Affiliate Clips?

Please can someone help? I recently had a problem on my Mac (something to do with Microsoft Office) and was obliged to create a new user on the computer in order to get round the problem. I copied my FCP project into the new user: User>Documents>Final Cut Pro documents and started editing. Only after a while did I notice that the clips don't seem to be properly 'connected'. For example, when I do a match frame and match clip, I get the message: "The clip's master clip is not present. Would you like to add a master clip to the Browser?". This doesn't make sense to me as what looks like the clip is already there in the browser, and is playing fine.

However, when for example I renamed a clip in the browser, I noticed it didn't update in the timeline. I have a feeling this is something to do with affiliate clips but this is a subject I've never understood, despite researching as best I can. Please can someone explain what's going on here and how I can remedy the situation. I thought about adding the clips all over again, and deleting the ones I currently have in the browser, but I've already done a load of work synching up extra sound from another recording device.

Surely I should be able to open a saved project as another user without having this problem.

Many thanks in advance,
Connie

FCP Version 6.0.6

Model Name: Mac Pro
Model Identifier: MacPro1,1
Processor Name: Dual-Core Intel Xeon
Processor Speed: 3 GHz
Number Of Processors: 2
Total Number Of Cores: 4
L2 Cache (per processor): 4 MB
Memory: 6 GB
Bus Speed: 1.33 GHz

> For example, when I do a match frame and match clip, I get the message: "The clip's master clip is not present. Would
> you like to add a master clip to the Browser?".

> when for example I renamed a clip in the browser, I noticed it didn't update in the timeline. I have a feeling this is
> something to do with affiliate clips but this is a subject I've never understood

The "two" problems are one and the same.

A master clip is what's in the Browser. When you open that clip -- and only that clip, not another instance of it -- and edit part of it into a timeline, the copy of that clip in the timeline is an affiliate clip. The affiliate clip can be matched back to the master clip. But if you, for example, opened the clip directly into FCP from Mac OS and edited it into a timeline from the Viewer, then there is no relationship between the affiliate and the master. Just because a media file appears in your timeline doesn't mean it's connected to a master-clip copy of it in the Browser.

You shouldn't be renaming clips in the Browser, by the way. Bad habit. Having a clip name not match its file name is undesireable. If you need to add "alternate" names to your clips, there are better ways (eg. subclips, markers, nests, identifier cards...).

> I thought about adding the clips all over again, and deleting the ones I currently have in the browser, but I've already
> done a load of work synching up extra sound from another recording device.

Why would you need to? If you deleted the clips from the Browser and re-imported, there's still no master-affiliate relationship to the clips in the timeline.

Your sync work was done in a timeline. You can just select your clips from the timeline, drag them back into a bin in the Browser, and your sync work would be untouched. You'd simply be creating master-clip versions of those clips.


www.derekmok.com

I'm really confused. Usually when I do match frame/match clip from a clip in the timeline, it shows me the master clip in the browser. It's only since I opened the project as a new user that this isn't happening. Is that logical? I'm sorry but I don't understand the last paragraph - why have the clips become unlinked and how can I relink them? Thanks a lot.