Motion memory problem?

I am very new to Motion, and thought at first that I was causing the problem, but after adjusting a few things the problem continues to happen. I am now at the point where I need some expert help. :-)

Everytime I use Motion it crashes on me. It doesn't freeze up completely, but it will start doing really funky things in the timeline, and then eventually where ever I move my cursor (anywhere in the program/ toolbar/ desktop, etc.) the images/ graphics/text block up into chunks of colors until it just crashes. It is kind of hard to describe, but basically it screws up. If I put the computer on sleep, and then come back everything is fine again. I am really getting frustrated. I have to be doing something wrong, but don't know what it is. Do I need to install FCP on a serperate partition? I did this with my older versions, but not this one. So, could it be an extension conflict?

Possibly helpful information:

G5 Mac
Dual 2.3 GHZ
2 GB of Ram
ATI Radeon X850 XT:
Chipset Model: ATY,R481
Type: Display
Bus: AGP
Slot: SLOT-1
VRAM (Total): 256 MB
Vendor: ATI (0x1002)
Device ID: 0x4a48
Revision ID: 0x0000
ROM Revision: 113-A35804-108

Sequence set to 720X486
All clips should be compatable does have one track of audio at 44 khz
Total project length 15 seconds

The trouble seems to start whenever I apply a behavior to text. Other than that I am really not doing anything complex with filters or effects. I hope someone can help. Thanks for taking the time.

Kristin

You don't mention which version of the OS or Quicktime, but I'd recommend a re-install

The OS is 10.4.2
And QT 7.0.2

Thanks for responding. I think I will partition the main drive which will mean EVERYTHING gets reinstalled. Hopefully it will work cause your the only one who has gotten back to me about this. I posted on another site too. sigh. I should have gone into real estate.

Thanks again!
Kristin

2 gigs of ram is not a lot for motion. It is a power hog. I think some of the issues would go away with at least 4 gigs of ram. Apple recommends 8 gigs of ram.

I would also not just put it to sleep, but shut down the computer when not in use. You might try starting up from the system install DVD and repairing permissions. Sometimes that will clear up wierd performence issues.

good luck!

kevin

Hi Kevin,

Thanks for getting back to me!

LOL. I had a brain fart. I have 233 GBs of RAM. Not 2 GB. That is pretty funny which is good cause I need a laugh.
Anyway, I am guilty of letting the computer go to sleep when not in use which is not a good idea for a number of reasons. So, I will try to get out of that habit. Someone else has recommended repairing permissions. I did a disk utlity repair, is this similar? I am waiting for Disk Warrior so I can do a more thurough job of it. Am I understanding this right, or are permissions something different? How do I repair them?

Kristin,

233 GB of RAM is physically impossible - check "About This Mac" under the blue apple in the upper Menu. In any event, I suggest you up the RAM to 4 GB.

In Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility, select your boot drive and click "repair permissions" on the bottom left side.

- Joey



When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

Yes. I have 2 GBs of RAM. Sorry. Was right the first time.

Thanks for the advice. I have ordered more RAM to get it up to 4 GBs and hopefully that will work for the time being. I will plan to get it to 8 GBs soon.

Thanks again.

Kristin

Apple does not "recommend 8GB of RAM" - the min RAM is 512K, and they recommend "2GB or more". 4GB should be more than enough IMHO.
Mark

Whoops! It will use 8 gigs if it is installed where as FCP will only use 4. My mistake. That being said, Motion loves more ram. More the merrier. Do a search on this site for repairing permissions and it will give you the full low down on how to do it.

Good luck!

Kevin

I agree, Motion loves ram. And vram. It like a speedy cpu too.

Thanks so much. I am breathing a sigh of relief. I can almost hear the Fed Ex truck leaving with my RAM on it. Thank God.

As far as VRAM goes, I believe mine is 256 MB (ATI Radeon X850 XT). Is that enough? Or, should I get a dfferent card soon?

Thanks again!

