[Jack Niedenthal]

Also, what I do now is after I am done working, I quit FCPX, then make sure it opens again and then quit a second time before backing up so I don’t make the mistake of backing up a corrupt event/file again.

Jack Niedenthal
Microwave Films of the Marshall Islands
http://www.microwavefilms.org
iMac i7 using Lion 10.7.x, HPX 170 using only one 64GB card
I live on an island in the middle of the Pacific, YOU are my only resource.

[Jack Niedenthal]

Craig, honestly, it was totally out of the blue. Imagine being on the edge of a building ready to jump because you think you have lost an entire year’s worth of work, then you get an email that says, “Hi, I’m Noah from Apple, would you like me to help solve your problem?” Yeah baby.

Here is what I have done to rearrange my full length feature film, for what it is worth:

First, I am bummed because I liked the idea of working with compound clips, now I am scared to death of them because they cause immense bloating.

I have created 3 new projects for my feature film, each about 30 minutes in length:
Scenes 1-19
Scenes 20-45
Scenes 46-75

I did “select all and copy” from all the compound clips (as opposed to dragging the entire compound clip onto the timeline) and pasted the scenes in their entirety into the project timelines representing the scenes above.

I created 3 new events for each of the three projects and dragged the corresponding compound clips into them (deleting the compound clips from the original event with all the media in it).

So I now have 4 events for the film, one with all the media, 3 with the compound clips. Though I really don’t need the compound clips anymore as I am now just going to work strictly in the project timelines.

When I import new media for the film I will load them in the new event that corresponds to the scenes the media is intended for. The 3 events with the compound clips will just serve as a backup for now but at some point I may trash them as they aren’t really needed. I was told every time you edit them (blading, working with sound and color, etc) it bloats the hell out of the compound clip.

When I am all done and satisfied with the 3 sections of the film I intend to copy/paste all three project timelines into a new “final” project timeline, then burn the DVD. Then I will go drain a case of beer and stare at the moon and wonder why I put myself through all this.

Jack Niedenthal
Microwave Films of the Marshall Islands
http://www.microwavefilms.org
iMac i7 using Lion 10.7.x, HPX 170 using only one 64GB card
I live on an island in the middle of the Pacific, YOU are my only resource.

[Jack Niedenthal]

Here is what I have done, for what it is worth.

First, I am bummed because I liked the idea of working with compound clips, now I am scared to death of them.

I have created 3 new projects for my feature film, each about 30 minutes:
Scenes 1-19
Scenes 20-45
Scenes 46-75

I did “select all and copy” from all the compound clips and pasted the scenes in their entirety into the project timelines representing the scenes above.

I created 3 new events for each of the three projects and dragged the corresponding compound clips into them (deleting the compound clips from the original event with all the media in it).

So I now have 4 events for the film, one with all the media, 3 with the compound clips. Though I really don’t need the compound clips anymore as I am now just going to work strictly in the project timelines.

When I import new media for the film I will load them in the event that corresponds to the scenes it is intended for. The 3 events with the compound clips will just serve as a backup for now but at some point I may trash them as they aren’t really needed.

When I am all done and satisfied with the 3 sections of the film I intend to copy/paste all three project timelines into a new “final” project timeline, then burn the DVD.

Jack Niedenthal
Microwave Films of the Marshall Islands
http://www.microwavefilms.org
iMac i7 using Lion 10.7.x, HPX 170 using only one 64GB card
I live on an island in the middle of the Pacific, YOU are my only resource.

[Jack Niedenthal]

Steve, yes this has been a huge relief. I should add that I followed that suggestion above and I couldn’t get it to work (not sure why)… Noah went through it step by step via Skype, even though it was well past his work hours on a Friday, as I live in Micronesia and am in a really crazy time zone.

Well, I have to go burn some incense in Noah’s honor now. What a day!

Jack Niedenthal
Microwave Films of the Marshall Islands
http://www.microwavefilms.org
iMac i7 using Lion 10.7.x, HPX 170 using only one 64GB card
I live on an island in the middle of the Pacific, YOU are my only resource.

[Jack Niedenthal]

I just had a marvelous experience. Out of the blue I get an email from “Noah from Apple” asking if he might help resolve my issues. I almost peed myself. I have been working with Apple computers since 1984, have had participated in many Apple discussion forums over the years, but no one from Apple ever contacted me out of the blue–on a forum that is not even Apple sponsored– and asked if he could “help.” Man.

Anyway, it turns out that he believed the issue was with the events folder getting too bloated as I was working on 75 scenes for a full length feature and had them all as compound clips. I was starting to consolidate by combining a series of clips, for example, combining the compound clip for scenes 1-8 with scenes 9-14 so I could watch them play through. At any rate, this got way to bloated for FCPX to deal with.

First, Noah had me send them the Activity Monitor files for FCPX to see why it hangs when the program opens. Then I sent them the system profile from my computer and a snapshot of some of the FCPX files from my hard drive. Then I had to upload the currentversion.fcpevent file. They are still working on that and will let me know if it can be fixed.

