-
still driving me nuts
-
Yeas, I have an upgraded 2009 MacPro tower, having the same issues there. Imagine my surprise after buying the quite pricey trash can and having the same issues.
Just did a lats farewell project on FCP7 and that program ran like it’s not run for quite a while: fast (ish)… faster than FCPX…
-
Again, FCPX requires its own workflow and setup. It’s not avid. It’s not fcp7. It is its own modern NLE that is still being developed and finding its way.
USB3 is perfectly fine and fast enough for most things. I find, in my experience anyway so take it for whatever it’s worth or not, that putting the cache on a local and super fast drive provides better performance, especially on a SAN where tiny reads and writes can be a show stopper.
There’s no question that Avid has some very obvious strengths over fcpx, but you can’t run fcpx like Avid and expect it all to look and work the same.
I’m getting 3 near real time 4k chroma keys in fcpx with dissolves and text with no rendering. Should I expect that performance in Avid? If Avid doesn’t perform that way, should I be frustrated, or is it simply because Avid doesn’t work that way?
I can’t play back one single of 4k in Ae in real time with no effects. Should I be frustrated, or do I know the limits of the software that I am working with and use the innate advantages within?
The advantage for me using Ae 15 years of experience, and being able to exchange files and projects easily with After Effects motion graphic artists. Performance is not an advantage of using After Effects.
And with fcpx, because it’s new and so heavily tied to OS upgrades, using the latest version with the latest OS usually yields the best performance. If that is a disadvantage, it might be best not to use it because it only gets better with every release. If you’re not using the latest, version, you’re missing out on a lot of advantages. This isn’t necessarily true with more mature software like Avid.
-
I know it’s different. The point is: what IS the proper set up for this NLE? I’ve got the latest MacPro, been set up by a specialised Apple Reseller… I simply cannot put dozens of hours of footage in my internal hard drive. Apple has decided you only get ONE internal hard drive on the latest MacPro… so for all the different shows, programmes and corporate video’s I simply HAVE to work on external drives.
To buy SSD external hard drives with Thunderbolt will most certainly improve things, but I’d be spending a fortune on them. Knowing that USB is fine for 2K (or even higher streaming) that still doesn’t answer my question why FCPX needs such an extraordinary amount of power and speed to work properly on 2K. Or is it Apple trying to constantly make a buck out of us?
That said, what IS the proper way to manage the media/libraries/chaches? FCPX 10.2 has only been out for a little while and I’m sure it’s better than 10.1.4. However, very few professional set-ups can immediately update immediately once an OSX or FCPX updates comes out. All drivers of all equipment part of the set-up have to come along. And the manufacturers can only do it once it actually comes out, since Apple doesn’t release anything prior to the official release. But are the mediamanagement preferences so much different? Or was 10.1.4 just a crap version?
When it comes down to AVID you actually might expect that kind of 4K performance on AVID now, since it completely supports 4K and the unrendered playback on AVID is on 2K better than it is on FCPX, so who knows. I’ve not worked with 4K, but I wouldn’t underestimate it beforehand.
Nevertheless, basic mediamanagement is the same on EVERY AVDI set-up. Why does that change with every FCPX version then (if 10.2 does all that so much better). -
Have you checked the contents of the library to make sure all the media in the library are aliases and not actual media. I’ve been surprised with older versions of FCP X when it was populated with huge files even though I set it up as otherwise in the inspector. Also what is your overhead on all your drives. Hit 80% full and all bets are off.
Mac Pro, macbook pro, Imacs (i7); Canon 5D Mark III/70D, Panasonic AG-HPX170/AG-HPX250P, Canon HV40, Sony Z7U/VX2000/PD170; FCP 6 certified; FCP X write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.
-
https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/TB2SRKIT0GB/
why not try one of these just to see. you can put your drive in here and test it. extra drives never hurt for back ups even if it fails the test. Thunderbolt daisy chains more effectively than usb.
