ENDLESS rendering in FCP...

[neoninsanity]

Hey all.

I'm having trouble editing any video in Final Cut Pro 5 without having to render part or all of my work every time I make changes. For example, if I add a transition or change the speed of a clip, one of those colored bars will appear above the clip, and I am unable to preview the clip without rendering it.

This is getting really old, especially since I vaguely recall a professor once showing me a way to get around rendering until I was ready to export. I just can't remember how to do it. And I'm not having much luck finding info online.

If possible, please lend me a hand on this one.

I need to complete the project I'm working on soon... otherwise I'll be eating Ramen for at least a month!

Many thanks.

 

[bigbossbmb]

the media you are using doesn't match the sequence settings.

what is your source media?

 

[neoninsanity]

Well, I just used the Capture - Now button to pull the video off my MiniDV camcorder. Once I hit ESC to stop the capture, the clip appears under Sequence 1.

Is that what you're referring to? My apologies, I'm not very good with all the FCP terminology yet.

 

[bigbossbmb]

ok, the settings of your sequence do not match your media.

you need to create a new sequence with settings that match your media.

a simple way to do this is to choose the DV/NTSC easy setup.

 

[neoninsanity]

Ok, so I did the following:

Final Cut Pro -> Easy Setup... -> Setup For: DV-NTSC -> Setup

Then File -> New -> Sequence

Now my project reads like this:

Sequence 1
Sequence 2
Clip_S1
Clip_S2

Clip_S1 and Clip_S2 are the videos I captured. Oh, and when I get info on them, it says they are QuickTime movies (if that matters).

Is this right?

Or do I need to start from scratch and recapture the footage (as opposed to just deleting Sequence 1)?

 

[thomahawk]

i always use DV format in importing videos. they work easier

 

[bigbossbmb]

when you put the clips in the new sequence, do they work?

 

[spinnerlys]

Look into the bin window for the following columns:

Frame Size
Vid Rate
Compressor
Pixel Aspect
Field Dominance

You can also move them where you want them, and arrange them like I did.

You also see two items there, one clip (an image in my case) and one sequence. As you can see they don't match in Frame Size, Compressor, Pixel Aspect and Field Dominance. That's what causes the rendering.

Select your sequence (the one you want to use) and right click on it and select "Settings".
Then the Sequence Settings window does appear (like shown in the picture) and there you can adjust the sequence to the clips' settings.

If you're still unsure, post your clip and sequence settings here with the aforementioned "criteria".

Also of notice, manual page 23 and following.

 

[neoninsanity]

I put a small clip on the timeline and slowed the speed.

And yes, it does let me preview it!

A green bar did appear over the clip though. It corresponds to 'Preview' under Render Selection.

So long as that doesn't matter, I'm good to go.

If I render the project when it's completed, will that take care of everything? (And by everything, I basically mean I just need to be able to export the video, and at the nicest resolution possible.)

And thank you so much for your help by the way!

 

[neoninsanity]

Thanks to everyone for helping me!

Here is the screenshot:

 

[followme]

For future reference, you may find this useful:

Look in the Timeline window in the upper left corner. There's a button that should read "RT."

Click that, and by default it's set to "Safe," set it to "Unlimited" and you can get a [less than ideal] preview of stuff that was previously red-barred.

 

[ShakeWellProd]

add to..

Another trick when you are adding transitions between two clips on the timeline and you want to view it w/o rendering it first just type.. OPTION+P with the timeline already selected. This will allow you to view the transitions or effect w/o the render job.

Thanks to Lynda.com for teaching me that back in the day. I HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend you order the Final Cut Pro Editing lesson package. It's very well done and a good source to go back if you forgot how to say, "move a clip" between two clips without moving all the clips on the timeline.

 

[Chris7]

...I HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend you order the Final Cut Pro Editing lesson package. It's very well done and a good source...

A second rec for lynda.com. The FCS 2 tutorials there taught me to use the programs with no prior experience, and I've had very little problems. I don't own any of the lynda DVD's, but have had a monthly subscription for about half a year. The DVD's are expensive, if you don't want the monthly membership, but definitely worth it (the tutorials are the same whether you go with the monthly membership or the DVD's).

You can always learn more from the Apple Pro Training Series, but you may be able to get by with just the lynda tutorials. They're that good.

-Chris