Jerky Video on FCP

[Shane Ross]

Ahhhhh…I think I have an idea.

First off, you are monitoring correctly. Just the way you mentioned it was confusing…but that isn’t the issue.

The footage plays fine from the captured source…but all jerky AFTER color correction and filters are added.

Where is your RENDER folder? Have these accidentally been saved to the internal drive with the OS? Occassionally mine defaults to the internal, and I have to switch it (pain in the patoot).

Just a thought. Investigate that first. Look in the USERS>DOCUMENTS>Final Cut Pro Documents folder and see what you see…

[Sharilynn]

Hi,
Thank you for your excellent suggestions.
I am using FCP 5.0.3 (Studio) and have the video on Safe RT, with the Video Quality as Dynamic and Frame Rate – Full. Pulldown is 2:3:2:3 and Gamma Correction Accurate. Frame Offset is 4. The Scrup High Quality box and the Multiclip Playback box is checked. (so is the beep, but what does that have to do with anything). The Play Base Layer Only is not checked.
All footage has been rendered – the timeline bars are all grey.

The OSX is 10.4.3 on a Dual 2 GHz Power PC G5 with 2 GB GB DDR SDRAM

Yes, I grade on an NTSC monitor. I’m aware of the importance of this.

Which screenshot would you like me to post? The timeline?

Thank you very much,
Shari

[Sharilynn]

I smiled when you asked about my render folder, and had to look up its whereabouts in Spotlight, as I have seven hard drives hooked up to my Mac one way or another (I work so hard on my videos I’m reluctant to erase the work, even after downloading to a DVCAM tape).

But, upon looking, the Render Folder is in a separate hard drive. That particular 500 G hard drive is for storage only and does not have OSX installed on it.

What goes on when a Render Folder is in the wrong place? Did I do it right?

Shari

[Shane Ross]

How is that har drive connected? Is it a Media drive (7200RPM, 8MB buffer)?

If it is connected via USB, then it will drop frames. If it is formatted anything other than MAC OS Extended, it will drop frames.

With that many drives, being organized is essential…VITAL…to the health of a project. Errant files spread across a half dozen drives is not good.

[Sharilynn]

Lord, how I would like to make this easy for you. The hard drive is connected via Firewire. It is indeed formatted as Mac OS Extended. All my drives are connected and formatted this way, except, of course, the two ATA drives in my Mac.

Yes, I’m very aware of the organization problems with a lot of hard drives. Two of the external drives are simply back ups. But as to the others . . .as one fills up, I go to another. But that may mean I must move the Capture Scratch file too. So things get a bit complex. I really DO need to delete a few FCP files . . .I just haven’t talked myself into it yet. But getting close . . .

I don’t know what LaCie Big 500 Gig drives are – but I do like them. I’ve never known one to crash. I have a few Maxtor paperweights lying around, however.

[Sharilynn]

Hi,
i just finished the rough cut of the video, and pasted the whole thing to a new sequence timeline. I don’t have a problem with this timeline. I went back to the old one, and that one seemed to be good too. I have no idea why.

I’ve got to do more color correcting, as some of the clips were with indoor lighting and some were with just window light. The two are much closer now, but I want to match them up better if I can. I will use still another timeline to do that, just in case I blow the whole thing. Then at least I’ll have a back up.

I’m also going to burn the rough cut to see what it looks like on the big TV, and if it jerks at all. Cross your fingers. Meanwhile, I’ll upload a screen shot of my FCP displays on .Mac. I’m synching up now, and will post the URL as soon as I can.

I don’t at all like not knowing what is happening here, but I sure appreaciate the time you are giving to helping me. Thank you.

Shari

[Sharilynn]

Here is the screenshot of my work on FCP:

https://homepage.mac.com/sharidyer1/PhotoAlbum35.html

Shari

[Don Greening]

Shari,

Have you tried trashing the FCP preference files yet, like others have suggested? If so, has there been any change?

[ShariLynn] “I don’t know what LaCie Big 500 Gig drives are – but I do like them. I’ve never known one to crash.”

There have been issues from some LaCie FW drive owners about their drives self-destructing because of various problems, overheating probably being the most common complaint. Personally I’ve never had even a hint of a problem with the 3 LaCie FW drives I own, and they’re always on when my Macs are running.

G-Raid by G Tech is another FW option that a lot of users recommend.

https://www.g-technology.com/Products/G-RAID.cfm

– Don

“I never knew the true meaning of happiness until I started shooting DV. But by then it was too late.”

[Sharilynn]

Hi Don,

Thanks for following up on this.

Yes, I just now trashed the Preferences for both FCP 4.5 and 5 (just to make sure!) Going back into FCP – all seems fine. I hope that was it. I won’t be able to get intensely back into editing until tomorrow, or maybe late tonight, so I won’t really know until then. It sure would be nice if that was it. I noticed that changing tracks did seem to quiet things down. I don’t know why. I just don’t like knowing the why of this. It can ambush me, and editing is way too labor intensive and important to allow that to happen.

On another note – I notice you have a GL2. So do I. I have bought a Steadicam JR for it, but there are no settings available for the GL2 in this regard. Would you by any chance have them?

Shari

[Sharilynn]

Hi Don,
Thanks for the link to G-Raid. It is always good to know about good storage! I think I’ll pick one up next time, along withone of those external ports units. Very sweet.
Shari