New to FCP and Editing, Need some help.

Hi All,

So as the subject says I am new to FCP and the world of editing... well I use to do some small editing for fun when I was 15 but things have changed since then, and im looking to get back to editing stuff from my snowboarding trips.

I am working on a Mid 2010 Macbook Pro 2.4 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4GB 1067 Mhz Ram, and NVIDIA GeForce 320M 256 MB Graphic Card- Very basic as you can tell.

I am having some difficulty when editing or maybe I am missing some extra step when uploading my footage to FCP. I am finding that playback in the canvas is very choppy or delayed, almost as if its doing 10 FPS or something. The audio is fine and plays in real time but the video is glitchy and its having a hard time keeping up.

I am using a GoPro Hero 3 for my filming. I did some research to try and figure this out and what I have found is that some people are optimizing there footage to Apple ProRes 422 to make it work- I dont know how to do this. But some other people are also using a proxy-??? not sure if I used the right term for it. What is the difference between the two and what does it do? I am also using a external hard drive to work off.

Is my machine even capable to running FCPX? Is anyone else using my type of system for editing? Also my rendering take forever for every little change, is this normal? Is there any ways to speed this up with my current system? maybe more ram?

Any help or advice is appreciate in advance.

I have roughly the same computer you have and my editing works pretty good. It is sometimes slow, especially when compared to my new Mac with 16 gigs of Ram, but I don't know why it is choppy. That usually only happens when the footage is extremely high quality, but not with a Gopro.

Firstly, GoPro footage is less than optimal for playback on an older machine. So converting to Proxy files or optimising media is one way to go. Secondly, what external drive are you using? USB2 drives won't work well for editing - a FW800 will be fine though.

As to working with optimised and/or proxy files, have a look here:

www.larryjordan.biz/media-in-fcp-x/

which is a bit old (10.1 being a little different) but the principle applies, and here:

www.izzyvideo.com/final-cut-pro-x-tutorial/

a source of really good tutorials for the beginner.

You may well find that once you've got the hang of optimising media the render for each little change will go away.

Actually - re-reading your post are you using X or 7? If the latter the 'optimising' applies, but it's really transcoding media before importing to a form that FCP plays nicely with. But you should post that in the 7 section if that's the case.

Hi! I used to edit on the same MBP, but changed to an i5 Mac Mini, works much better...
The new FCPX 10.1 doesn't need to transcode that material to be editing smoothly, but if you can't update FCPX, you should optimize and you'll don't have problems on editing, I had the same problems on my MBP and FCPX 10.0.9.
To transcode, when you import you footage to FCPX a window will appear asking you to: Transcode or use Proxy Media. Transcode will optimize your files to ProRes after importing. Proxy: Will use only a fast preview of your material. (Transcode recommended, as I wrote before I used the same Mac as yours)
If you already have your footage inside FCPX you must select all the clips, then right click 'em and choose: Transcode Media.
This must help you, that Mac is enough capable of editing your footage, but warning, GoPros shoot at 60 fps on Full HD, and that's a lot of data I didn't edit at 60 fps.

Already answered while I was typing...

Must get faster!

Ian.

Jason P wrote: Firstly, GoPro footage is less than optimal for playback on an older machine. So converting to Proxy files or optimising media is one way to go. Secondly, what external drive are you using? USB2 drives won't work well for editing - a FW800 will be fine though.


Actually - re-reading your post are you using X or 7? If the latter the 'optimising' applies, but it's really transcoding media before importing to a form that FCP plays nicely with. But you should post that in the 7 section if that's the case.

Thank you for sharing those links with me. The first one made it really clear to understand the differences between the native optimising and proxy.

I am using a standard USB external HD. It is about 3 years old. I am looking to get another one. Does the one that you mentioned need a special plug for it. Also I am using FCPX.

MrGatoPardo wrote: .
This must help you, that Mac is enough capable of editing your footage, but warning, GoPros shoot at 60 fps on Full HD, and that's a lot of data I didn't edit at 60 fps.

I shoot all my footage off my GoPro in 1080p at 60 frames. Iv noticed when I do go to transcode the video a window pops up that says the video setting is not supported and gives me different options. What do you recommend in this instance?

Which version of Final Cut are you using? I can't remember if was a limit on FPS on previous versions on FCPX, but I think the new update has solved that. Here's a video might help you:

"I am using a standard USB external HD. It is about 3 years old."

So it is USB 2.0, not USB 3.0. That's going to give you fits.

Yes, I agree with Ben. USB2 was never designed for video work - it has a fast burst speed but is prone to uneven read rates. So I'd recommend any FireWire 800 drive (AFAIR you have FW800 on the side of your Macbook Pro) and most will come with a FW lead. G-Tech are the best IMHO for the price, but Lacie have their fans too.

Check Other Word Computing (dot com) for some top quality drives, also. Personal favorite, all of my drives are OWC.