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Guidance, please: All FCP archive clips missing audio
Deep trouble here….
I’m using FCP 10.4.6 (most my old MacBook Pro will handle) and OSX 10.13.6
For many years, I’ve been archiving from a Sony NEX-7 using the “Create Archive” command in the FCP Import window. I’ve never had a problem and have over nine years imported thousands of clips.
I haven’t used FCP in months, and now, alarmingly, when I try to view an archived clip in the Import window, there is no audio. Same when trying to import a clip — it imports without audio and the resulting imported clip thumbnail has the video camera icon signifying a problem. Nothing in my system has changed since I last successfully accessed archived clips, making this all the more baffling.
In the Import window I added all the available columns for audio. When I select any clip in any archive, these show that there are 2 audio output channels, a 48 kHz sample rate and 1 stereo audio config. This at least suggests that the audio is there. The clips are all AVCHD.
This problem is only in FCP archive clips, and in all of them, regardless of age, from oldest to newest. Any other type of clip that is not part of an FCP archive in any format plays back and imports audio normally.
I spoke to Apple support. The best they could come up with was updating FCP, which changed nothing. They haven’t come up with any other ideas beyond promising another call later.
If anyone has any thoughts on this, please let me know. This is, as you can imagine, a debilitating issue covering thousands of clips shot over many years.
Thanks,
Brian -
17 Replies
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I don’t use Cam Archives, but can you drag the media out of it and see if it works?
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No, that won’t work because the FCP cam archives are only readable by FCP, but thank you for the reply.
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“No, that won’t work because the FCP cam archives are only readable by FCP, but thank you for the reply.”
That’s not true. Right-click (or control-click) on the camera archive and choose “Show package contents.” You can then view those files in QuickTime or drag them out of the archive (I would drag copies out of the archive rather than moving them, just so you don’t mess up your archives).
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Thank you, Brad — I didn’t know that.
When I do that, I get this:
And that big AVCHD file seems to be a consolidated envelope of some kind. The DCIM folder where, IIRC correctly, the individual camera files were is empty.
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You can open that avchd clip in QuickTime and see if there’s audio.
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When I do that, at first QT only plays one clip in that archive. At first it opens a window with other clips in it, but doesn’t respond to any selection commands other than to play one clip.
But, the good news is that I sent an archive to FCP support at Apple and the audio is alive and well on their machines.
So, the trouble is something in mine. I’m in the field, but hopefully reinstalling software might take care of the issue. I didn’t really think the audio could have disappeared — it would have taken some freakishly unimaginable system aerobatics that probably don’t even exist to do that — but you can imagine my relief at knowing it’s all there.
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Hmm, that’s strange. My cameras all shoot Prores files so when I open a camera file I don’t see any folders at all, just the Prores .mov files and the FCP metadata file.
I’m pretty sure all your files would be inside that big AVCHD package.
Try this:
Right-click (or control-click if you have a one-button mouse) the AVCHD package.
Choose “show package contents”
In the package contents, look for another package called BDMV.
Right click the BDMV package and choose “show package contents.”Now you should see all your files. They were in a package inside a package inside a package!
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Hi, Brad —
This issue gets a little stranger. Your guidance to unpack the AVCHD files got me to them. They still won’t play audio in FCP if imported individually. Same with just using Quicktime.
I downloaded the trail version of Uniconverter, and after I run a clip through that and convert it to mp4 or .mov it works in FCP. Doing it this way was diagnostic more than anything because having to do this with hundreds of gigs of clips would be murderous.
So, it seems like there’s something in the system—could it be a pref maybe?—that afflicts these clips. Any thoughts? And thank you.
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Hi Brian — what happens if you drag a copy of one of those files off whatever disk it’s on and into another hard drive or even just another folder on your computer? Don’t move the file, copy it by holding down the option key while you drag it.
Now open the copy from its new location with Quicktime and see if the audio plays. Import it into FCPX and see if the audio plays. If so, there’s your solution: copy all those files to a different folder and then import them from there into Final Cut.
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Just tried that, and, alas, no dice. Same thing.
In FCP the clip just appears without audio. When trying it in Quicktime I get this error message:
The document “00000.MTS” could not be opened. An unknown error occurred (1718449215). That error code suggests an incompatible format, which is pretty vague. the files are just AVCHD .MTS files from a FCP-supported Sony NEX-7.
What a maddening issue.
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