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Final Cut Pro 7 – Cannot Media Manage – Apple XSAN – Big Project :(
Dear Community,
I am the IT Manager for a small mediafirm/post production studio located in Edmonton, AB Canada and I am posting for one of our editors who is so busy she does not have the time to post here, and I have been constantly trying to help her find a solution to her issues with Final Cut Studio/Pro 7.0.1.
We recently purchased an Apple XSAN 32TB Setup with Backup to Tape, and 4GB Fiber Optic to all of our Edit Suites, and have had wonderful results with that, aside from the fact we are already down to 7TB Free, only after a few months!
The problem is, We have a big contract for a Canadian TV Series of which we have cut 21 Episodes already – But we are experiancing some HUGE issues with the project, or more specifically the media files within the project.
Our Editor has Full (Read/Write) access to the Video Files on XSAN, and generally only edits from the same computer all the time. She started the project in the latest version of Final Cut Pro 6.* and, During the project, we upgraded her Edit Suite to Final Cut Pro 7 – After which the project was converted to.
She has told me she has only first tried to media manage last week, Thursday, which is unfortunate because now I do not know if this was a problem from the start, or if it was something wrong long ago.
Things I have tried:
-Reading everything I could here and via Google Research
-Trashing Prefs
-Running FSC Remover and reinstalling from Scratch (Non Upgrade Install, Full Strate from 7 Install)
-Copying problematic clips which do not media manage to Local Hard Drive and injecting into a new project (Still doesnt work after that)
-Checking disk permissions / verify disk utilityThings to note:
-Past projects which have been completed and sent out both open correctly, and media manage correctly with absolutely no error messages.
The error we receive on many clips in this major project is “General Error 34”
It does not occur on every file, But on many of them it does. More specifically, the clips that are experiancing Media Manage export problems are generally only the ones that were BWF_QT Merged
with audio, Clips that have not been merged Media Manage just fine, and we have verified that,
I have had our editor test an export/MM on the regular footage of the TV Series in the project we are experiancing issues with, and they export just fine without audio – Just the audio/BWF Quicktime Media Exported/merged clips. At least its somewhat narrowed down.Any help would be vastly appreciated, as we are on a deadline to get this out to the colour people and our Editor is leaving for all of Feb to the Winter Olympics in Vancouver to do some film stuff there, and is having a Freelancer come in to continue the work on this TV Series -> This does not bode well in my mind, and I am taking this matter very seriously and hoping to cross all my T’s by the end of the month when she leaves and have it figured out so that we can meet deadline -> They want to air the beginning episodes of this series during the Olympics, or around that timeline and we have to get some of these out soon!
We also use an AJA Kona 3 LHe on this Mac Pro edit suite, I have the latest drivers running on it.
_______
PS: to Bob Zelin, I am a major fan of yours, I have read many of your posts and I am hoping to hear from you in this one, I specifically liked the stories you had about working at 24 and the boss coming to show the janitor how to mop the floor, or the advice you’ve given people on storage solutions and firewire, One thread in specific made me laugh when you said “If you CONTINUE to use Firewire storage and your Avid, then I cannot help you” 🙂 -
7 Replies
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A quick Search of the forums got me this post:
https://forums.creativecow.net/thread/8/970133
Search some more and see what you get. You can also GOOGLE search “Final Cut Pro General Error 34” and get more hits.
Shane
GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD…don’t miss it.
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def -
Unfortunatly,
General Error 34 is related to more than one specific problem (IE Disk Full or Media not Containing Data, etc, And it is impossible to narrow it down to a specific problem – I have read many topics about General Error 34 and have seen them relate to more than one thing.Dispite this,
I will have our Editor verify that she is correct in her use of the In Point, and that it is not at the end of the sequence.I hoping to have more response, as there is more to this, I believe its specific to the merged audio clips.
