Program quits when I try to export - 4/24/20

Whenever I try to share in any format, FCPX "quits unexpectedly". Very frustrating. I have run etrecheck but don't have a clue what it is telling me to fix this.

All that report tells, that is useful, is that you have multiple anti-virus apps running, shut those down first.

Next, do you have at least 15% of your system drive's capacity left as free space?
Did you try deleting all the render files for that Library?
What macOS and FCPX versions are you running?

mfmooney wrote: Whenever I try to share in any format, FCPX "quits unexpectedly"....

What version of FCPX are you running? What is the problem history? In FCPX preferences, disable background rendering, then deleting all render files via File>Delete Generated Library Files> Delete Render Files>All, then select all clips in timeline with CMD+A, then do a one-time render of those clips with CTRL+R.

That procedure helps isolate a render problem vs an encode problem plus avoids needless space consumption from constant background rendering.

I have FCPX version 10.4, My mac is running HighSierra version10.13.6

I am getting a new external hard drive to move a lot of my files over to that to free up space on the hard drive.

As far as history, this is the only problem. I did have a problem with it taking a very long time importing files to edit but I have upgraded my ram and that seemed to fix that.

Tried all that and it still quits.

Having all your media and Libraries on your system drive can slow things down and cause issues. Even if its an SSD drive.

So, what percentage of your system drive is free space?

mfmooney wrote: ..Tried all that and it still quits.

It quit during the timeline render (CTRL+R) or during the export? Could you post the stack trace of the crashing thread?

You say it crashes every single time you try to export anything. I suggest you create a new test library, open only that library, load 1 small test clip and to export that. If that works, then load additional test clips or copy a small project from the original library and narrow down the threshold or problem area.

As FCPX.guru said, make sure you have at least 15% free space on all drives.

I've purchased more memory and a new external hard drive which will come in this week. I will free up much of my hard drive space (have 3% free space right now) and will see what that does and I'll come back.

3% free space on your system drive? Man, you're seriously risking data loss. Free up that drive a LOT and watch the drastic difference in performance and stability!

You already have more RAM than you'll ever need in a million years, don't waste money on that. It won't help. 40GB RAM is way overkill. Anything over 16 or 32 is a waste for video editing. You won't see any improvement with more RAM at all.

Be sure your external drive is fast enough for video editing. Lots of drives aren't. What specifically did you order?

Ok, I have upgraded my RAM (64GB - i understand way overkill), purchased a 8TB external hard drive and moved over 250GB of files to the new external drive, so that is now free space on my computer. FCPX is STILL quitting on me when I go to export to any format. It completely quits FCPX. Thought that would fix things but nope.

Any other suggestions?

Create a new user account, log on as that new user, start FCPX, create a new test library, import 1 short clip and try to export it. Do not add any effects or edits to the clip. Please post the results here.

I created a new login, logged in and made a short video just using a small picture and it did the same thing. Quit as soon as I select the method to export.

If I delete FCPX from my computer, will Apple let me re-install it? I hit the "update" button for Final Cut Pro in the apple store and all it does is do that swirly thing like its loading but it doesn't appear to be.

First make sure you have the latest compatible version of Apple Pro Video Formats installed. Procedure: support.apple.com/en-us/HT207249

Make sure background rendering is OFF. Select the clip on the small test timeline with CMD+A, then render it with CTRL+R. If that completes try to export this way:

File>Share>Master File>Settings>Format: Video and Audio, Video codec: Source - Apple ProRes 422, resolution: (whatever the source resolution was), then for the location dialog, place it in a different location than normal. E.g, /Movies or /Desktop - someplace besides where you normally put the output.

Reasons: Not having the latest Pro Video Formats can cause various export or encoding problems, rendering the timeline segregates the problem between render phase vs encode phase, picking ProRes 422 avoids possible complications with H264 encoding, picking a different destination helps check for a permissions or destination problem.

mfmooney wrote: If I delete FCPX from my computer, will Apple let me re-install it?....

If you are a licensed FCPX user you can re-install it -- but only the latest version which is 10.4.8. It is always a good idea to save your current version of the Final Cut Pro.app file in /Applications beforehand, also copies of any libraries. That way you can always revert to the prior version if something goes wrong.