FCP lagging increasingly as I add more clips

Hi,

I'm relatively new to Final Cut Pro so I apologise if I'm asking a really basic question. A friend has asked me to edit their wedding video footage. So I've created a new project and been working on the footage within the timeline, introducing different camera angles, and the occasional Dissolve transition between scenes.

I've so far created 40 minutes of footage, which is made up of the ceremony, and I'm now trying to move onto the Reception footage which follows straight after. I intend to add chapter markers and then Share/Export to DVD.

However throughout the project, the interface has become increasingly laggy, and now it feels like every edit I attempt to make is a massive chore for FCP.

I'm using an iMac 2.66 Ghz Intel Core i5, 16GB RAM, OSX Mavericks 10.9.3.

I don't expect my spec to be an issue. I'm wondering whether my approach to the editing is incorrect. For what I intend to create as one DVD, using chapter markers throughout the timeline, should I have created separate projects or events to avoid the lagging issues? Is there anything I can do now that I'm already halfway through editing?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Are you editing on the system drive or external? If external, what type of connection is being used?

I also edit wedding footage and have had 1.5 hour timelines without major issues. Also, having multiple libraries open could cause the lagging.

What version of FCPX are you on? What drive is storing your library? How full is your startup drive?

I'm using Final Cut Pro 10.1.1. My footage is stored on an external hard drive.

For the Reception footage, I've created a new Project, and all seems fine now. However because I want all the footage to eventually be in one timeline so that I can then share/export to DVD, I guess I then just copy/paste the footage from one project timeline back into the original once done?

You can edit the Reception in a different Project and then you can merge the Ceremony and the Reception clips into one single Final Project for exporting. But as you are experiencing lags I don't know if that will be a really good idea, especially not if you want to create a DVD from the Final Project within FCP X.

A different approach would be to export your finished Ceremony Project as a master file, export the finished Reception Project also as a master file and then import both files back into FCP X and put them one after the other into your final Project. This will be much easier on your system and your export to DVD will certainly be much faster. Of course you will have to add the chapter markers in your Final Project.

But I still don't understand why you are getting these lags. What is your external drive and how is it connected to your system?

- Ronny

I would suggest upgrading to FCP 10.1.2
I have a project that was really sluggish before I updated and is now so much better.

If you're worried about the update (I haven't heard/seen any reason to be) then make a backup of your FCPX 10.1.1 program and library file first.

Hi all,

I prepared the Reception footage in a separate project, which solved the lagging issue. Once I was happy with the footage I then copied it back into the main timeline, as advised, and placed after the church service footage. Tried saving it prior to this as a Master File but got an error at 36% for some reason.

Went to just share/export to DVD and after a tense hour of rendering, got the DVD sorted and it plays perfectly!

Thank you so much for all your help and advice, it really is much appreciated, and will definitely help me for future projects.