FCPX corrupted my video files (I think)!

[Prodo123]

I was working on this project the other day, and I finished it and exported to h.264 for sharing. It was only supposed to be a sample video clip so the original videos were to be used for a bigger project, but now when I open the project file and try to play any of the videos I recorded with my T2i, except for a time lapse which is raw video, FCPX spits out a black screen.

Obviously I was able to work on them and export them, but I checked out my backup logs and apparently less than 1 hour after the export, the movie files were corrupted. I was uploading the h.264 exported video then, so this leads me to believe that somehow FCPX corrupted my video files.

This was causing all sorts of errors including crash on startup due to a failure to render previews, unable to open project, etc. and the video files cannot be opened with any video player, including but not limited to QuickTime, MPlayerX and VLC.

The timestamp, resolution, audio and all other information about the videos are all intact. FCPX still reports that the videos are 1080p, stereo audio, 30fps video with the correct timestamp.
Can anyone help?

 

[nateo200]

What version FCP X are you running? I'm on 10.0.3 and I've noticed some minor issues with linking of files but I've been able to fix the issue 100% of the time...I think 10.0.5 fixed the issue so I'm updating now...

 

[daybreak]

Try 10.0.05 which is the present state of FCP-X

 

[mBox]

Not sure about the black files problem and have heard about it in the past, but prior to 10.0.3 there was this issue where FCPX blessed files would lose link if used in other apps such as After Effects.
I had to re-link the files after each use of same clips.
That issue doesn't exist anymore with 10.0.5.

 

[Prodo123]

I worked on the project in 10.0; now it's running 10.0.5 and there's nothing that I can do to fix this.
I did not edit the videos on an external editor.

I don't think this is an issue with file linkage; when I go to the actual project folder in Finder and open the original video that way, the problem persists outside of FCPX!

 

[mBox]

right-click on any of the Original clips and select QuickTime 7 as player.
if it shows up, then the issue is QuickTime X.
I would back up the originals to a different drive for safe-keep.
I havent installed QT in a long time not sure if you have to do a Pro install or new OS install.

 

[Prodo123]

I have discovered something extremely disturbing.

I checked my original files to open in QT7 as mBox advised, but I noticed that all the movie files were reduced to minuscule sizes like 10KB.
I checked both my FW800 and Time Capsule backups, and alas, all my backups showed the same behavior, all the way back to the day of the project.

 

[mBox]

I dont believe the video was imported, almost sounds like a reference file.
I dont think FCPX would be able to do that to the original files.
I can see QT corrupting but only during transcode/import/copy.

 

[Prodo123]

I dont believe the video was imported, almost sounds like a reference file.
I dont think FCPX would be able to do that to the original files.
I can see QT corrupting but only during transcode/import/copy.

I originally imported the videos to my Aperture library, from which FCPX copied to the Projects folder.
I made sure that the import was complete because I was unsure if FCPX would treat it as managed or referenced.

 

[mBox]

The QT files do they have an black icon with an arrow?
If you see that then its a reference file and not the original.

 

[Prodo123]

The QT files do they have an black icon with an arrow?
If you see that then its a reference file and not the original.

No, they are not aliases.
They are "playable" original .mov files.
If you mean the play arrow, Quick Look does attempt to play it if you press that arrow.

 

[mBox]

Im thinking since it was originally from Aperture, something got buggered between the two apps.
So there is no way of playing back these files at Finder level?
Not QTX or QT7?

 

[Prodo123]

Im thinking since it was originally from Aperture, something got buggered between the two apps.
So there is no way of playing back these files at Finder level?
Not QTX or QT7?

There was no error; FCPX did a straight copy from the Aperture library to the Projects folder, and used the copied files as the originals.
Due to redundancy I deleted the movie files from Aperture...
And no, I can't play them at all.

 

[mBox]

I honestly dont know what to add.
Sorry to hear that man.
Next time dont use Aperture as go between footage.
Ive never heard of this workflow.

 

[Prodo123]

I honestly dont know what to add.
Sorry to hear that man.
Next time dont use Aperture as go between footage.
Ive never heard of this workflow.

It sometimes happens when I'm importing my stills into Aperture and forget to uncheck the movies that are to go to FCPX.
It worked with my other projects (which are fine, thank goodness), I am at a loss for words right now.