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Hi Nigel
A couple of things Xsan related I can think of that will take too long to type out. You can call me in Vancouver 604 228 1960
Cheers
John Christie
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Hey guys, I received a response from Bouke (The Software Engineer and Editor) at VideoToolShed, as we have purchased and we do actively used his software as part of our Production proceses, He replied with the follow (See both the Editor’s first message, and then his response) – Perhaps this will help with further follow up, If we are not able to resolve this issue with Bouke…
________________________________________________________________Begin forwarded message:
From: “Bouke (VideoToolShed)”
Date: January 11, 2010 12:01:50 PM MST (CA)
To: “Sarah Taylor”
Subject: Re: BWF_Quicktime merge problems with media managing from FCPSarah,
I’ve never seen this behaviour before, but i think i can tackle it.BUT, as always, it ain’t without risk.
So we have to test a bit, and you have to be VERY CAREFUL before you do
ANYTHING i tell you….
Dont trust me, TEST TEST TEST for yourself.
(i cannot look into your machine, so i cannot predict everything although i
can make very educated guesses)My observations so far:
You have a 24 fps clip with 5 audio channels at 16 bit, and one audio
channel (i assume your BWF recorder) at 24 bit.
I cannot crash the media manager here. It simply refuses to come up with
your clip inserted into a sequence.From what i just experimented with, the mix of 16 and 24 bit audio messes
things up.What i could do is write a routine that kills the 16 bit channels and
replaces them with 24 bit silence tracks.That makes the media manager work.
BUT, i don’t know if you actually used the 16 bit channels. If so, perhaps
they should be promoted to 24 bit.The good part is that it probably can be solved, the bad part is that we
both have to spend some time on it to get it right before creating major
mayhem.So before i continue to do some magic, i would like to know:
Is any of the 16 bit material used in your sequence(s) ?
If so, is it important?Why do you want to media manage instead of dumping to tape / exporting a
self containded QT and OMF?
(really, i can understand why, but keep in mind this is going to take a lot
of my time, so if it aint really needed… well, you know…)I’ll write a few routines for you to test with tomorrow, BUT DO RUN THEM ON
COPIES, NOT ON ORIGINALS.More later, now it’s time for food and beer….
Bouke
VideoToolShed
van Oldenbarneveltstraat 33
6512 AS NIJMEGEN
The Netherlands
+31 24 3553311
https://www.videotoolshed.com
For large files:
https://dropbox.yousendit.com/BoukeVahl998172—– Original Message —–
From: “Sarah Taylor”
To: “Bouke (VideoToolShed)”
Sent: Monday, January 11, 2010 5:54 PM
Subject: Re: BWF_Quicktime merge problems with media managing from FCPHi Bouke,
I have tried moving the clip to a new drive and I am still getting the
error. I’ve tried a new project and moving it to two drives. The
merged clips are the only ones giving me a problem.
I have put a clip on our FTP site. It’s in a folder called Bouke.http://ftp.statusfirm.com
login: videoftp
password: productionDo you know of any 3rd party media managing software? Maybe that
would work?Thanks again!
Sarah
On 10-Jan-10, at 3:35 AM, Bouke (VideoToolShed) wrote:
Sarah,
I can’t think of anything else.
I’ve just tried to media manage a merged clip, and nothing strange
happened.
So again, start simple. Create a new project, import one of the
offending
clips, try to media manage to different locations.
If it fails, copy the source clip to another drive and try again.
If you are sure it’s the clip, do try to send me one for me to have
a look
at.
hth,Bouke
VideoToolShed
van Oldenbarneveltstraat 33
6512 AS NIJMEGEN
The Netherlands
+31 24 3553311
https://www.videotoolshed.com
For large files:
https://dropbox.yousendit.com/BoukeVahl998172—– Original Message —–
From:
To: “Bouke (VideoToolShed)”
Sent: Saturday, January 09, 2010 9:54 PM
Subject: Re: BWF_Quicktime merge problems with media managing from FCPThanks for the response.
