Is FCP (HD) acting strange? Spinning Beach Ball etc.? at DVinfo.net

Jeff Donald · May 29th, 2004, 12:22 AM

Here is the first thing to try if your system starts acting unusual.

If all else fails or perhaps for a quick fix delete these files:

Your Hard Disk>Users>Your User Name>Library>Preferences Folder.
Inside the Preferences folder, com.apple.FinalCutPro.plist (move to trash).
Inside the Preferences folder find the Final Cut Pro folder and delete these two files>Final Cut Pro 4 Preference file and
Final Cut Pro v POA Cache (move to trash)

Now empty your trash. Then go to Applications>Utilities>Disk Utility and repair permissions on the startup drive. If it reports a lot of files repaired run it two or three times. Restart your computer.

Check your FCP settings, some may have reset to default settings. But they were possibly corrupt and causing your troubles. If this helps please post back.

I hope this helps. If this does not help please post a new topic with specifics as to your OS, version hardware etc.

Laurence Maher · August 23rd, 2004, 03:59 AM

As a possible stumbling block, I was waiting for a quick time movie to be created and was waiting quite a while with a spinning beach ball. Eventually, I gave up (like 3 or 4 minutes . . . only a 6 minute movie), and I forced a quit. When I came back in to FCP HD, half my movie was corrupted. Luckily, a friend of mine played with the "Restore Project" under File menu, and it was restored. I SUGGEST TO ONLY FORCE QUIT AFTER THE BEACH BALL HAS GONE ON FOR EVER AND EVER!!!!! It turns out the program was running fine, it was just taking a while. Nothing wrong with the mac, I just forced a quit while it was using data I had created, so the files were corrupted . . . bad move.

Just a heads up.

Jonathan Lutz · September 3rd, 2004, 08:34 AM

I get the Beach Ball quite often while working in FCPHD.

It usually happens when I'm clicking away and moving clips around quickly, not giving the comp much time in between these 'commands.'
Usually I get the little film reel icon (while it's auto-saving, I think), then the program 'unexpectedly quits' (which gets my nomination for the most annoying, unhelpful description of the error; 'Sorry, Apple. My check has unexpectedly bounced').

Sometimes it happens while I'm saving, though when I open it, it has indeed successfully saved.

Could be a RAM or processor issue. I'm on a G4, dual 867 MHz, 1.5GB DDR SDRAM.

David Slingerland · October 17th, 2004, 03:39 PM

I installed some extra memory (corsair) and have now 1,5 gigs of memory. But ever since I installed it I have had quits on programs. No spinning ball but in FCP or AVID or mediaplayers a sudden freeze where the audio keeps repeating it self but the keyboard not responding to anything forcing me to push the quit button on my mac. But when i restart I dont get anything like you have shut down the computer the wrong way. I have a mac 1.25 gig 1,5 memory.
any idea what?

greetings

David

Jeff Donald · October 17th, 2004, 05:19 PM

Have you run the Apple Memory Test CD? If you don't have the CD then remove a stick of ram at a time and check to see if the computer is still freezing.

Andrew Hogan · November 12th, 2004, 11:53 PM

Jonathan, I've been having lots of FCPHD unexpected Quits. But, I have quite a few plugins installed in FCP. Wonder if there is too many using up too much RAM? I have G4 DP800 768MB ram.

Could this be causing more freq quits?

Jeff Parker · January 17th, 2005, 10:23 AM

Thanks Jeff Donald, It worked for my problem.

Not sure how this happened, but... I think I shut down my cam before the program was done doing whatever it was doing after a capture. Well now when I open FCE it will go thru it's startup then seems to lock up at the flash screen, not sure if this is the proper term, but the FCE logo part just before the program is launched. I re-installed the program and it still does the same thing.

Thank you Boyd Ostroff for pointing me to the right place.

Tim Clark · May 26th, 2005, 10:39 AM

Having recently upgraded to FCP HD, I started experiencing the spinning beach ball of death... so I completed the actions above. Seems to have worked out, but I have one question:

I need clarification on the "Preferences" to delete -- I should be deleting the FCP 4 Preferences and not the FCP HD (or 4.5) Preferences, right? I deleted the FCP 4 only this time around.

