Christopher Mcdonell
Forum Replies Created
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There’s some long responses on here that have taken this thread into different directions. But as for your question Bobby, as I posted above, I’ve been cutting with FCP 6 on El Capitan for several weeks now and all is (mostly) fine. There’ve been a few hiccups along the way but nothing warranting a downgrade to Mavericks (or Yosemite). FCP 6 on Mavericks wasn’t perfect either.
A few new things I can report on:
1) The ‘pencil crayon’ selection in the Colour Grabber remains blank for at least one of the transitions. The spectrum, wheel, slider, etc. all work though. So no biggy.
2) Command-Z Undo, hit in rapid succession, has crashed FCP twice on me now. So I increased my auto-save to every 20 minutes.
3) Boot up or rending progress bar shows the percentage number overlapping itself until it’s unreadable. It’s been doing this to me since Mavericks though.
That’s it. In my experience anyway. To purchase an older iMac just because it comes with Yosemite seems a little nuts to me. El Capitan is a performance and speed-based upgrade. Most reviewers tout it as being far superior to Yosemite.
My specs: FCP 6.0.6, El Capitan, rMBP 15″ i7 2.6 GHz, 16 GB RAM
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I posted about something similar a while ago. I too was seeing green screens like what you’ve described. This using a Lacie 4TB thunderbolt drive. The reason it seemed was file size. My project was hitting close to 200 MBs. When I trimmed it down (mainly by deleting redundant sequences), the problem (mostly) went away.
On rare occasions, I do get the odd green screen still. Project is probably still too big. But a restart always does the trick.
My specs: FCP 6.0.6, El Capitan, rMBP 15″ i7 2.6 GHz, 16 GB RAM
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[adam chesbrough] “So there is no way to “send to compressor” and then create a custom export setting that gives me .mp4 container…is that correct?”
You can still do this with Compressor 3. But not with Compressor 4. However, “sending” to Compressor prevents you from continuing to use FCP for editing. So I actually prefer exporting a QT Movie (I always do two: self-contained and reference), which you’ll want for your archives anyway, then dragging that into Compressor. And to answer your question, of course you can create custom .mp4 settings! Just duplicate the setting in Compressor, rename it, and make your changes.
It’s really best to know where you’ll be streaming your video and for whom when it comes to compression. Streaming 1080p at a decent quality requires a higher bit rate and consequently a larger file size. The last thing you want is for the video to stop and start during play for your end-user, which is exactly what will happen if the bitrate is too high and their download speed too slow. People know there’s a compromise when it comes to quality on the web. But if the video keeps stopping, they’ll just give up and surf elsewhere.
Vimeo defaults it’s streaming at 720p and I think provides a 360p for mobile (automatic switching, depending on the person’s device). So if that’s your end route, you can use Compressor to export a 720p H.264 at 15 MBs with PCM audio and upload that. The file size will be smaller than a 1080p, and if it’s not being delivered as a 1080p, no need to make one.
If, however, your end user is a broadcaster for example, and you’re sending them a rough-cut of something, you can upload a 1080p and change the settings in Vimeo to accommodate. People in the know will know that they may need to let the video download a bit before playing.
As a side note…
I have a website that streams some of my work and I used to host my own videos. For every clip or movie, you need at least three MP4 files: an HD version (higher quality, like 1080p or 720p), SD version (lower quality, like 540p), and mobile (360p). THEN, you need WebM versions of each for FireFox (at least the older versions). It’s a lot of compressing, and if you don’t have a good server, there’ll be hiccups and people will complain. THIS is why I’ve become an advocate of using a platform like Vimeo. You can embed the movies into your own website or just send people a link. It’s easier and way more reliable.
My specs: FCP 6.0.6, El Capitan, rMBP 15″ i7 2.6 GHz, 16 GB RAM
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How many video tracks (or streams)? Apple’s white sheet says ProRes 422 has a data rate of 127 MB/s. A 2014 Retina MacBook Pro with 2.6 GHz is capable of handling 16 streams. Your’s is older and you can see there’s a limit to how much data you can stream depending upon your computing power.
