FCP Dropped Frames Freeze Up

Gurus, I've had a bad day, and I need your collective wisdom. FCP 7.0 S2 is up on two machines -- the 3-yr-old MacBook Pro and the brand new Mac Pro 8-core. I have a five-minute inspirational video to show in church today with a lovely 6K lumen DLP projector onto a 12-ft screen. It is great! I generated the timeline on the Mac Pro with an external G-Tech 800FW HD. Smooth as cake. And then I took the HD with this timeline to the MacBook Pro and took it on the road to the church with the brand new Matrox MX02 Mini box generating HDMI. In three showings: the system ceased to to a dropped frame stop everytime. Argggghh! Now I get that the MacPro octo 8-core whiz-bang water-cooled home machine is bigger, but the MacBook Pro is not underpowered -- 2.33GHz C2D Intel with nothing else running but the FCP timeline. It's a 2 track video/6 track audio simpleton timeline. What did I do wrong here? What's harder/more reliable than running the FCP timeline in real time?

I can't do your work for you. I do a great deal of research and testing on any job that involves a new workflow, format, whatever.
However,
Try this. Export a selfcontained qt with sequence settings. Create a NEW project in fcp, and import this selfcontained qt. This will probably play just fine. When you are playing your timeline of an edit out of fcp, fcp has to access media from all over the place and perhaps even attempt real time rendering. Exporting a selfcontained qt and playing it may solve your problem.

Similar Messages

FCP Dropped frames warning

when i play back my timeline i get a dropped frame warning in red that tells me i need to increase my disc speed or decrease my RT layers. i am working on a G5 dual 2.5 with 4 gigs of ram and over 600 gigs of space. The project is less than 2 minutes long and freezes up my computer when i try to export it to a quicktime movie. does anyone know why this is happening? i have done a clean install of FCP in hopes of fixing this problem but so far nothing has changed.

I get a similar problem.
If I play the timeline no problems, will play the whole programme, but if I pause midway, then play again I inveriably get the dropped frame message almost immediatly. Can happen anywhere in the timeline !!!!
Only using dv and one or two layers !!!
Quad G5, latest FCP and Quicktime, bags of internal drive space, media on external fw 800 g raid, only quarter full.
Very frustrating.
Any thoughts?
Thanks

FCP Dropped Frames

I know this has been posted many times, but I can't seem to fix the problem. I have my video that I shot with my Canon T2i, which was transcoded to Apple ProRes 422 (LT). I've used Final Cut many times using those settings and the T2i... I first thought my 2nd internal hard drive was failing (where the media is stored), but then I plugged my G-Drive which connects through FireWire 800 (and which I've used before) and launched a project I finished and I still had the dropped frames problem... I trashed FCP preferences... I seem to get the dropped frames less if I restart the mac, but after 10 minutes the problem starts to reoccur... If anyone knows what else I can try?
Thanks,
Zevie

Make sure you have a minimum of 10% free space on all drives and considerably more on your startup drive.
Here are a list of troubleshooting tips that may help
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-2591
In particular, I'd run diskutility: repair disk on all drives and get and run diskwarrior on all drives.
Try disconnecting all peripherals besides keyboard and mouse and one media drive and also turn off airport and disconnect ethernet.
Also, try creating a new user in system preferences: accounts.

Why do my FCP drop frames on playback working on HD movies?

Working on HD movies may machine drop frames after I cut the secuense. Why?
Model Name:          Mac Pro       OS X    V. 10.6.8
Model Identifier:          MacPro5,1
Processor Name:          Quad-Core Intel Xeon
Processor Speed:          2.4 GHz
Number Of Processors:          2
Total Number Of Cores:          8
L2 Cache (per core):          256 KB
L3 Cache (per processor):          12 MB
Memory:          14 GB
ATI Radeon HD 5770:
Chipset Model:          ATI Radeon HD 5770
Type:          GPU
Bus:          PCIe
Slot:          Slot-1
PCIe Lane Width:          x16
VRAM (Total):          1024 MB

lots of numbers.
what's missing:
How's your Events drive connected, internal or external? if ext, usb2/3/fw/tb?
Are you using Optimized media? Proxies? if not, what codec?
Finally: complexity of Project - multicam, color correction, multiple tracks?