It seems to only be the merged clips. They are on other folders
based on
tape number. We work off of an xsan server so I don’t think there is
anything wrong with the drive. Maybe I need to move them to a new
folder
but that will be alot of extra work.I have reinstalled FCP and I’ll check Monday morning and see if
maybe that
helped.If you can think of any other reasons please let me know.
Thanks again,
Sarah
_______________________________________________________Sarah,
I cannot think of any reason why my app. should create QT files
that can
cause this error.
Is it only on the merged clips that you get the error? If so, do
those
clips
have another location on disk than other files?
Error 34 has to do with corrupt / rotten or full drives.
Try Disk Warrior, disk first aid, try moving files to new drives
etc etc.Hth,
Bouke
VideoToolShed
van Oldenbarneveltstraat 33
6512 AS NIJMEGEN
The Netherlands
+31 24 3553311
https://www.videotoolshed.com
For large files:
https://dropbox.yousendit.com/BoukeVahl998172—– Original Message —–
From:
To: “Bouke (VideoToolShed)”
Sent: Saturday, January 09, 2010 9:54 PM
Subject: Re: BWF_Quicktime merge problems with media managing from FCPThanks for the response.
It seems to only be the merged clips. They are on other folders based
on tape number. We work off of an xsan server so I don’t think there is anything wrong with the drive. Maybe I need to move them to a new
folder but that will be alot of extra work. I have had our IT Tech reinstall FCP and I’ll check Monday morning and see if maybe
that helped. If you can think of any other reasons please let me know.Thanks again,
SarahSarah,
I cannot think of any reason why my app. should create QT files that
can cause this error.Is it only on the merged clips that you get the error? If so, do those clips have another location on disk than other files? Error 34 has to do with corrupt / rotten or full drives.
Try Disk Warrior, disk first aid, try moving files to new drives etc
etc.Hth,
BoukeVideoToolShed
van Oldenbarneveltstraat 33
6512 AS NIJMEGEN
The Netherlands
+31 24 3553311
https://www.videotoolshed.comFor large files:
https://dropbox.yousendit.com/BoukeVahl998172—– Original Message —–
From: “Sarah Taylor”
To:
Sent: Friday, January 08, 2010 8:23 PM
Subject: BWF_Quicktime merge problems with media managing from FCP
Hi Bouke Vahl,
I saw your post on creative cow so I thought I’d ask you this
question.I used both the FCPauxTC and the BWF_QT_merge1.4 in my post
production workflow. I have been editing countless hours of footage from the merged quicktimes. I am at the point in my production that I need
to media manage my project. FCP will not allow me to do this. All the merged clips are giving me a general 34 error when trying to media manage. Have you seen this problem before? Do you know of any solutions? This is a HUGE problem for our production!!! Any insight would be much appreciated!Thanks,
Sarah -
It looks like we have made some progress, a special thanks to John for his suggestion on exporting as an XML, and reimporting into the project!
That seemed to be the kicker, and it allowed Media Manage to function -> However, We recieved about 10 Error messages relating to being unable to include some media files (But it did not specify which)aside from a specific dialog box that popped up with the name of ONE single .aif file as being problematic, And dealing well with the rest of them…. But then after that, as we looked through some of the project timeline, Certain clips had some “Skiping” is the only way I can describe it, the video was like all skippy… and then Final Cut poofed off the screen with a Crash/Fatal Error message, I think what happened was it ran out of memory perhaps?
Some of the clips, at the end of the cut, seemed to have a sort of Motion Blur to them, When they weren’t supposed to (As well as the “Digital Video Skipping”, but the skipping was only on the AJA KONA Monitor, not in the Final Cut Preview Video area! (Of course, then the Poof and Fatal error..)
Anyway, I wasn’t able to gather the exact log of Error Messages received after Exporting and Importing into new XML, but once our Editor runs the Media Management again I will have her Capture a Log of the errors and I will include them in this Thread.
