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MacBook Pro stuttering on viewing in FCP
2.33ghz, 3GB RAM, Snow Leopard 10.6.2
Playing back 5D HD footage in FCP (7.0.2) viewer and the first couple of clips are ok but then the stuttering starts and stays throughout.
Same thing in Quicktime Player or even in “Quicklook”.
I appreciate it’s not ideal for editing but many claim to be able to, but I can’t even view what’s been shot let alone attempt to edit.Apologies for being a bit off-topic but any help would be greatly appreciated.
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5 Replies
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First question is: have you converted the files? If not you might have problems with FCP and the h.264 files that the camera creates.
Second question: are you using an external hard drive? You are definitely going to have problems playing 1080P footage off of your laptop drive, unless you are using a really good SSD drive.
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Files are yet to be converted, but even in QuickTime and Quicklook (highlight then spacebar), the same thing happens.
Besides I may want to view the native files first to decide which to convert.Tried first using a 500gb Rugged then a powered 500gb 7200rpm Quadra and the same thing.
Internal hard drive is also 500gb.
What’s an SSD drive? -
Solid state drives( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive ). Convert one file and test the performance. Files that come off of the camera are H.264 based and really heavy for playback.
I would suggest ProRes ( regular or HQ ), but other codecs can work as well.
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Couple of things. You need to convert 5d material before you edit, plain and simple. 5D h.264 is problematic for FCP as well as the frame rate (30, not 29.97, etc.). There are many ways to do this… think about converting to Pro Res for editing. Use compressor, although some use Cinema Tools for the 30 to 29.97 conform.
This is half of the problem. The other half is throughput – don’t ever edit from your OS drive. It needs to run your OS and apps and shouldn’t be used for media. For ProRes, you can use an external FW drive or eSata drive to play back a couple of streams.
Also, visit this site. It’s at least worth looking at.
https://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/finalcutstudio/5dtofcp.html -
Many thanks for the responses.
So basically, FCP doesn’t like H.264 – not even just to view.
Presumably then, neither does Quicktime nor my Macbook Pro as again the playback is choppy.
How then would preview what’ just been shot without having to convert to ProRes first?
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