FCP 4.5 opening project misery

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Hi all

I am trying to import a project brought to me on a portable firewire
drive into FCP 4.5HD. The project sort of opens, whinges about that it
is made in a previous version (which is correct by the way), and then
reports some missing render-files. So, I dismiss the render-files, and
then there is one sequence which when I open it, it contains 3 clips.
But the rest of the project/clips is not in the bin.
Now, I reset all the owner-settings, trashed all the preferences (as
per instruction on Apple website) reset scratch-disk to point to the
location of the project, but still the project doesn't want to open. I
copied it on the built-in hard-disk inside the user-directory of an
existing user, did all of the above again, but still the project won't
open.
Anyway, I am at the end of my wits. Is there anything I am
overlooking, or could try? Maybe a hack of the project-file (looks
like this one contains plenty of ascii-text which could be edited).

cheers from Down Under

-martin-

--
My e-mail address is a frequently changing random one to pollute spammer's
databases. I all encourage you to do the same

 

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Martin Heffels <judepeter2000@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message news:<7b7mg0p3ag4pfmi2kjevjoim7anks4gocl@4ax.com>...
> Hi all
>
> I am trying to import a project brought to me on a portable firewire
> drive into FCP 4.5HD. The project sort of opens, whinges about that it
> is made in a previous version (which is correct by the way), and then
> reports some missing render-files. So, I dismiss the render-files, and
> then there is one sequence which when I open it, it contains 3 clips.
> But the rest of the project/clips is not in the bin.
> Now, I reset all the owner-settings, trashed all the preferences (as
> per instruction on Apple website) reset scratch-disk to point to the
> location of the project, but still the project doesn't want to open. I
> copied it on the built-in hard-disk inside the user-directory of an
> existing user, did all of the above again, but still the project won't
> open.
> Anyway, I am at the end of my wits. Is there anything I am
> overlooking, or could try? Maybe a hack of the project-file (looks
> like this one contains plenty of ascii-text which could be edited).
>
> cheers from Down Under
>
> -martin-

Martin,

I'm not sure whether I'm right on this - but I think you're wrong to
dismissing the render files. You'll have to go on a hunt and find
those files, reconnect them and then it might work OK.

Thing is from the description it sounds like the project file is
screwed, not the FCP installation. Have you tried opening the project
file on the original machine or another older version of FCP?

Dylan

 

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Archived from groups: rec.video.production,rec.video.desktop (More info?)

I feel your pain.. 4.5 is no smoother than any of the other bastard
chilren...

that said..

Can you elaborate a little..

the project does open, then? But you can not open a particular sequence?
Or, when you open the seq you only get 3 of the clips? And there are not
even unconnected media in there? The clip references are gone?

n


"Martin Heffels" <judepeter2000@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
news:7b7mg0p3ag4pfmi2kjevjoim7anks4gocl@4ax.com...
> Hi all
>
> I am trying to import a project brought to me on a portable firewire
> drive into FCP 4.5HD. The project sort of opens, whinges about that it
> is made in a previous version (which is correct by the way), and then
> reports some missing render-files. So, I dismiss the render-files, and
> then there is one sequence which when I open it, it contains 3 clips.
> But the rest of the project/clips is not in the bin.
> Now, I reset all the owner-settings, trashed all the preferences (as
> per instruction on Apple website) reset scratch-disk to point to the
> location of the project, but still the project doesn't want to open. I
> copied it on the built-in hard-disk inside the user-directory of an
> existing user, did all of the above again, but still the project won't
> open.
> Anyway, I am at the end of my wits. Is there anything I am
> overlooking, or could try? Maybe a hack of the project-file (looks
> like this one contains plenty of ascii-text which could be edited).
>
> cheers from Down Under
>
> -martin-
>
> --
> My e-mail address is a frequently changing random one to pollute spammer's
> databases. I all encourage you to do the same

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.video.production,rec.video.desktop (More info?)

and to think that most Mac vs. PC arguments center around Mac's proven
stability. Carry on.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.video.production,rec.video.desktop (More info?)