At the time she is seperating the 720P and 1080P Content for the Color Corrector, once done that, Will try to proceed with the XML Reimportation, as it seems to be the only way that we can get past the General Error 34 Message.
Do anyof you think there is something else going on here, or know of a better way to deal with this from this moment onwards?
Thank you so much guys! I will be pleased to tell you if this all works, and we can have a great resolution to add to the archive, I think this is stuff all editors should know how to do for sure!
(EDIT)
I have received the errors:Mon, Jan 11,, 2010, 4:25PM – Errors Found Importing CMCN_8_720.xml
Unable to attach specified media file to new clip. ( line 65535 )
Unable to attach specified media file to new clip. ( line 65535 )
Unable to attach specified media file to new clip. ( line 65535 )
Unable to attach specified media file to new clip. ( line 65535 )
Unable to attach specified media file to new clip.
Unable to attach specified media file to new clip.
Unable to attach specified media file to new clip.
Unable to attach specified media file to new clip.
Unable to attach specified media file to new clip.
Unable to attach specified media file to new clip.
__________________end of log__________________
One specific audio file comes up, a .aif file, as a dialog error, but we can press okay and it continues.After the fact, the project is in sequence and we can Media Manage as said before, and another problem is that, it shows a few of the Media Clips as offline, but the strange thing is that they show up in the timeline and play, After reconnecting those “Orphan Offlines”, thats right before FCP 7.01 Puked and Fatal Error Occured.
As of now: Where we are at with this XML workaround, is that it isn’t the solution, We have done more tests and it is not working as intended. The entire timeline is not lining up properly, and it would be terrible for her to have to watch through 21 Episodes to manually line it up, And, furthermore, It still gives general error 34 after making the 720P XML and reopening it and then cannot Media Manage…
One thing after another… I wish I knew what the root problem was.
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Some more info for the XML specialists (i’m not one of them…)
I have received two clips from the offending project and toyed around with them.the project was shot @ 60, but the clips are now 23.976 (aka FCP 23.98)
However, they still contain the 60 fps TC.
Should not be a problem since FCP relinks on file and relative frame number in this case, but for the softness i suspect something like time base problems.
But maybe FCP does not like it this way?Next problem that i find hard to tackle:
The sound in the footage is a mix of mono and stereo channels, where clips that have both mono and stereo files in them are causing trouble.
No idea why this is causing trouble with media management though…
A roundtrip trough XML makes that the sequence actually does allow to media manage.
Another option is to paste dual mono for the stereo files into the QT.
But i have no idea how the mapping of QT sound channels to FCP sound channels is done, and i suspect that it won’t be painless if the audio isn’t finished / exported yet.So if anyone knows how the mapping is done, i would love to learn.
Bouke
https://www.videotoolshed.com/
smart tools for video pro’s -
Some more info for the XML EXPERTS (stupid spambot does not allow me to say spec*alists )
I have received two clips from the offending project and toyed around with them.the project was shot @ 60, but the clips are now 23.976 (aka FCP 23.98)
However, they still contain the 60 fps TC.
Should not be a problem since FCP relinks on file and relative frame number in this case, but for the softness i suspect something like time base problems.
But maybe FCP does not like it this way?Next problem that i find hard to tackle:
The sound in the footage is a mix of mono and stereo channels, where clips that have both mono and stereo files in them are causing trouble.
No idea why this is causing trouble with media management though…
A roundtrip trough XML makes that the sequence actually does allow to media manage.
Another option is to paste dual mono for the stereo files into the QT.
But i have no idea how the mapping of QT sound channels to FCP sound channels is done, and i suspect that it won’t be painless if the audio isn’t finished / exported yet.So if anyone knows how the mapping is done, i would love to learn.
Bouke
https://www.videotoolshed.com/
smart tools for video pro’s
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