FCP and Rendering and Rendering and Rendering at DVinfo.net

Michael Armao · November 19th, 2010, 09:21 AM

I have a mac pro early 2008 with 2 internal hard drives 1. 500 Gb hard drive (thats where all my applications Including my FCP software 2. 700 GB hard drive is where I store and work on my projects that i am editing. I have 16 GB of ram (which I don't see a bit of difference from when I had 2 GB of ram that my computer came with). I also have FCP 7.
It seems like Most of my time is spent rendering. If I put an effect on the time line i have to render it, then if i want to make an adjustment to the same effect I have to re-render it, If I want to make another adjustment it that same edit I have to re-render it again... get my point. Is this normal for FCP of do I have something set up wrong. Also Do you think my internal hard drive is to slow, do you think if I bought an external 1TB G-Drive it would fix this problem....

Another Q. I have, I get a lot of Drop Frames what is the reason for this... is this all one problem?.....

Shayne Weyker · November 19th, 2010, 12:01 PM

First make a new sequence to copy your work into and be sure you set the sequence to render to ProRes before copying. (make sure your renders are stored on the media drive and watch out for the large size of the render files filling the drive up over 70% to avoid fragmentation)

Changing an effect setting disconnects your clip from the render file previously made for that clip. And FCP (up through FCP6 at least) only uses two cores and a few gigs of ram itself.

But Unlimited RT playback can make you need to render less often to preview. Just go back to safe RT and render before for final export.

Try using ProRes renders, trashing preferences, and set unlimited RT playback and if it warns you it's dropping frames to permit unlimited RT realtime playback you can tell is at the dialogue box to not warn you again, dropping frames for unlimited RT playback is common.

Also be sure to set up a quick cluster to use all your mac pro's cores and memory when using compressor (only use the cluster on files already exported out of FCP, not with Export to Compressor)
ProVideo Coalition.com: Apple | Vendor Blog

If your computer gets too slow during compressor runs just dial back the number of instances.

Andrew Stone · November 19th, 2010, 12:47 PM

Good advice above about adjusting the Sequence settings for Unlimited RT. Your video card can be playing a large part of your problem along with the codec being used in your source footage and the number of filters being used on the clips.

If you are using LongGOP based clips you may wish to consider doing overnight conversions of the files to Pro Res. This will put less stress on the processor and video card. In terms of workflow, try to do your cutting first and leave things like color correction till later on. If you are using things like Magic Bullet Looks then you are going to have major rendering requirements for which there is no solution other than rendering out your changes.

If your video card is a couple of years old a cheap solution is to upgrade to the ATI 5770. It is under $300 USD and will bring a lot of horsepower to your RT rendering and speed up rendering in Color and After Effects. I did this recently in my 3 year old Mac Pro (version 1.1) from an ATI x1990. It was like getting a new computer when do video editing and color correction.

Shayne Weyker · November 22nd, 2010, 09:41 AM

For how to change sequence to prores render see: http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/sony-xdc...rames-fcp.html

To change RT playback to unlimited see Nani huyu? Blog Archive I can’t find ‘Unlimited RT’ in Final Cut Pro

Andrew Stone · November 22nd, 2010, 01:33 PM

Shayne's links to tutorials cover off a lot of things you need to know. If you are going to convert all of your footage into ProRes you would have to do that in Compressor. Try out small files first to get the hang of it and of course crack open the manual for Compressor and the manual for Final Cut Pro and read pertinent sections. Both manuals are excellent and you can access them from the "Help" menus in both applications.

Your NVIDIA card that you mentioned in a message to me should be fine. I would invest some time studying up before investing more money in cards and such.

Victor Lee · November 22nd, 2010, 10:34 PM

Hey Andrew, I was looking into upgrading my 7300gt to the ATI 5770 for my MacPro (1.1). It's good to know that it'll speed things up for AE but what about Cinema 4D? Any flaws with the 5770 so far?

Andrew Stone · November 22nd, 2010, 11:11 PM

I don't run 3D apps on my machine Victor, although some stuff I do involve OpenGL. The card SCREAMS compared to the old one.

The card has 2 display ports and 1 DVI port. You can run 3 monitors on it but if the monitors are bigger than 23" on the display port connections you either have to have a brand new monitor that itself has a display port or you have to get a Dual-Link DVI connector which will set you back another $120 or so.

