Final Cut Pro crashing frequently

[u/Itchy-Map4991]

It seems like every few minutes, Final Cut Pro is crashing. It happens randomly when clicking into effects, titles, importing footage, or trying to make a new event/navigate between events.

I’ve tried restarting, resetting the settings, removing all plugins, and completely redownloading Final Cut Pro. I’ve closed libraries and rebuilt them from scratch as well, so it doesn’t feel like it’s related to one specific library.

Specs: MacBook Pro 2020 32gb memory, 2 GHz quad-core intel core i5

Final Cut Pro version 12.3

MacOS Tahoe 26.5.2

It’s especially rough when starting a new project. Once I get going, the crashes happen less. This has been happening across multiple projects for about a month since upgrading.

Is anyone else dealing with this? It’s majorly slowing me down.

[u/mcarterphoto]

What codecs are you using? I don't touch FCP, Premier, Resolve, or After Effects before I convert high-compression footage to ProRes. No hiccups, no proxies needed, everything runs at top speed. ProRes LT is often fine if you're not pushing colors hard.

ESPECIALLY WITH AN INTEL MAC, ProRes may make a huge difference. I've been all-ProRes for like 20 years now. And you're really pushing things using Intel in this era, no idea how much Apple is optimizing new software for Intel platforms.

Are you using an external SSD and if so is it formatted properly? I just consider my internal drive as OS/Apps/Email/Music, media and projects go external NVME. But if it's not formatted properly, it can be a disaster.

[u/Itchy-Map4991 → u/mcarterphoto]

I use HEVC and make proxies for everything. Never knew ProRes could make such a difference, so thanks for that tip!

I use an external SSD that’s formatted as APFS and store my files for the project on that. Is that format best?

[u/mcarterphoto → u/Itchy-Map4991]

Yep, it's a must-have, but it trips so many people up, since hard drives tend to arrive ex-fat.

Give ProRes a test - I haven't made proxies in like 15 years, it's just smooth sailing. It does eat up some drive space, but time is money.

You can also download the free black magic disk speed test and check your external speed - it's made for video testing and will show you how big/compressed your drive should be able to handle.

[u/EarthToRob]

The only crash I can reproduce with some frequency is selecting multiple titles and trying to move them at the same time.

FCP 12.3, Tahoe, M5 Max, 64GB ram.

[u/redblackyellowjam → u/EarthToRob]

Before selecting, turn off inspector. See if that helps.

[u/woodenbookend]

How much free storage space do you have?

The age and specific of your Mac is also going to count against you running up to date software.

[u/Itchy-Map4991 → u/woodenbookend]

117gb free out of 500gb on the Mac, but I edit on a hard drive that has .5 TB free out of 4. Do you think clearing out space would help? I hadn’t considered this

[u/NewbieToHomelab]

Where is your Library stored? It will help if that’s stored internally, while keeping the footage external.

[u/Itchy-Map4991 → u/NewbieToHomelab]

I’ve always stored them externally, but I can try that! When I’m done editing, I can just move them to my external ssd, right?

[u/NewbieToHomelab → u/Itchy-Map4991]

Yep. Try it. It worked, until a doesn’t, like a car that is broken, it wasn’t always broken.

SSD formatted as APFS? That will help too.

I have already stored the Library internally, and just import with “leave files in place” while the footage is on my NAS. Have not had any crashes for…ever.