Thanks

Boyd Ostroff · May 26th, 2005, 11:05 AM

I think the following will answer your questions:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showpost....57&postcount=6

Jeff Pryor · March 20th, 2006, 04:58 PM

I've been getting "out of memory", red screens in fcp 5.0. A few months ago, while I was still running 4.0 I started seeing them and upgraded to 1.5 Memory (this on a G5 single processor 1.8), I then upgraded to 5.0 and things have been fine up until today when the program started to bog down again... I tried trashing the pref files and permission repairs. Anything else anyone would suggest?

Paul Frederick · May 1st, 2006, 05:46 PM

Check out this article which discusses a free program called FINAL CUT RESCUE. It's a quick app that backs up/trashes/restores your preferences in FCP. I have it and use it, works great!

http://www.emedialive.com/Articles/R...rticleID=11213

Rey Ortega · July 24th, 2006, 11:49 AM

I used to work solely on a PC and have been using Final Cut Studio with my Imac G5 for quite some time now. One thing I used to have for my pc is optimization notes for professional apps. I haven't seen anything online about optimizing settings for Final Cut to run more efficiently on the Mac. Does anyone know of any optimization techniques for this? Thanks.

May 29th, 2004, 12:22 AM	#1
Jeff Donald Warden Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Clearwater, FL Posts: 8,287	Is FCP (HD) acting strange? Spinning Beach Ball etc.? Here is the first thing to try if your system starts acting unusual. If all else fails or perhaps for a quick fix delete these files: Your Hard Disk>Users>Your User Name>Library>Preferences Folder. Inside the Preferences folder, com.apple.FinalCutPro.plist (move to trash). Inside the Preferences folder find the Final Cut Pro folder and delete these two files>Final Cut Pro 4 Preference file and Final Cut Pro v POA Cache (move to trash) Now empty your trash. Then go to Applications>Utilities>Disk Utility and repair permissions on the startup drive. If it reports a lot of files repaired run it two or three times. Restart your computer. Check your FCP settings, some may have reset to default settings. But they were possibly corrupt and causing your troubles. If this helps please post back. I hope this helps. If this does not help please post a new topic with specifics as to your OS, version hardware etc. __________________ Jeff Donald Carpe Diem Search DVinfo.net for quick answers \| Where to Buy? From the best in the business: DVinfo.net sponsors

September 3rd, 2004, 08:34 AM	#3
Jonathan Lutz Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: McLean, VA Posts: 29	I ran your recommended clean-up... to no avail I get the Beach Ball quite often while working in FCPHD. It usually happens when I'm clicking away and moving clips around quickly, not giving the comp much time in between these 'commands.' Usually I get the little film reel icon (while it's auto-saving, I think), then the program 'unexpectedly quits' (which gets my nomination for the most annoying, unhelpful description of the error; 'Sorry, Apple. My check has unexpectedly bounced'). Sometimes it happens while I'm saving, though when I open it, it has indeed successfully saved. Could be a RAM or processor issue. I'm on a G4, dual 867 MHz, 1.5GB DDR SDRAM.

October 17th, 2004, 03:39 PM	#4
David Slingerland Major Player Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Soest ,Holland Posts: 307	no spinning ball but a sudden hang... I installed some extra memory (corsair) and have now 1,5 gigs of memory. But ever since I installed it I have had quits on programs. No spinning ball but in FCP or AVID or mediaplayers a sudden freeze where the audio keeps repeating it self but the keyboard not responding to anything forcing me to push the quit button on my mac. But when i restart I dont get anything like you have shut down the computer the wrong way. I have a mac 1.25 gig 1,5 memory. any idea what? greetings David __________________ D.Slingerland director/cameraman http://www.slingerlandproductions.nl

