General Error

I have a sequence that I'm onlining and there are several HD stock footage clips I received that when I try to render give me the dreaded "General Error". My sequence setting is as such:



The stock footage clips run the gamut of formats. I've got 1920x1080 29.97fps NTSC with Photo-Jpeg compressor, 1280x1080 29.97fps NTSC DVCPRO HD, 720x576 25fps PAL with Photo-Jpeg compressor, and 1920x1080 25fps PAL uncompressed 10 bit. I don't have much choice in terms of the formats I receive from the stock footage provider. So far I've been just dropping all these clips into previous sequences and they've rendered fine.

The solutions I tried before were:
1. Use render manager to clear the sequence. Then rerender.
2. Clear FCP preferences.
3. Delete the clip from the timeline and bin. Rename the clip in Finder then reimport into FCP.

I've tried all 3 options and it seems I've hit a roadblock and I'm not really sure what to do. The clips play fine in Quicktime, but I'm wondering whether I should reoutput them with Mpeg Streamclip or Compressor to a more compatible format. Any advice would be most appreciated!

Thanks,
Alex

What are the settings for your sequence?

I would convert the stock footage in Compressor to the same settings as the timeline.

You can see the settings in the picture: 1920x1080 HDTV 1080i (16:9). 29.97fps Apple Prores (Proxy)

Makes sense.

I solved the problem by converting all footage into Prores HQ. Doesn't even need rendering now :-)

Hello, I found your post here and see that it was quite some time ago that you posted it; hope you're still there?
You mentioned that you solved the problem of the 'general error' you converted all of your footage to Prores HQ; would you please tell me exactly what that is?

I have a time line with a variety of clips shot on different equipment, some frame rates differ, etc. i used clips together like this before with no consequences. i followed one suggestion i found on this forum and got rid of the 'rendered files'... but when i attempted to render it, now none of it will render. The 'general error' messg began to appear, first periodocally and how it appears after each time i attempt to render.(?!) Somtimes i just remove a cross dissolve, render each clip and then put it back... sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

I need this problem like a hole in the head... time sensitive deadline...at least now i know why they put the word 'dead' in front of 'line'. :-/

I have plenty of storage, and ram. Any suggestions? Thank you. factandfable

FCP 7 / Mac book pro . 10.6.6 / 4 sticks of Ram / 2.4 Ghz