Arrgh.... XF native in FCP7 glitch?

[Chuck Fadely]

I've been happily editing my Canon XF305 files in Final Cut for the past year. Log&Transfer using Canon plugin set to use native, not prores. Always worked great.

Now all of a sudden I'm getting a glitch at edit points in my output (not visible while editing in Final Cut, only on final output.) For maybe 30 frames the image size changes at every edit point. See here: Miami Heat media day 2011 - YouTube

This is driving me nuts. I've tried setting sequence to different render formats and it doesn't seem to help.

Anyone seen this before? Anyone know what I'd call this so I can search for others with same problem?

thanks!

(Yeah I realize this is an editing question but I know Final Cut well enough to believe this is a Canon XF specific problem.)

[Chris Soucy]

Hmm, well, stuffed if I know, quite frankly, though if everything was working fine and now it doesn't, the time worn "remove the lot and re-load" springs to mind.

Else, if it's FCP and thus Mac, do they have auto updates like MS systems, which can completely stuff applications accidentaly, but have the ability to be rolled back and un - applied?

Clutching at straws, as I'm a MS user, so about as much use as an ashtray on a bicycle to you unless it prompts one of those "light bulb" moments.

Good luck.


CS

PS: Nice video, BTW, despite the glitches.

[Alan McCormick]

One thing that might be worth a try:

1 - Make a copy of your Project & Render files (as a backup)

2 - Rename the project to something else then delete the render files - yes, DELETE the render files!!

3 - Reboot your mac and reopen FCP project.

OK you will have to re-render but at least your project will have fresh rendered files and hopefully worth the time. To save time make your sequence shorter just to check this out.

Worth a go and not the 1st time I have had to do that in FCP when funny things happen, I guess you have done the turn off and on your MAC & FCP etc before.

Alan

[Chuck Fadely]

Ok, I threw away my Final Cut prefs and it seems to be fixed. Still don't know what the problem was. Thanks, all. Just one of those Final Cut weirdness things, I guess. Gotta call in the local Santeria priest to give my edit station a going-over.

For anyone who stumbles on this thread later, weirdness in Final Cut is not unusual and my problem is not a reflection of problems with the Canon XF305.

In fact the great workflow with Canon's 50mbs MXF files is one of the biggest advantages of this camera. Stunning images with rapid editing is a dream come true.

[Sam Young]

I recommend the app "Preference Manager," it makes a back up for your FCP prefs with the click of a button, and then you select delete prefs, and lastly you restore the backup. It makes resetting prefs in FCP quick and easy!

I also use Diskwarrior to rebuild directories, especially when FCP gets sluggishly slow for me a while ago, after I used Diskwarrior, it felt like a fresh install of FCP.

Both these tips I got from Larry Jordan's site I think.

[Chuck Fadely]

Just a follow up - it's apparently not the preferences causing this as the glitch still happens sometimes.

I solved it by changing the sequence settings to use ProRes for render instead of XDCAM. It used to work to render native, but it won't any more. I have no idea what I installed that would have messed with the rendering, but something did. I don't have Perian or any of the usual suspects that mess with QuickTime, so don't know what's causing it.

[Steve Maller]

I had a Mac Quicktime software update do this to me once. I had to reinstall the XF Utility and all the attendant crap, and now it works fine again. I L&T to native. Prores seems like overkill usually. Plus, native is so bloody fast...

[Chuck Fadely]

Thanks Steve, I still ingest and edit in native - it's just a few frames on either side of edit points that don't get along with native XDCAM compressor for the output....