FCP Dropped Frames on HD Capture - No Warnings

Hi,
I've been having a devil of a time capturing HD video on my Mac Pro (specs below).
I'm capturing about 45 minutes of video from a MiniDV HD camcorder (Sony HDR-HC5). Not sure what camera shot the footage. It seems that every time I capture, FCP creates more than one file, and in every case there is a gap of missing frames between the files. The shot is continuous (no tape stopping) for that entire length of time, which is why I expect to see only one file. There is no file size limit on the capture, and the time limit for capture is 64 minutes - well exceeding the footage duration.
Each time I try the capture the breaks happen at different times in the footage. Sometimes near the start (within a few minutes) and in other cases after 27 or more minutes. The breaks later in the capture seem to be short bursts of 1 minute or less then the capture settles down and goes continuous.
I'm thinking a process or bus thing that happens at some interval, but I've shut down all applications except FCP after a fresh boot. I also unmounted and disconnected all external drives on the Firewire ports. The USB drives are unmounted but not disconnected. I've also disabled Time Machine.
My capture drive is an internal SATA drive formatted as Mac OS Extended (no journaling) and was freshly wiped, formatted and restored - so all space should be contiguous.
Any ideas welcome. I can recapture over the gaps and piece the footage together - but I shouldn't have to. This should work.
Specs and tech details:
Machine: Mac Pro (2x2.8 GHz Quad Core Xeon), 10GB RAM, 360GB AND 100GB internal SATA
Mac OS X 10.5.7
Capture volume: Internal secondary SATA freshly formatted
Capture Setting/Easy Setup: Apple Intermediate Codec, 1080i60 (failed also with the 1080i60 HDV setup)
I've tried the capture with iMovie '09 with the same split file result. I've had one tape capture in tack, but have not been able to duplicate that experience.
Any ideas are welcome.
Thanks,
Sean

I'm finding that although random, I think the issue is the camera or tapes, though I'm not sure why.
Watching the video on capture, I see the video on the camera monitor pause though I hear the tape continue and then it seems to catch up. At that stage FCP create a new file. I've inspected the tape at these places and it seems fine. It also seems to play fine again once I reinsert the tape. It may or may not pause again later in the playback. I've seen this pause with and without capture happening.
Now I'm looking for ideas on how these tapes might exhibit this issue. Is this my camera (which is very new) or a tape issue (but 3/4 tapes seems a high percentage). Anyone with experience with this or anything I can check to provide more data to debug?
Thanks,
Sean

Optimizing work flow in FCP on new iMac? (dropped frames)

Hello-
I've recently purchased a new iMac, first in about 6 years. I'm looking for some advice about optimizing my work flow in FCP. I am largely self-taught, using FCP for hobbyist/amateur video.
Until this new computer, I have been using FCP on other people's Macs (schools, arts institutions, etc), only resorting to my old Powerbook when absolutely necessary. So I have not had to worry about performance issues until now.
I am shooting on a Kodak Zi8 pocket cam in 1080p HD .MOV files, 1920x1080 H.264, AAC audio.
In my first attempts at editing the footage, I find that I am getting dropped frames on playback at every edit point - any time I cut between shots, add titles, etc.
(I also tried editing some much smaller, compressed files (QT 854x480, H.264, AAC audio) in the timeline and had the frame drop problem.)
Also, when I add titles, they do not preview render - I have to render them completely to be able to playback.
When I allow FCP to change the sequence settings to match the clip, I get the following:
1920 x 1080
Aspect: HDTV 1080i (16:9)
Pixel Aspect: Square
Field Dominance: Upper (Odd)
Editing Timebase: 29.97
In this instance I am editing footage that is stored on the local HD, but I have also tried editing footage from a USB 2.0 external drive, and got the same dropped frame problem.
...its a little frustrating to get these performance issues on this new computer, so I hope that someone here can help me resolve some of my problems. Hopefully this is a work flow issue, but if its a lack of hardware, well, shame on me for not looking into it enough.
thanks in advance.