"dylan_j" <dylanpank@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:4ce64329.0407311035.cb7a0e3@posting.google.com...
> Martin Heffels <judepeter2000@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
news:<7b7mg0p3ag4pfmi2kjevjoim7anks4gocl@4ax.com>...
> > Hi all
> >
> > I am trying to import a project brought to me on a portable firewire
> > drive into FCP 4.5HD. The project sort of opens, whinges about that it
> > is made in a previous version (which is correct by the way), and then
> > reports some missing render-files. So, I dismiss the render-files, and
> > then there is one sequence which when I open it, it contains 3 clips.
> > But the rest of the project/clips is not in the bin.
> > Now, I reset all the owner-settings, trashed all the preferences (as
> > per instruction on Apple website) reset scratch-disk to point to the
> > location of the project, but still the project doesn't want to open. I
> > copied it on the built-in hard-disk inside the user-directory of an
> > existing user, did all of the above again, but still the project won't
> > open.
> > Anyway, I am at the end of my wits. Is there anything I am
> > overlooking, or could try? Maybe a hack of the project-file (looks
> > like this one contains plenty of ascii-text which could be edited).
> >
> > cheers from Down Under
> >
> > -martin-
>
> Martin,
>
> I'm not sure whether I'm right on this - but I think you're wrong to
> dismissing the render files. You'll have to go on a hunt and find
> those files, reconnect them and then it might work OK.
>
> Thing is from the description it sounds like the project file is
> screwed, not the FCP installation. Have you tried opening the project
> file on the original machine or another older version of FCP?
>
> Dylan

it should be fine if he passes up the render files.. He can always re-render
them. The problem seems to be that Final Klutz is either botching the read
or the project file may be toast. I have had FCP croak when moving jobs
between machines and firewire devices.

If his project was saved to the firewire drive it is likely that FCP simply
has no idea where the files should be. The last time I sent someone off with
a firewire drive to go do a bump to HD, they had FCP referencing my video
drive as absolute file locations rather than read the files from the tree in
the folder.. Often I have also had FCP follow files to the trash. Brilliant.
Let's get Martin goin again.

 

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"Jack SlopehE@d" <Black Dahila Murder> wrote in message
news:it4og01c0f4d8grlcodu1vag7q93p7tksd@4ax.com...
> and to think that most Mac vs. PC arguments center around Mac's proven
> stability. Carry on.
>

yes.. the very stability that led Martin to seek help.

 

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On Sat, 31 Jul 2004 23:46:55 GMT, "nappy" <no_spam_@sorry.com> wrote:

>
>"Jack SlopehE@d" <Black Dahila Murder> wrote in message
>news:it4og01c0f4d8grlcodu1vag7q93p7tksd@4ax.com...
>> and to think that most Mac vs. PC arguments center around Mac's proven
>> stability. Carry on.
>>
>
>yes.. the very stability that led Martin to seek help.
>
bingo

 

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On Sat, 31 Jul 2004 19:01:50 GMT, "nappy" <no_spam_@sorry.com> wrote:

>it should be fine if he passes up the render files.. He can always re-render
>them.

Yep. I'm once in a while moving projects between to machines to online
(one has firewire only, the other a Decklink card), without copying
the render-files, and this goes without a glitch.

> The problem seems to be that Final Klutz is either botching the read
>or the project file may be toast. I have had FCP croak when moving jobs
>between machines and firewire devices.

I have indeed the feeling the project-file is corrupt. Hooking up the
drive to the original machine is not an option, as that machine is in
Sweden, and the drive (and me) is in Australia

>If his project was saved to the firewire drive it is likely that FCP simply
>has no idea where the files should be.

The whole lot is saved to the firewire-drive, media, project-files,
render-files, audio. However, the three render-files it is looking
for, I tried to search for, but they actually are not on the
firewire-drive.

> The last time I sent someone off with
>a firewire drive to go do a bump to HD, they had FCP referencing my video
>drive as absolute file locations rather than read the files from the tree in
>the folder.. Often I have also had FCP follow files to the trash. Brilliant.
>Let's get Martin goin again.

That's what it looks like actually. I had a quick peek in the
project-file, and all file-references were poiting to the
firewire-drive (something like M160ocuments/Final Cut Pro Documents
etc etc).

nappy also wrote:
>I feel your pain.. 4.5 is no smoother than any of the other bastard
>chilren...
>
>that said..
>
>Can you elaborate a little..
>
> the project does open, then? But you can not open a particular sequence?
>Or, when you open the seq you only get 3 of the clips? And there are not
>even unconnected media in there? The clip references are gone?

