Flashing Black Frame

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Level 1

8 points

Flashing Black Frame

I'm working on Final Cut Pro with the M1 Mac mini 16gb and I have done 3 videos so far with no issues then all of a sudden I drop a clients video on the timeline and start editing and I'm getting a black flicker. I do what anyone would do and I open it in QuickTime to check for a corrupt file. It runs smooth no flicker so I delete all my preferences and all settings in Final Cut and re upload the footage and it's still there. I then drag to footage to premiere on my Windows and no flicker after that I download the footage to my 16" MacBook Pro and drag it to final cut and no issues. So now I'm left thinking it's my Mac so I take some older footage that I edited yesterday and drop it in the timeline and no problems.

So where does this leave me?

Does Final Cut on Mac Mini have issues with all footage - No

Does Final Cut have issues with Client Footage - Yes

Is Client Footage Corrupt - No

Does Client Footage work on Final Cut on Laptop - Yes

Does Client Footage work on Premiere - Yes

Picture below provides what is happening and no I will not cut out the frames as it happens 100+ times within the footage and as this is my full-time job I can't sit here and spend time playing with added frames lol. Thank you to anyone in advanced for the help :)

So this leaves me in an infinite loop of confusion. Can someone please tell me if you've at least had this problem before and is there a fix? Thank you lol

Posted on Apr 16, 2021 9:05 AM

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Answer 1

Apr 16, 2021 9:09 AM in response to CoLew_Edits

This looks like it may have a fluctuating frame rate and that is often a cause of problems.

If optimizing in FCP does not solve the issue, you may try converting the video using Compressor or HandBrake, ensuring a fixed frame rate.

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Answer 2

CoLew_Edits Author

Level 1

8 points

Apr 16, 2021 9:19 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1

Thank you so very much for the quick response this fixed the issue. I'm just now curious as to if I'm going to need to do this each and every time I edit or maybe it was just this one time. I'm also curious if you would know why the Mac Book did not do this yet the Mac mini did. I feel like if it was Variable Frame Rate issue that it would have problems on all devices running Final cut.

Regardless of that you helped solved the issue and I'm very thankful!!

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Answer 3

CoLew_Edits Author

Level 1

8 points

Apr 16, 2021 9:21 AM in response to Tom Wolsky

Yes it shows everywhere but after Luis just told me to optimize it, it seemed to fix the problem the only thing left is to figure out why It works on Final cut for the laptop but not for the Mac mini I'm concerned as I don't want to have to sit and optimize footage every morning before I can start work. :/

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Answer 4

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

152,002 points

Apr 16, 2021 10:20 AM in response to CoLew_Edits

The clip flickers on an M1 MBP as well. I'm thinking it's the way the graphics work. Is it just coincidence or does the flicker only happen when the image is still. When there's movement or motion on the screen it seems to stop, which makes me think it has to do with the the way the clip is being decoded. If I try to export the file, I get render error at frame 39, which is the first black frame.

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Answer 5

CoLew_Edits Author

Level 1

8 points

Apr 16, 2021 11:21 AM in response to Tom Wolsky

Ahhh okay so we can chalk this down to a Graphical error with the M1 then?? Very strange as I love my M1 Mini it runs super fast and this is the first and only time that I have had the problem but maybe they will do an update if this gets enough attention.

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Answer 6

Apr 16, 2021 9:07 AM in response to CoLew_Edits

Did you try creating optimized media for this particular clip?

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Answer 7

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

152,002 points

Apr 16, 2021 9:10 AM in response to CoLew_Edits

Does the clip play ok in the browser? I assume the black sections appear black in the viewer when you're playing back.

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Answer 8

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

152,002 points

Apr 16, 2021 9:25 AM in response to CoLew_Edits

Would it be possible to upload a clip somewhere like Dropbox so we could have a look at it?

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Answer 9

CoLew_Edits Author

Level 1

8 points

Apr 16, 2021 9:27 AM in response to Tom Wolsky

Yes that would be perfectly fine. Let me trim the video down a bit as it's a rather long file but I will leave the parts that I know have the added frames.

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Answer 10

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

152,002 points

Apr 16, 2021 9:37 AM in response to CoLew_Edits

As long as the file isn't recompressed. We'd need to see the original file.

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Answer 11

CoLew_Edits Author

Level 1

8 points

Apr 16, 2021 9:40 AM in response to Tom Wolsky

Nope not recompressed I just took the trimmed footage and it still has the same issues. Where would you want me to drop the footage at?

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Answer 12

Apr 16, 2021 10:02 AM in response to CoLew_Edits

I tried the clip you posted and see no black frames either. I am using a 16" MBP.

Maybe there is something peculiar about the Mini graphics?

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Answer 13

CoLew_Edits Author

Level 1

8 points

Apr 16, 2021 10:05 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1

That's what I'm thinking it's gotta be the Mac mini cause the MBP had no issues either. But this does confirm that it is the Mac mini. Thank you for the help though! I'm glad we got it fixed!

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Flashing Black Frame

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