video clip is black

I have a 15 minute video clip that is playing back as black. Audio is there and subclips play fine. It is set as RGB so that's not it. Haven't had problem with that clip before and all my other clips are fine.

I know I can re-import the clip from the hardrive but hope to be able to use the original since it has many markers in it and have used it in cuts already.

I'm on FCP 5.04, OSX 10.4.3 2.5 GH2 PowerPC G5 2.5 GB DDR2 S

Thanks very much ahead of time for any solutions.

Robin

Does it play as black in the Viewer or the Canvas? If in the Viewer, are you opening it from the Browser or the timeline?

If it plays back as black in the Canvas, it could be corrupt render files. Try using Clip Enable/Disable (toggle switch CONTROL-B) to turn the clip off and then back on. Also check the Motion tab to make sure the clip hasn't been moved off the visible Canvas area, or been shrunk to 0 per cent Scale.

If it plays back as black in the Viewer, check the Motion tab as above. Sometimes the connection between the clips in the Browser and the actual media file can become messed up; you may have to flush the clip by disconnecting and then reconnecting it (SHIFT-D, then Reconnect Media).

Thanks Derek!

It was the motion tab, center point. But how could it have moved if I never went there to begin with? Can you just change it through the keyboard by typing something?

Thanks again,

Robin

I've been having this kind of experience just lately with some layered stills I've brought into FCP. They are standard aspect digital images with some of the individual elements of the image on separate transparent layers. When I import the PSD and it becomes a layered sequence, each layer seems to want to scale and position itself differently, and the smaller elements are WAY off the screen. I have to type 0,0 into the Center settings to get them back where I can see them to put them where they belong.

This is a long-winded response to your question "But how could it have moved if I never went there to begin with?" Don't really know, but it sure can.

Scott

this is probably what happened:

you had the viewer set to "image & wireframe" mode
you then went to grab the clip and drag it to the timeline or the browser.
what you actually did was drag the image so far away from it;s centre point that there was nothing left but the void.

moral of the story:
unless you want to look into the void,
don't use image & wireframe mode in the viewer:
cut your clip unto the timeline and use image & wireframe there.

SCOTT & LAYERED PSDs:
yah, the layers scale independently.
the workaround is to place tiny-tiny bits of image (one pixel dots) in every corner of every layer in PS
learnt that from Lisa B

cheers,
nick

Nick, thanks for the PSD scaling explanation. I'll try the dot trick next time, but I'm kinda suprised FCP can't be a little smarter about it.

I had never realized that the Viewer could be put in wireframe mode, and I'm glad, because I can see how it could mess you up good. Not sure why you'd want to manipulate the image there rather than the canvas.

Scott

>>Not sure why you'd want to manipulate the image there rather than the canvas.<<

If you have a setup that you will be using a bit this is useful, because you can adjust the master and just cut out what you need - instead of having to individually adjust each shot to match the previous ones from the same clip. Like, say, a timelapse that you need to shrink and move to a corner of the frame, or a clip that you need to crop and move because there's something in the shot you don't want - like a lighting stand. Not realy that commonly needed though.

I almost never use the Wireframe in the Viewer except for the exact opposite purpose as you guys have been discussing: I turn on the Wireframe when I think something's weird about a clip's position, size, scale etc. The Wireframe allows me to see if I may have moved a clip by mistake. Otherwise, I leave it off all the time, because I use drag-and-drop a lot. Still, I can't say that giving the user an option is ever a bad thing, especially if you can disable it. (Now, on to that "speed changes always ripple" thing...)