Media refuses to reconnect- something went awry with QT files

Question

Media refuses to reconnect- something went awry with QT files

I posted this question a year back, and I'm just getting back to editing this project and I still haven't figured this out. I do have some new info, now, too.

I moved hundreds of gigs of footage from one drive to another.

This is my reconnect media workflow:

Select the offline files in the browser
Go to File- Reconnect Media
Select Offline Files

Files to Connect window shows the correct files
I hit Search
FCP locates the media in it's new location
I select "Choose"

And then the problem arises. The Media DOES NOT appear in the Files Located. The connect button does not light up.

I've done a lot of editing on this project already, so I need the files to reconnect properly. Any ideas?? I'm running 6.0.5

I HAVE tried the LOCATE Option- I DO find the media, but the problem is NOT that the computer cannot locate the files. It finds them just fine. It's just that for some reason once it finds them, it skips the part where it's supposed to connect them.

I just transferred all those files to NEW drive and the problem persists. However, this is what I discovered. If I try to drag the files to my browser, FCP gives me a +File Error: Unkonwn file+ message. +QT also tells me that The move could not be opened. The file is not a movie file+.

BUT when I look at the info for the files, the files are the size of QT files. For example, one of the files is 1.5 GB, and my finder calls them quicktime files. Before I start capturing all this footage over, can anyone suggest anyway to convert these files so they will work in FCP? They all at some point did work in FCP. Should I dump all these files from the new drive for good and start over?

G5, Mac OS X (10.4.11), Dual 2 Ghz PowerPC, 4.5 GB DDR SDRAM

Posted on Aug 24, 2009 6:04 AM

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Answer 1

Alchroma

Level 7

23,809 points

Aug 24, 2009 6:50 AM in response to cameragirlnyc

Have you checked you have Read/Write permission to these files?

Al

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Answer 2

Aug 24, 2009 7:15 AM in response to Alchroma

Thanks- I just did that- I can read/write. Just in case, I switched it so that other users can also read/write, but it did not change anything.

Another thing that is strange is that there are clips from the exact same reel in the project that connected perfectly. I don't know what could have gone wrong with those that don't want to connect.

I am looking at other ways to deal with this as quickly as possible so that I can get back to editing. Can I re-capture ENTIRE reels and then try to reconnect the separate clips from the single QT file? I have been having lots of capturing problems (TC breaks, etc, maybe because the tapes are 3 years old) I am editing in 24pA. Should I remove the pulldown during capture or after?

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Answer 3

Aug 24, 2009 8:08 AM in response to cameragirlnyc

Another strange thing: I kept trying to drag and drop different files that are not reconnecting from my drive into my browser. Sometimes I get this message:

MEDIA PERFORMANCE WARNING
The following media files are not optimized for Final Cut Pro.

It is highly recommended that you either recapture the media or use the Media Manager to creat new copies of the files to improve their performance for multi-stream playback.

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Answer 4

Aug 24, 2009 8:26 AM in response to cameragirlnyc

More strangeness- my system seems to keep crashing when I try to reconnect. The "force quit" window doesn't have FCP in red, but the reconnect window won't disappear after I hit close, and I finally have to force quit the program.

Also, this time when I opened my project, final cut gave me the same MEDIA PERFORMANCE warning that I mentioned above, only this time it showed hundreds of clips with this problem! I don't know what to do...Do I have re-capture all 100 hours? Does anyone know how to use Media Manager to: "creat new copies of the files to improve their performance for multi-stream playback?"

thanks

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Answer 5

Rienk

Level 4

3,155 points

Aug 24, 2009 11:22 AM in response to cameragirlnyc

OK, Agree, this is weirdness all over.

So first of all:

I HAVE tried the LOCATE Option- I DO find the media, but the problem is NOT that the computer cannot locate the files. It finds them just fine. It's just that for some reason once it finds them, it skips the part where it's supposed to connect them.

You are aware of the fact that YOU have to select the specific file from the list it finds BEFORE the CHOOSE button becomes Blue? (Of course you are aware of that, but, well, you know, I have to ask...)

Also: This Performance warning is because of a codec FCP doesn't like.
Is there any application that WILL open these files. Apparantly FCP does although it protests... So what are the 'item properties' of these clips (Codec, frame size, frame rate; give us all). Are these settings the one you thought they were. How is the material captured from what source. What way are the drives formatted? HFS+ (wrong), MAC OS Extended (good)?
Did you do a check on your drives with Disk Utility or DiskWarrior or any disk-help-software?

Did you try to trash preferences (lots of threads about that).
Do you have the proper combination of FCP version and QuickTime version (lots of threads about that as well)?

I know a lot of questions. Sorry, but every question invokes a solution 🙂

Rienk

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Answer 6

Andy Neil

Level 4

3,795 points

Aug 24, 2009 11:32 AM in response to Rienk

Based on all the "weirdness" you've mentioned: Refusal to connect, not optimized messages from FCP, and system crashes, I'm afraid that I'm leaning towards a corrupt media issue or drive issue.

