Final Cut Express 4 HD Log And Transfer Error

Please don't post the same question on multiple threads. What settings are on the media exactly? What settings are you using in FCE?

I apologize for posting multiple places. I'm afraid I don't know all the rules involved in seeking information/help.

I'm not sure I can help you help me, I guess.

I'll tell you what I know: I was told by the staff person at the local Apple store (who apparently teaches classes in this program) to go to Easy Set Up, select "All Formats," "AVCHD Apple 1920x108i60," and then to go to File, "Log and Transfer," select what I want from the clips displayed and then press the "Add Selection to Queue" button.

When I do, I get the spinny icon for a bit, then the exclamation in a stop sign icon with "Error: No Data."

And that's the sum total of what I know. I'm certain there are more settings in F.C.E., but whatever and whereever they are, they are however they come out of the box.

Is there, perhaps, a manual or genuine tutorial somewhere beyond the cute little placebo easily found at Apple?

Check the preferences in the log and transfer window and make sure it's set to plain stereo.

Preference are set to Plain Stereo. Still no luck.

I'm so tech impaired, I'm not sure how it's formatted. However, it's a Lacie. Actually, I figured out the problem by talking to a friend who's FCE savvy. He suggested importing large clips in segments, stitching them back together in FCE. Said that there's a file size limit on imports??? Anyway, tried it and it worked like a charm. However have another big issue now I'd like to pick your brain on. I'm new to these forums, not sure if it's appropriate. It involves "media off-line" messages. THANKS

There is no file size limit unless one is set in system settings, or if the drive is not correctly formatted. Select the drive on the desktop and press Cmd-I. What does it say?

Please explain the second part in greater detail. What are you doing, what happens when you do it, and what do you expect to happen?

It says MS DOS Fat 32. I guess I need to reformat (saw that suggestion), but wouldn't I lose all the stuff I have on there now? I'm probably going to need another one eventually anyway, only have a few projects on there now and it's over 2/3 full (300 gig capacity). Thanks for the CMD - I tip, I'd forgotten!

On the offline stuff, last night I marked in and out points on about 20 video clips, then renamed them to reference the subject matter. Saved the project before closing for the night. This morning, about half of them are coming up as offline. If I display them in the viewer window, I see the offline message and the number of the clip, also the in and out points where I marked them. Yet if I manually find that clip, it says that it says some of the attributes have changed - specifically, media start and end. If I press continue, I wind up with a totally black clip. If I press try again, nada. The especially frustrating thing is that I treated them all the same way when working last night... marked the points and then renamed them. Some are just fine and others not.

Thanks so much for your concern, this is my first big FCE project (20 minute oral history project for a small local museum) and I'm feeling WAY over my head suddenly. Thought I had at least mastered the basics.

Also have tried manually importing the offline clips into the project bin. That seems to work, but then I lose my marking points. And what reassurance do I have that the same thing won't happen again?

THANKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Have you tried reconnecting the clips?

fortunately, I was using different segments of the clips, so it was no big deal. In case I did want to "stitch" them back later, I overlapped a little to give me some working room.

Did you move the media on your drive? Rename it? Rename a folder? Unmount or unplug a drive with media? Launch the application while the drive was offline?

P.S. Was this on the FAT32 formatted drive? If so you really need to do this properly on a properly formatted drive. You absolutely should not be doing video on a FAT32 drive, not on a Mac.

Message was edited by: Tom Wolsky

Nope to all of the questions in the first paragraph. Yes, this was on the FAT drive. I'm guessing that I can't reformat the drive at this point. Can I buy a new one, reformat it and then transfer the files?

Again, my thanks for your attention, I feel pretty lame for taking up time of someone so obviously competent (and therefore probably VERY busy!).

It might work, but the files may get damaged. It really depends what happened during the ingest. From the symptoms you described, clips going offline, it looks dicey. If at all possible I would re-ingest the media onto a correctly formatted drive.

I had a similar problem. I solved it by changing the "Log and Transfer" option to use the "Apple Intermediate Codex" (under the little gear sign in the top right hand corner) and I was able to keep the AC-3 Surround Sound setting (which is half the fun with the Sony AVCHD camcorders). Importing worked smoothly after that. It's too bad that there is nothing in the manual about this - thank God for this forum!

What did you have to change it from?

There is no surround sound capability in FCE. After you ingest your media, how many audio tracks does it have?