Tech Question; more Ram?

Thanks in advance as always.I have a PPC G5 2.0 2 gigs Ram FCP4.5. After I apply a Film Filter
to a still the arrow cursor gets "stuck" in place and seems to be "filling up" from empty to black back to solid, then the spinning beachball appears for a short time then you can resume. Is my Mac telling me I need more Ram? This happens after i render as well.

No, its telling you there is something wrong with the filter if this happens all the time. What filter? One that came with FCP? Some third party filter?

Michael Horton
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It's a Nattress film Filter. After I apply it and render it looks great but if I put the cursor on the clip it gets "stuck' for a short time then updates...so what 's up? My workaround is to Export the clip as a QT then re-import it then no problems. But it's hard to work on initially...

I think I disagree with Mike here. I don't think there's necessarily anything wrong with the filter. That arrow means the system is working too hard to try to access whatever command/filter you just entered. Is any of your drives filling up beyond 90 per cent? What's the format of your media?

Nattress filters are pretty intensive, but I suspect there's something else wrong. It's possible that it's RAM, but I used the Nattress filters all the time on a Dual 2GHz PowerPC G5 with only 1.5GB of RAM, running FCP4.5, and I don't get the kind of delays you're talking about. Oh, and what are your render and playback settings?


www.derekmok.com

Be back this afternoon to reply...Thanks!

If the arrow is stuck then it's often saying you've crashed. If this happens over and over again after applying same filter than one assumes somethign with the filter is casuing this. However now I read curser gets "stuck' for a short time then updates. Thats a whole different ballgame.

Michael Horton
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I think we need more info, but I'm with Derek. If you are getting 10-15 second pauses and a hollow arrow cursor, my experiences over the last 5 years suggest that your system is underpowered for what you are trying to do, or at the very least un-optimised.

Are you working off your system drive?

Your 'workaround' suggests maybe there might be an issue with your source footage? Or your project and source footage settings not matching?

My stills that I imported into FCP were not optimized for FCP. I went back and followed Ken Stones article on the basics of preparing PSD files forFCP. Ken Stone
Voila! Now I do not get the "updating" Cursor or the spinning beachball of death and render times are lightening fast! I'm really greatful for ALL the support. Thanks!

Stills?! That is a crucial piece of info. Glad you got it solved though.

Michael Horton
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If they are stills, make sure the 24p simulation options in your Nattress filters are turned off. There's no benefit to them.


www.derekmok.com

sorry I didn't make it clear in my first post that it was Stills that I am dealing with. As far as 24p simulation options... where exactly in the filter do you mean to "turn off"? There's Film frames per second (which i figured doesn't matter) or 24p settings which gives blending type etc....? Do I need to change the film frames per second ?( which is the first option.) Thanks