Hi -
H.264 is a recording and delivery format, but as you have discovered, it is very difficult to edit. Its qualities of recording a high quality image in a small file size, which make it attractive for use in Flash based camcorders, makes it very difficult for FCP to work with. Attempting to work in H.264 makes FCP drop frames, require constant rendering, etc.
The best solution is to convert your footage to an edit friendly file format, such a ProRes LT or AIC. There will be minimal impact on the quality of the image. This conversion will result in files that are much larger than your original files, but will work easily in FCP.
You don't say if you have FCS or just FCP, but if you do have FCS then you can use Compressor to do the conversion.
Hope this helps.

Dropped Frames on Playback for simple DV material - Restart Fixes it

I'm having a strange problem where RT in FCP 6 is only working after a fresh restart.
My simple test is to create a new project, new sequence (DV NTSC), drag in a small JPEG and apply the timecode generator.
After a fresh restart this plays back without issue. However, if not (ie I have quit FCP and restart it), FCP drops frames.
Any thoughts???
- T.

I'm having what I can only assume to be a similar issue.
When scrubbing the timeline one frame at a time the audio plays alternating channels. This is slowing down the playback. Video plays at normal speed.
I tried adjusting audio settings and RT, but to no avail. A fresh restart does not fix this.
What's the deal?

DVCPRO50 multicam playback: dropped frames

I'm having trouble with multicam group playback (5 cameras) in FCP - Dropped-Frame Error. Individual clips playdown fine, only groups drop-frames.
Stats:
G5 Quad 2.5 - 4GB
OS 10.4.3
FCP 5.0.3
G-RAID 1000GB
source footage: DVCPRO50 @ full resolution
Could it be the 5 cameras @ full-rez giving the G-RAID a hard time?

I'd think so. DVCPRO 50 is 8-bit, and the G-Raid handles 3-4 streams of 8-bit, and you are asking it for 5 streams. For this I'd think you'd need a SATA Raid.
Shane
"There's no need to fear, UNDERDOG is also using G-Raids!"

Speed up Clip causes dropped Frames

Good day everyone. I am trying to speed up a clip and it works just fine until I go above 300%. It works fine for the begining of the clip and then it begins to what appears as dropping frames and just freezes the image. If I reduce the clip size and increase the percentage then it works just fine. I have tried this with several clips and all do the same thing. Any ideas? All clips where recorded at 30FPS. Thanks

Clip is rendered before and after applying the faster speed... Anything above 300 makes drop frames/freeze. Thanks again

FCP X multiclip dropped frames?

After playing a multiclip for a few seconds, it begins to drop frames, then freezes. And up comes this image.
What's up? It's on my new 8gig iMac

This is an update;
     After finding that the proxy clips you mentioned ran fine, discovered that I couldn't edit the Multicam footage as described in the manual. No Blade. No cuts. Just angle switches. So today started hunting thru FCP X Support and discovered something.
     Once you get a Multicam Clip going on the timeline, you've got to create a New Project in the Browser, then open it and drag the Multicam Clip from the Browser to the empty Storyline. Ta Da!!. Everything shows up correctly. And works even better than it used to in older versions of FCP.
     But here's the point;
Nowhere in any of the FCP X Help files does that necessary process get mentioned. And that kind of sloppy oversight is not like Apple. Please fix it.
     As a matter of fact, it would be a great idea to make those extra steps not even necessary. That's what Steve would want done
     Also
Remember that problem about dropped frames? Well, it's gone away. Even Optimized/Original 17 minute Multicam clips are running fine now.
Go figure.

Corrupt media causing dropped frames? FCP shuts down without warning.

