FCP won't open one particular project

we have an intern working on a project using our IMac, FCP 7. The next time we open the project we get this error message "Unable to locate the following external devices: Apple FireWire NTSC"

We hit continue and then FCP closes down completely. FCP only does this for this one particular project. The intern was using an external drive but had made copies of the project, clips, and so on on the IMac. Even if she connect the external drive the same error message appears.

We tried trashing preference, all software updates, and opening a test account but neither worked.

what would you suggest?

Well the warning is telling you you don't have a deck or camera attached, and is a pretty standard message. It sounds like the project is corrupt, but just out of interest, what happens if you open it on a system that definitely has the NTSC device ready to go?

good question. unfortunately we don't have the proper firewire on us right now to test that.

I think you're right about the corruption. nuts I hope not though.

The NTSC thing is probably a symptom, not the cause. Audio/Video Settings are controlled by the software preferences and aren't project-specific. It's probably coincidence -- right after a harmless "unable to detect external device", something in the project crashes the application.

My steps for troubleshooting instant crashes are always:

1. Trash preferences
2. Check all drives for the "90 per cent" rule; fix any drive that is filling up too far
3. Copy the project to new drive location (without media being available), attempt to open
4. Copy the project to another FCP station, attempt to open

Oh yeah, always have "Open last project on application launch" unchecked. That thing is one of the top causes of FCP refusing to open. You can get "stuck" with FCP always trying to access a corrupt project. Also, it adds to the number of automatic functions FCP attempts to perform before allowing user operations. The more functions a computer attempts, the more likely something goes wrong.

And in your case, I'd also try:

5. Make project file unavailable to the entire computer system. Launch FCP. Without the corrupt project present, the software is more likely to pass through and get a new project file opened. Reset User Preferences, Audio/Video Settings, System Settings etc. -- set the Scratch Disk to a new drive, turn off "Open last project", turn off all functions (eg. real-time mixing, Autosave) that costs RAM and other system resources, and just for giggles, change the Video Playback to Digital Cinema Desktop, just in case the FireWire NTSC does have something to do with it. Now copy the project file back (without its linked media) and see if it opens.


www.derekmok.com

>FCP only does this for this one particular project

Hold shift when you launch FCP from the applications folder. This causes FCP to open a new project on launch. Then with FCP open, try opening the project. If that fails...

Do you have any external devices connected to the machine? If so, unplug all external devices and launch the project again.



www.strypesinpost.com

Have you checked the Autosave vault?

Is it possible that an earlier version does open?
It isn't ideal but maybe only a few things would have to be redone in a version that opens.

I tried all your suggestions Derek, except for opening it from another work station. I am having the intern try to open the project on her home computer where she originally started the project. I won't hear from her till much later.

I unchecked autosave and open a brand new project no problem but then try to open the corrupt one and it continued to fail.
I went through the auto save vault and was able to open the 3rd earliest version of this project (Very rough stuff there) not a problem except i had to reconnect clips, which I did and it's fine.

Great suggestions so far, it's giving me hope. Any other trouble shooting ideas?

This is your next option. There's a 15 day demo, so no harm trying.

[www.digitalrebellion.com]



www.strypesinpost.com

If the project won't even open with all the media disconnected, then your chances are not great. Odds are something got corrupted in the writing of the project file itself (for example, a drive going offline while the project is saving). Fairly often, you can only save such a project file if it's still open.

Look at the file size of the project. Is its file size consistent with how much work is contained in the project? The most glaring sign of a corrupted/incomplete project file is that it's too small.

Autosave is probably your surest bet at this point. Definitely try strypes' suggestion, though. If that doesn't work, find somebody else with an FCP station and try to open it there. If that works, have them export you an XML and you can re-create your project that way.


www.derekmok.com

I should probably hold off on the wise ass till your problem is fixed, but I think I found your problem.

"we have an intern working on a project"

just an update. The project works on the intern's computer at home. So we had her bring her external hard drive back to us and dump the project all over again here. The newly imported projects works fine so we are going to move on from there.

I think you're right about the Autosave being the main cause of the issue. We made sure to do a "save as" to the computers hard drive to make sure it wasn't trying to save the external hard drive.

Thanks everyone for you help!

> I think you're right about the Autosave being the main cause of the issue.

No...highly unlikely. Autosave only makes a copy of the project on a periodic basis. It's highly unlikely to cause corruptions. When I wrote "surest bet", I meant that opening an autosaved copy could get around your problem.

It's more likely that your intern's computer had some kind of permissions setting or gaffe that prevented other computers from opening projects created on it. Or, the intern hadn't saved the file properly (eg. the computer crashed midway through the save).

Next time, have the intern export an XML. XMLs usually don't have the same issues.


www.derekmok.com