When I open the project-file, FCP first warns that the project-file is
from an older version, and asks whether I'm sure to open it, and save
it as a newer version, so I say yes. Then it complains about the three
render-files it can't find (and like I wrote above, they are not on
the drive), so I tell FCP to forget about them. Next, the bin is
opened and I see only a sequence in it, no clips or sub-bins, nothing.
So, I open the sequence, and in it, there are three clips, and a piece
of text (it looks like this sequence was once used to try something
out by the editor). This plays back fine, and it even finds the
render-files for this sequence (there is the green line above the
transition used).

It's all very odd. Now, the owner of the drive told me that she had
this problem before, and the only way she could solve it, was sending
the drive back to Sweden, and hook it up to the original computer, and
open it there. Everything would be fine then. I just can't believe it,
that this is the only solution

cheers

-martin-

--
My e-mail address is a frequently changing random one to pollute spammer's
databases. I all encourage you to do the same

 

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In article <4ce64329.0407311035.cb7a0e3@posting.google.com>,
dylanpank@hotmail.com (dylan_j) wrote:

> Martin Heffels <judepeter2000@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
> news:<7b7mg0p3ag4pfmi2kjevjoim7anks4gocl@4ax.com>...
> > Hi all
> >
> > I am trying to import a project brought to me on a portable firewire
> > drive into FCP 4.5HD. The project sort of opens, whinges about that it
> > is made in a previous version (which is correct by the way), and then
> > reports some missing render-files. So, I dismiss the render-files, and
> > then there is one sequence which when I open it, it contains 3 clips.
> > But the rest of the project/clips is not in the bin.
> > Now, I reset all the owner-settings, trashed all the preferences (as
> > per instruction on Apple website) reset scratch-disk to point to the
> > location of the project, but still the project doesn't want to open. I
> > copied it on the built-in hard-disk inside the user-directory of an
> > existing user, did all of the above again, but still the project won't
> > open.
> > Anyway, I am at the end of my wits. Is there anything I am
> > overlooking, or could try? Maybe a hack of the project-file (looks
> > like this one contains plenty of ascii-text which could be edited).
> >
> > cheers from Down Under
> >
> > -martin-
>
> Martin,
>
Just a thought...
If the person who created the file can open the project on their
machine, without the files being present, ie with them all marked as
offline, then save the project with a new name, that project file could
be e.mailed to you, (it wont be big) and then you can relink the files
at your end...???
Andy

 

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Archived from groups: rec.video.production,rec.video.desktop (More info?)

Andy T <event-video@removespam.btclick.com> wrote in message news:<event-video-639E1E.13110801082004@news.newsguy.com>...
> In article <4ce64329.0407311035.cb7a0e3@posting.google.com>,
> dylanpank@hotmail.com (dylan_j) wrote:
>
> > Martin Heffels <judepeter2000@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
> > news:<7b7mg0p3ag4pfmi2kjevjoim7anks4gocl@4ax.com>...
> > > Hi all
> > >
> > > I am trying to import a project brought to me on a portable firewire
> > > drive into FCP 4.5HD. The project sort of opens, whinges about that it
> > > is made in a previous version (which is correct by the way), and then
> > > reports some missing render-files. So, I dismiss the render-files, and
> > > then there is one sequence which when I open it, it contains 3 clips.
> > > But the rest of the project/clips is not in the bin.
> > > Now, I reset all the owner-settings, trashed all the preferences (as
> > > per instruction on Apple website) reset scratch-disk to point to the
> > > location of the project, but still the project doesn't want to open. I
> > > copied it on the built-in hard-disk inside the user-directory of an
> > > existing user, did all of the above again, but still the project won't
> > > open.
> > > Anyway, I am at the end of my wits. Is there anything I am
> > > overlooking, or could try? Maybe a hack of the project-file (looks
> > > like this one contains plenty of ascii-text which could be edited).
> > >
> > > cheers from Down Under
> > >
> > > -martin-
> >
> > Martin,
> >
> Just a thought...
> If the person who created the file can open the project on their
> machine, without the files being present, ie with them all marked as
> offline, then save the project with a new name, that project file could
> be e.mailed to you, (it wont be big) and then you can relink the files
> at your end...???
> Andy

The person in Sweden needs to Stuff or Zip the file as somehow,
sending FCP projects files via email screws them up, but they're safe
if they saved in a compressed archive.