Next, he had me take out the corrupted/bloated currentversion.fcpevent file, gave it a new name and had me put it outside the event folder as “original_currentversion,fcpevent”, then we put in a one week old version, renaming it currentversion.fcpevent. It opened! I am back from the ledge of a tall building! My wife is no longer afraid to leave the knives around!

And… I am buying my firstborn male child a plane ticket so he can go live with Noah, as promised.

And thank you, thank you, thank you CREATIVE COW and the fine people on this website!!!!!!!!!

Jack Niedenthal
Microwave Films of the Marshall Islands
http://www.microwavefilms.org
iMac i7 using Lion 10.7.x, HPX 170 using only one 64GB card
I live on an island in the middle of the Pacific, YOU are my only resource.

[Jack Niedenthal]

I just had a marvelous experience. Out of the blue I get an email from “Noah from Apple” asking if he might help resolve my issues. I almost peed myself. I have been working with Apple computers since 1984, have had participated in many Apple discussion forums over the years, but no one from Apple ever contacted me out of the blue–on a forum that is not even Apple sponsored– and asked if he could “help.” Man.

Anyway, it turns out that he believed the issue was with the events folder getting too bloated as I was working on 75 scenes for a full length feature and had them all as compound clips. I was starting to consolidate by combining a series of clips, for example, combining the compound clip for scenes 1-8 with scenes 9-14 so I could watch them play through. At any rate, this got way to bloated for FCPX to deal with.

First, Noah had me send them the Activity Monitor files for FCPX to see why it hangs when the program opens. Then I sent them the system profile from my computer and a snapshot of some of the FCPX files from my hard drive. Then I had to upload the currentversion.fcpevent file. They are still working on that and will let me know if it can be fixed.

Next, he had me take out the corrupted/bloated currentversion.fcpevent file, gave it a new name and had me put it outside the event folder as “original_currentversion,fcpevent”, then we put in a one week old version, renaming it currentversion.fcpevent. It opened! I am back from the ledge of a tall building! My wife is no longer afraid to leave the knives around!

And… I am buying my firstborn male child a plane ticket so he can go live with Noah, as promised.

And thank you, thank you, thank you CREATIVE COW and the fine people on this website!!!!!!!!!

Jack Niedenthal
Microwave Films of the Marshall Islands
http://www.microwavefilms.org
iMac i7 using Lion 10.7.x, HPX 170 using only one 64GB card
I live on an island in the middle of the Pacific, YOU are my only resource.

[Jack Niedenthal]

I am not so sure this will help me because none of my clips are on a timeline. I have done my entire movie with a series of compound clips. I was just about to move them to a project timeline when this disaster occurred.

in other words, in my event, I have “scene 1-5”, “scene 1-12”, etc in the same list as all of the clips that I had imported from my camera. Not sure if this is making any sense.

I think what you are telling me to do is:

1) create a new event.

2) import all the media, which I assume is still fine, into this new event.

My question is, what happens to all of the editing I have done over the past 2 months? Should I import the rendered folders from old event also?

Sorry if my questions seem a bit elementary.

Jack Niedenthal
Microwave Films of the Marshall Islands
http://www.microwavefilms.org
iMac i7 using Lion 10.7.x, HPX 170 using only one 64GB card
I live on an island in the middle of the Pacific, YOU are my only resource.

[Jack Niedenthal]

I am sorry to ask this, Loren, but can you explain how to “modify event references”?

Jack Niedenthal
Microwave Films of the Marshall Islands
http://www.microwavefilms.org
iMac i7 using Lion 10.7.x, HPX 170 using only one 64GB card
I live on an island in the middle of the Pacific, YOU are my only resource.

[Jack Niedenthal]

I should add that nothing appears to be going on in the background as the meter is at 100% as it attempts to load the event.

Jack Niedenthal
Microwave Films of the Marshall Islands
http://www.microwavefilms.org
iMac i7 using Lion 10.7.x, HPX 170 using only one 64GB card
I live on an island in the middle of the Pacific, YOU are my only resource.

[Jack Niedenthal]

Hi Loren,
I am a few stages ahead of what you suggested.

I know it is an event issue and not a project because when I removed the event from the FCPX folder FCPX opened fine.

I discovered a few jpg files that were corrupt by using digital rebellion’s management software. I trashed the corrupt files and I trashed the preferences and rebooted.

I was then able to open FCPX, all other events work fine (I have 6 other small events). When I go to open the event that was corrupt, even though the corrupt files are gone, it just hangs with a beachball with a “loading” window that says “Loading MyFilm event.” I let it run at one point for 4 hours, it never loaded. I was using all compound clps and have never even loaded them up in a project window, in fact, that was the next step. This project event is over 700GB.

This is a over a year’s worth of work and I can’t open it. You probably know how I feel…

Jack Niedenthal
Microwave Films of the Marshall Islands
http://www.microwavefilms.org
iMac i7 using Lion 10.7.x, HPX 170 using only one 64GB card
I live on an island in the middle of the Pacific, YOU are my only resource.