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Home: Video University Forums: Mac Video:
Nothing but problems from FCP in the last 2 days

 
 


GmElliott
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May 2, 2008, 6:27 AM

Post #1 of 23 (2363 views)
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Nothing but problems from FCP in the last 2 days Can't Post
I've been having problems with FCP, renders, and Magic Bullet for the last 2 days. I'm finished a wedding and am simply trying to get the DVD done which I thought I could finish in a day. I'm on my second day and not a whole lot closer to finishing.

1) I had a credits montage completed on my timeline complete with Magic Bullet Effects, all pre-rendered. I went to Export> Quicktime Movie (non-self-contained).

Even though it was pre-rendered it took an eon to render out! I came back and it was frozen on 37%. I went to check the process under the force quit menu to see if, indeed, it's not responding and I can't even access that menu- I don't have a cursor. Just the spinning beach ball of death.

I eventually give up and hold the power button in to power down. After I power back up I load up FCP again and try the render again- this time it goes through without issue. WTF?!


2) I have a rehearsal dinner multicam edit I completed. The only filter I added was a "gamma adjustment" filter to the footage which I already pre-rendered.

When I render out a non-self-contained MOV file any of the footage that had the gamma adjustment, or any footage that required pre-rendering for that matter, looks all pixelated.

....I tried another time with the same timeilne, same issue. (another hour gone)

....So then I decided to render a small section out to test it. Came out fine. Tried rendering again- SAME issue. (yet another hour gone)

....I powered the machine down, turned it back on, copied the edit on to a fresh timeline and tried the render one last time. SAME THING, all the footage that was pre-rendered is pixelated in the MOV file! GRRRRR Mad

I'm now about 4 hours in the hole trying to figure this out. I'm giving up on doing a MOV file prior to Compressor, and have stripped the filters and sending the timeline directly to compressor from the timeline. If this doesn't work I'm going to scream.

I was done this wedding a few days ago- I figured I could have the MPGs done and the menus laid out in one day, and the disc art and burns done the next. In the two days I've been working on this all I haven't even accomplished getting all the files ready for DVDSP. I swear it feels like 30% of my time in post for this project is spent trying to get it output correctly. I must have spent a total of 10 hours (total) trying to get this to work.

PS This is my first HDV wedding. Maybe it's something to do with the fact I'm editing/encoding straight HDV.

The Mac definitely isn't without quirks. It seems like I'm being bombarded with them lately.




Glen Elliott
http://www.GmElliottVideo.com
Glen Elliott on Vimeo


carnicelli
User


May 2, 2008, 6:43 AM

Post #2 of 23 (2355 views)
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Re: [GmElliott] Nothing but problems from FCP in the last 2 days [In reply to] Can't Post
Have you made any recent updates to the OS or Quicktime?


Bill Carnicelli
Carnicelli Media Productions Inc


MLiebergot
Veteran


May 2, 2008, 7:00 AM

Post #3 of 23 (2354 views)
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Re: [GmElliott] Nothing but problems from FCP in the last 2 days [In reply to] Can't Post
Glen are you rendering to be put on a SD DVD or BLURAY disk?

Also did you make sure that your render was set to render to ProRes in your projects settings.

Go into your preferences and go to the "render control" tab where you can select the "codec" as either "same as sequence" or "Apple Proress".
It is beneficial to select "apple proress" here for your renders as it offers a better rendering of your filters and transitions.

Michael

Cameras: (3) Sony FX1, Canon HV20
Audio: Marantz PMD620, Edirol R44, ZoomH4N, ZoomH2, Sennhesier G2
Mics: Rode NT5, Rode NT3, Rode M3, Rode NTG2, Shure SM57, AT822
Software: Sony Vegas, Final Cut Studio
Computer: MAC BABY! MacPro, MacBook Pro


GmElliott
Veteran


May 2, 2008, 7:51 AM

Post #4 of 23 (2346 views)
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Re: [MLiebergot] Nothing but problems from FCP in the last 2 days [In reply to] Can't Post
1- Shot HDV
2- Captured/Edited HDV
3- Output Timeline to MOV file in HDV
4- Then import finished HDV file into Compressor

I'm having problems with step 3. Right now I'm waiting on Compressor to finish rendering a file, next in cue is the troublesome timeline exported to Compressor directly from the timeline.

Oddly enough I'm editing in FCP right now even though that timeiine is in cue to render. Usually exporting to compressor directly from the timeline locks FCP down during the render- oddly enough it's not locked down right now. Maybe that's because it's in cue and not actually rendering yet.

