FCP HD-problems with playback and sync.

Hello all!

I am working on a powerbook and don't know if this problem is related to it being too slow? Also I don't know if I need to redigitize everything??

PROBLEM: On playing back clips, sometimes the image freezes but the sound continues in real time and then the whole clip is out of sync. It happens in the same manner and at the same place each time I play the clips. Also on my external NTSC television set it comes out the same.

What is causing this? What can I do??

Thanks to anyone for help!!
Best regards,
Robert

Here is my equipment:
FCP HD4.5
Mac OS 10.4.9
1,25GB DDR SDRAM
1.25GHz G4 Powerbook 15inch.
Powerbook attached to 20" apple cinema display.
Using LaCie d2 FW harddrive 320GB - using FW800 port.
Using Sony DCRHC28 mini DV camera for deck (really cheap mini DV- 290$!).

It's probably your setup--not necessarily the fact that you're using a PowerBook.

The 800 speed FireWire connection is runnning at the slowest speed of all the connections--which means it's really running at 400.

The machine only has one FireWire port with two spigots on it. It's not two ports. So the CamCorder is fighting with a slow drive--or you're looping which is just as bad.

Export the show as a stand-alone movie and push it onto the machine's internal drive. Disconnect everything but the camcorder, open the show in Final Cut and see if it plays OK.

If the show doesn't fit then you also have a drive space issue which can cause stuttering problems.

If you're closer, but no points, go down this list:

[www.kozco.com]

Koz

Hi Koz,

thank you so much for your reply and for your advice. Amazing! I hope it is alright to bother you with more questions .

I looked at your very helpful website and realized that I am using FCP HD 4.5 with OS 10.4.9. Apparently it is better according to your list to use OS 10.3. which is what I had before I went to the apple store to get my dvd drive fixed. They unintentionally put OS 10.4.9 on the computer-so I dont have the disk for that, only for the mac os10.3 from 3 years ago.

>>Do you recommend putting on os 10.3 again?? Also I have digitized maybe 10 hours of stuff already but still have about 15 hours left to digitize.

>>Is it better to attach the camera to the fw output of the lacie external drive, instead of to the FW 400 output of the powerbook??

>>Right now I have all files, project and media on my almost empty lacie fw external drive. Is it better to put the project file on the powerbooks harddrive, while leaving the media files on the lacie???

Thank you again!!
Robert

<<<I hope it is alright to bother you with more questions . >>>

Sure. but you're not going to like what I tell you.

<<<>>Is it better to attach the camera to the fw output of the lacie external drive, instead of to the FW 400 output of the powerbook??>>>

You can edit your brains out in any configuration you want, but capture and play back have some interesting restrictions.

All the FireWire connections on a Mac are one connection. If you connect a 400 thing and an 800 thing, the 800 will slow down to 400. Both at once means you really only have about 200 and that's what's causing your output problems. You may be getting capture problems, too, but that won't show up until you find out you have sound sync problems on your capture clips.

So. Like it says in the Desperation Method, Export your show as a Self-Contained Final Cut Movie and park it on your internal drive. Disconnect your FireWire drives, put them back in the box and put them in the garage. Do Not leave them connected.

Load the show file in Final Cut and play it into the CamCorder. I bet it works just fine.

You may, if you start having troubles, need to capture that way, but in reverse. We'll see.

Does your machine have a place to put a PCCard--or PCMCIA Card? If so, buy a, 800 FireWire PCCard and put that in your Mac. Then you can connect your 800 FireWire drive to that and the camcorder to the built-in connections and be good to go.

On the grown-up machines like the G5 towers, we put FireWire PCI cards in and run the external drives from that.

Some people do, in fact, do what you're trying to do and it works just fine. But the process is unstable and some people--like you, you lucky dog--can't get it to work.

Did they leave the QuickTime at 6 point something? That should work even with the upgraded operating system. It's the QuickTime cross that causes the most damage.

Koz

Hi Koz,

thanks again for your help. Even if it hurts it really helps to have you giving me advice on what to do. It would be worse to just sit here and be plain stuck, especially as I have a deadline coming soon!! Sorry but if you don't mind I would like to ask for more help please!

So the OS 10.4.9 with the FCP HD4.5 is not such a problem?
Unfortunately I had upgraded to Quicktime 7.1. Is it possible to go back to QT 6??

So I trashed the preferences and freed up the drive space on my system drive. (The external lacie FW drive is new just for the project so it is still very empty.) This did not help unfortunately.

Now I just made a quicktime with two of the problem clips according to the "desperation method" and put them on the internal drive and reopend in FCP. But it still freezes the image and sound continues going out of sync still!! So I still have the problem!!

