HT203477: Final Cut Pro X 10.1 and later: Troubleshooting basics

Learn about Final Cut Pro X 10.1 and later: Troubleshooting basics
touchjam

Q: FCP crashed, I lost my project and footage, can I recover?

I have an FCPX library on an external SSD.  I was editing a project on it and the drive disconected mid edit.  FCP crashed and shut down.  I re started and all of my media and my project is gone.  The whole event I was working on it empty.  Can I recover?

MacBook Pro, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.3)

Posted on Oct 3, 2015 8:29 PM

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Q: FCP crashed, I lost my project and footage, can I recover?

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  • by Tom Wolsky,

    Tom Wolsky Tom Wolsky Oct 4, 2015 12:31 AM in response to touchjam
    Level 10 (118,212 points)
    Apple TV
    Oct 4, 2015 12:31 AM in response to touchjam

    FFrom the file menu see if you can open a recent backup.

  • by Alchroma,

    Alchroma Alchroma Oct 4, 2015 2:05 AM in response to touchjam
    Level 6 (18,976 points)
    Video
    Oct 4, 2015 2:05 AM in response to touchjam

    touchjam wrote:

     

    I have an FCPX library on an external SSD.  I was editing a project on it and the drive disconected mid edit.  FCP crashed and shut down.  I re started and all of my media and my project is gone.  The whole event I was working on it empty.  Can I recover?

     

    Also try looking in your Movies Folder > Final Cut Backups.

    Find the name of the Library required and select the latest time stamped one.

     

    The Backup is the database and contains no actual media files.

    The media files will need to be accessible so check that the external is working OK.

     

    Al

  • by David Bogie Chq-1,

    David Bogie Chq-1 David Bogie Chq-1 Oct 4, 2015 5:51 AM in response to touchjam
    Level 7 (25,777 points)
    Video
    Oct 4, 2015 5:51 AM in response to touchjam

    Possibly related solution, this user got a set of instructions from Apple Support that I have not seen before. This method of restoring a missing project from a backup seems weirdly and inappropriate non-intuitive but I've not had to recover a missing project from a backup library file. Hope I don't ever need to after reading this because if it's not in the manual, I'd never think of it. Maybe this is just how it's supposed to be done:

     

    my final cut pro X closed down. after opening it, my project had disappeared, and a yellow triangle with an exclamation mark appeared next to the file name. the file has disappeared. where and how can i find it again?

  • by Tom Wolsky,

    Tom Wolsky Tom Wolsky Oct 4, 2015 5:56 AM in response to David Bogie Chq-1
    Level 10 (118,212 points)
    Apple TV
    Oct 4, 2015 5:56 AM in response to David Bogie Chq-1

    That's the first method to try to open the backup library from inside FCP. It works in most cases and is especially important if the library used managed media, but the files are still inside the nonfunctioning library. Doing it this way FCP knows which library it's supposed to access for the media. If the media is external it's less of a problem.

  • by CMB9876,

    CMB9876 CMB9876 Apr 7, 2016 4:04 AM in response to touchjam
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Apr 7, 2016 4:04 AM in response to touchjam

    Hi,

    I had the same problem. Just called Apple Care and it worked.

     

    1. Open FCPX.
    2. Go to your library where you were working in.
    3. Go to >File > New Project and make a new Project (just give it a name and the same Format (HD or so) what your other project was.
    4. Close FCPX

     

    1. Open >Finder
    2. Go to your FCPX Libraries folder.
    3. Right mouse click on your correct Library and click 'Show content'.
    4. Here you will see your folder from your project which does not work anymore. Open that folder.
    5. Here you will find the file called CurrentVersion.fcpevent
    6. Copy this file.
    7. Go to the folder from the New Project you just created. Open this folder in a new tab.
    8. Paste (CMD V) this file into this folder and overwrite the file.  Close the Finder screens.

     

    1. Open FCP.
    2. Open your just newly created Project in the timeline.
    3. In my case my correct project opens up again.

     

    To be sure, make always a copy of your file.

    1. Go to < Edit > Duplicate Project as Snapshot. This copies your file into a new file (and doesn't take a lot of space). Best is to do this at the end of your day. Be sure to continue work in the correct file.

     

    Good luck!