I'm having trouble with my imported video in Final Cut and iMovie

[Bill Gatin]

Perhaps cutting the video before editing will help, but this is the only program I've ever used to edit video. I just got Final Cut because I'm planning on taking up a new hobby editing videos. I have some familiarity with an older iMovie that was a lot different. I've noticed that in both Final Cut and iMovie when I import the entire 6gb 2 hour and 20 minute movie, it is very shaky. It's perfectly fine running in a video player. What can I do?

Also, if someone knows of any good guides to the basics of Final Cut, that would be great.

Edit: I should also note that I converted the movie from .mkv to .m4v before importing it. I still have the .mkv copy.

 

[joema2]

Perhaps cutting the video before editing will help, but this is the only program I've ever used to edit video. I just got Final Cut because I'm planning on taking up a new hobby editing videos. I have some familiarity with an older iMovie that was a lot different. I've noticed that in both Final Cut and iMovie when I import the entire 6gb 2 hour and 20 minute movie, it is very shaky. It's perfectly fine running in a video player. What can I do?

Also, if someone knows of any good guides to the basics of Final Cut, that would be great.

Edit: I should also note that I converted the movie from .mkv to .m4v before importing it. I still have the .mkv copy.

What kind of computer do you have: year, model, CPU/GPU/disk/memory specs, what kind of footage is it -- 1080p, 4k, from what kind of camera? How big is the video file in GB, and what disk drive is it on? Did you import it with "leave files in place?"

Also what version of OS X and FCPX were you running which gave the "shaky" behavior (which I assume means stuttering during playback)? Was this only during 1x speed playback or also during fast forward and reverse?

 

[ColdCase]

When you do a straight import, FCP will do rendering in the background which takes up CPU. Scrubbing and playback performance will be affected, and what you see is studder (shaking). The amount depends on your CPU horsepower and the drive performance where the files are located. If you wait awhile after import, the studder should ease up. If you turn off automatic render, the studder should be reduced or eliminated. Even with that, if you are editing 4K video on an old base machine, you could get performance artifacts.