Hidden Diagnostic Tool in Final Cut Pro

[ This article was first published in the November, 2006, issue of
Larry’s Final Cut Pro Newsletter. Click here to subscribe. ]

There is a hidden menu item in Final Cut that can help you determine if your hard disk RAID is having a problem keeping up with your video playback requirements.

I’ve known about this for a while, but a good description of how to use it comes from the AJA Tech Support site.

Here’s how to access it:

• Hold down Shift+Option+Command, then, while still holding these keys down,
• From the FCP menu bar, go to TOOLS -> INTERNAL TOOLS, and select the Playback Meter.

The playback meter monitors the RAID performance during playback. One for Audio, one for Video and two for Processing. The Playback meter should remain GREEN for all the components it monitors during playback. If any of the performance bars goes to the right, the color will change to yellow or red which signifies that the RAID storage is not keeping up with playback.

Larry adds that if you don’t have a RAID, only the Audio measure will work. This menu choice remains in effect until you quit Final Cut.