Timeline Clips Stutter/Strobe. at DVinfo.net

David Scattergood · January 26th, 2007, 05:41 AM

Hi,
I've noticed that when I put together a sequence using FCP, leave the room for a while then return, the footage more often than not seems to judder/strobe or loop a seconds worth of footage.
The timeline itself run's through the entirety of the sequence and the audio plays fine also?
I'm having to 'restore' project everytime I return to the timeline...is there a reason this occurs? I thought perhaps it may be related to footage I myself have captured but this also applies to clips from other sources (eg - the FCP training tutorial footage). Might it be an auto-save glith that throws the footage awry?
Sorry I can't post an example but strobe/looping is the best way to describe this.
Many thanks.

Jonathan Jones · January 26th, 2007, 01:49 PM

Not sure if this will work, but check the view percentage size at the top of your canvas window and select 'fit to window'. See if that helps.
-Jon

David Scattergood · January 26th, 2007, 03:01 PM

I think it may have already been set as this - currently set at 74% - right click reveals this set to 'fit to window'. Is it possible merely by checking this each time I return to a project/sequence then the stuttering may be eliminated? I ask that as I've been out this evening and returning to check a sequence I immediately checked the 'fit to window' in the canvas as you suggested - the timeline played fine with looping/stuttering whatsoever...fingers crossed - I'll try this over the weekend and report back!
Strange that the canvas window is being thrown out mind....
Cheers Jonathan.

David Scattergood · January 26th, 2007, 03:19 PM

....nope - it's still not working unfortunately Jonathan...it's now reverted back to the looping footage :(

Jonathan Jones · January 26th, 2007, 03:34 PM

What kind of medium are you storing your footage on? Is it the main internal drive of your Mac, or is it a speedy external? 7200 rpm? Slower drives like a 5400 could be a problem. Connectivity? recommend firewire 400 or 800. USB could present potential bog down point in that maybe your drive is not able to feed FCP the video in real time or as quickly as needed. Odds are that if any of the preceeding was the case, you would have had problems much earlier than this.

Very likely there could also be some file corruption or severe drive fragmentation. First, try to repair the permissions on your system, and then if you have some type of disc uitility diagnostics app, maybe you could ascertain the health of the drive or file organization of your data. I'm beginning to think that your FCP video files might be fragmented across the drive and are having trouble being read as quickly as the timeline needs it. (either that, or the drive is failing...but this is all just a guess)

Just as an aside, do you leave your system on all the time, even all night? I have had a few friends who always turn the Mac off when they are not using it, and find after a time that they have alot of file fragmentation to deal with because they never let OS X do its Unix based automated internal 'house cleaning' that is pre-set to run overnight. (There is an operation that runs each night - one that runs once each week, one monthly, etc. - and there are other 3rd party apps - like Macaroni - that let you run them on command.

-Jon

David Scattergood · January 29th, 2007, 07:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jonathan Jones

What kind of medium are you storing your footage on? Is it the main internal drive of your Mac, or is it a speedy external? 7200 rpm? Slower drives like a 5400 could be a problem. Connectivity? recommend firewire 400 or 800. USB could present potential bog down point in that maybe your drive is not able to feed FCP the video in real time or as quickly as needed. Odds are that if any of the preceeding was the case, you would have had problems much earlier than this.

Very likely there could also be some file corruption or severe drive fragmentation. First, try to repair the permissions on your system, and then if you have some type of disc uitility diagnostics app, maybe you could ascertain the health of the drive or file organization of your data. I'm beginning to think that your FCP video files might be fragmented across the drive and are having trouble being read as quickly as the timeline needs it. (either that, or the drive is failing...but this is all just a guess)

Just as an aside, do you leave your system on all the time, even all night? I have had a few friends who always turn the Mac off when they are not using it, and find after a time that they have alot of file fragmentation to deal with because they never let OS X do its Unix based automated internal 'house cleaning' that is pre-set to run overnight. (There is an operation that runs each night - one that runs once each week, one monthly, etc. - and there are other 3rd party apps - like Macaroni - that let you run them on command.

-Jon

Hi Jon, sorry about the late reply - away at the weekend.
This is a new mac I'm using (having 'transfered' from the PC late last year) spec'd as such:
iMac 24" HD monitor 2.33Ghz, 2Gb ram, 250Gb HD

So I'm currently using the internal HD, though I intend to get a G Raid external 800FW as soon as possible (or more like when funds are available!). It's an issue that affects all types of footage eg: have used 25p and 50i sd (from a basic digital camcorder). Other people with similar set ups (even less) have been using HDV with no problems.
There's absolutely no problem viewing editing footage - it runs really well. What seems to happen is that if I leave the mac for a while (or run another program etc) when I immediately play the timeline again the footage starts this looping...the audio track can still be playing (video line having finished) and there is footage still looping in the canvas (say a 1 sec loop, hence the stuttering referance).
This is all eliminated by either reverting or restoring project to last save.

