Final Cut Pro X on hard drive vs external drive

[sunandsurf]

Will there be a noticeable difference if I have the app on an external drive?

Since video files are so large, may I assume that one should keep all video files on one's external drive? (e.g., source files, rendered files, etc.)

Thank you.

 

[simsaladimbamba]

The actual application is fine to be stored in the Applications folder on the system drive (internal drive).

It is often recommended to store the actual footage you work with (either original or transcoded (proxy) material) on an extra HDD the OS does not use for its running.
On most Macs that is an external HDD or two, be it Firewire 800, USB 3.0, eSATA or Thunderbolt.
USB 2.0 might be too slow for video editing needs unless one uses proxy or SD video.


Maybe this can also be of interest upon your journey into video and codecs and such:

 

[Macman45]

If you can hack the $$ I'd get a thunderbolt unit. Cheap they are not, but my Pegasus R4 works video in real time. You still need to back up your files, TM or a USB 3 HDD work for me.

 

[sunandsurf]

Thank you very much for your very helpful and respectful reply!

 

[ColdCase]

I have several libraries on different local drives and the app in the app folder. The current libraries are in a TB RAID0 stripped enclosure (two drives) and it seems like they are stored on the internal drive.

I close Libraries that I'm not currently using as FCP takes a while to open them when you open the app.

 

[Zwhaler]

OP, what is your computer setup? For me, I use my Mac Pro Bay 1 for my Macintosh SSD, and Bay 2 for my FCP X SSD. I would recommend that setup. If you don't have a Mac Pro, it is cool to use a USB 3 or Thunderbolt external drive for your editing.

 

[poematik13]

Ideally you will have the app running on your system drive (an SSD) and your event/project files off an external thunderbolt drive or thunderbolt raid array.

For smaller projects, having your media files and your app on the same internal drive will be fine, but you'll have better performance when they're separate

 

[sunandsurf]

thanks for your replies and for confirming what i suspected. i've put the app on my hard drive (iMac) and i'm putting the media on an external drive.

you guys are great; thank you!

 

[stix666]

I have the app, the OS and the project I'm working on on the system drive, which is a RAID0 SSD. Seems to work v fast

 

[simsaladimbamba]

I have the app, the OS and the project I'm working on on the system drive, which is a RAID0 SSD. Seems to work v fast

And the media too? I guess that RAID0 SSD thingie could help compared to a normal HDD?

 

[stix666]

Yes media too, one project at a time. I'm not doing any large projects. One of the nice things about fcpx now is the ease with which old projects can be moved to other disks.

 

[dvsole]

Faster sharing and work in FCP

Hi guys, I have MacBook Pro Retina (2,4 GHz Intel Core i5, 16*GB 1600 MHz DDR3 RAM, graphic Intel Iris 1536 MB, 256 SSD disk). I started to work quite with Final Cut and sharing videos to MOV takes me almost 4 hours.. I have data at my external drive WD My Passport 3.0 for Mac.. Is there any possibility to work and share video faster? I find this drive http://store.apple.com/cz/product/H...=5f&fs=s=priceLH&f=thunderbolt&fh=3783%2B309a but thats not SSD so I think the speed will be not so many faster then I have now.. Please could you give me some tips? Thank you very much!

 

[joema2]

Hi guys, I have MacBook Pro Retina (2,4 GHz Intel Core i5, 16*GB 1600 MHz DDR3 RAM, graphic Intel Iris 1536 MB, 256 SSD disk). I started to work quite with Final Cut and sharing videos to MOV takes me almost 4 hours...

Your problem is likely not the hard drive but export type. The fastest way to export from FCP X is single-pass H.264, which uses the on-chip Quick Sync transcoder:

Share->Master File->Settings->

Format: Computer
Video codec: H.264 Faster Encode
Resolution: either 1920x1080 or 1280x720

That should export rapidly and produce decent quality.