October 17th, 2004, 05:19 PM	#5
Jeff Donald Warden Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Clearwater, FL Posts: 8,287	Have you run the Apple Memory Test CD? If you don't have the CD then remove a stick of ram at a time and check to see if the computer is still freezing. __________________ Jeff Donald Carpe Diem Search DVinfo.net for quick answers \| Where to Buy? From the best in the business: DVinfo.net sponsors

January 17th, 2005, 10:23 AM	#7
Jeff Parker New Boot Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Los Angeles - California - United States Posts: 14	Thanks Jeff Donald, It worked for my problem. Not sure how this happened, but... I think I shut down my cam before the program was done doing whatever it was doing after a capture. Well now when I open FCE it will go thru it's startup then seems to lock up at the flash screen, not sure if this is the proper term, but the FCE logo part just before the program is launched. I re-installed the program and it still does the same thing. Thank you Boyd Ostroff for pointing me to the right place. __________________ Jeff Parker Motion Synonymous To Thought stickandmove.org

August 23rd, 2004, 03:59 AM	#2
Laurence Maher Join Date: May 2004 Location: denton, texas, usa Posts: 416	As a possible stumbling block, I was waiting for a quick time movie to be created and was waiting quite a while with a spinning beach ball. Eventually, I gave up (like 3 or 4 minutes . . . only a 6 minute movie), and I forced a quit. When I came back in to FCP HD, half my movie was corrupted. Luckily, a friend of mine played with the "Restore Project" under File menu, and it was restored. I SUGGEST TO ONLY FORCE QUIT AFTER THE BEACH BALL HAS GONE ON FOR EVER AND EVER!!!!! It turns out the program was running fine, it was just taking a while. Nothing wrong with the mac, I just forced a quit while it was using data I had created, so the files were corrupted . . . bad move. Just a heads up.

November 12th, 2004, 11:53 PM	#6
Andrew Hogan Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Canberra AUSTRALIA Posts: 169	Jonathan, I've been having lots of FCPHD unexpected Quits. But, I have quite a few plugins installed in FCP. Wonder if there is too many using up too much RAM? I have G4 DP800 768MB ram. Could this be causing more freq quits?

May 26th, 2005, 10:39 AM	#8
Tim Clark MicroDolly Hollywood Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Burbank, CA Posts: 22	Having recently upgraded to FCP HD, I started experiencing the spinning beach ball of death... so I completed the actions above. Seems to have worked out, but I have one question: I need clarification on the "Preferences" to delete -- I should be deleting the FCP 4 Preferences and not the FCP HD (or 4.5) Preferences, right? I deleted the FCP 4 only this time around. Thanks __________________ www.microdolly.com Jibs, Dollies, Camera Mounts

May 26th, 2005, 11:05 AM	#9
Boyd Ostroff Wrangler Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Mays Landing, NJ Posts: 11,801	I think the following will answer your questions: http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showpost....57&postcount=6

March 20th, 2006, 04:58 PM	#10
Jeff Pryor New Boot Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Brainerd, MN Posts: 12	A little different problem... I've been getting "out of memory", red screens in fcp 5.0. A few months ago, while I was still running 4.0 I started seeing them and upgraded to 1.5 Memory (this on a G5 single processor 1.8), I then upgraded to 5.0 and things have been fine up until today when the program started to bog down again... I tried trashing the pref files and permission repairs. Anything else anyone would suggest?

May 1st, 2006, 05:46 PM	#11
Paul Frederick Major Player Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: WestChazy, NY Posts: 291	Check out this article which discusses a free program called FINAL CUT RESCUE. It's a quick app that backs up/trashes/restores your preferences in FCP. I have it and use it, works great! http://www.emedialive.com/Articles/R...rticleID=11213

July 24th, 2006, 11:49 AM	#12
Rey Ortega New Boot Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Orlando, Fl Posts: 15	Optimization I used to work solely on a PC and have been using Final Cut Studio with my Imac G5 for quite some time now. One thing I used to have for my pc is optimization notes for professional apps. I haven't seen anything online about optimizing settings for Final Cut to run more efficiently on the Mac. Does anyone know of any optimization techniques for this? Thanks.