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Pro Res HQ stutters in timeline
Hi All,
Hoping that one of you Gurus can help me out-thanks for taking a look at this…
Editing in FCP 7 on a early 2008 Mac Pro (running latest OS) and my Pro Res HQ footage is stuttering on my timeline and I keep getting the spinning wheel for a few seconds which is making editing virtually impossible. The footage is on an external G-Raid 2 TB drive (7200rpm) via Firewire 800. Timeline setting is SAFE and all sequence settings match the footage.
I tried copying a clip to one of my internal drives and it played fine through FCP on a new timeline. Unfortunately, I have 500 GB of footage so it won’t fit on my internal drives (except for my HD that has my system software, etc.). Computer does not have ESATA port unless there is a cable or workaround which would allow me to plug into external drive.
Any thoughts or guidance is greatly appreciated as I am just starting my project with a quick deadline.
Thanks very much.SG
Steve Gaskin
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7 Replies
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What’s your RT Playback Video Quality set to? You can set it on Dynamic and let FCP moderate it or you can drop it down yourself.
Your external drive should be sufficient for sustaining ProRes (HQ) material via Firewire 800. ProRes (HQ) is a 220Mbps codec, and Firewire 800 runs between 600Mbps-800Mbps (the former number being more closer to real world and the latter number being its spec). One thing that might cause you problems is if your hard drive is more than 50% full. If so, it can be difficult for the drive head to move around the disc fast enough to deliver 24fps, 25fps, 30fps, or 60fps (or whatever your frame rate).
https://images.apple.com/finalcutpro/docs/Apple_ProRes_White_Paper_October_2012.pdf
Ryan Holmes
http://www.ryanholmes.me
@CutColorPost -
Thanks for your post Ryan.
My RT settings are currently SAFE, video quality is already DYNAMIC and frame rate is full. Still stuttering though…
Steve Gaskin
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I just kept RT to SAFE and changed video quality to LOW and frame rate to DYNAMIC and that seemed to work for a minute but upon further review still isn’t working.
Steve Gaskin
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The RT settings only impact your playback capabilities, not your export. When you export you’ll define what codec, quality, etc that you want.
I would try setting your RT to Unlimited (not Safe), Playback Quality to Dynamic, and Frame Rate to Full. See if your system still stutters on that. Those settings on what I’ve on most of my computers since Apple came out with RT settings (waaaaaaaay back in the day!).
Ryan Holmes
http://www.ryanholmes.me
@CutColorPost -
Again, thanks for your help but unfortunately that isn’t working either.
I’ve noticed that the footage is not really stuttering, but the color wheel will start spinning and lock me out for about 2 minutes at a time when I scrub the playhead, or sometimes when I don’t really do anything. Very strange.
I was thinking about trashing my preferences but they don’t seem to be in any folder that I look in my library. Bizarre.
Thanks again.
Steve Gaskin
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[Ryan Holmes] “Your external drive should be sufficient for sustaining ProRes (HQ) material via Firewire 800”
Not true. This is the cause of your stutter. An eSata RAID would run much better. You can add an Esata card to your computer.
Steve Eisen
Eisen Video Productions
Vice President
Chicago Creative Pro Users Group -
[Steve Eisen] “An eSata RAID would run much better”
An eSata RAID would provide more headroom on speed. But a Firewire 800 G-RAID setup has plenty of bandwidth to handle a single stream of ProRes (HQ). Firewire 800 is about 3.5X faster than is necessary to carry 1 stream of (HQ) – 800Mbps Firewire vs 220Mbps for (HQ). If his drive is (1) a RAID (which I’m assuming it is from his first post), and (2) less than half full then this drive should theoretically deliver 1 (HQ) stream.
But like Steve says, you could pickup an eSATA PCIe card for your Mac Pro (assuming you have open slots). You should be able to get one for under $50. It might be worth a try to see if it speeds up your workflow.
Ryan Holmes
http://www.ryanholmes.me
@CutColorPost
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