FCP won't recognize layered .psd files

I have posted this same question at dv.com and dvxuser.com with no help. Hopefully someone here can help.

I have two .psd files that are RGB. They are both less then 2 mb in size and the resolution of both of them is below 2,000 x 2,000 pixels.

I choose file>import>bla.psd
FCP recognizes the layers and the sequence icon appears next to the name. I am able to edit the layers individually. yeah

I choose file>import>bla2.psd
FCP recognizes no layers and the still image icon appears next to the name. I am not able to edit any layers.

I created both the images at different times, but to my knowledge they have all the important elements there to be accepted into FCP. I can't find any information on this topic anywhere, and I wonder if I am the only one facing it. I am using FCP 5.1.4 and both of the images were made with cs 1 or higher. I don't own photoshop at the moment, but I do have a copy of gimp. Does anyone know how to check if a psd is 8 bit without photoshop?

Anyone out there no what is going on?

Oh, and I am running

1.5 GHz Intel Core Solo
1 GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM
Os x 10.4.10

Final Cut Studio 5.1.4

Try opening that problem file in Photoshop and just resave it under another name. There's a weird bug with "compatibility" that can cause what you're talking about.


www.derekmok.com

Quote
Derek's advice:
Try opening that problem file in Photoshop and just resave it under another name.

I would recommend the same except that you already said you didn't have Photoshop available. However, there is a well-known issue with PS .psd files that were created on a PC and brought into FCP - the layers don't work right. And the fix is to open it in Mac version PS and re-save it and all is well. Is it possible that this is the difference between the 2 .psd files you have?

I created both an 8-bit and a 16-bit .psd file in Mac Photoshop and opened them in GIMP to see what would happen, and I found that GIMP cannot open 16-bit files, so just being able to open it in GIMP probably proves it is 8-bit. You might try the trick I described above of saving the problem file from GIMP to see if it makes any difference to FCP. Failing all of that, you're back to finding Mac PS and doing the re-save trick.

Scott

I tried resaving the image to every file format that Gimp has. I will try to find someone with a copy of photoshop from to resave the file for me. I'll post back if I figure this out.

Thanks Derekmok & Scott

For me, the critical part of this "fix" is to open and re-save the .psd document on the same computer as your FCP that you are encountering the problem with...