EMERGENCY - select video gone

I've been working on a project for 2 weeks. DV 720x480 in Final Cut 5.0.4
Suddenly today I opened it but 9 of the 12 source videos are solid green and when I try to play them it says "General Error."

I fixed disk permissions, trashed the preferences and restarted the machine but the problem is still there. The weird thing is some of the videos that are still there and play fine were captured from the same source tape.

This problem may have stemmed from when my external drive disappeared while I was running TechTools optimize on it. But I had also upgraded my Quicktime to 7.5.5 somewhere around this time too.

But I had created backups of all my video files on a separate external drive before I ever started editing this project. BUT if I try to open these backups quicktimes, FCP says "wrong type" or if I try to import "Fire Error: 1 file(s) recognized, 0 access denied, 1 unknown."

I also cannot open any of these video files in Quicktime any more. So it would seem like somehow Quicktime became partially corrupted but I'm at a loss on how to fix it.

I'm not sure this is the cause of your problems but the version of QuickTime you're using does not support versions of FCP prior to 5.1. You didn't say what OS you're using, but that also might too new for this version of FCP.

How id you backup the files? Regardless of FCP QuickTime should be able to playback DV files as the codec hasn't changed for some time.

I'm using OSX 10.4.9 and I've been using it for months with no problem. I've also been using Quicktime fine even after upgrading to 7.5.5.

I captured the original files from mini-dv directly into FCP and started using them on a project. Then I decided I would copy all of the video files from that hard drive (A) to a separate hard drive (B). Drive B was faster so I put A onto a shelf to be my backup. I've had no problems until today.

What I don't get is, the 12 files all used to open with Quicktime even when FCP wasn't open. Now only the 3 that show video in FCP, open with Quicktime. But even weirder is going back to the video files on my backup drive, only 3-4 will open in Quicktime. I even tried reconnecting one of the video files in FCP directly to the backup video file but that just seems to tie up FCP for an indefinite amount of time.

I just tried telling FCP to recapture one of the files and it did and it shows up fine. I still have no idea what is happening and why my untouched backups don't work yet recapturing works like a charm.

I guess the one thing I learned is this is why I still won't commit to a tapeless camera format because one thing goes wrong and you're hosed even with a backup.

Have a look at this thread from long ago:

[www.lafcpug.org]

Before recapturing everything, I'd try a few things. First off, trashing prefs. Then try that same QT file on another computer. My gut tells me that the .mov isn't corrupted.

-MW

The first thing I tried was trashing the preferences.

The problem with that other thread and anything logical is there are still clips within the project that work fine and they were captured using the same camera and have been treated identically as the bad clips. Also, the fact that recapturing seems to work fine. I cannot try these on another computer as I don't have one readily available and I need to output the project tomorrow. For now, I'll just recapture those tapes that have "gone green" and do my output and save trying to solve the mystery for another day.

It somehow sounds like file corruption, but you should test it on another machine, if you can. Otherwise, recapture.



www.strypesinpost.com

> It somehow sounds like file corruption, but you should test it on another machine

Not yet. First test it on another project. That kind of corruption can be the clip, but it can also be render files or the project file itself.

First open the clip in QuickTime Player. Any problems? If not, import that clip into a new project file with matching settings to your old one. Any problems?

If you don't see the same problem, then it's possible that all you need to do is copy all the contents of your old project file into a new project file, save it under a new name, and move on.


www.derekmok.com