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Quicktime files not optimized- play choppy?
OK!- so I imported a bunch of .mov files from my harddrive into FCP a while back. I got a bunch of messages saying they weren’t “optimized” for FCP and to use media manager to copy them. I didn’t know how to do that or what the warning meant, the videos played fine and I had no problems. I searched around here and a few other forums and read that the warning wasn’t a big deal, it meant that FCP might have trouble playing back in realtime smoothly for editing. I didn’t seem to have that problem, even when I started editing and adding FX to the footage.
Now that my timeline has gotten a bit longer, I AM having realtime playback problems- I checked the playback on an external production monitor and it still plays smoothly, but on the canvas, it’s choppy. Thankfully, I synced up most of my audio before this happened, but I’d really like to fix this.
I went into media manager, tried copying the files, but it seems it only lets you open it up in a new project- does this mean I have to copy each clip and reinsert it into my sequence manually, or can media manager just replace the existing clip with the “optimized” clip? Or did I make another huge mistake?
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7 Replies
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UPDATE: it actually seems to be affecting the entire timeline, but it seems especially bad in spots with audio AND video…everything is rendered, so I don’t get it. Could those clips be the cause?
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Sounds like tou are experiencing dropped frames.
What coded did you convert your footage to before editing, and what are you using for media drives and how are they connected to the computer.
Hindsight is always 1080p
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It isn’t dropped frames, it’s not that drastic. It’s playing sluggishly and it just started all the sudden. Like I said, on the ext. monitor it plays fine, in FCP it’s sluggish which will be a huge annoyance down the road…
I’m working on an internal work drive with plenty of space, in the DVC/DVPRO codec that’s standard with DV footage. It was all running smooth for a while, now playback on the canvas is choppy.
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Is this internal drive you are editing from also your system drive?
If it is then I’m betting the issue is dropped frames because you should never edit from your system drive.
Hindsight is always 1080p
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No- like I said it’s work drive, specifically for FCP projects
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You a acrualy didn’t say!
All you said is that it was an internal drive and you only said that after I asked.
Do they same video files play fine in a new FCP project.
Hindsight is always 1080p
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[John Pastuch] “I went into media manager, tried copying the files, but it seems it only lets you open it up in a new project- does this mean I have to copy each clip and reinsert it into my sequence manually, or can media manager just replace the existing clip with the “optimized” clip? Or did I make another huge mistake?”
In Media Manager you would recompress the clips into a format that is RT enabled in Final Cut. Media Manager would create a new project and new media but the sequence would be intact. You’d then start working in the new project. I’m not sure that’s the way you should go.
You need to find out exactly what is amiss with the bad clips before you proceed. Look at all the properties of a clip–frame rate, dimensions, compressor, etc. Which of those is causing it to be non-standard? Without knowing that, Media Manager could give you weird results.
I seem to recall seeing that error message on a DV clip that was not 720×480.
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