Find the sequence that contains the missing media?

[Alex Elkins]

Hi Dustin,

When you open FCP there and you get the error window, are you checking the boxes that say something along the lines of “forget offline files”
Check them and it will stop FCP thinking there’s a problem next time you open the project.

As for removing the offline media files from the project completely, try this:
– In the Browser window, press CMD+F
-This opens the Find tool. There is a drop-down menu where you can stipulate which column in the Browser FCP searches. Changes this to ‘Offline (Y/N)’
– Set the drop-down menu next to that to ‘Contains’
– Then in the search box, type Y (as in YES, search for offline files)
– Click ‘Find All’. That should reveal any offline items within your project.
– Highlight the items and click ‘Remove from Project’

Just to add, I’m cross-referencing that method with an older version of FCP (v5) so the layout of the Find tool may be slightly different in later versions. I can’t remember, and am at home now so can’t check the office computer!

Good luck,
Alex Elkins

Salad Daze Films – Freshly Tossed

Read my blog!

[Dustin Parsons]

Thanks for the quick response Alex. I thought I had checked the Forget Files button but I guess I was just hitting cancel (sorry, rookie mistake) – so that cleared up the render files.

The search method works for finding missing media ONLY if it exist in the FCP Browser. I, however, have missing media that exist ONLY in a sequence (like I had dragged an image from Finder directly into the timeline). Do you have a method for searching Sequences that contain missing media?

Thanks again.

[Alex Elkins]

[Dustin Parsons] “Do you have a method for searching Sequences that contain missing media?”

Hmm. Ok, try this (this will only work if you know the name, or part-name, of the offline file):
– In the Browser press CMD+F
– In the drop-down instead of ‘Offline (Y/N)’ select ‘Any Column’
– Type the name of the offline file in the search box and click ‘Find All’

This will show all of the sequences in your project containing that particular file. Select them all in the Find Results window and you’ll notice they all become selected in the browser as well.

– Right click on one of the highlighted sequences and select ‘Open Timeline’. This will open all of those selected sequences.

REPEAT THIS FOR EACH TIMELINE CONTAINING THE OFFLINE FILE
– In the timeline window, press CMD+F
– Search again for the name of the file and click Find All

This will highlight any occurrences of the offline file in the sequence, so just delete them and they’ll be gone for good.

Hope that works!

All the best,
Alex Elkins

P.S. I had a look at your website – nice reel!

Salad Daze Films – Freshly Tossed

Read my blog!

[Dustin Parsons]

Oh thanks, I actually need to update my demo reel, everything on there is over a year old… well, I’ll do it when I’m looking for a job.

Anywho, I hate to be the bearer of bad news but it appears that the sequence will only show up in the find results if the media you are searching for is online. D’oh! The developers aren’t making this easy on us.

Any and all other suggestions are welcome. Thanks again Alex – whether this question gets solved or not, I’m definitely learning a lot.

————————————————————–
Mac Pro | Leopard 10.5.7
2.66GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon | 4GB Ram
Final Cut Pro Studio 2 | Avid Media Composer

[Alex Elkins]

I must have missed something in my description as I was testing this process with an offline file myself. Testing again now and it’s definitely working for me.

Double check that your search terms are the same as mine. This is what to search for from the Browser…

…then click ‘Find All’ to find the sequences containing that file.

If you’re doing the same as me and this isn’t working then you have me stumped. All of these work-arounds aside, it’s ridiculous that in the ‘Missing Files’ pop up there isn’t an option to have FCP reveal the offline files in any sequences they appear. I feel a feature request coming on.

Any luck?

Alex Elkins

Salad Daze Films – Freshly Tossed

Read my blog!

[Dustin Parsons]

Yeah… I just double checked to make sure I was doing it correctly, still didn’t work. I still feel like I’m not doing something right seeing as it’s working for you. I’ll give it another shot tomorrow and let you know if I have any luck.

I agree, there should be an option to reveal any file in the Finder, Browser, or any Sequences they reside. Hopefully we’ll see this in the future.

————————————————————–
Mac Pro | Leopard 10.5.7
2.66GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon | 4GB Ram
Final Cut Pro Studio 2 | Avid Media Composer

[Robert Foote]

You should be able to point to any file and Ctrl+click say View in Finder.Follow the path of the missing files carefully and this will at least tell you where FCP is looking.