When a person is exporting a video in Final Cut Pro, a window appeared and it said that some of the files maybe be missing, searched everywhere in the editing timeline and none of the files are missing.
MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 15.7
Here is an updated version converted to a web app. Just double-click on the .html to load it in your browser. It opens a *local* web page. There is no internet access. I've only tested Safari 26.2 and Firefox 147.0.2 on macOS 26.2.
To use: export an FCP project XML, then drag/drop to the local web page.
Features:
Limitations: unlike the above-listed Python script which can cross-check the XML-indicated effects, templates, etc, to your local folders, the security of a web app means it can't read anything from your hard drive. However, it still detects some possible or suspected problems by analyzing the project XML.
The report feature might be useful from a support standpoint for rapidly determining which clips and effects are on a timeline.
Here is an updated version converted to a web app. Just double-click on the .html to load it in your browser. It opens a *local* web page. There is no internet access. I've only tested Safari 26.2 and Firefox 147.0.2 on macOS 26.2.
To use: export an FCP project XML, then drag/drop to the local web page.
Features:
Limitations: unlike the above-listed Python script which can cross-check the XML-indicated effects, templates, etc, to your local folders, the security of a web app means it can't read anything from your hard drive. However, it still detects some possible or suspected problems by analyzing the project XML.
The report feature might be useful from a support standpoint for rapidly determining which clips and effects are on a timeline.
And the error message is about some missing effect or title. You have an effect you've applied that is either out of date or has gone missing for some reason and needs to be reinstalled. Nothing indicates missing clips. So as said, check those green sections, what effects are applied there?
There was formerly a free utility named X-FX Handler which checked for missing titles, effects, generators, etc, but it no longer works on current macOS. I had an AI write a basic Python script that does this. I tested it on my machine, and it seems to work. It is named fcp_fx_chk.py
This writes nothing to your machine. It only reads from the project XML file you export. The full Python source code is below.
To use:
That checks for missing media, templates, titles, effects, generators, and transitions. It prints out info about each one that is missing or that FCP *thinks* is missing. To see command-line help: python3 fcp_fx_chk.py --help
Help Info:
usage: fcpxml_missing_scan.py [-h] [--mediaonly] [--titlesonly] [--effectsonly] [--generatorsonly] [--transitionsonly] [--nomediacheck] [--json PATH] [--motion-root MOTION_ROOT] [--fxplug-root FXPLUG_ROOT] [-v]
fcpxml [fcpxml ...]
Scan FCPXML export for missing/offline media, titles, effects, generators, or transitions.
positional arguments:
fcpxml Path(s) to exported .fcpxml file(s) OR .fcpxmld package(s) (containing Info.fcpxml)
options:
-h, --help show this help message and exit
--mediaonly Only check media references
--titlesonly Only check titles
--effectsonly Only check effects/filters
--generatorsonly Only check generators
--transitionsonly Only check transitions
--nomediacheck Check everything except media
--json PATH Write findings as JSON to PATH (instead of printing)
--motion-root MOTION_ROOT
Additional Motion Templates root to search (repeatable)
--fxplug-root FXPLUG_ROOT
Additional FxPlug/Plugins root to search (repeatable)
-v, --verbose Verbose indexing output
Is the exported video OK?
Nothing missing there?
Luis, here is an attempt to post a link to the utility, and I will immediately delete the post in hopes that you get it via email. (I tried to delete this post but I don't see how).
This is a WeTransfer link to a Python script, the purpose of which is to scan an exported FCP project XML and find clips with missing effects.
To use:
It's footage from Balto ripped from the DVD from DVDFab.
Was it a text message or an icon? Screenshot would help, if y'all could export it again.
Those weird green frames indicate a clip corruption.
I'd hazard a guess on GOP structure getting in a tangle.
AlC
Thank you for this script, I am sure I will learn a lot from it.
I downloaded it, and noticed a problem, that is likely to stymie less technically inclined users: several characters were replaced by what is apparently their HTML representations, resulting of course in a lot syntax errors if one tries to run the script as is.
Just an example of what I am seeing:
res = root.find("resources")
Of course, if one is aware of it, one can do an overall find and replace.
(544 occurrences of this one, but then there are others like < for <, ' for the single quote, and more)
Rather than one trying to fix this, perhaps you could repost the original?
Luis, thanks. Since we cannot attach files or post links to files, that leaves only one option, which is the "add additional text" feature. Unfortunately, it appears that alters certain "regular expression" characters, which are common in Python and macOS shell scripts.
Do you know of any way to avoid this?
Everything is there. But nothing is missing.
It is difficult to see clearly, but in all that quick scrolling that you showed, it appears that some parts show green artifacts. Maybe that is where the problem lies?
I mean this:
It sounds like an interesting utility.
Missing Final Cut Pro files and None of them are missing