MacBook and FCP 6: Be honest, am I stretching? at DVinfo.net

Heath McKnight · November 10th, 2007, 10:46 PM

Every time I've opened FCP 6 (specifically with an 87 minute HDV feature converted ProRes 422), after a few minutes, it says I'm out of memory (in both Tiger and now Leopard). And I can't see anything in the Viewer or Canvas.

So, with my 2.16 Ghz MacBook with 1 GB of RAM (I have 2 GB modules on the way) and Leopard, any thoughts why this keeps happening?

1. Will it stop when I double my RAM to 2 GB?

2. I never wiped the MacBook when I bought it--I just installed all my software. Should I have wiped it and started clean?

3. Am I stretching it by having FCP 6 on a MacBook, or do I need to do something different? Is it the HDV-converted-to-ProRes 422 what's hurting it?

Thanks,

Heath

Carl Middleton · November 11th, 2007, 12:24 AM

I'm honestly surprised it waits a few minutes before running out of memory. :)

With my Adobe windows machine, I started with 1gb, tried HDV and Cineform both, and my computer was hating life. It may not stop when you get an extra gig, but it definitely can't hurt. ProRes vs HDV can't be helping, either, just due to the increased file size/data that must be cached in RAM to play back. ProRes is probably quite a bit harder on memory/HDDs, though easier on your processor.

Since it's on the way, I'd give it a shot with the 2gb with fingers crossed... hopefully might work out for ya. :)

Carl

Heath McKnight · November 11th, 2007, 12:37 AM

I think it will, to be honest. I had a MacBook Pro that was the same speed with 1 GB, and it was a nightmare. I quickly added another gig and life was swell.

I had no issues with shorter ProRes projects.

Thanks,

Heath

Daniel Ross · November 11th, 2007, 12:41 AM

Macbook Pro 2.33 ghz, 2GB ram, runs FCP just fine. And other stuff open, and other intense programs, all simultaneously. (AE, FCP, PS, etc.)
It will get slow after you have enough open, but I've never actually had it run out of memory-- stall out with way too many things open and have some apps quit themselves, but never give any memory error, especially in FCP.

Jason Bowers · November 11th, 2007, 01:07 PM

My Macbook runs FCP 6 jsut fine with 2 gigs on standard footage. However, with HDV the minimum ram is 4gigs, it says so on the system requirements listed on their site. This is probably your problem. A cheaper answer would be the new IMACS over the macbook pro's.

Heath McKnight · November 11th, 2007, 02:32 PM

I've used HDV with only 2 GBs on a PowerMac G5 without much problem, but I may stick with an intermediate codec for a while. I'm going to be doing a fairly large edit soon, so I may just drop cash on a low-end Mac Pro.

THANKS!

heath

November 10th, 2007, 10:46 PM	#1
Heath McKnight MPS Digital Studios Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Palm Beach County, Florida Posts: 8,531	MacBook and FCP 6: Be honest, am I stretching? Every time I've opened FCP 6 (specifically with an 87 minute HDV feature converted ProRes 422), after a few minutes, it says I'm out of memory (in both Tiger and now Leopard). And I can't see anything in the Viewer or Canvas. So, with my 2.16 Ghz MacBook with 1 GB of RAM (I have 2 GB modules on the way) and Leopard, any thoughts why this keeps happening? 1. Will it stop when I double my RAM to 2 GB? 2. I never wiped the MacBook when I bought it--I just installed all my software. Should I have wiped it and started clean? 3. Am I stretching it by having FCP 6 on a MacBook, or do I need to do something different? Is it the HDV-converted-to-ProRes 422 what's hurting it? Thanks, Heath __________________ My Final Cut Pro X blog

November 11th, 2007, 12:37 AM	#3
Heath McKnight MPS Digital Studios Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Palm Beach County, Florida Posts: 8,531	I think it will, to be honest. I had a MacBook Pro that was the same speed with 1 GB, and it was a nightmare. I quickly added another gig and life was swell. I had no issues with shorter ProRes projects. Thanks, Heath __________________ My Final Cut Pro X blog

November 11th, 2007, 02:32 PM	#6
Heath McKnight MPS Digital Studios Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Palm Beach County, Florida Posts: 8,531	I've used HDV with only 2 GBs on a PowerMac G5 without much problem, but I may stick with an intermediate codec for a while. I'm going to be doing a fairly large edit soon, so I may just drop cash on a low-end Mac Pro. THANKS! heath __________________ My Final Cut Pro X blog

November 11th, 2007, 12:24 AM	#2
Carl Middleton Major Player Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Fernandina Beach, FL Posts: 562	I'm honestly surprised it waits a few minutes before running out of memory. :) With my Adobe windows machine, I started with 1gb, tried HDV and Cineform both, and my computer was hating life. It may not stop when you get an extra gig, but it definitely can't hurt. ProRes vs HDV can't be helping, either, just due to the increased file size/data that must be cached in RAM to play back. ProRes is probably quite a bit harder on memory/HDDs, though easier on your processor. Since it's on the way, I'd give it a shot with the 2gb with fingers crossed... hopefully might work out for ya. :) Carl

November 11th, 2007, 12:41 AM	#4
Daniel Ross Major Player Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Marin & Davis, CA, USA Posts: 418	Macbook Pro 2.33 ghz, 2GB ram, runs FCP just fine. And other stuff open, and other intense programs, all simultaneously. (AE, FCP, PS, etc.) It will get slow after you have enough open, but I've never actually had it run out of memory-- stall out with way too many things open and have some apps quit themselves, but never give any memory error, especially in FCP.

November 11th, 2007, 01:07 PM	#5
Jason Bowers Major Player Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Thunder Bay, ON. Canada Posts: 374	My Macbook runs FCP 6 jsut fine with 2 gigs on standard footage. However, with HDV the minimum ram is 4gigs, it says so on the system requirements listed on their site. This is probably your problem. A cheaper answer would be the new IMACS over the macbook pro's.