I recently bought a Sony FX3. I edited two videos on Final Cut Pro like I always do, without any issues. The third video wouldn’t export for some reason. I kept getting the error box that says:
Your System Has Run Out of Application Memory
When I opened Activity Monitor, it was clear that something called VTDecoderXPCService was the culprit causing the crash. It would continue to use more and more RAM until the error box appeared and Final Cut Pro would Share Fail. I’ve only got 16GB of RAM so it would use the SWAP memory until it hit around 50 GB. Then it would crash.
After a brief search, it was apparent that a lot of folks are having the same problem and Apple ain’t doing much about it. Sony A7SIII, Sony A1, and Sony FX3 users are all experiencing the issue.
One user said to play the timeline while the project is exporting. I tried that but it didn’t work for me.
Another user said to play a clip that’s at least 15 seconds long in the CLIPS section and it would reset the VTDecoderXPCService. I tried that too, but it didn’t work. This gentleman’s solution needed one more crucial step.
After banging my head against the wall for about an hour, I finally got it to work where I was able to save a 238 GB file in Apple ProRes 422.
The Solution to the VTDecoderXPCService Problem
Here’s how I got it to work for me:
- Hit SAVE on your file as normal
- Open BACKGROUND TASKS and expland the Sharing tab to where you can see the progress percentages
- Let the file process for 30 seconds (The VTDecoderXPCService RAM usage will continually increase. Mine will be using about 18 GB of RAM by the time I count to 30)
- Play an audio file in your CLIPS section for 20 seconds, then pause the audio file. The VTDecoderXPCService will reset to around 1 GB and the video will continue to process.
- Repeat this process until the video successfully saves. It’s basically 20 seconds of playing the audio file and 30 seconds of pausing the audio file. When the audio file is paused, the video is processing. Make sure the Background Tasks box is open and the Sharing Tab is expanded where you can see the two percentage bars.
I’m working on a MacBook Pro with an M1 Pro Chip and 16GB of RAM. It’s not the fastest machine out there but it usually does the trick for me. I’m not real sure why this problem started all of a sudden.
If you’re wondering about my camera settings, here they are copies from my YouTube description box:
Camera Gear
- This ENTIRE video was filmed on a Sony FX3
- Lens: Sony 35mm 1.4 G Master
- ND Filter: NiSi True Color ND-VARIO Pro Nano 1 to 5-Stop Variable ND Filter
- Audio via Sony ECM-B10 microphone
Sony FX3 Camera Settings
- XAVCS-I 4K 30FPS
- 4:2:2 10-bit 300 Mbps
- Picture Profile 11 (S-Cinetone)
- Audio Level on Sony ECM-B10 Set to AUTO
Editing
- Edited in Final Cut Pro
- NO COLOR GRADE
- Image is Straight Out of Camera
- 4K 30 FPS timeline
- Saved using Apple ProRes 422
#FX3 #sony #cinematic