Mac Pro, macbook pro, Imacs (i7); Canon 5D Mark III/70D, Panasonic AG-HPX170/AG-HPX250P, Canon HV40, Sony Z7U/VX2000/PD170; FCP 6 certified; FCP X write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.
-
All aliases. I’m not a complete novice, even though you might think I am.
Yes, you could just buy more stuff, more more 3rd party apps and buy and buy and buy…. It seems that is exactly what Apple want: buy buy buy… But that isn’t fair to people who invest in this stuff. And Apple know I invest a lot. Even AVID supports people who work on older versions. Sometimes even provide patches for serious problems. Why is the answer if you have a problem with FCP: get the lastest version, the latest computers and buy more stuff? I don’t get it… that’s not very professional
And it simply doesn’t answer my question: why does FCPX need such an extraordinary amount of power and speed? What’s it doing that it needs so much more than the other NLE’s? What’s it doing when the Background Processes window is idle and you quit FCPX, it remarks that it’s closing down all ‘background processes”. Obviously FCPX is doing stuff no one knows about and no one knows how to shut it off.
-
I must not be explaining anything correctly as we seem to be miscommunicating.
[Mike Warmels] ” simply cannot put dozens of hours of footage in my internal hard drive. “
No one is asking you to do that. I said your cache, not your media, goes on the local drive.
The cache is all of your render files and thumbnails. Your media (both original and generated) should stay on your external drives.
[Mike Warmels] “But are the mediamanagement preferences so much different? Or was 10.1.4 just a crap version?
“No, the preferences are the same. Select the library in the browser and open the inspector. You’ll see where your cache, media, and backups are pointed. Click “Modify settings” and you’ll get a list of drop downs. Point the cache drop down at a new folder on your boot drive called “fcpx cache” in your documents folder (or wherever). Point the media at your external drive. I make a folder in the job’s folder called “fcpx generated media” and store it there. The backups I leave at default. Every time you open or stat a new library, point the cache at that same cache folder.
You will get a warning about moving the cache. It will ask if you want to move it, or start fresh, I’ll leave that up to you.
This will take a few minutes, and has zero risk involved.
What has changed in 10.2 is overall, better performance due to Yosemite (and all of the AV Foundation and other OS improvements) as well as a more efficient way of handling waveforms and thumbnails.
Release notes are here, be sure to read the 10.2 notes as they contain the juicy bits: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201237
-
Looks nice, but I just spend over $600 dollars worth of drives. My pockets aren’t deep enough yet, I’m afraid. With this bay and drives that fit in there, would mean another $800 investment.
But no, sorry I simply don’t buy it. I just spent thousands of euro’s on a new Apple set up… It’s ridiculous that I should invest many hundreds of dollars more on expensive drives. FCPX isn’t some money scam, I hope.
-
[Mike Warmels] “What’s it doing when the Background Processes window is idle and you quit FCPX, it remarks that it’s closing down all ‘background processes”. Obviously FCPX is doing stuff no one knows about and no one knows how to shut it off.”
If you have just imported media, it’s building the waveforms and thumbnails.
If that’s already built, it’s doing a final backup of all open libraries. The more libraries open, the more it need to backup, which means that this process should be stored on the fastest drive you have available, which is your boot drive. Backups take up very little space.
-
I know how to do that. I’ve set it up mostly as you said already, except for the cache. I’ll try that next.
The point I was making that only using SSD thunderbolt drives would be a ridiculous solution. I think the Apple is equipment is already quite prices to make such demands, while other NLE’s don’t need so much hard drive power.
And I have 10.2 set up next to 10.1.4 on my MacBook. Haven’t worked with it yet (and I can’t because of the projects I am doing for/with a client stuck on 10.1.4). But I sure hope it stops grinding FCPX to a halt every two hours. That’s all I’m asking for. (and a decent mixer, and an audio cross fade, and identical trimming options on all storylines, and one decent timecode clock for all footage, and better ‘Reveal in Browser’ functionality etc etc… but we’ll see when that comes. I think I’m gonna enjoy the entered playhead a lot – dearly missed for a long long time.)
Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up