ALEXA – Can’t open Clips on computer

[Adam Foskey]

To further elaborate, The editor and anyone who tried to open the files whether in Final Cut Pro or in Quicktime always got the same message back: “This is not a movie file.”

I am not to familiar with the Alexa, so can anyone recommend anything to me? Thanks a bunch everyone!

Adam Foskey
Assistant Camera/Operator/DP
afoskey@gmail.com

[Gary Adcock]

[Adam Foskey] “To further elaborate, The editor and anyone who tried to open the files whether in Final Cut Pro or in Quicktime always got the same message back: “This is not a movie file.””

if the file has not been downloaded from the camera correctly, there is not much you can do, because there is no “end of file” ID Quicktime does not understand what to do with it, is it the same on all of the copies you have?
what about the other shuttle drives?
does the Data handler have copies?

FYI- this cannot not happen in the camera- this is a file transfer error on the data handlers side-you cannot corrupt a ProRes clip in an Alexa, not even by pulling the SxS card during a record or killing the power, the camera was designed specificly with data recording errors in mind.

gary adcock
Studio37

Post and Production Workflow Consultant
Production and Post Stereographer
Chicago, IL

https://blogs.creativecow.net/24640

[Illya Laney]

“FYI- this cannot not happen in the camera- this is a file transfer error on the data handlers side-you cannot corrupt a ProRes clip in an Alexa”

What if the camera freezes in the middle of a take? I’ve seen certain clips play back, but you can’t do a save as or export out of FCP or quicktime with the clip. This is the same media that was ingested on two completely different systems with two different types of software and readers on set. Could that be a problem with the SXS cards?

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[Gary Adcock]

[Illya Laney] “What if the camera freezes in the middle of a take?”

Nope, I tested everyone of these options with multiple alexa cameras. I tried, pulling power ( both AC and multipule batteries) , even pulling the card out of the computer while recording did not suffer from more than 3-5 frames not being recorded, but not once did the clips or cards ever become corrupted. I was able to open each and every clip without issues.
I have tested this on over 20 different SxS cards in all 5 flavors of ProRes written by the camera on v2, v2.1 v3 and v3.1 software versions, the most that I ever loss on any one shot was 15 frames when I was shooting at 1080 60p, thinking that I lost 1/4 of a second of my recording put my mind to rest.

“I’ve seen certain clips play back, but you can’t do a save as or export out of FCP or quicktime with the clip. “

That is an FCP/ QT issue that cannot modify the file when the .MOV file when it is written in All CAPS like Alexa does. It was a big issue with FCP and Compressor not being able to Media Manage becuase of it.

gary adcock
Studio37

Post and Production Workflow Consultant
Production and Post Stereographer
Chicago, IL

https://blogs.creativecow.net/24640

[Dan Coplan]

I’m prepping an Alexa right now and having all sorts of file transfer weirdness. The data on the cards (5 of ’em) appears to be sound. I’m transferring the data both ‘manually’ through the Finder as well as through AL3XA Data Manager. Getting very inconsistent results.

Most of the time, the files transferring through AL3XA are fine, though I’ve had some transfer errors during the process as well as some of the movie files not playing back properly even when the transfer is verified as OK.

Most of the time, the files being transferred through the Finder are not fine, though some of them are.

??!!?!?!??!??

I’m getting two separate errors: “The file is not a movie file.” and “An invalid public movie atom was found in the movie.”

Resetting my computer seemed to improve success, but has not resulted in 100% success. The gig is tomorrow, it’s for a big client, and needless to say, I’m freaking out just a bit.

I may be crazy, and I can’t confirm because I wasn’t expecting it, but I think at least one of the files changed errors from “The file is not a movie file” to the other error sometime during the process of working on this.

Any input/feedback/help ASAP would be tremendously appreciated.

Assuming the cards are fine, could it be the card reader? It could certainly be the computer or the media but I haven’t had problems with this computer before (it’s mine). Media is easy enough to check, I suppose, but I won’t get the client drives until tomorrow so I can’t check that until the day of.

[Frank Devine]

You are incorrect sir. I have had to do video recovery several times on these cameras over the course of my career due to corrupt footage coming from the camera. Blaming the data manager is Ridiculous.

[Yair Leventhal]

I realize this post is 8 years old, but as this problem can still occur I wanted to post one solution for anyone that wanders over with the same problem. Let me prefise this by saying that although I am sure this Quicktime and Final Cut error can be caused for many reasons, one frequent one I have seen on set is the camera shutting off while recording. Usually when this occurs, the recording clips does not have time to close properly, which causes an error after ingesting in Quicktime. However, Da Vinci Resolve (you can download for free), in my experience has always been able to play back the clip in question. Therefore the simplest way to recreate the clip so other software can read it as well is to use Da Vinci Resolve to re-export the clip from the delivery tab with the same resolution and codec as the original clip. Once finished the new clip should function normally. Hope that helps.

———————-
Yair Alon Leventhal
Film and Television Production
DIT

Queens, NY 11103
yleventhal@gmail.com (email)