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Reconnect media insanity
Okay, I’m having a reconnect media issue that’s making me pull my hair out, and I’d love to get any suggestions for a solve or workaround.
I’m trying to wrap up a documentary with two edits – a 90 minute cut and a 60 minute cut. In order to (haha) keep things as simple as possible, the 60 was recut from a full-length Quicktime export of the 90, excising some scenes and re-working a few moments and spots of dialogue.
Since first doing that 60-minute cut, I’ve color-corrected the 90 minute version and re-worked numerous titles and subtitles. My plan was to re-export the now finished 90, and reconnect the clips in the 60 sequence to this fresh render of the file.
BUT
Every time I try to reconnect to the new file I get our good friend “file attribute mismatch”, complaining about “Media Start and End” and Reel. When I hit ‘continue’ it rewards me with ‘some edited items have had their out points adjusted’ and destroys much of the sequence. Specifically, anything that comes from after the one hour mark in the source clip now reads from the first hour instead of the second – ie: 01:15:12 now becomes 00:15:12.
The thing that’s realy nuts though is that (except for color-correction and dozens of tweaks to subtitles) these two files are EXACTLY the same. Same length. Same timecode. Same codec. Start TC is the same. End TC is the same. Framerate is the same. So why does FCP think the media start and end are different?
I’ve tried several workarounds, all with no luck – I’ve tried re-exporting from the same sequence I made the original file from. I’ve tried using Quicktime to replace the video track in the original clip with the video track from the new one (so audio and TC would stay the same). No dice. Always says media start and end are different. I’ve even taken a copy of the source file and a copy of the new file into Cinematools and conformed to 23.98, just in case something went wonky there. No change.
So, anyone have any ideas? I can’t for the life of me think how these two identical files are not identical, or how to avoid re-cutting that whole final half hour again…
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10 Replies
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Was the original Qt file a self contained or reference? I can’t imagine why a self contained would give you that reconnect file difference message if all other characteristics match as you say they do, but I can imagine a reference file being a problem.
Personally, my approach would be to copy past clips from the 90 timeline into the 60 timeline so that you end up with discreet clips and layers so that you can make textless versions of both easily or make further changes to one without affecting the other. I would put the old QT file on the top layer and drop opacity to 50% so you can see the layers below. Use the timecode in/outs to give you the location information to copy paste from the 90 timeline. It is a bit more work but you end up with a more flexible cutdown timeline in case you want to change little things like timing of supers, dissolve lengths etc.
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If you change the length of the QT by as much as a frame…longer, shorter…then things won’t match up.
Shane
GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD…don’t miss it.
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Definitely not a reference movie. Both self-contained, and as far as I can tell, identical in every way except the color of some pixels.
I *am* starting to regret not using copies of the original sequence now, though there were good reasons for it at the time. I’m all about keeping the project flexible, as you describe… As so often happens, something meant to save time and trouble at one stage, falls apart at another…
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If you change the length of the QT by as much as a frame…longer, shorter…then things won’t match up.
That was the very first thing I checked. Both sequences are EXACTLY the same length, to the frame. Timecode matches perfectly as well. Hence my pulling out my hair…
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Perhaps it’s time to walk another route.
(I’ve done substantial testing on how FCP relinks, but never clips longer than an hour.)Two things to test:
1) REMOVE the TC track from the clip. This will force FCP to relink zero (frame, ctl style) based.
2) Split up the file in two files. First hour worked.
So copy out the last half hour and put it in a fresh clip.
I’ve got a hunch that will force FCP to look at the hours as well.3) If all fails, have FCPreconnect (download from my site) make new master clips for you. I’m not sure if that works with a tremendous amount of clips from the same source, but that can be tested and worked out. (Contact me offlist if you like)
Bouke
https://www.videotoolshed.com/
smart tools for video pros -
Hi,
sorry if I can’t really help you with the QT file problem.
However, I am puzzled and interested to know why you chose such a workflow. I fail to see how cutting from a 90 min export QT to build a 60 min version would be simpler than duplicating your 90 minutes timeline and shortening/modifying it. Am I missing something?
I realize you are dealing with more pressing issues but would be interested to know once you’ve solved these.
Patrice
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HA! YES! Deleting the timecode track in QT did the trick! I still get the ‘reel’ mismatch error, but every picture frame is where it’s supposed to be.
I’ll count my lucky stars that the previous clip’s TC started at 00:00:00:00 rather than the 1 hour mark. 😉
Thanks a ton Bouke, you’ve saved me from hours of tedium and frustration!
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That’s a good question Patrice. Basically it was a grand experiment, with the goal of saving a ton of time and money in the sound mix. After the 90 was cut and mixed, we could then recut that master and send an audio EDL to the sound house, preserving all their previous work and just leaving a few transitions to clean up.
Added bonus was not having to re-render all the color-correction, which takes about 30 hours (I’m using some pretty hefty filters).
Not sure if we really saved much time in the end, but hey, we gave it a shot…
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Thanks for the answer,
I now see more clearly and your plan makes more sense (specially regarding what happened with audio).
Glad Bouke’s solution helped too.
Best of luck!
Patrice
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[Mike Jackson] “I still get the ‘reel’ mismatch error”
Of course, there is no Reel info, thus it does not match.
[Mike Jackson] “I’ll count my lucky stars that the previous clip’s TC started at 00:00:00:00 rather than the 1 hour mark. ;)”
That would have made no difference. FCP looks just at the frame offset from the original QT. TC is left out completely.
[Mike Jackson] “Thanks a ton Bouke, you’ve saved me from hours of tedium and frustration!”
That’s what i do for a living….
Bouke
https://www.videotoolshed.com/
smart tools for video pros
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