Project was going along smoothly for weeks, but now I get "Warning

Arif Syed · May 13th, 2010, 10:28 PM

This message comes up repeatedly.

I can access my scratch disk just fine on my my desktop but playback in FCP is going haywire. It'll play the clip in 2 second spurts and each time it'll only play the audio from the left or right channel, never both. Messing with playback quality is not working either.

I trashed the preferences earlier when there was an issue with another project I was working on (a totally different issue), but I doubt trashing prefs would do anything so wrong.

I'm working off a 500gb drive, connecting to my computer with a firewire 400 (800-400 wire).

Arif Syed · May 13th, 2010, 11:16 PM

and now I'm back in business. I was trying some last ditch desperate efforts and it worked. All I did was switch my scratch disk from my external to my system drive and then back. This is so weird that I'm afraid of getting excited.

Shaun Roemich · May 14th, 2010, 12:11 AM

Possibly a lot of fragmented render files strewn across the Render target disk. As I near project completion, I "blow out" render files using Render Manager and re-render to get the most seamless renders possible.

Arif Syed · May 14th, 2010, 01:29 AM

The issue has returned, but I sort of figured out the problem-- the audio. If I delete the audio from any of the clips they play just fine, but when I leave the audio in, it gives me dropped frame issues.

William Hohauser · May 14th, 2010, 02:59 PM

Possibilties:
Fragmented files - transfer the entire contents of the drive from the drive in question, reformat the drive and transfer them back.
Drive failure - The drive in question is on it's way out. Transfer the files immediately and run a drive maitenence program like TechTool. This won't fix a mechanical failure but you'll be able to see something is up.
5400rpm drive - don't use these for video editing if you can help it. They will work until the drive starts to fill up.
FCP is just too darn sensitive - sometimes the program registers dropped frames when it can't be seen. if you are not experiencing any playback problems you can turn off the alert message in the user preferences.

Arif Syed · May 15th, 2010, 06:06 PM

It seems that if I switch the audio from 48 kHz to 44.1, it will play perfectly. If I continue to do this project at 44.1 will I run into any issues when I complete it and burn it to dvd?

Robert Lane · May 19th, 2010, 06:05 PM

That doesn't make any sense at all; 48Khz is the standard that any FCP timeline is looking for, if it's any other bitrate it will want you to render it. I've never even heard of it going the other way.

It sounds to me like you may have a corrupt project or other deeper files that need to be fixed up.

Try downloading Digital Rebellions FCP Toolkit and see if it's maintenance and cleaning routines get you fixed up; chances are it will.

Battle Vaughan · May 19th, 2010, 09:22 PM

I've seen this problem when the storage disk gets too full, or as another poster points out, gets badly fragmented. If you get near 90% full you will encounter problems....

May 13th, 2010, 10:28 PM	#1
Arif Syed Regular Crew Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Elmont, New York Posts: 143	Project was going along smoothly for weeks, but now I get "Warning - Dropped Frames" This message comes up repeatedly. I can access my scratch disk just fine on my my desktop but playback in FCP is going haywire. It'll play the clip in 2 second spurts and each time it'll only play the audio from the left or right channel, never both. Messing with playback quality is not working either. I trashed the preferences earlier when there was an issue with another project I was working on (a totally different issue), but I doubt trashing prefs would do anything so wrong. I'm working off a 500gb drive, connecting to my computer with a firewire 400 (800-400 wire).

May 14th, 2010, 12:11 AM	#3
Shaun Roemich Inner Circle Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Vancouver, British Columbia (formerly Winnipeg, Manitoba) Canada Posts: 4,088	Possibly a lot of fragmented render files strewn across the Render target disk. As I near project completion, I "blow out" render files using Render Manager and re-render to get the most seamless renders possible. __________________ Shaun C. Roemich Road Dog Media - Vancouver, BC - Videographer - Webcaster www.roaddogmedia.ca Blog: http://roaddogmedia.wordpress.com/

May 14th, 2010, 02:59 PM	#5
William Hohauser Inner Circle Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: New York City Posts: 2,650	Possibilties: Fragmented files - transfer the entire contents of the drive from the drive in question, reformat the drive and transfer them back. Drive failure - The drive in question is on it's way out. Transfer the files immediately and run a drive maitenence program like TechTool. This won't fix a mechanical failure but you'll be able to see something is up. 5400rpm drive - don't use these for video editing if you can help it. They will work until the drive starts to fill up. FCP is just too darn sensitive - sometimes the program registers dropped frames when it can't be seen. if you are not experiencing any playback problems you can turn off the alert message in the user preferences. __________________ William Hohauser - New York City Producer/Edit/Camera/Animation

May 13th, 2010, 11:16 PM	#2
Arif Syed Regular Crew Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Elmont, New York Posts: 143	and now I'm back in business. I was trying some last ditch desperate efforts and it worked. All I did was switch my scratch disk from my external to my system drive and then back. This is so weird that I'm afraid of getting excited.

May 14th, 2010, 01:29 AM	#4
Arif Syed Regular Crew Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Elmont, New York Posts: 143	The issue has returned, but I sort of figured out the problem-- the audio. If I delete the audio from any of the clips they play just fine, but when I leave the audio in, it gives me dropped frame issues.

May 15th, 2010, 06:06 PM	#6
Arif Syed Regular Crew Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Elmont, New York Posts: 143	It seems that if I switch the audio from 48 kHz to 44.1, it will play perfectly. If I continue to do this project at 44.1 will I run into any issues when I complete it and burn it to dvd?

May 19th, 2010, 06:05 PM	#7
Robert Lane Go Go Godzilla Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Scottsdale, AZ USA Posts: 2,823 Images: 15	That doesn't make any sense at all; 48Khz is the standard that any FCP timeline is looking for, if it's any other bitrate it will want you to render it. I've never even heard of it going the other way. It sounds to me like you may have a corrupt project or other deeper files that need to be fixed up. Try downloading Digital Rebellions FCP Toolkit and see if it's maintenance and cleaning routines get you fixed up; chances are it will.

May 19th, 2010, 09:22 PM	#8
Battle Vaughan Trustee Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Miami, FL USA Posts: 1,505	I've seen this problem when the storage disk gets too full, or as another poster points out, gets badly fragmented. If you get near 90% full you will encounter problems....