Hello,
I have a project that was working fine, then one day we started getting numerous dropped frame warnings during playback on the timeline (specifically during sequences that have multiclips); then two days later, playback causes the entire project to freeze and FCP shuts down.
We are on 17" MacBook Pro, 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 2GB 667
Mac OS X 10.4.9
External drive: Western Digital 1 TB, My Book Pro Edition, FW 800, 7200rmp, 650GB used
FCP 5.1.4, DV-NTSC project, source media captured from DVCam
I have tried all the normal adjustments for dropped frames issues including boosting the ram allocated to FCP, closing additional sequences and applications, hard drive is formatted OS X Extended, etc. Multiclip squences have only 2 video/audio streams at a time, so I can't imagine that its bottle necking here.
One thing to note is that the second external drive, which has duplicates of all the same media and copy of the most recent project is working fine. The only difference is that the problem drive also has media that was ripped from DVDs using Mac The Ripper, and then compressed using MPeg Streamclip into .dv (then changed to .mov before importing into FCP). We are using the DVD material as scratch until we can obtain the original footage as we get closer to going online. We are in the process of obtaining permissions from directors/distributors/studios, but this obviously takes time.
DVD material is totaling close to 55GB. Also, even though the clips are .mov, we are still getting a red bar and having to render the media. Audio is at 48hz so no problem there. Not sure why it still requires us to render.
Is it possible that the project is somehow corrupt? Is all the rendered material too taxing for FCP? Am I handling this extra footage inefficiently?
I have spent hours on this forum looking for the answer, but haven't come across a solution yet. Thank you for your help.

I'm not sure I understand. You have duplicate media on another drive? You're having problems playing back the media from one drive but NOT the other? Sounds like your drive might be failing. Try running Diskwarrior (to repair any possible directory structure problems) and techtoolpro (to see if there's any physical problem).
I have had problems with multiple firewire drives from different manufacturers connected at the same time. Try disconnecting everything BUT the problem drive.
You shouldn't need to do any rendering if the clip settings exactly match the sequence settings. Try this: select one clip, control click and choose make multiclip sequence. Is there a red bar in the sequence? If not, your clip settings to not match your sequence settings in the problem sequence.
Good luck

Dropped frames in FCP 6.0.4

Hello,
I have just shot a wedding and have 4 x 40 min. mini-dv tapes that I have captured. I had the 'there are dropped frames' message after capturing the footage but have had this before several times and have not experienced any problems so just ignored it, however this time appears to be different.
My audio is way out of sync with my video because the audio obviously continued to be captured over the dropped frames which has pushed the video out of sync.
I am half a country's distance away from my physical tapes so cannot re-capture the footage. I have isolated the dropped frames within FCP using the 'analyze long frames' tool but would really rather not have to go through the icky process of re-aligning the audio with the video between these points.
I was really hoping that someone may know of a plug-in that could do this re-syncing job for me, I have googled but couldn't find anything, this or any other help/advice would be much appreciated.
Cheers.

My current thinking is I will have to make the journey to perform a re-capture, but to make sure the journey is not in vain should I amend my user preferences?
I have the 'sync audio to video source if present' checked which I think could be causing me problems, because FCP might be trying to sync audio to the dropped frames, which is causing the sync-issue.
I have the 'abort capture on dropped frames' unchecked, otherwise the capture would be ridiculous.
Is the only practical solution to dub the tapes to new tapes with unbroken timecodes? Help much appreciated.
Thanks.

Can't Get Rid of Dropped Frames in FCP 7

Hello all,
I am editing in FCP and have only gotten as far as laying down a music track (MP3), and some b-role. I have given myself some space at the beginning of the track, and as soon as the video kicks in I get the dropped frames message. There are no fancy edits or effects, just the video. It happens with both .MOV files taken with my Canon 7D, and with footage I had converted from .MTS.
The RT drop-down menu in the timeline only offers the following options:
Play Base Layer Only
Use Playback Settings
Full Quality
I have gone into Playback Control under System Settings and adjusted the options to the following:
RT: Safe
Video Quality: Low
Frame Rate: Quarter
I am still receiving the dropped frame message. My footage is stored on a 500 GB external Rugged LaCie drive, and is connected using 8-pin FireWire. The footage is being edited in 1080. Everything is up to date.
Much appreciation for your help.