 

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Archived from groups: rec.video.production,rec.video.desktop (More info?)

In article <4ce64329.0408011013.429b108d@posting.google.com>, dylan_j says...
>
>The person in Sweden needs to Stuff or Zip the file as somehow,
>sending FCP projects files via email screws them up, but they're safe
>if they saved in a compressed archive.

Tha's odd. I assume your talking about sending the project-file directly as an
attachment via e-mail? If so, then maybe the program with which it was send,
thought it was ordinary text, and sent it as 7-bit i.s.o. 8-bit.

cheers

-martin-

--
My e-mail address is a frequently changing random one to pollute spammer's
databases. I all encourage you to do the same

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.video.production,rec.video.desktop (More info?)

In article <event-video-639E1E.13110801082004@news.newsguy.com>, Andy T says...
>
>Just a thought...
>If the person who created the file can open the project on their
>machine, without the files being present, ie with them all marked as
>offline, then save the project with a new name, that project file could
>be e.mailed to you, (it wont be big) and then you can relink the files
>at your end...???

That's a good idea, thanks So, the next step we'll do is to see if the
original
files are on the computer in Sweden, and if not, then I think we'll e-mail the
project-file to there, let it open on the original computer, which then
hopefully
will result in a project with the edit intact, but all the media as marked
off-line, e-mail it back, and then try to open it here.

cheers

-martin-

--
My e-mail address is a frequently changing random one to pollute spammer's
databases. I all encourage you to do the same

 

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Archived from groups: rec.video.production,rec.video.desktop (More info?)

"Martin Heffels" <judepeter2000@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
news:c3dog0dpd7co5n3unv74qkh5mj0lbhmq4d@4ax.com...
> On Sat, 31 Jul 2004 19:01:50 GMT, "nappy" <no_spam_@sorry.com> wrote:

> It's all very odd. Now, the owner of the drive told me that she had
> this problem before, and the only way she could solve it, was sending
> the drive back to Sweden, and hook it up to the original computer, and
> open it there. Everything would be fine then. I just can't believe it,
> that this is the only solution
>
> cheers
>
> -martin-

dang,
Martin.. I am afraid I just can not help... Has anyone in the FCP forum
at Apple been any help?

I have noticed thqat FCP will often forget what folder your project
files are in and if you don't look closely it will save new versions, when
you use Save As, in your user folder.. thus redirecting render files
there..It is very poor. But that's probably where any missing files are..
on the drive in Sweden..

If the project does open, and the files ARE on the drive, you may gave
to resort to reassembling ....hope it's a short program.. !

Andy T's suggestion might be worth looking into. That's what I would do
next. Let us know what you finally do.

best to ya.

n

 

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In article <ifbPc.102660$Jc1.13836@newssvr29.news.prodigy.com>, nappy says...
>
>
>dang,
> Martin.. I am afraid I just can not help... Has anyone in the FCP forum
>at Apple been any help?

Haven't been there, but tried the FCP HD forum at 2-pop.

>But that's probably where any missing files are..
>on the drive in Sweden..

Looks like it

> Andy T's suggestion might be worth looking into. That's what I would do
>next. Let us know what you finally do.

I will

thanks for your suggestions so far

-martin-

--
My e-mail address is a frequently changing random one to pollute spammer's
databases. I all encourage you to do the same

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.video.production,rec.video.desktop (More info?)

In article <cejs4l0l23@drn.newsguy.com>,
Martin Heffels <kcunq@ncdcuh.cevku98.net.cn> wrote:

> In article <4ce64329.0408011013.429b108d@posting.google.com>, dylan_j says...
> >
> >The person in Sweden needs to Stuff or Zip the file as somehow,
> >sending FCP projects files via email screws them up, but they're safe
> >if they saved in a compressed archive.
>
> Tha's odd. I assume your talking about sending the project-file directly as
> an
> attachment via e-mail? If so, then maybe the program with which it was send,
> thought it was ordinary text, and sent it as 7-bit i.s.o. 8-bit.
>
> cheers
>
> -martin-


Yeah, Sorry I should have mentioned that .. we have had that problem
with e.mailed projects too...!
Stuffit does the job brill...
regards
Andy