I do in fact leave the mac on overnight (in sleep mode - another reason I like these macs so much). I must admit that I'm not entirely up on the locations of the FCP files - they're actually sat under:
HD - documents - final cut documents - *render file; capture scratch files; finished projects etc
I am noticing that saving project as that FCP seems to save copys then copy copy and so on...slightly off the topic there, but a bit odd all the same.
It's not a major problem as reverting back to the last save gets rid of this problem but it's of concern - has this been noted before?

FCP is still early days (though I now much prefer this over using Prem Pro) - yesterday discovered that I couldn't batch capture as Timecode was all over the place on one of my tapes...HDV fun is yet to come...

Cheers for your help Jonathan.

David Scattergood · January 29th, 2007, 07:43 AM

edit: double post

January 26th, 2007, 05:41 AM	#1
David Scattergood Major Player Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Manchester, UK Posts: 755	Timeline Clips Stutter/Strobe. Hi, I've noticed that when I put together a sequence using FCP, leave the room for a while then return, the footage more often than not seems to judder/strobe or loop a seconds worth of footage. The timeline itself run's through the entirety of the sequence and the audio plays fine also? I'm having to 'restore' project everytime I return to the timeline...is there a reason this occurs? I thought perhaps it may be related to footage I myself have captured but this also applies to clips from other sources (eg - the FCP training tutorial footage). Might it be an auto-save glith that throws the footage awry? Sorry I can't post an example but strobe/looping is the best way to describe this. Many thanks.

January 26th, 2007, 01:49 PM	#2
Jonathan Jones Trustee Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Healdsburg, California Posts: 1,138	Not sure if this will work, but check the view percentage size at the top of your canvas window and select 'fit to window'. See if that helps. -Jon __________________ "Are we to go on record, sir, with our assertion that the 'pink hearts, yellow moons, orange stars, and green clovers' are, in point of fact', magically delicious?" - Walter Hollarhan before the House Subcommittee on Integrity in Advertising - May, 1974

January 26th, 2007, 03:34 PM	#5
Jonathan Jones Trustee Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Healdsburg, California Posts: 1,138	What kind of medium are you storing your footage on? Is it the main internal drive of your Mac, or is it a speedy external? 7200 rpm? Slower drives like a 5400 could be a problem. Connectivity? recommend firewire 400 or 800. USB could present potential bog down point in that maybe your drive is not able to feed FCP the video in real time or as quickly as needed. Odds are that if any of the preceeding was the case, you would have had problems much earlier than this. Very likely there could also be some file corruption or severe drive fragmentation. First, try to repair the permissions on your system, and then if you have some type of disc uitility diagnostics app, maybe you could ascertain the health of the drive or file organization of your data. I'm beginning to think that your FCP video files might be fragmented across the drive and are having trouble being read as quickly as the timeline needs it. (either that, or the drive is failing...but this is all just a guess) Just as an aside, do you leave your system on all the time, even all night? I have had a few friends who always turn the Mac off when they are not using it, and find after a time that they have alot of file fragmentation to deal with because they never let OS X do its Unix based automated internal 'house cleaning' that is pre-set to run overnight. (There is an operation that runs each night - one that runs once each week, one monthly, etc. - and there are other 3rd party apps - like Macaroni - that let you run them on command. -Jon __________________ "Are we to go on record, sir, with our assertion that the 'pink hearts, yellow moons, orange stars, and green clovers' are, in point of fact', magically delicious?" - Walter Hollarhan before the House Subcommittee on Integrity in Advertising - May, 1974

January 26th, 2007, 03:01 PM	#3
David Scattergood Major Player Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Manchester, UK Posts: 755	I think it may have already been set as this - currently set at 74% - right click reveals this set to 'fit to window'. Is it possible merely by checking this each time I return to a project/sequence then the stuttering may be eliminated? I ask that as I've been out this evening and returning to check a sequence I immediately checked the 'fit to window' in the canvas as you suggested - the timeline played fine with looping/stuttering whatsoever...fingers crossed - I'll try this over the weekend and report back! Strange that the canvas window is being thrown out mind.... Cheers Jonathan.

January 26th, 2007, 03:19 PM	#4
David Scattergood Major Player Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Manchester, UK Posts: 755	....nope - it's still not working unfortunately Jonathan...it's now reverted back to the looping footage :(

January 29th, 2007, 07:43 AM	#7
David Scattergood Major Player Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Manchester, UK Posts: 755	edit: double post