Thank you both for replying.
I converted the audio file (but still getting the error message) to AIFF/16bit/48kHz using iTunes. I had converted the .MTS fils to .MOV with iSkysoft Converter to the following settings:
Resolution: 1920x1080
Frame Rate: 23.97
Bit Rate: High Quality
Channel: 2 Channels stereo
Sample Rate: 44100
Bit Rate: Medium
I did not convert any of the Canon files to Pro Res. What do I need to do with those files? and is there something I can do during capture to help save a step in post?
Thanks again to you both!
Warmest regards,
~Shawn
Message was edited by: ShawnSpitler

Dropped frames during playback in FCP 7

I have searched high and low, asked every FCP expert I know, and noone can help me.
So I turn to this forum and you the users for help.
I just upgraded from an old DVCAM to a new Canon 60D, which shoots full HD. Usually I never have problems editing with or without text, but all of a sudden I got dropped frames when I put text on my project. No warning of dropped frames though. Just some skipping and pausing before the clip continued.
I was running FCP 6 but upgraded to FCP 7 in hopes of it removing the problem. It just got worse. Now I can't even playback video or text by itself (I am testing with 5-10 second bits). Whenever the screen should go blank I instead get the unpleasant warning of dropped frames. The same thing happens when I play text by itself or over the video. When I try exporting it (to see if it is just a playback error) QT and VLC Player both show the most hideous grey, green and pixellated versions of my (still very short) clip.
And if anyone suggests changing RT options - where do I find those options? The RT button on my timeline only shows the options: "play base layer only", "use playback settings" and "Full quality" - and the problems keep showing up in all three selections.
Could my settings be off? I am not sure I have found the right ones for the footy from a Canon 60D.
I hope someone is able to help me with this. It is the most frustrating experience I have ever had through my many years with FCP.

Switching from DV to HD can be a nightmare if you were 'getting away with things' using DV material that you really won't be able to in HD.
First - Where is the media? If it is on the system drive of the macbook pro... get it off of there!! It should be on an external drive - FW800 will get you going better than anything else...
Second - simple fix, but make sure... are any of your windows overlapping? is your canvas window set to FIT TO WINDOW? If there are scroll bars in your canvas or viewer that would be bad too.
Third -- let's figure out what and how you are converting the material off the 60D.
What is the workflow you are using? You should probably be editing in some form of Apple ProRes... I like the LT setting - minimal quality loss with max gain in bit rates.
http://library.creativecow.net/articles/rossshane/tapeless-workflowfcp-7/video-tutorial
Check out that video and see if it doesn't answer a few questions...
Good luck,
CaptM

FCP UB iMAC Dropping Frames, playing stops!

It's fine (new here with this program so be easy on me) also a recent swither, after beta testing Vista, I said, that's it. Even though I have thousands invested in software for PC...
Anyway, FCP 5.1
If I use the arrow tool, and move across timeline, the part plays fine with effects.
If I hit space bar I get error, it stops.
Media on second FW drive.
Not sure how to turn off/down compression?
RT set at unlimited, otherwise I wont see the effects.
What is wrong?
Thanks!

Render files are never seen or accessed by the user.
If you want to convert a bit of media, cut it into
your timeline, render it, export it using Export QuickTime Movie...
(keeping it on Current Settings...), import the clip
you created and use that for your source. No more
need to render.
make sense?
Patrick
Ok, I tried this, check it out...exported a 3 second clip, imported back in, no problem, played great!
Added one (as in "1") zoom effect and got a dropped frame rate warning, now, sure, I could turn it off, but surely there must be a way to see this FX in the chain to see how it works or not without an error (2 GB DDR2).
I noticed you can double click the FX than use the time line to see it, but it's a far cry from realtime speed.
Surely there is hope for me yet!
Thanks again

FCP Dropped Frames Freeze Up

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