This discussion is locked
Paul Figgiani

Q: FCP Project Files are all "invalid format?"

I tried uploading many FCP Project Files with no success. All Project Files run fine in Final Cut Pro.

Once the upload process begins, the "Jobs in Progress" status spins for about a minute or so. At this point a red exclamation point appears, then a popup window that states:

"Unable to Analyze Project ... Invalid Format."

The project file makes it's way into FC Server as a listed asset, however when I choose to "get Info" and do a Search for the associated project files, nothing shows up. The manual mentions or recommends to use file extensions, and I have.

I read Final Cut Server is supposed to automatically recognize all FCP Project file's associated media. In fact they don't need to be packaged in a folder, etc.

Lastly I created a brand new FCP Project with a single video clip and a single audio clip after I installed the new ProApps Update. Still no luck.

Is anyone experiencing the same issue?

Thanks.

-paul.

Posted on Apr 11, 2008 5:03 AM

Close

Q: FCP Project Files are all "invalid format?"

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

Previous Page 2 of 4 last Next
  • by R Longwell,

    R Longwell R Longwell Apr 17, 2008 5:11 PM in response to Paul Figgiani
    Level 1 (70 points)
    Apr 17, 2008 5:11 PM in response to Paul Figgiani
    Same thing is happening for us too. FCP 6.0.3 project files are failing due to "invalid format". Would love to see a solution to this!
  • by Paul Figgiani,

    Paul Figgiani Paul Figgiani Apr 17, 2008 7:18 PM in response to Paul Figgiani
    Level 3 (785 points)
    Apr 17, 2008 7:18 PM in response to Paul Figgiani
    Keep in mind the XML Export option is a valid work-around. In fact I was under the impression using this method would not carry important timeline adjustments, like opacity and keyframes. I was wrong about this ...

    Also, I am in contact with an extremely helpful person at apple. I will post an update when I can.

    For now - use the XML Export option. Bring it (the XML file) over to FC Server, log and upload. All associated assets will follow. If you need to re-access the project in FCP, click the *Check Out* feature, *Use Original Media*, and *Keep Media with Project*. Just Control + click the FCP Project file icon to access the Check Out option.

    Bring it back into FCP, perform your edits, and simply check it back in to Final Cut Server.

    It works well.

    The FCP project files still don't work here. As I suspected, it's not isolated to my system considering you (and others) are experiencing the same problem.

    -paul.
  • by R Longwell,

    R Longwell R Longwell Apr 19, 2008 10:14 AM in response to Paul Figgiani
    Level 1 (70 points)
    Apr 19, 2008 10:14 AM in response to Paul Figgiani
    I've also tried re-installing to no avail. Still getting "invalid format" on FCP projects.

    Does anyone have a solution from Apple yet?
  • by R Longwell,

    R Longwell R Longwell Apr 24, 2008 4:46 PM in response to Marc.S
    Level 1 (70 points)
    Apr 24, 2008 4:46 PM in response to Marc.S
    The good folks at Apple were able to solve this problem for me.

    In the QuickTime library of the XServe I had AJA codecs installed, but no AJA hardware. Turns out on import of the FCP project file the FCSvr attempted to access the AJA hardware (no idea why). Once we removed the AJA codecs FCP projects uploaded to FCSvr perfectly.
  • by Paul Figgiani,

    Paul Figgiani Paul Figgiani Apr 24, 2008 5:02 PM in response to R Longwell
    Level 3 (785 points)
    Apr 24, 2008 5:02 PM in response to R Longwell
    Can you document exactly what you removed? For example were the codecs prefixes "AJA", or were they "Pro IO?"

    Thanks.

    -paul.
  • by R Longwell,

    R Longwell R Longwell Apr 24, 2008 5:30 PM in response to Paul Figgiani
    Level 1 (70 points)
    Apr 24, 2008 5:30 PM in response to Paul Figgiani
    We have both the ProIO and Kona 3 cards, so I loose track as to which codec goes to which (if any).

