weird missing file

hi all,

i opened a project today i was working on yesterday. it played fine when i closed it.

now when it opens, FCP puts up an error saying 'The movie file 'SequenceName-FIN-00000022' cannot be found. Without this file, the movie cannot play properly.'

it gived me the option to search, but it doesn't search, instead, i'm supposed to locate the file. i have no idea where it is, because it's nothing i recognize.

after i cancel, the clip shows as 'media offline' in the sequence. the actual clip file is there (in the finder), but it's all black frames!

OK

i went to my backup drive and opened the project there. everything opens just fine. i look at the same clip in the exact same relative file path and gues what: it's also all black frames when i play it back in the finder, but in the sequence it plays perfectly fine!

does anyone know what's going on here? in particular, what's this filename-FIN-00000022 thing all about?

thanks,
stefan

--
macpro 2x3 ghz dual core intel, 10.6.8, FCS 2

You used a reference movie file to edit with and the source media of it is now missing. The old project plays because it still has render files it is accessing. You can try exporting a self-contained movie file from that old project. But this is why I never use reference movies. They look identical to self-contained movie files in most software, and you can only spot them if you look at them in Finder and check their file size.


www.derekmok.com

i see now. i wonder how the hell that render file was deleted. but yes, exporting as a self contained movie from the backup should do the trick.

thanks derek!

stefan

--
macpro 2x3 ghz dual core intel, 10.6.8, FCS 2

this just happened to me right now.

i had to modify a shot in some small way that meant re-rendeing it.
FCP decided to get rid of the old render.

the reference movie was also in the project.

after a re-start, missing file warning just like yours.

luckily not a big problem, but i wish FCP would keep track of its renders a bit better.


nick