Loosing Sequences

i have lost the same sequence 3 times. i built the first one and saved then when i went to reopen its was gone. a lot the file that i used are still there.
i built it a second time the that one disappeared after i closed and reopened.
i built it a 3rd time and it also disappeared.

as a habit i close out fcp and tell it to save what i have done. this way when i reopen fcp it will be on the project i last did. however on fridays i open another project ( hs football ). i open it from my final cut project folder. when it opens it is the only project open at all. while its open if i go to > open most recent there is no log of any other project that has been opened.


Facts:
1. the files stay in my project ( even the nested seq)
2. on this last time some of the work i did was there in my timeline but not all ( like 30%) of what i did.
3. the actual seq. doesn't disappear just the work i have done in the time line.
4. i have done half of the seq. and then closed fcp and cam back the next day and opened and the work was there. its only when i open a project from the fcp folder that it seem to erase the previous work in the timeline.

i am stumped.

""" What you do with what you have, is more important than what you could do, with what you don't have."

> > > Knowledge + Action = Wisdom - J. Corbett 1992 """"

Trash your prefs.

How much RAM do you have? What kind of system are you running?

I autosave every five minutes. Then, no matter what happens, you have a version from no less than five minutes ago.

I manually save every time I render (I don't think my fingers know how to Option-R without Apple-S first).

At the end of each day (or at each milestone, which ever comes first), I save a version of my project. So, if I'm working on KomenCommercial, I do a save as, and label them "TuesPM Komen Commercial", "WedsNoon Komen Commercial", etc, etc, etc. Then, not only do you have a backup, but two days later when you wonder what kind of glow you experimented with on Monday, you can look it up.

Depending on the project and my level of neurotic, I offsite the project files, or spread them to different hard drives.

Combine this with Mike's Foolproof Method of Labeling Reels, and you'll never have trouble.

Also, makes it easier to track down ghosts like you're having. In this situation, I'd go back five minutes to an autosave file. I bet it has everything you're working on.

-MW

> as a habit i close out fcp and tell it to save what i have done. this way when i reopen fcp it
> will be on the project i last did.

First off, this is a misperception. Do not just quit FCP and save that way. Actively use either APPLE-S or Save As to save the file, then quit FCP. More reliable that way. If you want the last saved project file to open automatically at launch (which I find a massive annoyance), check that option in User Preferences. It's on the lower left corner.

That said, I don't think that's the source of your problems. Copy everything to a new project file, use Save As to create a new file name, and try again.

And yes, you have to do manual backups rather than rely on Autosave. I do one every two to three hours. Ten seconds every two hours to perform the operation which can protect you from losing eight hours of work. Bargain.


www.derekmok.com

i apple-s after every new composite or after every 1 min of video i create in the fcp time line. i do that in all programs as a religeon. since i lost the frist one i was even more anal about it. i did the new one in a new project and had the same result. it is the only project i have ever seen like it.

""" What you do with what you have, is more important than what you could do, with what you don't have."

> > > Knowledge + Action = Wisdom - J. Corbett 1992 """"

Run Disk Utility and DiskWarrior on the drive where the project file resides. And check all drives to make sure none of them is over 90 per cent full. Corrupt media is also a suspect.


www.derekmok.com

g5 1.8 dual / 2.5 ram / x800 card

i have done at least 150 jobs on this machine in the last 2 years and never had this problem.

""" What you do with what you have, is more important than what you could do, with what you don't have."

> > > Knowledge + Action = Wisdom - J. Corbett 1992 """"