HELP! Im in final cut pro, and the window where the video should be playing is black

Which window? Viewer, Canvas?

This is very basic stuff and if you don't know the common terminology used by finalcut, you're gonna have serious problems working with this program.

What kind of video are you trying to play? Select the clip in the browser and hit command-9.

You might try deleting your preferences. For a handy tool, download preference manager from

www.digitalrebellion.com

#15 White or Black Canvas or Viewer

Shane's Stock Answer #15: White or Black Canvas or Viewer

Make sure the canvas or viewer are selected then go to VIEW>CHANNELS and set it to RGB. It might be set to ALPHA.

OR...

Click on the drop down menu above the Viewer or Canvas and make sure that you are on IMAGE or IMAGE + WIREFRAME.

Do you have a sequence in the timeline? Is there video in the timeline? Are the video clips in the timeline enabled? Is the visibility for the video track enabled? If you double click on a clip in the timeline, does it load in the viewer and is it visible?

so as Shane suggested, change it from alpha to RGB.

It should be on RGB. Also the second half of Shane's stock answer make sure it's set to image and not wireframe. Also make sure you haven't moved it off the screen if you were in Image+Wireframe or wireframe. Set the zoom popup to fit all and see if the image is off the screen.

Please don't select all the categories/tags - you have a specific problem in Final Cut Pro - dancing around and shouting help me help me everyone at the top of your lungs wastes everyone's time.

c'mon - you knew the problem was in FCP, not Compressor, not Cinema Tools, not LiveType, not Motion, not Soundtrack Pro...

Patrick