Re: Relink Question FCPX

Longtime FCP editor, getting serious with FCPX- and have run into a problem.

It appears I have been editing a multiclip sequence (oops- "project) with footage that was not properly imported. Which is to say, the files will NOT properly import. When importing, a dialogue box opens and says there was an error importing, and the footage needs to be re-imported from the camera.

That being said- the footage still appeared in the viewer, and was mutli-cammed with other footage, and edited successfully. All of this is fine, until you go to export the project, and FCPX wont let you export a project that reference camera master footage (all the footage needs to be properly imported).

In trying to re-import directly from the camera archive, I'm getting the same error issues.

So I now have a project with many hours of time in on edit, that I cant do anything with. I've tried the basic FCPX re-link unsuccessfully. I'm suppposing that FCPX is looking for an exact duplicate in order to relink- by exact i mean file name, and meta-data.. is this true?

Do I have any other options to explore before I have to re-edit all of tis footage? For instance, I've successfully made ProRes files of the "corrputed" clips, and they work fine..... is there any way to re-link the new Pro Res files to my original edit so I dont havce to rdo all of this work?

Chalking this one up to the "live and learn" file!!!

Thanks in advance for you advice and time!!

Best,

W

Okay before we start some extra information is required:

1. What version of FCP10?
2. How did you initially import the footage? Straight from a card or a camera? Did you get the error message at that time and did you ignore it?
3. What is the video format of the footage?

Best wishes,

Ronny

Thanks Ronny-

FCPX 10.0.7
OSX 10.8.2

I wasn't able to import directly from the cards; import came from an archive of the card.

I did get an error message when importing. To be honest, its the first time I'd ever seen that message, and when I saw my footage in the viewer I assumed (ass-u-me) that all would be OK- I sort of equated it to the old FCP message that there was a drop in TC, and the footage would have trouble matching back if there was an issue. On certain circumstances in the old FCP, I've gone ahead and finished editing, especially since this machine was the only machine the footage would live on until exported and finished (i.e. no need to reconform the edit somewhere else).

So, I've tried renaming my (now usable) ProRes files I've created using compressor, which import and will export fine, and are exactly identical to the original files in length and content, etc etc... is there are any way to get FCPX to relink to these new files as we used to in the prior FCP- or will it not work as the meta-data from the original file is not present?

Thanks again, and appreciate your response.

W

Ron,

Thanks for the detailed response.

I attempted the "transcode media" option, but it gives me a pop up dialogue box which states that I can't do it because they are camera clips...

I am with you... why does FCP allow you to edit camera clips, but not export them? Its clearly referencing footage... I have a 6 minute sequence built up! In any case, I dont see a crack through which FCPX is going to let me get back to that original footage.

Now I'm wondering if I exported an EDL (xml) and attempted to conform the edit in FCP7 would that work?

Thanks again!

W

Before doing anything drastic you might try this solution:

Select one of the problematic clips then choose File > Import > Reimport from Camera/Archive. In the Import window make sure that the "Copy files to Final Cut Events folder" is checked. This should reimport your original media in a correct way. Try this on one clip and if it works do the same with the others.

If for some reason FCP10 does not allow you to reimport the clip from camera/archive post back, then we will try the final solution. All is not lost yet ((-:

Best wishes,

Ronny

Ok Ronny-

Thanks again!

Unfortunately this didnt work either :(

I'm interested in the "Final Solution" if for nothing else than it will be final!!

Really again- appreciate all of your assistance- above and beyond the call!

Yours,

W

Okay, the final solution:

The app won't let you reimport the camera files because they are still online in the Events Browser. So what we need to do first is to make these clips offline. Then you should be able to use either the Relink feature or the "Reimport from camera/archive" feature to correctly relink or reimport the clips from the camera Archive. This will involve deleting the imported clips using the Finder.

1. Close FCP10
2. Open a Finder window and locate your Final Cut Events folder. Open the folder for the problematic Event.
3. Inside you will see the Original Media folder. Open this folder and locate all the problematic camera files. Group-select them and put them in the Trash.

4. Launch FCP10. The Event will now show all your camera clips as Offline (red thumbnail with yellow exclamation sign)
5. Group-select these files and choose File > Import > Reimport from Camera/Archive. The Reimporting from Camera/Archive Dialog box will appear (see attached screenshot).
6. In the Dialog box click Continue. The Reimport Mounting Volumes Dialog will appear.
This Dialog shows the progress for mounting the camera media or Camera Archive that contains the original video. It will disappear once the Camera Archive is mounted.

7. Once the Camera Archieve is mounted a small progress indicator will appear on the missing clips' icons in the Event Browser indicating that the clips are begin reimported. MOST IMPORTANT: do not do anything until the progress indicators are gone and the clips have been properly reimported.

If you cannot reimport from the camera Archive something must be wrong with the Archive structure preventing a proper media import in FCP10. Then your only way out is to try the XML export or to import the prores files and start over.

Best wishes,

Ronny

Hey Ronny-

Just wanted to say thanks for your time and effort. I ended up pulling in the ProRes files and starting from scratch, and cooking through the re-edit (made my 5PM delivery by the skin of my teeth)! I'm going to chalk this one up as part of the learning curve- god knows I had a few of them with FCP7! If you do have any clout with development team- it might be worth asking them the value of letting you edit from "camera" masters, but not export?

I'm sure it could be valuable for some, but I'm not so sure!

In any case- hope you have a great weekend!

Best,

William