(Help a new member?) FCPX Always locking up with a retime of a multicam clip

Hi all,

I just joined this forum today hoping to find an answer to my FCPX problem. I've done a search for some previous topics, but so far I haven't found anything.

Anyway, I'm working on a new project that isn't very graphics intensive. it's just an edit of a video of myself and a friend that will be eventually placed on Youtube (think cooking demonstration).

I've got about 5 mins on the timeline, but the problem is that when I do a multicam shot where I need to speed up the time to 20x speed, FCPX seems to stop to the point of an endless loop (I'm sure that after about 5 mins is pretty much an indication that it has to be shut down), where I have to then do a forced quit. I've edited very similar projects with no major problem, but this one seems to be a really big problem. If I do manage to actually play the clip (if I haven't given up on it), when it gets to a certain point and it won't even play the clip that I've retimed. Even now when I try to close down FCPX, it takes about 10 mins through cancelling the background tasks (which the progress bar doesn't even move it seems)

Is there some reason why you can't retime a mulitcam clip?

I've followed a few other people's advice, by turning off background rendering. I'm pretty certain that it can't be a RAM problem, as I have 24 GB. Here are my computer specs:

27" iMac (3.2 GHz Intel Core) running Yosemite ver 10.10.2
24 GB RAM (and fully functional according to the system check)

I'm pretty certain that the hardware is good, as it seems that people seem to say that even with 8GB, FCPX should at least still run.

Can anyone help me out with this? Thanks in advance!

Best regards,

DiverDoug

Hi Doug, welcome to the forum.

Yes you can retime multicam clips without any issues, so that's not the problem.

You say you have turned Background Rendering off, that should always be off because constant re-rendering can cause corrupted or conflicting render files. And this could be what you have here.

So first thing I would do: make sure Background rendering is OFF, the select your Library in the browser and choose File > Delete Generated Library Files. A window will pop up, just select Render Files > All and press OK.

This will delete all render files you have for every project in that Library, and it also takes care of any unused render files that may cause this kind of behavior.

If that does not help: post back and tell us what version of FCP X you are using, how many angles you have in the multicam, what format the footage is, where the footage is stored, and if you have optimized the footage or not.

- Ronny

What drive type/size are you running the Library and media off of?

Thanks for the early replies, Ronny and Ben.

@Ronny, I tried deleting all of the render files. It works for about a minute, then it seems to go right back to the way it was. If I deleted the multicam clip where I tried to retime it, the problem goes, but it returns as soon as I try to put it back in.

The version of FCPX is 10.1.3, and there are only 2 angles in the multicam clip, so I don't think that would be a problem.

The clips are only 720p for YouTube, and all of my raw footage is stored on a 2TB external hard drive. I don't have a firewire connection, but as I've mentioned before, this didn't seem to affect any of the previous projects that were edited the same way. I've also made sure that only one library is open at a time. I had a few (ie 6 ) libraries open initially, but I've closed them just to make sure they aren't the reason. As for the optimized footage, I think I had that checked but I'm not sure. Would it be worth un-checking?

I haven't checked for it yet, but is there a tutorial for showing beginners how to set up FCPX to utilize hardware resources optimally? I'll do a search later, but if you have any links you could share, that would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks heaps for the replies! If you have any other suggestions relating to this post, I'd be really keen to hear them.

Regards,

Doug

That 2TB ext drive, what is it, specifically? USB 2 or USB 3?

FCPX manages hardware resources on its own. You can switch from Better Performance to Better Quality, and turn off audio waveforms and background rendering. But that's about it.

Hi Doug,

While I can't solve your specific problem, I too have run into odd problems that seem only to affect certain clips in a timeline. One solution that sometimes helps is to optimize the problem clip(s).

As for tutorials, the guys at Ripple Training consistently offer good tutorials. They also do their MacBreak studio shows (they're up to episode 300 or so) which have a lot of good info and are free. I think you might find what you want there: www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL607BE2B2BFE9BE1A or on their website: www.rippletraining.com

BenB wrote: That 2TB ext drive, what is it, specifically? USB 2 or USB 3?

FCPX manages hardware resources on its own. You can switch from Better Performance to Better Quality, and turn off audio waveforms and background rendering. But that's about it.

It would be a USB 3.

I'm pretty sure the Better Performance options were selected as well.

Hi Doug,

Create a new Project, then copy/paste the contents of the existing timeline onto the new one. See if this solves the problem.

- Ronny

ronny courtens wrote: Hi Doug,

Create a new Project, then copy/paste the contents of the existing timeline onto the new one. See if this solves the problem.

- Ronny

thanks, Ronny. I'll let you know how that goes!

Regards,


Diver D

Last thing I'd want to verify is, if that drive is USB 3, is it also 7200rpm?

And what Ronny said.

@Ronny - I tried your advice and it didn't work. It always seems to be when I add a certain multicam clip and then retime it, it always locks up and spends a huge amount of time rendering. I've got "use proxy clips" checked and it doesn't seem to make a difference. When I try to playback the retimed clip, it doesn't even really playback (i.e. it says some frames were skipped during playback...some? try all of them! It only shows a blank green screen). I'm tired of pulling out my hair for this. I figure I'm going to start totally from scratch and delete the library, then reimport everything, and then resynch and then multicam it...again (*sigh!*)

@BenB - I think it might be 5400 rpm (i.e. it's not a portable external drive)

Best regards,

Doug

5400rpm drives are totally unacceptable for video editing, too slow, way too slow. Change it out for a 7200rpm drive and watch your performance increase significantly.

Even more importantly, get the media and Libraries off of your OS drive onto a secondary media drive.

But why is it that it only starts doing it now, when it never did it with any of the videos I edited before, and they were a lot more complex?

You also had more free space on your drive, fewer Libraries, less media. Just looking for possible issues, and this one will eventually become a major issue over time.

What is the total capacity of your system drive, and how much is free space?

I've got 360GB of 1TB on my Mac (I don't copy files to the library), and about 250 GB where I store my raw files. I also had a check , and my hard drive is definitely 7200rpm. I have 24 GB of RAM.

DiverDoug wrote: ...It always seems to be when I add a certain multicam clip ... It only shows a blank green screen)....

pure curiosity:
Are you using compounds for your nasty multicam?
What are the source-files of your project; any 'manually' converted files?

And, objection, your honor Ben!!
5.4k drives are fully functional ... as a hobbyist hardware.-
(no need to debate, basically you're a 100% right)

Hi Karsten,

I didn't use any compounds for the MC clips. My initial workflow was to import the clips, then synch recorded audio (from a mic) with each one, then use two clips for the MC clip. All other MC clips worked fine, but only when I retimed a certain MC clip that things went awry. When I removed the clip, things seemed to get better. As I've said previously, I've edited a number of clips and projects previously with MC clips, but it only seems to be with this one clip. I've got plenty of HDD space and plenty of RAM.
I'm just going to start completely from scratch, as last night I deleted all clips from the library and all project files (*sigh*!), and I'll reimport the clips again. I'll check the "create proxy media", but should I also check the "create optimized media"? It seems to me that one would cancel the other in terms of having greater ease of editing.

Regards,

Doug

I didn't use any compounds for the MC clips.

yeah others joking about me, I'm 'hysteric' about compounds, the source of all evil :woohoo:
But it seems not in your case .

Another question: do you use any footage from an iPhone in this MC?

Nope, just clips from a normal video camera. No iPhone input...

I find it ironic that while I love my iMac, I hate iPhones (lol)

Running out of options
As you probably know iPhones have a variable framerate, thought this causes your hickups

Anything special with these clips? Manually converted? Recorded on a prototype of cam? ....