We'll see once it gets to that job if it'll spontaneously lock me out of FCP once the render starts. (UPDATE: Yes, that's exactly what just happened)


PS Yes I always change the render control to ProRes. It's sooo much faster.




Glen Elliott
http://www.GmElliottVideo.com
Glen Elliott on Vimeo


(This post was edited by GmElliott on May 2, 2008, 8:12 AM)


GmElliott
Veteran


May 2, 2008, 7:52 AM

Post #5 of 23 (2344 views)
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Re: [carnicelli] Nothing but problems from FCP in the last 2 days [In reply to] Can't Post
In Reply To
Have you made any recent updates to the OS or Quicktime?
No- the only updates recently were to the hardware. I added ram.




Glen Elliott
http://www.GmElliottVideo.com
Glen Elliott on Vimeo


MLiebergot
Veteran


May 2, 2008, 8:13 AM

Post #6 of 23 (2336 views)
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Re: [GmElliott] Nothing but problems from FCP in the last 2 days [In reply to] Can't Post
This is one of the reasons that I am contemplating capturing to PRORes or DVCPROHD. To get out of the GOP space and edit and render in a iframe based space.
Less potential problems in rendering.

Did you try rendering a self contained MOV file as opposed to the reference MOV file that you mentioned.

Michael

Cameras: (3) Sony FX1, Canon HV20
Audio: Marantz PMD620, Edirol R44, ZoomH4N, ZoomH2, Sennhesier G2
Mics: Rode NT5, Rode NT3, Rode M3, Rode NTG2, Shure SM57, AT822
Software: Sony Vegas, Final Cut Studio
Computer: MAC BABY! MacPro, MacBook Pro


GmElliott
Veteran


May 2, 2008, 9:06 AM

Post #7 of 23 (2328 views)
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Re: [MLiebergot] Nothing but problems from FCP in the last 2 days [In reply to] Can't Post
In Reply To
Did you try rendering a self contained MOV file as opposed to the reference MOV file that you mentioned.
That is what I was trying to do which kept messing up.




Glen Elliott
http://www.GmElliottVideo.com
Glen Elliott on Vimeo


Scott S
Veteran

May 2, 2008, 11:49 AM

Post #8 of 23 (2307 views)
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Re: [MLiebergot] Nothing but problems from FCP in the last 2 days [In reply to] Can't Post
In Reply To
This is one of the reasons that I am contemplating capturing to PRORes or DVCPROHD. To get out of the GOP space and edit and render in a iframe based space.
Less potential problems in rendering.

Did you try rendering a self contained MOV file as opposed to the reference MOV file that you mentioned.
Never had problems like this working in HDV...sounds like a setting problem or a process problem. Sorry but capturing to proress is a waste if you have a mac pro...I only see it being useful if you have an old dog of a machine like a single g5 or g4... DVCprohd throws away a lot of resolution as far as I know too...

I would say try my process:

Export self contained movie (not thru compressor), make sure all render setting for sequence are correct.. If you need these, get me on ichat or look up my previous posts on this...

Oh, and toss your render files and use fcp rescue to ditch your prefs.. when ever I have wiedrness these are the first things I try after verifying settings.

Scott


(This post was edited by Scott S on May 2, 2008, 11:50 AM)


MLiebergot
Veteran


May 2, 2008, 2:40 PM

Post #9 of 23 (2283 views)
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Re: [GmElliott] Nothing but problems from FCP in the last 2 days [In reply to] Can't Post
Glen I think you may want to try what Scott said..

Quote
Oh, and toss your render files and use fcp rescue to ditch your prefs.. when ever I have wiedrness these are the first things I try after verifying settings.

The big thing here might be ditching the renders. I was reading this suggestion on DVinfo.
Quote
If your machine can cut HDV smoothly, then capture it and edit it as HDV, then when your done, delete all the renders and change the codec on the sequence to ProRes and export your timeline.
Michael

Cameras: (3) Sony FX1, Canon HV20
Audio: Marantz PMD620, Edirol R44, ZoomH4N, ZoomH2, Sennhesier G2
Mics: Rode NT5, Rode NT3, Rode M3, Rode NTG2, Shure SM57, AT822
Software: Sony Vegas, Final Cut Studio
Computer: MAC BABY! MacPro, MacBook Pro


GmElliott
Veteran


May 2, 2008, 4:05 PM

Post #10 of 23 (2276 views)
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Re: [Scott S] Nothing but problems from FCP in the last 2 days [In reply to] Can't Post
I use the ProRes render setting for my timelines. It speeds up renders substantially and doesn't perceivably reduce the image quality.