Since you said you had moved all this media from one drive to another I wonder if some information bits got lost in the transfer and the files are somehow not complete (at least so that FCP can connect).

Here's what I'd try if I were in your shoes:

Grab a few of these files and move them to another drive (even your system drive if you have no other). See if you can connect just those files to your project. If you can, I would seriously look into getting another drive for your media.

Another thing to try is to run a couple of files through Compressor, using the same codec as the source and then try to connect to them.

Andy

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Answer 7

Aug 24, 2009 1:10 PM in response to Andy Neil

I have seen this happen before if the actual Media files gets corrupted.

Try taking your media, opening it all in QuickTime to see if it can open correctly first.

It is likely the media files themselves are corrupt, or can not be opened. If this is the case you will need to re-capture these bad media files.

Reconnect is pretty dumb when it comes to file integrity, so although the file may be on a hard drive, FCP Reconnect does not do any check to see if the media file is actually good.

-KF

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Answer 8

Aug 24, 2009 1:27 PM in response to Klaus Floride

I agree that Reconnect is pretty stupid. It seems like the corrupt files are totally confusing it. The Reconnect box opens up and finds the file, and when I hit "open" it sends me back to the Reconnect Files box. BUT the Reconnect box doesn't close, and from there on I have to force quit the program. This seems like a problem with FCP 6, so I hope they figure out a way to resolve it.

I also think you are right that some of the files got corrupt. There's no rhyme or reason to which files, so I probably just have to go through and reconnect the ones that won't open. I still get the MEDIA PERFORMANCE message when I open the project, but I hope that I can safely ignore that for now. What a pain. If anyone knows how to use Media Manager to optimize the files (instead of recapturing) let me know! Thanks

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Answer 9

Aug 26, 2009 9:11 AM in response to cameragirlnyc

I switched to a much faster computer, and I am no longer having the problem with reconnect media freezing up every time it can't find a file. However, I am still getting the MEDIA PERFORMANCE message, which suggests I should recapture clips or use media manager to create new versions of them. Any advice about this? It happens when I drag a clip from the drive into the project, as well as when I first open the program.

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Answer 10

Aug 26, 2009 9:19 AM in response to cameragirlnyc

Uh Oh. More problems with some files I just captured today. I know have quicktime files that open fine in quicktime, but some of them are no longer recognized by FCP. It seems this happened after I removed pulldown. It didn't happen with ALL of the files I removed pulldown from, though. Just a few of them.

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Answer 11

Andy Neil

Level 4

3,795 points

Aug 26, 2009 9:44 AM in response to cameragirlnyc

cameragirlnyc wrote:
Uh Oh. More problems with some files I just captured today. I know have quicktime files that open fine in quicktime, but some of them are no longer recognized by FCP.

How did you capture these files? How did you remove the pulldown? Is this all happening within FCP? I've never heard of a situation where you capture from within FCP and then FCP won't recognize the file it just captured.

Andy

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Answer 12

Aug 26, 2009 11:38 AM in response to Andy Neil

Hi Andy,

I captured in FCP at 29.97 (NTSC). All the clips were fine at that point. Then I removed the advanced pulldown, and several of the clips went offline. The offline clips are still in the drive- when I try to drag them back into FCP, it does not recognize them. However, QT still plays them. I put those clips through Compressor and then FCP did recognize them. It's a bit of a long workflow, though, so I am about to try to set the next clip to capture with the pulldown happening during capture. Thanks for your response

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Answer 13

Andy Neil

Level 4

3,795 points

Aug 26, 2009 11:46 AM in response to cameragirlnyc

Again, how were you removing the pulldown? FCP has a feature to remove pulldown during capture. Pulldown can also be removed in Compressor (though I don't recommend it). It sounds as if you're not using either.

Also, why are you removing pulldown? What was the original footage shot on?

Andy

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Answer 14

Aug 26, 2009 3:04 PM in response to Andy Neil

I am not removing Pulldown during caputure I am capturing in 29.97 and then removing in FCP, using the REMOVE ADVANCED PULLDOWN under the TOOLS menu. The footage was shot on 24pA, and the footage that is still acting properly in the computer is already in 23.98 (this problem did NOT happen when I first started editing this project a few years ago. The Remove Advance Pulldown worked fine then.)

In any case, after removing pulldown from a few more clips I captured in 29.97 I see that that IS what is making the clips go offline and not be readable by FCP. For the clips I captured thus far, I will run them through compressor to make them work in FCP, but I have dozens more tapes to go and I would love to find an easier solution.

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Answer 15

Andy Neil

Level 4

3,795 points

Aug 26, 2009 3:13 PM in response to cameragirlnyc

Have you tried the capture preset that removes pulldown on capture?

Andy

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