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Titles disappeared (red screen with "Text missing") after update to FCPX 7 // difficulty relinking media files

I recently updated (somewhat accidentally) to FCPX 7. I want to access a recent library from May 2023 to find a project I want to use as a template for a new project. When I tried to launch it, a pop up said the library would need to be updated.


So, I made a copy of the library in my movies folder on my laptop and left the original on the external drive, for safety.


I allowed FCP to update the copy of the library in my movies folder. But when I opened it, many of the text titles were missing and only showing a red screen with a big "T". And a bunch of media files were also missing, which I was able to relink once when I created a new media storage folder in the same location. After that, when I trashed and retried to launch new copies of the library, the message said there were no files to link and I had to manually locate files and drop them into my project using replace and time to fit.


I also tried opening copies of backups and am having the same problem.


By the way, some of titles were from a Pixel Studio plug in. I spoke with someone there and they guided me through a uninstall and reinstallation of the plug in to see if that's why they weren't appearing in the project timeline. This didn't help.


Weirdly, I did manage to get the titles to appear once when I did this updating process. But then, when I closed down FCP and reopened that same updated library the titles were gone again.


I can't even manually replace the titles because the inspector doesn't show any information about which ones were used, so I don't know which title I used in which instance (it's a lyrics video so there are a lot of different titles.)


I'm assuming there is some sort of problem with FCP trying to find titles after the update. In particular, it appears that it is having difficulties with anything that is inside a compound clip. Unfortunately, I did not do any prep for the installation or save an xml file (which, to be honest, I don't even know what to do this even if I had.)


PS, I've checked that the titles folder contains .localized in its tree description.

PPS, I had to manually copy the library from the external drive to my laptop, since I couldn't open the library without updating it. There was no way to copy it from within the FCP browser.


Question 1: Anyone else having this problem after updating to version 7? And if so, how the heck do you fix it? I'm finding the whole library management thing to be very confusing. So, any advice would be appreciated.


Question 2: is there any way I can revert to 10.6 where my project / library actually works? And if not, why not? Hey Apple... why can't I downgrade?


Question 3 (more of a rant, really): Why doesn't apple give you a pop up warning before you download an update with a list of instructions of things to do in preparation (ie, save an xml file, open up compound clips)? I am an intermediate, probably average, user of the program. I am not an IT person and am only finding out after the fact that there might be a bunch of tech things to deal with before the update. I've been caught by surprise and now I can't access old projects that I need as templates. If I can't solve this problem, then I am going to have to waste hours and hours and hours rebuilding the template, only to risk it being destroyed next time Apple does an update. Sorry to be so cranky about this, but it doesn't seem reasonable that I need a degree in computer science to use film editing software!!


End of rant: still looking for a solution to my problem of missing titles. Any ideas?


I'm using Ventura 13.6.2 on a Mac pro M1


Thanks for reading!


MacBook Pro 14″, macOS 13.6

Posted on Dec 15, 2023 7:16 AM

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11 replies

Dec 15, 2023 7:30 AM in response to karyn147

Yes, I've had lots of 3rd party templates go offline in my Project timelines. Had to reinstall a couple, replacing with new copies was the only solution to some. Royal PITA, really makes a TON of extra work for us.


You can't downgrade because once a Library is updated to the latest version, it won't open in past versions because there are new features and code that past versions don't have any compatibility with. This is not just Apple or FCPX, this happens on all platforms with most software. Not often backwards compatible after a certain upgrade point.


This is the first time templates have gone offline due to an update. I think the FCPX development team is being made to focus on FCPX iPad and iPhones too much to really upgrade FCPX properly.

Dec 15, 2023 9:21 AM in response to BenB

Thanks for the confirmation, BenB! It's good (but not good) to know it's a common problem. I'm thinking, though, that I would be able to open the original libraries in an older version of FCX (by older, I mean only back to May 2023) because I kept the original libraries intact on an external drive and only opened and updated copies of them.


I think you're right it's a 3rd party plug in problem, because when I try to open the motion files found in their plug in folders, Motion doesn't recognize some of them either.


I really think Apple should make it possible to downgrade when a new version comes out, because it is impossible to guarantee there will be compatibility of these 3rd party plug ins in the .0 version. That way if issue come up, we can keep working until the 3rd party providers have a chance to patch their plug ins.


But even the titles that are native to FCX are messed up, because they haven't retained some of the formatting information, such as capitalization via check box. All the letters are showing up in mixed case, even though I use the capitalization check box in the original project. And the 3rd party plug ins that are "working" have lost all of the formatting and the actual text is missing too.


Gah. What a time suck. Remembering now why I usually wait for several iterations to be released before I bother to upgrade software. Bugs upon bugs.

Dec 15, 2023 9:41 AM in response to Tom Wolsky

Fortunately I have the original libraries preserved on an external drive. I copied one of them to my laptop "movies" folder by dragging and dropping it and opened/updated it from there. The copy is the one that isn't working properly.


Do you mean I could try using Carbon Copy cloner to make the library copy from ext drive to my laptop?

Dec 15, 2023 9:45 AM in response to Tom Wolsky

I think I do have this laptop backed up on an ext drive using CCC incrementally, but unfortunately I'm away from home and am not sure if I brought that particular ext drive with me. Having said that, I'll check the ones I packed. Maybe with any luck, I slipped it in the pile. Yours and terryb's message give me hope! :)


If I do locate the previous version of the software, can I just uninstall the new one and drag and drop the old one in it's place in my applications folder? Or do I have to do some sort of special installation?

Titles disappeared (red screen with "Text missing") after update to FCPX 7 // difficulty relinking media files

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