Compressor problem. transcode failed

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Level 2

239 points

Compressor problem. transcode failed

Hi,

I'm using Compressor to transcode H.264 footage from a Canon DSLR to apple prorez 422 LT. Dragged in several clips to compressor, added settings and destination. Hit submit. Went to sleep. Came back in morning and transcode had FAILED. Tried again with a very short clip. No progress was made in "time remaining" window -- no time even came up, and the progress bar did not start turning blue at all. Finally i cancelled the operation.

What am I doing wrong?

Thank you,

Eve

Final Cut Pro 7, Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Posted on Jul 5, 2013 6:36 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Nick Holmes

Level 7

30,018 points

Jul 5, 2013 7:04 AM in response to Eve Goldberg

Try this free tool first: http://www.digitalrebellion.com/compressorrepair/

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Answer 2

Eve Goldberg Author

Level 2

239 points

Jul 5, 2013 7:11 AM in response to Nick Holmes

I have this tool (the free version) already installed. What do I do to use it?

Also, i just tried a really small clip again and it was successful. Maybe I'll try to batch again. Any tips on how many clips, or how many hours of material tends to be TOO MUCH for compressor to batch transcode?

thanks,

Eve

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Answer 3

Eve Goldberg Author

Level 2

239 points

Jul 5, 2013 7:27 AM in response to Nick Holmes

ok, just tried to transcode another clip -- this was a large one. the transcode failed again. the note under the triangle said: "Failed: 3X crash service down."

I watched the history box as it tried to transcode and it tried 3 times, then stopped.

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Answer 4

Jul 5, 2013 7:43 AM in response to Eve Goldberg

How is your target drive formatted? Is there sufficient empty space? Have you tried sending to a different drive? Also, make sure there are no nonstandard characters in the target file name, like slashes, questionmarks, asterisks, etc.

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Answer 5

Russ H

Level 7

22,432 points

Jul 5, 2013 8:04 AM in response to Eve Goldberg

Eve Goldberg wrote:

I have this tool (the free version) already installed. What do I do to use it?

Just hit the Repair button. Make sure the Trash Preferences box is checked.

Russ

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Answer 6

Eve Goldberg Author

Level 2

239 points

Jul 5, 2013 8:18 AM in response to Michael Grenadier

I used Compression Repair as Russ suggested and just made a successful batch transcode!!

Yes -- all is well.

thanks both Russ and Michael. I'll post if i have more problems.

best,

Eve

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Answer 7

Eve Goldberg Author

Level 2

239 points

Jul 5, 2013 8:18 AM in response to Michael Grenadier

Thanks, Michael. I used Repair Compressor and it's working now!

many thanks,

Eve

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Answer 8

Russ H

Level 7

22,432 points

Jul 5, 2013 8:27 AM in response to Eve Goldberg

If you continue to get the 3X Crash error after following the advice you've got in this thread, my suggestion would be to download another one of Digital Rebellion's products – Pro Maintenance Tools. PMT has a Crash Analyzer that reports causes and recommendations. It's a paid app (suite of apps) but you can download a short trial.

The error means that the Compressor Transcoder has failed (ya think?) and it's not one of the more obvious ones to sort. The one time I had it was fixed by uninstalling Perian; I must have read about a conflict somewhere,

Russ

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Answer 9

Russ H

Level 7

22,432 points

Jul 5, 2013 8:29 AM in response to Eve Goldberg

Eve Goldberg wrote:

I used Compression Repair as Russ suggested and just made a successful batch transcode!!

Yes -- all is well.

thanks both Russ and Michael. I'll post if i have more problems.

best,

Eve

Actually, as Nick suggested. Glad it's working.

Russ

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