Finally got the render to work but I went right to compressor from the timeline and I stripped all my gamma adjustment filters. At this point I'll take what I can get.

The icing on the cake tonight was working for about 30 minutes in DVDSP and having it crash when I went to simulate the menu...losing all my work (ie I don't use templates). This lack of stability is absolutely ridiculous.




Glen Elliott
http://www.GmElliottVideo.com
Glen Elliott on Vimeo


GmElliott
Veteran


May 2, 2008, 5:23 PM

Post #11 of 23 (2263 views)
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Re: [GmElliott] Nothing but problems from FCP in the last 2 days [In reply to] Can't Post
Update: Finally FINISHED the DVD and went to Build & Format the disc only to have the completed disc have frozen menus. I have a simple disc, two pages. One main page, and one chapter selection page. Both have video/animated menus.

They both play fine through DVDSP's simulate menu. However as soon as I burn the disc the menus are frozen like a still shot on the first frame of both menus.

The second time I tried it, it did the first menu fine but the second menu (Chapter Select) was frozen on the first frame.

Inspecting the log- at one point it states:
Compiling Menu#1 (Menu 1)....
Rendering Menu: Menu 1, Language:1...
Compiling Menu#2 (Menu 2)...
Skipped Rendering Menu:Menu 2, Language1.

Why in the world would it SKIP rendering Menu 2?!

I just closed DVDSP and reopened it and it looks like it's working now. Why are all the DVDSP apps acting like crap?!




Glen Elliott
http://www.GmElliottVideo.com
Glen Elliott on Vimeo


Scott S
Veteran

May 2, 2008, 5:25 PM

Post #12 of 23 (2261 views)
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Re: [GmElliott] Nothing but problems from FCP in the last 2 days [In reply to] Can't Post
Just to be clear, using proress for renders is different than converting all your footage to proress. If you look up my other process replies on other threads you'll see that I set the sequence to render in proress.

Are you in Leopard? Maybe I won't upgrade to leopard just yet...

SCott


GmElliott
Veteran


May 2, 2008, 5:33 PM

Post #13 of 23 (2255 views)
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Re: [Scott S] Nothing but problems from FCP in the last 2 days [In reply to] Can't Post
I understand, I was just specifying what "I" was doing- and that I wasn't capturing and converting to ProRes to "edit".

I appreciate the help. Btw, can DVDSP get fouled up preferences too? I'm having tons of problems with that tonight too. :( In this instance I can rule out it being an HDV problem because everything I'm feeding DVDSP has already been converted to SD.




Glen Elliott
http://www.GmElliottVideo.com
Glen Elliott on Vimeo


videogal
User

May 2, 2008, 9:59 PM

Post #14 of 23 (2216 views)
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Re: [GmElliott] Nothing but problems from FCP in the last 2 days [In reply to] Can't Post
Hi Glen -

Just a thought - if the procedure you're doing used to work and now doesn't work - you might want to check your new RAM.

Didn't see in your posts what hardware you're on - but here is what happened to me last year with my G5 -

When I purchased the G5 I had the memory upgraded so that all of my memory slots were full. I'm thinking the first 2 slots were 512's, the remaining 6 slots were 1G, total of 7 G.
Suddenly, my DVD burner wouldn't work - I was trying to ugrade some software from DVD and nothing I did would make that DVD drive work. Took it to my local Apple store, they replaced the DVD drive. Home- Still didn't work - back. Reinstalled entire operating system - home - back. Replaced hard drive - home - back. Nothing, nothing, nothing. Thank heavens for Apple Care. Anyway, the last time I told them I didn't want it back until it was actually working. Turns out that the memory added when I purchased it was not the "official" apple ram. They took it all out (not the original 2 512's, just the rest) and then the machine worked fine - reeeeaaaly slowly but fine. Took it home, added the RAM back in pairs until I figured out which one was bad - kept that one and one other (they have to be in pairs) and the machine is all happy again. What a pain in the a**

So anyway, you might try removing some or all of your memory and seeing if things get better. Also, you can get the utility "memtest" to check your memory. And try running a disk utility too, these are usually the first 2 things I check when something is wonky. Sorry you're having troubles!

