Apple Final Cut Pro 5 - Manual (Page 1648)

Chapter 22 Choosing Settings and Preferences 297
IV
 Still Cache: This specifies the amount of RAM used to hold still images for real-time
playback. The still cache that is allocated is a percentage of the excess RAM allocated
to Final Cut Pro, so adjusting the Application slider also adjusts the amount of RAM
available to the still cache. The more RAM allocated to the still cache, the more still
frames can be played back in real time in the currently selected sequence. If another
sequence is opened, the contents of the still cache are replaced with stills from the
new sequence. If there is no excess RAM available, this slider is dimmed.
Thumbnail Cache Settings
The thumbnail cache stores the clip thumbnails displayed in the Timeline and the
Browser. When you choose to display thumbnails, the thumbnail cache improves the
responsiveness of the Timeline and Browser. There are two settings you can modify:
 Disk
 RAM
Enter numbers in these fields to specify the sizes of the thumbnail caches. You may
want to have large thumbnail caches if you’re working with a large number of clips and
want to display thumbnails or if you are using the Browser’s large icon view.
If you often scrub thumbnails in the Browser’s large icon view, you can optimize their
playback quality by increasing the thumbnail RAM cache. To set a location for the
thumbnail cache, see Volume I, Chapter 13, “Connecting DV Video Equipment and
Specifying Initial Settings.”
Note: The thumbnail RAM cache uses part of the RAM available to other parts of
Final Cut Pro, so it shouldn’t be made too large.
Playback Control Tab
Playback Control settings affect all sequences and projects currently open. These
settings also appear in the Real-Time Effects pop-up menu in the Timeline. Using these
settings, you can balance visual playback quality and maximize the available effects
that can be played back in real time. For more information, see Volume III, Chapter 23,
“Using RT Extreme.”