Swapping out wrongly synced footage in timeline – how?

[Jeremy Garchow]

[Darren Roark] “How are the clips being synchronized?”

Anywhere, but the synchronized clips have to come in from FCPXML. It’s a real pain. Sync N Link is effected as it uses FPCXML, but the problem is with FCPXML or FCPX itself.

You can export an FCPXML of an X synchro’d clip, reimport that XML, and get the same results. Something is awry.

[Darren Roark]

Does this happen when you just create a sync’d clip in FCP X?

[Jeremy Garchow]

Create a sync’d clip. Export an XML of that clip, reimport that XML, and the problem is there.

[Darren Roark]

Just tried it, did the clip itself, the clip in a project and an event with the clip in a project. I can’t get it to do this. Could it be something about the file format of the clips? These are 5K Red epic clips that I had to manually set the weird resolution.

[Jeremy Garchow]

Are you just trying to see how it fails? Here’s the steps (video not attached, but you can make your own):

Summary:
Synchronized clips can behave differently if they’ve been roundtripped through XML (using Sync-N-Link X for example) vs those that have not been exported/imported. The steps below do not use Sync-N-Link X.

Steps to Reproduce:
1. Make a new Library and import the attached media containing a single video and audio clip with for syncing. Note that the inspector shows the video is “3840×2160 | 23.98p” which matches the XML’s format “FFVideoFormat3840x2160p2398”
2. Synchronize clip (using audio).
3. Select the synchronized clip and export XML.
4. Import this XML into a new Event. Note that the synchronized clip shows as “3840×2160 | 23.98p”.
5. Make a new Project with settings 1080p, 23.98p
6. Edit the XML-roundtripped synced clip into the Project. Note that the synchronized clip has changed to “1920×1080 | 23.98p” in the inspector and 1080p, 23.98p in Modify Settings.
7. Edit the original synchronized clip (before roundtripping) into the Project. Note that this synchronized clip is “3840×2160 | 23.98p”

Expected Results:
The Synchronized clip should remain 4k in the Project, despite the round trip.

Actual Results:
The Synchronize clip assumes the frame size properties of the Project in which it is placed.

[Darren Roark]

Yep, it does that. Yikes, I thought this was a SnL issue but sure enough it did this even with a manually sync’d clip.

I turned over a 2X Red cam feature to Resolve and I had to set the project settings to the highest res clip for the reframing to come through in Resolve and even then not everything came through. (I fixed everything not knowing the place was just going to send it from Resolve to Lustre after transcoding to 2K DPX so it was all for not.)

Thanks for posting this.

[Craig Alan]

This is a bit OT: but doesn’t the assistant editor follow the choices defined by the editor: technical and organizational ?

Mac Pro, macbook pro, Imacs (i7); Canon 5D Mark III/70D, Panasonic AG-HPX170/AG-HPX250P, Canon HV40, Sony Z7U/VX2000/PD170; FCP 6 certified; FCP X write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.

[Darren Roark]

[Craig Alan] “This is a bit OT: but doesn’t the assistant editor follow the choices defined by the editor: technical and organizational ?”

Just like people FCP X ain’t perfect. This is just one of those things that an eye needs to be kept on.

[Tangier Clarke]

This is true and it’s odd this happened. It hasn’t happened before. However this assistant, who primarily uses Premiere Pro, is still getting used to FCP X. Something got mixed up in this process.

I am sure many of us experienced folks miss a beat here and there even in our routine. This is definitely a tricky one to me because you really have to manually tell FCP X to do this. It’s done now so moving forward.

[Craig Alan]

[Tangier Clarke] “you really have to manually tell FCP X to do this. It’s done now so moving forward.”

I don’t use adobe NLE but its likely that in that program you have to manually choose these settings liked you did in FCP legacy. Or at least that’s what I remember: choosing the codec and settings for that timeline.

FCP X by default likes to do things for you.

Mixed feelings about that.

Mac Pro, macbook pro, Imacs (i7); Canon 5D Mark III/70D, Panasonic AG-HPX170/AG-HPX250P, Canon HV40, Sony Z7U/VX2000/PD170; FCP 6 certified; FCP X write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.