Clip in Timeline Dark, Doesn't Show up in Viewer

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Level 1

8 points

Clip in Timeline Dark, Doesn't Show up in Viewer

Help! A clip on the timeline in FCPX appears very dark and neither the video nor the sound play in viewer. The inspector shows all of the color corrections, etc., but there is no date/time stamp in upper left corner of inspector. When I click on the clip in the timeline, it will reveal in the browser okay, and the original shows up in the finder. As a fix, I thought I'd replace the clip in the timeline with the same one in the browser, but got the bright idea to try auditioning it. Now, when I click on the audition triangle, I can see both the original and the duplicate clips clearly in the viewer, but the original still won't play in viewer if I close audition. I do have a secondary storyline above the clip, with an adjustment layer and audio track. All was fine earlier today. What did I do?

If I have to, I'll replace the clip, but I spent hours getting the color, masking, etc. right. Thank you in advance!

Edit: I just realized that the clip in the brower doesn't have a timestamp underneath it. OMG

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X Mavericks (10.9), 15" (late 2013)

Posted on Jun 10, 2014 7:37 AM

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Answer 1

Jun 10, 2014 12:01 PM in response to jonpais

It looks like you disabled the clip. This can happen accidentally, as the keyboard shortcut is just the letter V.

Select the clip and press V again to reenable it.

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Answer 2

jonpais Author

Level 1

8 points

Jun 10, 2014 12:11 PM in response to Luis Sequeira1

Thanks, Luis. I'm sure that must be what I did... If only I hadn't replaced the clip so soon... Is that why the timecode is missing in in the clip in the browser? So would I be selecting the clip in the browser and pressing V?

Edit: I just went ahead and selected the clip in the timeline and hit 'v', and indeed, the clip turned blackish, just like you said - disabled. I hit 'v' again, and it returned to normal. I wish I'd waited a while before replacing the clip. Now I have a bunch of color correction to do that's gonna take a while! Still, not sure why the clip in the browser is missing the timecode beneath it, or if that's something I should worry about. But I think it will be fine. Thank you so much, Luis!

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Answer 3

Russ H

Level 7

22,432 points

Jun 10, 2014 10:06 AM in response to jonpais

I don't think there is a universal cause (or fix) for this. The last time it happened to me, simply trashing preferences with Preference Manager fixed it. Oherwise, I'd delete project render files.

Russ

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Answer 4

jonpais Author

Level 1

8 points

Jun 10, 2014 10:29 AM in response to Russ H

Hi Russ, So for the moment, I guess I would like to copy the attributes of my clip in the timeline, relink the same clip in the browser and replace it in the timeline, or something like that... But I don't think that's going to be possible, is it? First of all, when I try to relink, the pop-up window comes up blank... So, do I have to re-import the clip and start from scratch, or what? Or, are you saying that simply by downloading and installing this software, my file could miraculously reappear? Sorry if I'm a bit sceptical... In preferences, I have rendering set at 60 seconds or so, and usually intiate rendering manually, so there are never any project render files to delete...

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Answer 5

Russ H

Level 7

22,432 points

Jun 10, 2014 10:35 AM in response to jonpais

Maybe create optimized versions (right click on clips in browser and transcode media) and see whether that fixes it.

I'd definitely do prefs and permissions before starting all over. But it's obvioously your call entirely.

Russ

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Answer 6

jonpais Author

Level 1

8 points

Jun 10, 2014 10:54 AM in response to Russ H

Thanks, Russ. I double-checked, and it looks like I already transcoded the clip to 422... Maybe in the morning (it's almost 1AM here in VN), I'll check out Preference Manager. I just tried re-importing the media and transcoding, but it just ends up in the same spot as the previous clip in the browser, with no timecode information beneath it.

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Answer 7

jonpais Author

Level 1

8 points

Jun 10, 2014 12:27 PM in response to Luis Sequeira1

Because beneath the clip in the browser, where the rest of the clips contain the date and time stamp, there is nothing below the problem clip. Nevertheless, the clip looks normal in the timeline now and plays in the viewer, no problem. So when I go to export the project, I'm not expecting anything crazy...😐

And as I mentioned earlier, when I select the clip in the browser, it does link to the original media in the finder... I'm pretty good at making backups, just in case, but I don't always have good keyboard dexterity.

And thanks for teaching me a new acronym 🙂

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