 

[dvsole]

Your problem is likely not the hard drive but export type. The fastest way to export from FCP X is single-pass H.264, which uses the on-chip Quick Sync transcoder:

Share->Master File->Settings->

Format: Computer
Video codec: H.264 Faster Encode
Resolution: either 1920x1080 or 1280x720

That should export rapidly and produce decent quality.

Hello, thank you for your reply.. I tryed it, its bit faster, but not so much.. I think problem will be in Pisel Film Studios which I have used.. You can see printscreen.. I use in video few animated text titles.. And I use as well coloring effect Mojo on.. So that could be the reason of slowly rendering.. When I render file without this things, if was quite fast.. In this case with that effect (video have 10min) it render quite 4 hours.. My question is is I will buy this ex.drive http://store.apple.com/cz/product/H...e1&fs=f=thunderbolt-ssd&fh=40aa%2B309a%2B27fc will be the rendering with all of effects at video, which I use faster? Or what should I do for faster work? Thank you foru your reply!

 

[rei101]

I believe that is what it takes, rendering in HD is slow for any machine. Is not the drive, is the processor you are using and the network.

 

[joema2]

...I think problem will be in Pixel Film Studios which I have used.. as well coloring effect Mojo... When I render file without this things, if was quite fast.. with that effect (video have 10min) it render quite 4 hours.. My question is is I will buy this ex.drive...Or what should I do for faster work? Thank you for your reply!

My 2013 iMac 27 exported (shared) a 10 min 1080p/30 video in 2 min 27 sec using the previously-mentioned settings. This was exporting to a 3TB Fusion Drive. While there was significant I/O at about 90 MB/sec, this is well within the limit of most hard drives. The process was mostly CPU-bound, with iStat Menus showing high activity on all cores.

How long exactly does it take to share your 10 min video using the previously-mentioned settings -- and without the Pixel Film Studios plugins? Can you quantify the difference? Is it 1 hr without vs 4 hr with Pixel Film Studios, or is it 10 min vs 4 hr?

It sounds abnormal for those effects to cause such a tremendous slowdown in export performance. However if it can be confidently traced to those plugins and if the slowdown that dramatic, it should be well known to their customer support or other users of those plugins. Certainly nobody would overlook their export performance becoming 50 to 100 times slower.

Rather than applying a brute force solution and speculatively buying a disk drive, you first should closely examine the problem and re-verify it is uniquely due to these plugins. Then verify and quantify your export performance without the plugins -- if slower than about 5 to 8 min, there's something else wrong.

As already explained the problem is more likely CPU than I/O. But regardless of which one, you cannot purchase I/O or CPU capacity to improve performance by 20 to 50 times. It simply does not exist. It's probably more effective to investigate the problem and try to isolate the exact cause and (as a sanity check) determine if your export performance *without* those plugins is reasonable. Then we can proceed from there.

 

[thiagobilek]

Will there be a noticeable difference if I have the app on an external drive?

Since video files are so large, may I assume that one should keep all video files on one's external drive? (e.g., source files, rendered files, etc.)

Thank you.

You may use both, your MAC ssds plus a external gard drive. The better is the source to be outside and keep the ssd to rendering at the end, so one hard drive only read and the other only records, since one task interfere on another.

By the way, if are you looking for speed a cheap method is atach a sata/usb 3.0 adapter (amzn.to/1WcJNU5)on any ssd on the market and use it as external drive, but the best option is the drobo mini (amzn.to/1WcIggE) it is a external hard drive where you atach up to 4 HD/SSD plus a small mini ssd at the botton, it manage all the read/write process spliting the tasks among all 5 HD/SSD

 

[ColdCase]

The OWC mini TB enclosure is faster and cheaper than the drobo. That being said, the OPs problem is likely CPU or configuration related. Fast drives and SSD helps editing, especially scrubbing performance. While exporting timelines may be a bit shorter, the difference is not as significant. Perhaps if you have a bunch of source videos and you are mixing snippets from each, the rotational drive seek times may hurt you.