In Reply To
In Reply To
Have you made any recent updates to the OS or Quicktime?
No- the only updates recently were to the hardware. I added ram.
Miriam Moran
Omaha Wedding Video
www.OmahaWeddingVideo.com


Scott S
Veteran

May 3, 2008, 12:35 AM

Post #15 of 23 (2202 views)
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Re: [GmElliott] Nothing but problems from FCP in the last 2 days [In reply to] Can't Post
the only problem I've had with DVDSP was when you set the menu loop duration to a different length than the audio file. On previous versions this would crash dvdsp everytime I tried to build. Haven't noticed it for a while but I usually check it now prior to build. BTW, this occurs if the background for the menu loop is a different length than the audio file (which is quite often if you look at the info of your assets..)


Sorry I missed you on ichat..

Cheers,
Scott


Kenneth
Veteran


May 3, 2008, 7:22 PM

Post #16 of 23 (2161 views)
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Re: [GmElliott] Nothing but problems from FCP in the last 2 days [In reply to] Can't Post
Glen, I've had problems ever since the new Pro Application Support software update a week or two ago.

In the activity monitor it keeps showing the Compressor Transcoder in red and not responsive. It actually does appear to be motoring along but at a reduced capacity and the completion times are crazy.

What seems to be working is I force quit the the Compressor Transcoder after each encode and I set my monitor to never go to sleep. I did this because it seemed like the transcoder would run fine until the monitor went to sleep. So now it's been working at full capacity and doesn't lock up.

Go figure.



Philadelphia Wedding Video
The Kenneth Stillman Blog



2ndMile
Enthusiast

May 4, 2008, 5:51 AM

Post #17 of 23 (2138 views)
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Re: [videogal] Nothing but problems from FCP in the last 2 days [In reply to] Can't Post
I had a similar problem with ram only it was because the smaller chips were in the first slots. Once I put the 1GB chip "in front of" the 512MB chips everything worked flawlessly.



Brian Morris
2ndMile Blog


GmElliott
Veteran


May 5, 2008, 10:14 AM

Post #18 of 23 (2067 views)
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Re: [2ndMile] Nothing but problems from FCP in the last 2 days [In reply to] Can't Post
In Reply To
I had a similar problem with ram only it was because the smaller chips were in the first slots. Once I put the 1GB chip "in front of" the 512MB chips everything worked flawlessly.

Hmmm, this is interesting, because I have it set up the same way. When I got my 8 gig (4 x 2gig) upgrade I plugged them in in the first available slots- furthest away from where the riser plugs into the motherboard. I'll swap it around so the new 2 gig chips are in the first slots tonight. Thanks.




Glen Elliott
http://www.GmElliottVideo.com
Glen Elliott on Vimeo


Ron Priest
Veteran


May 5, 2008, 10:20 AM

Post #19 of 23 (2065 views)
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Re: [GmElliott] Nothing but problems from FCP in the last 2 days [In reply to] Can't Post
Anxious to here the results.
_____________________________
Ron Priest - Louisville KY
New Website/Blog
Live StudioCam


GmElliott
Veteran


May 5, 2008, 10:23 AM

Post #20 of 23 (2064 views)
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Re: [Ron Priest] Nothing but problems from FCP in the last 2 days [In reply to] Can't Post
Not a problem, I'll let you know. Though it might be a while before I get to the point where it messed up on me before. In other words at the very end of a project when I do the final renders in FCP and build the discs in DVDSP.




Glen Elliott
http://www.GmElliottVideo.com
Glen Elliott on Vimeo


GmElliott
Veteran


May 5, 2008, 4:29 PM

Post #21 of 23 (2036 views)
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Re: [Ron Priest] Nothing but problems from FCP in the last 2 days [In reply to] Can't Post
Swapped the ram order just a few minutes ago. Starting another wedding project tonight. If I have any problems I'll let you know.




Glen Elliott
http://www.GmElliottVideo.com
Glen Elliott on Vimeo


Ron Priest
Veteran


May 5, 2008, 5:33 PM

Post #22 of 23 (2032 views)
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Re: [GmElliott] Nothing but problems from FCP in the last 2 days [In reply to] Can't Post
I'll keep my fingers crossed!
_____________________________
Ron Priest - Louisville KY
New Website/Blog
Live StudioCam


2ndMile
Enthusiast

May 5, 2008, 8:46 PM

Post #23 of 23 (2016 views)
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Re: [GmElliott] Nothing but problems from FCP in the last 2 days [In reply to] Can't Post
I hope it works for you. It solved my problems. I was getting a god amount of kernel panics before I did so. Read on the Apple discussions that having the smaller RAM before the larger RAM could cause the problem. Worked for me.



Brian Morris
2ndMile Blog