How do I reconnect media in FCP-X?

Any improvements to this in the update? It doesn't say anything about reconnecting media, so i'm guessing not.

But not being able to reconnect media manually is absurd for an app of this type. It completely messes up the way I often work on projects - it means that rendered-out animations and music I'm using in an FCPX project would have to be effectively FINISHED before I give them to FCP, which makes much more difficult the creative possibility of changing them based on things I realize or change my mind on when editing together the final video. Or the capability to rough out both audio and video simultaneously for videos of performances…

Here is what you do. I created a timeline using media on my external HDD, then coppied the media off onto my mac book then ejected the HDD. So as you expect, fully offline.

They have hidden the reconect but it is there in some form, if you click: "file>import from camera".

At the bottom there is the "open archive..." button click on that and navigate to the folder you know your footage is in (or seach then navigate if you don't know).

Your footage is greyed out but thats ok because you are only pointing it in the direction of the folder, click open.

The footage lines up asif you where importing it from the cameras flash memory.

Select what you need and import it.

Wait a few seconds and all your ugly red boxes will be replaced with beautifull sweet footage and a relieved deep breath out.

cool. But does this work if you have actually changed a file - like if you updated an audio mix - where the file name is the same but the modification date, data contents and potentially length (in time) of the file are slightly different?

I guess i can download the demo now and try it myself.

At the moment I'm not sure. I might try that tomorrow and see what happens, I have only just come back to FCP X I have to use Premiere for work.

I think this is probably the number one edit task that I do, ro replace all the stock comps, title comps, etc. I am totally shocked that this is missing.

I went ahead ahead threw my $400 into the ring to check out the new FCPX, Compressor and Motion. I'm finding that I won't be able to actually use FCPX in our studio. It's simple things like this that make it unusable. Who gives a toot about a bell or whistle when it doesn't do the most rudimentary edit workflows?

There is a replace edit function. Is that what you want? This is has nothing to do with replacing disonnected media, or replacing files with other files.

i have ( had ) the same problem; and here a short description about my WORKAROUND ( and my environment, and workflow ).

my environment:

NFS-Linux share, where my original footage, events and projects are on ( i don't use any local storage )

FCP-X 10.0.1

Motion 5.0.1

everything unchecked on every import so there are just links in Final Cut Events folder

workflow:

FCPX: importing my footage

FCPX: create 1st project

FCPX: place my clips in project-timeline ( more than 100 clips )

FCPX: export 1st project

Motion: post process it and export it afterwards

FCPX: import the post processed clip again ( everything unchecked again, so again just links in Final cut Events folder )

FCPX: create 2nd project, and place the post processed clip there and do lot of other things with it ( e.g. using blade to split it in same pieces so it looks like the 1st project, then color correction, etc. )

each time i export my 1st project, do the post processing in motion, export it, the 2nd porject shows me this "media files changed outside" thing.

WORKAROUND:

just after you export the post processed clip the very first time do the following:

.) open terminal window

.) go to the directory where you placed the post processed and exported clip

.) execute: touch -m -r <exported file name> tempfile ( so the file called "tempfile" gets same access and modification time as your exported clip )

each time you changed your exported clip outside:

.) close FCPX

.) post process your clip outside, export it with same filename as before

.) open terminal window, and change to the directory where this - just exported - clip is

.) execute: touch -m -r tempfile <just exported clip>
.) now the timestamp (access and modification time) is used of the temp file

.) open FCPX

.) re-rendering is needed, but media is connected as expected

even changing the lenght of the exported clip is possible, but then you additionally have to do the following - after you did the steps above:

.) go to the event browser

.) open the clip in the time line

.) drag & drop the same clip ( same file ) from the finder above that clip in the time line

.) after that you should be able to change the lenght of it

.) now the addional seconds are available in the clip in the event browser ( but not in the project/timeline - of course )

so for me it looks like that the timestamp - not sure which one ( access time and/or modification time ) - and the filename is used inside FCPX to reference footage ( events and projects ) and as long as u have those you can reconnect/relink it again, i haven't tested what happens if you remove the file from disk/share and what happens if FCPX is opened before you used the touch command to assign the correct timestamp.

i wish and hope it solves your problem as well as it solved mine.

cheers,

christian

I have found a solution that works well for me, takes about a minute or so when you know what to do.

Since Final Cut Pro X looks at the MetaData (Creation date, modification date) to decide what files to use and where, we need to match that to the original file we used.

1. You need some kind of application that allows you to edit MetaData. You can download Apple's Developer Tools (XCode) for free in the App Store. This will do the job.

2. Once you have installed XCode (or other application that can edit MetaData) take a look at the original file's MetaData - Creation Date and Modification Date.