I guess I have to redigitize everything??? :-(. I did not understand what you meant by capturing in reverse?? My internal drive has too little space to store everything I need. I could digitize clips and then copy them to the external drive. Would that work?

I will buy a PCMCIA card with FW 800 and try that first.

Thanks so much for your help!!

Best regards,
Robert

<<<Unfortunately I had upgraded to Quicktime 7.1. Is it possible to go back to QT 6?? >>>

Oh, prunes. So you have the worst of all possible systems. Neither the operating system nor QuickTime matches your Final Cut.

Let's try this. Download this, park it on a DV timeline a couple of times so it loops for like 30 or 40 seconds, and just watch it go in playback. Does it stutter and skip?

[www.kozco.com]

Koz

Hey Koz,

thank you again. Oh figs! Now I am even having problems downloading your test file! This is getting embarassing.

I don't know what's going on but now I can't download your test file - when I am in Mozilla and click on it, a quicktime movie with the checkerboard opens in the mozilla browser. But I don't know how to download the file to my computer. In Safari nothing happens at all when I click on the test file on your webpage.

Thanks.
Cheers,
Robert

<<<This is getting embarassing. >>>

Either:

Control Click on the words--the name of the file. Don't click on the picture. Then you'll only get the little picture, not the movie.

or

Click on the video and let it download. Then File, Save Page when it completes.

Koz

Hi Koz,

thanks again - you are amazing.


So I just did the test and here are the results.

> On NTSC monitor - seems perfect! Vibrating between 1 and 2. Spins and moves like honey. Only is flicking-jumping a bit when in pause mode.

> On FCP Canvas - Only see the "2" (not the "1". Checkboard stutters a little bit on rotating- always in the same place. Does not stop though. (But by NO means as bad as with my footage.)

> On FCP viewer - See "1" and "2" without flickering. Checkboard stutters a little bit on rotating - same as FCP canvas.

What do you think??

Thanks in advance.

Cheers,
Robert

Hey Koz,

I just found something on what you are talking about. That apparently many people are having problems between FCP4.5 and MacOSx 10.4.9 (which is what I unfortunately have.). The problem is I cant reinstall the mac os 10.4 because they by mistake put it on my computer in the apple store in seattle (and I am living in spain). So I only have the original mac os 10.3 disk that came with my computer. But downgrading is dangerous right??? I understand so little about all of this stuff!!

But anyway maybe you have a simpler solution?!

[docs.info.apple.com] (I have too much video to digitize and store everything on my internal drive. I could though digitize clips and them store them on the FW drive??)

Thanks again.
Cheers,
Robert

The good news you may not have a bad machine.

If my simple video plays continuously for a minute or so (you did loop it, right?) Then the basic machine is probably OK.

If you have View, External Video, All Frames selected, then the machine will put all of its energy into making the external video look (and sound) perfect. It doesn't much care what the canvas and viewer are doing.

Why your show doesn't do that is probably due to a bad clip or a funny sound file.

To recap, you rendered your show and mixed down the audio, right, two different steps? Did you use any MP3 audio files anywhere in the project?

Then you exported the show as a self-contained movie, moved it over to the internal drive, disconnected everything but the Camcorder/Monitor, loaded the movie and pressed play? Ignore the Canvas. Does the external show look OK?

If it's still acting funny, divide the show in half on the timeline, export just the first half and go through the steps again. Do it again with a quarter of the show. Keep reducing the show until it acts right. Sooner or later it's going to play, right? My simple video played OK.

You're going to find that all the clips that came from that one camera or that one audio CD or that one special effect refuse to play.

Koz

Thank you again Koz.

Well that's good news that my machine is okay. Yes I looped your checkboard pattern for one minute and it looks great on the NTSC tv monitor.

BUT I reduced the selfcontained movie down to one clip of 15sec and still the problem is there. A guy is swinging the golf club at the ball - you hear the ball being hit and the golf club just freezes for a couple of secs and then swings up all of a sudden.

I have no imported audio from CDs. Have only digitzed my mini DV tapes (of which I have 130 hours !!! from which I will be editing this doc film.)


What do you think about the link I sent you regarding problems between os 10.4.9 and fcp 4.5?? Should I go out and buy the os 10.4 disks (the apple store installed it on my computer by mistake but gave me no start up disk) so that I can downgrade to os 10.4.8?? I only have the 10.3 disk. It is not possible to downgrade back to 10.3 is it??


What do you think should do first - buy the PCMCIA card first or buy the os 10.4.9 software first so that I can downgrade to 10.4.8??

OR is there some other better option??

Thanks so much again for your continued support!
Cheers,
Robert

Hi Robert - there's an article with a workaround in the FAQ on this.

FCP 4.5 (and older) problems with OS 10.4.9