Apple Final Cut Express 4 - Manual (Page 894)

894 Part X Real Time and Rendering
 Render any clips whose render status bars indicate they can’t be played in real time
before you play them back. For more information, see “ Render Indicators in
Final Cut Express ” on page 900.
 Turn off external video monitoring.
 Disable dropped frame reporting during playback. For more information, see the
next section, “ Reporting Dropped Frames During Playback .”
Reporting Dropped Frames During Playback
Dropped frames during playback may indicate that your hard disk is too slow or your
video footage uses a codec too processor-intensive for your computer processor to
handle. If you plan to output your sequence to tape, you will need to resolve this issue
at some point. However, for editing purposes, you can disable the message that
appears when dropped frames occur.
To disable the dropped frames message:
1 Choose Final Cut Express > User Preferences.
2 In the General tab, deselect the “Report dropped frames during playback” checkbox.
Factors That Affect Real-Time Performance
Many components of your computer affect its real-time performance:
 Computer processor speed and type: The faster your computer processor is, the more
real-time effects Final Cut Express can perform. The type of processor can also make
a difference. For example, a G5 processor is more powerful than a G4 processor, and
a Core 2 Duo processor is more powerful than a Core Duo processor.
 Multiple processors: Computers with more than one processor have significant
real-time performance advantages over single-processor computers.
 Graphics card speed and memory: Many video filters in Final Cut Express use your
computer’s graphics card to process effects, leaving the computer processor free to
perform other tasks. A faster graphics card with more RAM allows more real-time
playback.
 Level 2 and Level 3 processor cache: The sizes of a computer processor’s level 2 and 3
caches affect its real-time playback capabilities. The larger these caches are, the more
real-time performance is available.
 RAM: The more RAM you have available in your computer, the more potential
real-time performance your computer has.
 Memory bus speed: Computers with a faster memory bus allow better real-time
performance because data can be sent more quickly between RAM and the
computer processor.