Suggested Steps to take before Editing

Hello FCP.co Family,

I am interested to hear the steps many here take before editing with FCPX on any Apple computer. I would like to know the little setup changes you may make to help your editing move along smoothly and quickly.

Do you disconnect from the Internet?
What do you turn on or off (ie: Time Machine, iMessage,.e)?
How do you set your screen locations?
What system files you may turn off?

Just wondering...

I usually shut down all other programs, and make sure that I am in a well ventilated room (preferably with a/c - my macbook pro gets hot!).

I usually have an overwhelming sense of dread when starting a new project; this is after some bad experiences with Adobe Premiere.

So I usually say a quick prayer to St. Isidore (the Patron Saint of Computers) to take pity on me, and have mercy on my computer, and protect us both from the 3 Horsemen of the Editing Apocalypse (Panic Kernel, Quicktime Error 50, and Memory Leak). Amen.

With FCP X you do not have to do anything special. Legacy versions required all sorts of stuff to set in the system preferences, but that is all in the past now. Just launch it and work.

Oh, one thing, go into System Preferences, Energy Saver, be sure to set so your drives to NOT go to sleep. That's about it.

Gosh - interesting question.

In the old days of delicate OSes running software using every ounce of performance, we'd have an editing machine with nothing but the software required to edit. This was in the Avid days, System 7 etc.

Then we got multiple users, so the editor user was a minimalist system. Once we switched to OS-X, the concept of extensions went away, so you'd keep things clean and simple.

I have distant memories of the hoops of fire we used to jump through to have an editing platform stable enough to work on.

These days, My MacBook Pro 17" (with 512 SSD) is like a crew Minivan - everything's there to keep it comfortable - engine's big enough to haul my NLE and all my other apps, the email runs and the browser's always open, may even find Motion or Photoshop in the background, and I just get on with it. Barely ever shut down, just quit, eject disks and slam the lid shut. Can go for weeks, even months, like that.

There's been times whilst I'll be editing in FCPX, uploading via FTP or a browser, and transcoding in MPEG streamclip, with email running too. I'd hope so in this day and age!

Note: a lot of my editing is done 'on-site' in less than salubrious surroundings. Power outages, sudden unplanned location shifts, from switching to laptops in 2000 to running SSDs internally last year, and now externally on thunderbolt this year.

If you are running Time Machine, I would suggest you disable it when you are editing. I only turn mine on when I want to do a backup, usually each night once I am done with the computer.

My editing machine is offline. That prevents me from hanging around on the net instead of getting work done.

cgbier wrote: My editing machine is offline. That prevents me from hanging around on the net instead of getting work done.

Amen to that. I typically close the browser and email and go offline so I won't be attempted to not work. Since I primarily work from home, leaving helps quite a bit too.

Dave

It is best to take the computer off-line and /or turn off Time Machine.

Oh, please share the computer prayer with me... My iMac needs a bit of help.

In December I will get the new iMac i7 with 16Gs ! Can't wait.

Mine has to stay online all the time so I can get to client emails and texts right away. One day I'll have an actual secretary.

Do NOT turn on File Vault, though. I don't know really anyone who uses it, outside of one military and one university job I've done.

The one bit of voodoo I do is to either log out and back in or restart my computer a few times through the day. I think it just helps with memory management to give the machine a fresh start every now and then.

I also reboot my computer to clear out the junk in memory. I just wish there was a way to stop all task that are not needed when editing.

Well where would I start?
Oh I get glass of water sit down and started up the Apps when to work.


If I had to reboot and do some other craziness, I mind as well went PC base. lol

My Mac Pro has been running since 2008 without a reboot, aside from software updates and Disk Warrior every few months, no issues.

Does anyone feel bad or apprehensive about restarting because it might upset the 'magic dust' that's currently working really well?

MattDavis wrote: Does anyone feel bad or apprehensive about restarting because it might upset the 'magic dust' that's currently working really well?

Not sure what you are trying to say but it is standard to reboot or shut down computer.
The Mac is nothing else then a PC with a decent UNIX operating system.
Still not a SUN.

Don't know about the magic dust but my computer needs it. It's old. It's a 2006 Mac Pro with 8gb RAM and an updated graphics card. For whatever reason, you can run a memory monitor then sit back and, doing absolutely nothing with FCPX, watch the available RAM drop to near zero over an hour or two.

I find that quitting and restarting FCPX helps, but logging out and back in helps even more.

All I can say is that while those around me with far better Macs complain of sluggishness and FCPX crashing, I reboot maybe twice through the day and sail through with rarely an issue.

Turn off Time Machine.
Close the window
Calm the light
And it will be alright
No need to bother now
Let it out
Let it all begin
Learn how to pretend