Re: playback stutters

seems anything shot on my canon t3i and transferred to computer, stutters.

Ive tried playing it from the sd card directly and also moving the file to the hard drive... still stutters.

it plays back fine in the camera, so I know the recording was ok.

I play it back on the G5mac in quicktime and it stutters. Ive tried dropping it on the timeline in FCP6, still stutters.

took the card to the camera store. they played it back on Their mac and it works fine.

is there a certain codec I need to playback a file from an SD card?

OTHER videos like things Ive made before, they playback fine on my machine.

machine specs are G5 2.5gz 1.350TB onboard space with over 1TB free, 8g ram Nvidia geforce Ultra video card, 256mb

WiseGuyProductions.ca

Was the footage recorded at 60fps? In that case you won't be able to play it without stuttering on a G5. Have you tried converting the footage to ProRes? Does it still stutter then?

Best wishes,

Ronny

wow really? convert everything? I will try and post back.

why is this? -- where is the bottleneck? the processors? or the ram?

WiseGuyProductions.ca

Just convert a small part and see if this plays well.

It's the format of these files. You really need a fast and lean Intel machine to playback H.264 natively, especially at high frame rates.

Best wishes,

Ronny

well Ronny, that smoothed out the stuttering -- at least in quicktime. I haven't tried in fcp yet but assuming it will be the same.

but this really sucks. it took 15-20min to re-encode 3min of the footage.

where is the bottle neck? I thought 8g of ram would be sufficient its as much as this machine will hold. and 2x2 processors at 2.5ghz.

what do you recommend for a new computer? something that will be able to play back even RED files should I come across that.

how many processors? what speed - ram etc.

would you go pc and premiere pro? -- thats where I came from years ago. it would seem a step backward or at least full circle.

also what about all the other programs? I have FCP suite 6... Im supposing that none of that will run on the new OS

apparently built in functional obsolescence wins.

WiseGuyProductions.ca

wow first time I heard something positive about fcp x.

what happens with After effects, Motion II, Sountrack Pro, DVD Studio Pro.. these are what Im using now. will they integrate with fcpx and the new OS?

also have a few smaller apps that I use with my current set up.. PluralEyes I think its called and another one that smooths out grainy footage - dont know if they will run on new os.

WiseGuyProductions.ca

Oh, you really must have been talking to the wrong people ((-:

Frankly there are many seasoned professionals publicly reporting how they use FCPX in broadcast and film nowadays. Even the fiercest opponents of the first days have shifted their minds since the last few updates. FCPX is a tremendous application and it is gaining popularity with every update. Just like classic FCP it will take some years before it gets fully accepted because it really is something new, and hopefully just like classic FCP it will become a dominant player in the television and film market again in the next few years. I have successfully used it at the Olympic Games and we have completely switched to FCPX in both our post houses, some high-profile tv series are being cut on it in different continents and the indie world is rapidly accepting it. Just read the reports of people that are actually using it, they are all over the internet.

There is a very large ecosystem being built around X nowadays. You can open FCPX timelines in AE (although rather limited), but more important you can open entire FCPX projects in much higher-end finishing and compositing applications such as Smoke 2013: you can send entire FCPX projects to Resolve; you can work natively with RED footage; it has the best keyer and multicam of any existing NLE; all the major plugin manufacturers support the application including some top players such as Red Giant, Mocha etc... Even PluralEyes has a specific plugin for FCPX now (although FCPX has its own synching tools that do a terrific job).

FCPX integrates perfectly with Motion 5. Soundtrack Pro is not really required anymore as FCPX already includes many filters and effects from Logic (we are expecting further integration with Logic X in a not so far future). And you can still use DVDSP to burn DVDs if you want, just like you did with FCP. So yes, I think it is really time for you to download the trial ((-:

Best wishes,

Ronny

Hi Ronny,

Well said.

--ken

So, Ronny & Ken, I'm getting ready to jump into FCPX from FCP7.
In fact, I have a good test project to learn with.

Since it's almost a new language, what do recommend is the best way to learn it? I'm not big on reading manuals.
A tutorial? If so, which one do you recommend?
After that, I would need to know how to transfer an existing FCP7 project to FCPX.

Thanks,
Phil

Sounds like a good starting off point, Ken.

He's got two versions: 720p or 1080p. Which version would you recommend?

I have the 720P version, works just fine for me.

--ken

OK, and smaller files, too.

Did you download from iTunes or purchase the USB Flash drive version? The latter seems like the easier route to go rather than creating iTunes playlists, etc.

-Phil

I went for the iTunes dnl.

--ken

How big are the files?

Don't know.

--ken

ok guys, is there a sort of ...not "minimum requirement" but something that will work for sure in terms of computer? Since it appears G5 has outlived its useful life?

what should I be looking for? 4 processors? and are "cores" the same as processors? and sometimes I read "threads" what's the difference and what do we need? and ram? I want to be able to edit red files.

do we need Mac pro, can we get away with Mac Mini? not really sold on the all in one screen/machine together.

WiseGuyProductions.ca

Hi Ronny,

Thanks for the input. I have a 3.4 GHz iMac Intel Core i7 purchased in Nov. 2011, running OSX 10.8.3. It has 20 GB RAM. The video card is AMD Radeon HD 6970 VRAM 1024 MB. I have 3 external WD drives (1 TB, 3 TB, 6 TB) all daisy-chained to each other via Firewire. My iMac has two Thunderbolt ports but presently I can't afford the Thunderbolt drives and my 3 externals still have quite a bit of space available, especially the 6 TB which is new. Currently, I have no need to edit RED footage. I do edit material in DVCPro HD (1080p & 720p), HDV, H.264 from DSLRs and AVCHD which I transcode to Apple Pro Res 422.
So it sounds like Ripple training is the way to go.

Questions: can I move an existing FCP 7 project into FCP X for revisions if necessary? What about Motion and Compressor? Do the new versions come with FCP X or do I have purchase them separately? Also, can I still continue to use Motion 4 to create elements such as animated titles for use in FCP X and can continue to use Compressor 3.5.3 to compress sequences created in FCP X?

Thanks,
Phil

Thank you so much, Ronny, for all your valuable info. Will be in touch.

So, Ronny, I'm in the process of downloading the trial version of FCP X. But one question first, will I still be able to run FCP 7 on the same iMac if necessary?

Thanks,
Phil

Phil,

You can have both versions installed on the same Mac, you just can not have both of them running at the same time.

--ken

wow Ronny, you are a WEALTH of information on this!!

can you burn dvds straight from FCP X? if not, what do you use?

WiseGuyProductions.ca

Yes you can burn DVDs straight from within FCPX, in fact you can burn DVDs and Blu-Ray discs from within the application. Just like in FCP7 the options for menus etc are rather limited when you use the built-in DVD/BR authoring feature, but the quality is really good. FCPX has this nifty little extra where you can turn the name of any chapter marker into a subtitle that is automatically inserted in the authored DVD. Not ideal for long projects with many titles, but good and fast enough for a few simple titles.

If you need fully customized menus, subtitles, complex navigation etc.. you can export a Master File (with our without chapter markers) from FCPX and use this file in dedicated DVD or BR authoring applications such as DVDSP, Toast, Encore, etc... Just like you would do with a QT movie exported from FCP7. Not much difference here.

Best wishes,

Ronny