My specs: FCP 6.0.6, El Capitan, rMBP 15″ i7 2.6 GHz, 16 GB RAM
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Do you mean when you switch keyboards, to an American or French Swiss, it works? Or when you switch Languages in the Keyboard Preferences? If the former, then one would think there’s something wrong with the keyboard. Just strange that your Delete key works in other programs.
I recently bought a new Apple keyboard and the F10 key didn’t work for me in FCP, nor did Command Z (undo). I confirmed the same behaviour in other programs and returned it.
My specs: FCP 6.0.6, El Capitan, rMBP 15″ i7 2.6 GHz, 16 GB RAM
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HI Michael,
Since you’re posting on this thread, I assume your real question is whether FCP 7 will work with El Capitan, the defacto OS of any new hardware upgrade. On matters of compatibility, it seems vs 6 and 7 are pretty much the same, save for 6’s need for Rosetta if one wishes to do a clean install. So as mentioned a few threads up, I became my own guinea pig recently and upgraded my 2012 rMBP to El Capitan and have been happily cutting away with FCP 6 for 3 weeks now with no issues whatsoever. Really boggles my mind how “it can work for some and not others”. My experience so far has been fabulous. And I’m really loving El Cap, even better than Mavericks.
I’ve so far cut and mastered a 5 minute video using HDV 30p. I did some titling in Motion 5. Since you can’t roundtrip with this version, I’ve been exporting the clips as ProRes 4444 and bringing them in. I’ve applied a few filters: 3-way Colour Corrector, Broadcast Safe, etc. The usual transitions: fades, dissolves. No crashing, no hiccups at all.
I sent audio to Soundtrack Pro for Multitrack Editing. STP has worsened for age, that I can say. It crashed on me anytime I clicked out to check email or browse Safari. But I’ve always had a love/hate (mostly hate) relationship with STP. At least I was able to export an AIF sound mix, bring it back into FCP and voila!
Finally, I exported a QT movie (both as reference & self-contained). Then finished up in Compressor.
A user above warns of crashing with big files. Well, I’m now back onto my 100 minute doc. It’s multi-layered, with lots of graphics, stills and audio tracks. So far, no problems…
All in all, I’m glad I upgraded. It’s given me a chance to test out the free FCPX trial. (Cause let’s face it, eventually we’re going to have to abandon this gentle giant!) And of course, I made a clone of my Mavericks drive so I’ve always got that to fall back on. But I’m optimistic things will be just fine.
My specs: FCP 6.0.6, El Capitan, rMBP 15″ i7 2.6 GHz, 16 GB RAM
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Still lagging? How many streams of video are you working with? The area where it starts lagging isn’t graphics heavy or anything, is it?
My specs: FCP 6.0.6, El Capitan, rMBP 15″ i7 2.6 GHz, 16 GB RAM
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Same thing happens to my Motion clips. They’re set correctly in Motion to match my progressive timeline. Then when I export a ProRes 4444 and bring it in to FCP (6 for me), the field always reads Upper. I posted about this in another thread a while ago. I just have to change to None and all is fine. Maybe it’s a bug that will never get fixed.
My specs: FCP 6.0.6, El Capitan, rMBP 15″ i7 2.6 GHz, 16 GB RAM
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This too is why it’s important to always monitor your recording with headphones. Not trying to rub salt into your fresh wounds or anything though. Tough break!
My specs: FCP 6.0.6, El Capitan, rMBP 15″ i7 2.6 GHz, 16 GB RAM
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There’s a somewhat recent thread about FCP 6-7 and El Capitan. That’s the issue I’m sure you’re wondering about as newer computers will also come with the latest and greatest OS. I recently upgraded and have been cutting with FCP 6.0.6 on a 2012 rMBP, and so far, no problems. Someone else, however, has reported lots of crashing.
Motion 3 won’t work with El Capitan. So you’ll have to upgrade and say bye bye to round-tripping. But just export ProRes 4444 files and you’ll be fine.
Soundtrack, I must say, has been crashing on me today though. It crashes if I click onto another application, like Mail or Safari. But I’ve always had problems with this version of STP.
My specs: FCP 6.0.6, El Capitan, rMBP 15″ i7 2.6 GHz, 16 GB RAM