November 19th, 2010, 09:21 AM	#1
Michael Armao Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Staten Island New York Posts: 38	FCP and Rendering and Rendering and Rendering I have a mac pro early 2008 with 2 internal hard drives 1. 500 Gb hard drive (thats where all my applications Including my FCP software 2. 700 GB hard drive is where I store and work on my projects that i am editing. I have 16 GB of ram (which I don't see a bit of difference from when I had 2 GB of ram that my computer came with). I also have FCP 7. It seems like Most of my time is spent rendering. If I put an effect on the time line i have to render it, then if i want to make an adjustment to the same effect I have to re-render it, If I want to make another adjustment it that same edit I have to re-render it again... get my point. Is this normal for FCP of do I have something set up wrong. Also Do you think my internal hard drive is to slow, do you think if I bought an external 1TB G-Drive it would fix this problem.... Another Q. I have, I get a lot of Drop Frames what is the reason for this... is this all one problem?.....

November 19th, 2010, 12:01 PM	#2
Shayne Weyker Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Columbia, Maryland Posts: 83	First make a new sequence to copy your work into and be sure you set the sequence to render to ProRes before copying. (make sure your renders are stored on the media drive and watch out for the large size of the render files filling the drive up over 70% to avoid fragmentation) Changing an effect setting disconnects your clip from the render file previously made for that clip. And FCP (up through FCP6 at least) only uses two cores and a few gigs of ram itself. But Unlimited RT playback can make you need to render less often to preview. Just go back to safe RT and render before for final export. Try using ProRes renders, trashing preferences, and set unlimited RT playback and if it warns you it's dropping frames to permit unlimited RT realtime playback you can tell is at the dialogue box to not warn you again, dropping frames for unlimited RT playback is common. Also be sure to set up a quick cluster to use all your mac pro's cores and memory when using compressor (only use the cluster on files already exported out of FCP, not with Export to Compressor) ProVideo Coalition.com: Apple \| Vendor Blog If your computer gets too slow during compressor runs just dial back the number of instances.

November 19th, 2010, 12:47 PM	#3
Andrew Stone Major Player Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Vancouver, Canada Posts: 975	Good advice above about adjusting the Sequence settings for Unlimited RT. Your video card can be playing a large part of your problem along with the codec being used in your source footage and the number of filters being used on the clips. If you are using LongGOP based clips you may wish to consider doing overnight conversions of the files to Pro Res. This will put less stress on the processor and video card. In terms of workflow, try to do your cutting first and leave things like color correction till later on. If you are using things like Magic Bullet Looks then you are going to have major rendering requirements for which there is no solution other than rendering out your changes. If your video card is a couple of years old a cheap solution is to upgrade to the ATI 5770. It is under $300 USD and will bring a lot of horsepower to your RT rendering and speed up rendering in Color and After Effects. I did this recently in my 3 year old Mac Pro (version 1.1) from an ATI x1990. It was like getting a new computer when do video editing and color correction.

November 22nd, 2010, 09:41 AM	#4
Shayne Weyker Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Columbia, Maryland Posts: 83	For how to change sequence to prores render see: http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/sony-xdc...rames-fcp.html To change RT playback to unlimited see Nani huyu? Blog Archive I can’t find ‘Unlimited RT’ in Final Cut Pro

November 22nd, 2010, 01:33 PM	#5
Andrew Stone Major Player Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Vancouver, Canada Posts: 975	Shayne's links to tutorials cover off a lot of things you need to know. If you are going to convert all of your footage into ProRes you would have to do that in Compressor. Try out small files first to get the hang of it and of course crack open the manual for Compressor and the manual for Final Cut Pro and read pertinent sections. Both manuals are excellent and you can access them from the "Help" menus in both applications. Your NVIDIA card that you mentioned in a message to me should be fine. I would invest some time studying up before investing more money in cards and such.

November 22nd, 2010, 10:34 PM	#6
Victor Lee New Boot Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Bay Area Posts: 13	Hey Andrew, I was looking into upgrading my 7300gt to the ATI 5770 for my MacPro (1.1). It's good to know that it'll speed things up for AE but what about Cinema 4D? Any flaws with the 5770 so far?

November 22nd, 2010, 11:11 PM	#7
Andrew Stone Major Player Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Vancouver, Canada Posts: 975	I don't run 3D apps on my machine Victor, although some stuff I do involve OpenGL. The card SCREAMS compared to the old one. The card has 2 display ports and 1 DVI port. You can run 3 monitors on it but if the monitors are bigger than 23" on the display port connections you either have to have a brand new monitor that itself has a display port or you have to get a Dual-Link DVI connector which will set you back another $120 or so.