Kristin

Motion depends on the VRAM / Graphics card FIRST, physical RAM SECOND, Processor speed THIRD. Get the best card you can afford, the most RAM your machine holds and the fastest machine Apple makes (Dual 2.7 at this point).

...that is, if you are a grafix-intensive kinda person

- Joey



When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

hey all I got same problem with a brand new g5 2*2.3ghz, 6go ram, x850xt 256Mo GDDR3

same versions of quicktime and motion than above.

pixellisation happens like on an old winblow$ machine....scarry

anyways I got some authoring to end up with, so any help apprecited, feel free to email.

thx all

I have since learned that the 850XT card does not work with Motion all that well. Apple is "looking into the issue" and has sent me a 9600 pro card to use in the meantime. That seems to be doing the trick. I hope this helps anyone else out there baning their head against the wall.

correction. They sent me a 9650 card. Sorry.

Thank you kristin !

I wonder if I will be able to say goodbye to the x850 xt without getting smoke in the eyes :'(

I hope they wil not charge for the 9650 pro, and find the fix aspa...I really would love to use my 2*2.3, 8gb ram and 850xt at full speed
(32 bit, float in Motion :p)

Please post if you get some news.

See ya

opti

Oh... I am sure they are working to find a solution. After all, I don't think there is anything wrong with the card itself, so believe me, mine is sitting in a pretty little box waiting to be reinstalled. LOL. I will let you know as soon as I hear something, for sure.

Thanks for all the help on this forum! It rocks.

Kristin

ok, just talked to the Apple tech dude :

-it seems the issue isn't ATi related.The issue seems to come from the software and Tiger .2 in particular.

-Apple announced Tiger .3 release next week...by the way this is already a one month long week since they have big delays on this release and always say "next week".

-multi panels applications (fc pro, motn, dvd st pro, c4d, etc...) seem to be really affected by this software issue...

-Quicktime 7 is a strange dude too....we don't feel it on G5 duals, but it ruined some of my mates' g4 dual config

So, as usual in Apple tech issues : wait for the upgrade...the question remains "will the update finish my authoring too ?", a >5000 $ computer should work just fine, isn't it ?

"a >5000 $ computer should work just fine, isn't it ?"



I hear yah.

hey is it me or is it true that having more than 4 gigs of ram becomes a handicap. in most dual configs having over 4 gigs in jaguar 10.3.9 and earlier accually defeats the purpose. its something like the g5 begins shutting down stix when the ram is over 4 gigs. i read this somewhere ?????
so i you are running motion with 6g of ram it is only gonna use the 4gigs and sleep the other 2g of ram. i think it also said something about with 8g it will only use 2g and cause rhythme problems in the cpu when running mem-hog programs like motion and shake.

eye could be wrong

i also remember someone saying that tiger adressed this problem.

ok, just a small post to tell you the most recent news about our common issues :

- I downloaded and ran Ati accelerator.
This piece of software is intended to overclock your ati graphic card on mac systems.By the way I used it to "lowerclock" mine
A 5 % memory and chipset frequencies lowerage is just fine and adressed some of my graphic card issues (artefacts, f***ed up images, etc...).

- Latest quicktime 7 upgrade improved rendering stability and lowered cpu use when "rendering with quicktime".

- Some serious problems appeared to me using LiveType now...it quits all of a sudden as soon as I hit the good old "apple+z" combo...kinda boring...

- Sometimes, apple's upgrade wizard asks me to re-install the Pro Application Upgrade...that I already installed...

- For memory amount support, I think Motion takes advantage of all the RAM you feed it with...It is not limited to 4 Gb since Apple recommends 6Gb for 32 bits floating compositing.

- Apple just released the brand new G5 Quad with 2 "Dual-Core" G5 processors...I'm really sad they released it one month after I purchased mine.

Still waiting for the next Tiger update...

Have a nice day

opt!

Motion can address up to 4GB of RAM, but it can be useful to have more than 4GB for running other apps (FCP, DVDSP, Photoshop, After Effects) at the same time. However, 4GB is quite nice.
Mark