Since I used XCode I will tell you how to do this using the Terminal.

3. Open the Terminal. Type in GetFileInfo and drag your original file into the window, and press enter. This will give you the MetaData of that file.

4. Open a new Terminal window, and type GetFileInfo and drag your NEW file, to see what it says. The creation date and modification date will most likely be different.

5. In the new Terminal window, type:

SetFile -d "the exact creation date and time of your original file"

and drag your new file into the window to get the path. Press enter.

------For example------

SetFile -d "10/14/2011 11:29:33" /Users/YourName/Movies/Projects/test.aif

Then

SetFile -m "the exact modification date and time of your original file"

and drag your new file into window the get the path. Press enter.

We have now changed the MetaData of our new file.

Use GetFileInfo to check the new file so that the dates match the original file.

6. Go to the clip/audio file you want to replace in FCPX and reveal the original.

7. Turn off FCPX, and replace the original with your new, changed file.

8. It should work now!

this does indeed work! tested with an AIFF file. But really annoying to do. perhaps someone clever (or with some time on their hands) could write a bash script or .command or applescript or something to automate this process. I would at least give it a try if i was sure i was going to buy FCPX right away, but I'm still deciding. Just playing with the trial at the moment.

I found, at least with an audio file, it played from the new file correctly, but did not update the waveform overview until i emptied the trash, which erased the orignal file so that the alias in the FCP X events folder pointed to the new file.

Also - those "aliases" in the events folder are not normal aliases. I don't know what they are because there is no "select new orignal" button on the get info window, and you can't change their label color or anything. They are "smarter" than symbolic links though, as they follow a file if it is moved or its name is changed. But, without proper in-program media managment, they are the dumbest possible things that could have been used to reference media in a pro app - they are too 'smart' to just take a file named the same in the same directory, but too 'stupid' to know exactly what we want to do, and have no way for us to modify what they reference manually.

Yes, those aliases are really annoying! If you could just select a New Original it would have been great!

I forgot to mention that since these aliases are so "smart", you have to delete the original file (it will even find it in the trash). It wouldn't even let me empty the trash until I moved the alias out of the FCPX folder... Then you just move it back and it will treat the new file as a New Original.

If you want to keep your old file, you can Compress it into a .zip file (but delete the actual original).

Okay, the easiest workaround is this....

1) Notice that the aliases include the suffix (for example, ".mov").

2) Now notice that your actual media does not include the suffix.

3) Add the .mov suffix to your original media and FCPX instantly sees the file and automatically reconnects it in your project.

4) In order to get this to work, you MIGHT need to toss the aliases and move the video files into the original media folder, but have no fear, this works.

Apple really does need to fix the symbolic link problem... but the problem is just that the symbolic link includes the file type suffix and in some cases, the original media (as ingested) does not.

Matt

This has nothing to do with the suffix 🙂 (of course all my files have the right suffix)

I think you misunderstood the problem - we don't have any problems with our original media. We want NEW media to take the place of our original media.

Right you are, I didn't get that part of the problem. I just thought FCPX had lost contact with the original media.

Good luck.

Matt

Yuusharo wrote:

This absolutely needs to change. I appreciate Apple trying to simplify the process of reconnecting clips by automatically finding and associating the correct files to the event. But seriously, give us the flippin' option to manually reconnect clips already. As others have pointed out, sometimes the files you're working with are renders from outside projects, like After Effects. If you so much as sneeze on that file, FCPX will no longer allow you to edit from that file again, and thus everything you've done with that clip to this point is broken and wasted.

This needs to be addressed in a 10.1 patch or something. I'd much rather have that as a priority feature rather than multi-cam editing (I want that too, but we're talking basic functionality here).

You listening, Apple? Fix it!

I had a situation where I was organizing project files and of some files were deleted. When I tried to reconnect to the original media FCPX would not reference the files even though the .mov files had the same file name and were located at the file path specified in the file status window. I used Sony Vegas Pro on the PC before changing over to Mac and had no problem reconnecting or replacing broken media with the same or even different file names.

hey guys was battling with FCPX for a bit as i was reading through this post and finally had some luck

i had a final cut event that just dropped off the map, wouldn't load up in the events list and i got a dialog box saying 'file may be corrupt' etc at startup

the way around it is to go to import, create a NEW event, and then select all the aliases that are in original media (if you've imported it that way)

then once that is in, go to project properties and go to modify event references and move your new event to the top of the list.. and bang it should all be back again

i know this is a little different to some of the problems you have all been having but it saved me re-editing a 2 hour project after many hours of head scratching (and some expletives)