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how fast does my computer need to be?
I was convinced to buy a Decklink Studio card for my system but I keep getting dropped frames warning on my FCP and I am not sure what else to do?
My system: I am running FCP 6.06 from a MacPro 2.66Ghz Quad-Core Intel Xeon
with 6 GB of DDR3 Ram
I am on OS X 10.6.7
Just bought a Decklink Sudio card ( put it in the top slot) and running HDMI to a Panasonic TH-42PZ80U (aka a 42″ plasma TV) and sound I am using the decklink 1/4″ output to M-Audio Studiophile AV 40 speakers. Passing thru a small Berhinger mixer.The final cut project is coming from a Cannon 7D camera. I converted each fill to be ProRess 422
I am not going with the HQ setting, but simply 422.There is 1.8 TB worth of material for the whole project. I bought a 2.TB Western Digital Caviar Black Internal drive which lives in slot #3 on my computer. The FCP Project lives on my desktop, but the renders/autosaves etc. live on the Drive with the converted files. I ran Blackmagic’s disk speed test and the drive can read 128.3MB/s Finally, I should add that my FCP settings say RT audio mixing 8 tracks. Audio PB quality is High, because I want to hear the best quality. and I am on Safe RT not Unlimited RT.
I have a backup of all the material on a G-Raid with Esata, and I tried working from this to see if it was faster, but I get the same results. Any time I have something as simple as a title card I get the pop up window warning of dropping frames. I will also get the window if am trying to play the sequence sometimes. Most of my material is group clips which puts the green preview line on my timeline for most of the project.
Is there anything I can do to stop this, besides buy a new computer?
any help would be greatly appreciated.
thanks,
Betsy -
5 Replies
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If you have the green line, try rendering the sequence out (so the green line turns grey) and that may help, but I think probably a limited amount of RAM is your issue. 6GB is fine for most things but if you’re working with HD footage it might not be enough for FCP to play back efficiently. One way to test this would be to shut down everything else you have running, close any other sequences you have open, and just try to play it again (after rendering). If that fixes it, you probably need more RAM in order to keep up with the demands of the project.
You might also try exporting the sequence as a .mov file out of FCP, then open that same file back up in FCP and play it back. Theoretically this should be the same as rendering the sequence, but I have seen it give different results on occasion.
I don’t have experience with the DeckLink cards so perhaps someone else can speak to a more specific issue regarding that.
Steve
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You have a problem, but it’s not the speed of your computer.
When you installed the Decklink card did you install the drivers from the disc that came with the card, or did you download the freshest version from the BlackMagic website?
David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor/Colorist
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los Angeles
https://www.drwfilms.comPOST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™
Creative COW contributing editor and a forum host of the Business & Marketing and Apple Final Cut Pro forums.
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originally I installed the driver from the CD that the decklink came with. I was having issues with sound and picture. When It would drop frames it would make a crunching sound, and it would flash back/green frames on the monitor.
I talked to another editor who was having a similar problem and he said it started when he upgraded to the latest Decklink software. I have unintalled the driver and went back to and earlier version and it has seemed to fix this issue. ( I have also contacted decklink and they are aware of this issue)
I was hoping that it would resolve the dropped frame issue as well, but this seems to be a separate issue.
Betsy
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So, you’ve never tried installing the latest drivers yourself?
Uninstalling and then reinstalling drivers for I/O devices takes just seconds. Get in the habit of doing it, as you’ll find that Apple software updates make it necessary from time to time.
For now, forget about what the other editor told you… He’s not helping you now, right? Download and try out the latest drivers before doing anything else.
David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor/Colorist
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los Angeles
https://www.drwfilms.comPOST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™
Creative COW contributing editor and a forum host of the Business & Marketing and Apple Final Cut Pro forums.
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Decklink’s support page is down right now, but I will try back in a bit and try their latest version.
thanks,
Betsy
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