamic || ispowerbook || ismini))
cpuclass = 43
else if (cpucount > 1 && cpuspeed >= 1830 && cputype == cputtype_x86 && !(cpuspeeddynamic || ispowerbook || ismini))
cpuclass = 42
else if (xsanhost)
cpuclass = 41
else if (cpucount > 1 && cpuspeed >= 2500 && cputype == cputtype_x86 && cpuspeeddynamic && ispowerbook && x8664bit)
cpuclass = 40
else if (cpucount > 1 && cpuspeed >= 2330 && cputype == cputtype_x86 && cpuspeeddynamic && ispowerbook && x8664bit)
cpuclass = 39
else if (cpucount > 1 && cpuspeed >= 2160 && cputype == cputtype_x86 && cpuspeeddynamic && ispowerbook && x8664bit)
cpuclass = 38
else if (cpucount > 1 && cpuspeed >= 2160 && cputype == cputtype_x86 && cpuspeeddynamic && ispowerbook)
cpuclass = 37
else if (cpucount > 1 && cpuspeed >= 2000 && cputype == cputtype_x86 && cpuspeeddynamic && ispowerbook)
cpuclass = 36
else if (cpucount > 1 && cpuspeed >= 1830 && cputype == cputtype_x86 && cpuspeeddynamic && ispowerbook)
cpuclass = 35
else if (cpucount > 1 && cpuspeed >= 2200 && cputype == cputtype_x86 && cpuspeeddynamic && x8664bit)
cpuclass = 34
else if (cpucount > 1 && cpuspeed >= 2160 && cputype == cputtype_x86 && cpuspeeddynamic && x8664bit)
cpuclass = 33
else if (cpucount > 1 && cpuspeed >= 2000 && cputype == cputtype_x86 && cpuspeeddynamic)
cpuclass = 32
else if (cpucount > 1 && cpuspeed >= 1830 && cputype == cputtype_x86 && cpuspeeddynamic)
cpuclass = 31
else if (cpucount > 1 && cpuspeed >= 2000 && cputype == cputtype_x86 && x8664bit)
cpuclass = 30
else if (cpucount > 1 && cpuspeed >= 1830 && cputype == cputtype_x86)
cpuclass = 29
else if (cpucount > 1 && cpuspeed >= 1660 && cputype == cputtype_x86)
cpuclass = 28
else if (cpuspeed >= 1500 && cputype == cputtype_x86)
cpuclass = 27
else if (cpucount > 3 && cpuspeed >= 2500 && cpubusspeed >= 1250)
cpuclass = 26
else if (cpucount > 1 && cpuspeed >= 2300 && cpubusspeed >= 1150 && l2cachesize >= 1024)
cpuclass = 25
else if (cpucount > 1 && cpuspeed >= 2000 && cpubusspeed >= 1000 && l2cachesize >= 1024)
cpuclass = 24
else if (cpucount > 1 && cpuspeed >= 2700 && cpubusspeed >= 1350)
cpuclass = 23
else if (cpucount > 1 && cpuspeed >= 2500 && cpubusspeed >= 1250)
cpuclass = 22
else if (cpucount > 1 && cpuspeed >= 2000 && cpubusspeed >= 1000)
cpuclass = 21
else if (cpucount > 1 && cpuspeed >= 1800 && cpubusspeed >= 900)
cpuclass = 20
else if (cpuspeed >= 2100 && cpubusspeed >= 600 && ppc64bit)
cpuclass = 19
else if (cpuspeed >= 1800 && cpubusspeed >= 600 && ppc64bit)
cpuclass = 18
else if (cpuspeed >= 1600 && cpubusspeed >= 500 && ppc64bit)
cpuclass = 17
else if (cpucount > 1 && cpuspeed >= 1420)
cpuclass = 16
else if (cpucount > 1 && cpuspeed >= 1250)
cpuclass = 15
else if (cpucount > 1 && cpuspeed >= 1000)
cpuclass = 14
else if (cpucount > 1 && cpuspeed >= 800)
cpuclass = 13
else if (cpuspeed >= 1600 && cpubusspeed >= 160)
cpuclass = 12
else if (cpuspeed >= 1500 && cpubusspeed >= 160)
cpuclass = 11
else if (cpuspeed >= 1300 && cpubusspeed >= 160)
cpuclass = 10
else if (cpuspeed >= 1000 && (l2cachesize + l3cachesize) >= 1024 && cpubusspeed >= 160)
cpuclass = 9
else if (cpuspeed >= 1001 && cpubusspeed >= 160)
cpuclass = 9
else if (cpuspeed >= 1000 && (l2cachesize + l3cachesize) >= 1024)
cpuclass = 8
else if (cpuspeed >= 800 && (l2cachesize + l3cachesize) >= 1024)
cpuclass = 7
else if (cpuspeed >= 1000 && cpubusspeed >= 160)
cpuclass = 7
else if (cpuspeed >= 1000)
cpuclass = 6
else if (cpucount > 1)
cpuclass = 5
else if (cpuspeed > 500 && (l2cachesize + l3cachesize) >= 1024)
cpuclass = 4
else if ((cpuspeed >= 500 && !ispowerbook && (l2cachesize + l3cachesize) >= 1024) || (cpuspeed >= 730))
cpuclass = 3
else if (cpuspeed >= 660)
cpuclass = 2
else if (cpuspeed >= 550)
cpuclass = 1
else
cpuclass = 0
end if -
if you go to that post on macrumors, other people discussed their other computers. if you dont find it there, let me know, and when i get a couple minutes, ill research it with you.
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