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Why do these video clips show up as green in the Event Browser and Timeline?
I converted a lot of VHS tapes to DV using both a Datavideo DAC 100 analogue to digital converter and my Canon HV20 camera’s A – D facility.
All the videos play perfectly in QT Player 7 although for some reason 5 of the files have generic QT icons whilst the rest have normal poster frames.
However, when imported into FCP X these 5 appear as green icons in the Event Browser and green in the Timeline.
They do not play any video but the audio is OK.
I cannot remember which videos were converted with the DataVideo or the Canon but a comparison of the files in VideoSpec shows no difference in formats etc.
Any idea what the problem is and how to cure it?
Incidentally, FCP X is only referencing these files.
As they were so large (DV-PAL) I did not copy the files to the events but I can’t see that this should matter.
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10 Replies
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Post some inspector snapshots of the clips. FCPX supports a lot of formats but it’s quite possible to create a format that it doesn’t support, especially with older gear.
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I have discovered a workaround.
Open in QT 7 and select File>Save As
This produces a new file that works perfectly in QT X and FCP X.
Of course the question still exists as to why these 5 files are different from the rest when they were created in apparently the same way.
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So… help us help you. Please post some screenshots of the inspector looking at those clips when they are green.
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Here are the screenshots which I had intended to include with my first post . . . . but couldn’t figure out quickly how to do it.
As mentioned above the problem has been negated but the cause of it is still unknown.
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Is it possible you captured them as .dv and not .mov?
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My DataVideo converter and Canon HV20 are both set to capture DV PAL.
They were used connected to my iMac running FCP 7 at the time.
The only variation that I am aware of is that some of the 20 odd tapes were captured with the DataVideo and some with the Canon.
It would be enticing to think that the 5 dodgy ones were captured with just one device and the rest with the other.
I haven’t had the opportunity to test both devices to see if this is the case.
However, the dodgy files are not really dodgy as they work perfectly with FCP 7 and QT 7 . . . . . its just that they throw a wobbly when used with their successors.
They must also contain all the video and audio info otherwise Save As would not be able to make perfect working copies.
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Hmm- it sounds like the capture device is to blame here and guessing on the age of the thing I’m suspecting an update for FCP X compatibility is not too likely.
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This has been the case since 10.0.0
I find old DV files that won’t open in FCP X and some that will. No obvious reason why. The “save as” using QT Pro will work or convert to ProRes. Fortunately for me I rarely work in SD anymore so it’s not a big deal. There are a number of ways to batch convert such as using legacy FCP or MPEG Streamclip. -
[Nick Toth] “I find old DV files that won’t open in FCP X and some that will. No obvious reason why.”
I can confirm this. I haven’t dug deep to figure out the reason, but some video captured even with FCP legacy using the DV/DVCPRO NTSC codec will show up as an audio only clip with no video. That’s what you were seeing. For some reason, X will not recognize the video track on the file.
Your solution and Nick’s both work. I myself used Compressor to batch convert the files into the same codec, and solved the problem that way as well.
As far as I know, it’s only an issue with DV footage, not with any other codec.
Andy
https://www.timesavertutorials.com
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Although the problem arises with FCP X and QT X there is an obvious difference in the video files as you can see in my first screenshot.
The “good” ones have a poster frame and the “bad” ones don’t.
In an effort to track down the cause I captured some analogue PAL using my DataVideo 100 and FCP 7 but the results were perfect.
If I get time tomorrow I will try the same using my Canon HV20 as a converter to see whether that is the culprit or not.
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