Constant crashing with FCP, even when it starts up

Terry, this is a complex area. I worked in software development and escalation support for years and it's still hard. Ideally you want a "block diagram" conceptual overview of FCP and the private frameworks, but there is no documentation for that. I've gradually learned that over the years. Some of the fundamental FCP concepts are covered in US patent US8875025B2, which is available online.

In Redifer's case it might be a plugin but it's not clear. Some internal effects also use the FxPlug interface. The simple answer is search for "FxPlug" in the crash log, but this by itself doesn't mean much.

List FxPlug plugins: pluginkit -m -p FxPlug

List more info about a plugin (for example): pluginkit -mv -p FxPlug | grep "NeatVideo"

Apple info on analyzing a crash log: Analyzing a crash report | Apple Developer Documentation

FxPlug SDK: FxPlug | Apple Developer Documentation

WWDC18: "Understanding Crashes and Crash Logs"

Gathering info via the MacOS log commands: "Mac Logging and the log Command"

WWDC19: "Getting Started with Instruments"

Diagnosing issues using crash reports and device logs | Apple Developer Documentation

Debugging MacOS apps: Debugging | Apple Developer Documentation

Try running (note the double dash):

$ xcode-select --install

You might also need to run this afterwards:

$ xcodebuild -license

Edit: re-reading that error message, maybe you only installed the Command Line Tools? Xcode should be available from the AppStore or Xcode - Apple Developer.

Delete all cache, proxies, optimized media and magnetic mask files:

1. Select library in left side bar
2. File>Delete Generated Library Files>Delete Render Files>All, also select checkboxes for Delete Optimized Media, Delete Proxy Media, and Delete Unused Magnetic Mask Files

If it still happens:

1. Export a library XML
2. Shut down FCP and make a file-level backup of the entire library

Then launch FCP and select the project in the left side bar, press the OPT key, and select Clip>"Verify and Repair Project". Take a screenshot of any messages.

If there are still problems, create a blank library and load the library XML you made. Take a screenshot of any errors during the XML load.

Test your workload on the new library created from the XML. Does that work?

If FCP still crashes, please gather all the FCP crash logs with a .ips file extension from the below locations and upload to a file sharing service I can access.

/Users/YourUserName/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/

/Users/YourUserName/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Retired

2 places to look for plugins.

The Motion Templates folder in your Movies folder and User/Library/Application Support.

Have you tried a different project? There could be a corrupt file in your existing one.

I know the evidence suggests a Preference problem but that could be coincidence stopping you from looking elsewhere.

There is some plugin causing your crashes. Use the complete CoreMelt uninstaller tool. Google "Download CoreMelt remove everything tool" and use that. Then reboot the machine and see how it works. If FCP crashes, upload those new crash logs and I'll examine them.

The XML load problem is somehow related to clips with Drop Frame timecode. Post a link to that complete XML and I'll examine it.

I studied closely the crash at 2024-11-24 02:24:31.7253 -0700, but they are all similar.

Thread 44 crashed in OZFxPlug_GetFlexoInputNode due to dereferencing a null pointer. OZ=Ozone, the FCP private framework that implements the Motion runtime engine and effects processing.

This crash appears to be a complex interaction between FCP's effect system, background processing, and resource management. The root cause may be a synchronization loophole (e.g, race condition) between effect processing and thumbnail generation.

However if we look earlier in the stack trace (around frame 77) we see an an exception occurred in the background task. Instead of properly handling it, the code continued execution, apparently without cleanup or (maybe) not even logging it.

This led to corrupted state that caused the scheduling system to enter an infinite recursion.

Finally, after corrupting the stack, it attempted to access an invalid pointer and crashed.

The effects thumbnail generation logic is complex. There is a background task queue ("effectLibraryThumbnailGenerator") for processing. It has both a memory cache (FFObjectCache) and disk cache (FFSegmentStoreRef).

An obvious question is why now, and why only on your machine? Unknown. Because of the track record of CoreMelt causing problems, and the failure of their uninstall tool to fully work, I suggest you manually remove all traces of that (as a temporary test). They have a support page with the procedure: https://support.coremelt.com/hc/en-gb/articles/360013189594-Where-are-files-from-CoreMelt-installed-How-to-manually-uninstall

If you have any other third-party Fx, especially those from Pixel Film Studios, please list those.

If that doesn't help, the next time the crash happens run the following terminal command which gathers FCP-specific logging info, then upload that so I can examine it.

log show --info --debug --predicate 'processImagePath CONTAINS "Final Cut Pro"' --last 1h > ~/Documents/Redifer_FCP_Log.txt 

Redifer, the below procedure will capture an Instruments trace of your FCP soft-freeze which I can analyze:

1. Install XCode from App Store. It is free.

2. During installation, answer 'yes' to installing XCode command line tools, if it asks.

3. After it's installed, verify that xctrace is working from the terminal command line. Just type 'xctrace' and a return. It should print a few lines of syntax help.

4. Create a folder named "tracelogs" in ~/Documents to receive the Instruments trace file.

5. Launch FCP and get it ready to reproduce the problem.

6. From terminal, type this command (replace with your own home folder): sudo xctrace record --attach "Final Cut Pro" --window 30s --template "Animation Hitches" --output /Users/<YourHomeFolder>/Documents/tracelogs

7. Enter your Mac password if asked. It will indicate when it begins tracing.

8. You need not hurry, as it's configured to only save the last 30 sec before you abort tracing via CTRL+C on the command line.

9. Reproduce the FCP soft-freeze problem.

10. Immediately after reproducing it, switch to the terminal and enter CTRL+C. It may take a minute to finish writing the trace file in ~/Documents/tracelog.

11. Upload that trace log to a file sharing location I can access.

Start XCode, then use menu XCode>Settings>Locations, and if the drop-down menu "Command Line Tools" is blank, pick a version (XCode 16.1 is the latest). If it already shows that, de-select it then re-select it. Then shut down the XCode app, start a new terminal window and see if xctrace will run. If that doesn't work, reboot the machine and try it.