clip to clip not smooth...

I am hoping someone can help me figure out why when i add clips to a project and start watching it is not smooth? like it almost look like it pauses before going on to the next clip... if i use transitions or opacity you cant tell but i just want it to go from clip to clip...

Please give the exact specifications of your media and of the project properties you're working in.

i am a beginner and dont really know how to tell you my media and properties...how do i find out?... i am using a go pro in 1080p and final cut proX...

Open one of the clips in the QuickTime player and report exactly what it says in the movie inspector. You can post a screen shot here.

Most likely the media needs to be converted before you import it.

sometimes the clips do go clip to just fine but certain clips when i watch have the issue

format: H.264, 1920 x 1080, Millions
AAC, 2 channels, 48000 Hz
FPS: 29.97
DATA Size: 453.2 MB
DATA RATE: 15.12 Mbit/s
Actual: 1920 x 1080 pixels (Actual)

I'd guess it's the H.264 compression. It's advisable to transcode footage to ProRes on import. I do this and proxies too then work with proxies until onlining (grading, etc). Much zippier.

What Mac model are you using, how much RAM?

I'm using a 32" IMac its only around 2 years old.. Not sure of the ram I'll check when I get home

32 inch? Are you sure?

My iMac is about the same age, if not slightly older, and it works fine now I've upgraded RAM (12gig at the moment). Made a big difference.

I'm gonna say more RAM, and get your Events and Projects off of the system drive.

On a two year old iMac, I'd also recommend editing with either proxy or optimized ProRes, rather than native H.264.

can it really be my computer ram? it isnt all the clips its just a few clips
this is what i have
Model Name: iMac
Model Identifier: iMac10,1
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 3.06 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache: 3 MB
Memory: 4 GB
Bus Speed: 1.07 GHz
Boot ROM Version: IM101.00CC.B00
SMC Version (system): 1.53f13
Serial Number (system): QP0150HZ5PM
Hardware UUID: 58C62153-8CEC-5AB9-931D-04E105B35667

4 GB RAM is the absolute minimum to work with. Although RAM is not the critical issue here, you really should add at least another 4 GB if you want to work comfortably with FCP10. RAM is cheap these days, so go for it.

To solve your playback issues I concur with the prior suggestions:

- Do not work with native H.264 HD video on this system, transcode to ProRes and work with the ProRes (Optimized) files. You can optimize your footage on import, or transcode your imported clips to ProRes from within the Events Browser.

- Never put your Events and Projects on your system drive. This will slow down your system. Events and Projects should always be stored on a different drive than your boot drive. If you put them on an external drive make sure that it is fast enough (at least 7,200 rpm) and that it is connected via FireWire (do not use USB).

RAM, move stuff off the OS drive, you'll be fine. But RAM is a huge part of this, too. Realistically 4GB is in no way enough. Not sure why Apple doesn't just say 8GB min.

If they would only say 4G minimum, 8 recommended it would help, but the actual specs are 2G minimum and 4 recommended, which is truly ridiculous.