    But we removed these:

    AJACodec.component
    AJADigitizer.component
    AJAMuxer.component
    AJAUncompressedCodec.component
    AJAVideoOutput.component
    AJAVideoOutputClock.component
    AJAVideoOutputCodec.component
  • by Paul Figgiani,

    Paul Figgiani Paul Figgiani Apr 24, 2008 6:18 PM in response to R Longwell
    Level 3 (785 points)
    Apr 24, 2008 6:18 PM in response to R Longwell
    Ok. In fact I have been through this with apple.

    I don't have any components with the AJA prefix.

    However I have these:

    ProIODigitizer.component
    ProIOMuxer.component
    ProIOUncompressedCodec.component
    ProIOVideoOutput.component
    ProIOVideoOutputClock.component
    ProIOVideoOutputCodec.component

    I don't have this:

    AJACodec.component, or this:
    ProIOCodec.component

    My guess is your stuff was from a Kona package. My device is an IO. I'll bet if I pull these out of the library the problem will go away. I'll try it

    thanks.

    -paul.
  • by R Longwell,

    R Longwell R Longwell Apr 24, 2008 6:25 PM in response to Paul Figgiani
    Level 1 (70 points)
    Apr 24, 2008 6:25 PM in response to Paul Figgiani
    Crossing my fingers...
  • by Paul Figgiani,

    Paul Figgiani Paul Figgiani Apr 24, 2008 6:42 PM in response to R Longwell
    Level 3 (785 points)
    Apr 24, 2008 6:42 PM in response to R Longwell
    I appreciate it, but no luck.

    Can you confirm one thing:

    Are you sure you have this:

    AJACodec.component

    and not:

    AJAAudio.plugin

    I don't see anything that refers to a codec, but I found this ProIOAudio.plugin. This wasn't pulled.

    thanks again.

    -paul
  • by R Longwell,

    R Longwell R Longwell Apr 24, 2008 6:52 PM in response to Paul Figgiani
    Level 1 (70 points)
    Apr 24, 2008 6:52 PM in response to Paul Figgiani
    Yes we only had AJACodec.component and not the audio plugin.

    You should try taking everything out of the Library/QuickTime folder on your FCSvr. See if that works. If it does you can slowly add the components back in one-by-one and see if you can isolate the offending file.
  • by Paul Figgiani,

    Paul Figgiani Paul Figgiani Apr 24, 2008 6:53 PM in response to R Longwell
    Level 3 (785 points)
    Apr 24, 2008 6:53 PM in response to R Longwell
    Will do. I appreciate your help.

    -paul.
  • by Paul Figgiani,

    Paul Figgiani Paul Figgiani Apr 24, 2008 8:59 PM in response to Paul Figgiani
    Level 3 (785 points)
    Apr 24, 2008 8:59 PM in response to Paul Figgiani
    I removed every codec and component from the system library/quicktime folder as well as the user/library quicktime folder. Still no luck.

    I give up I'll continue to use the XML workaround and see what happens.

    -paul.
  • by dcramirez,

    dcramirez dcramirez Apr 29, 2008 5:45 PM in response to Paul Figgiani
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 29, 2008 5:45 PM in response to Paul Figgiani
    any answers yet? Apple?

    I have an editor today that could not upload a simple project that only contained audio files. everything is up to date and other projects have uploaded without errors. that's not to say there hasn't been invalid format errors. most of our errors up until this point were do to "older" projects that were converted. by older I mean from last fall.

    why can't FCS do it's main job?
  • by mw10dot1,

    mw10dot1 mw10dot1 May 6, 2008 4:35 PM in response to Paul Figgiani
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 6, 2008 4:35 PM in response to Paul Figgiani
    Ok I came across this over the weekend.

    The reason i found that was causing the problem was the server was not logged in.

    After logging in on the server everything was fine. Got to love apple with the random error messages
    I hope this helps some of you from pulling your hair out.

    Michael
  • by Izzyvision,

    Izzyvision Izzyvision May 19, 2008 6:53 PM in response to mw10dot1
    Level 1 (5 points)
    May 19, 2008 6:53 PM in response to mw10dot1
    This solved this issue for me too. Went to the Mac we are using as the server, logged in the user which I used to install FCS with and bang - error message gone and linked files all uploading.

    Make sure your server user is logged in...
Previous Page 2 of 4 last Next