We have been suffering through this issue. I messed with quicktime properties of a file giving this problem the other day and got the movie to import with the correct pixel aspect ratio and frame size into FCP, but it still exhibited the same behaviours within FCP: strobed playback in the viewer and needing rendered in the timeline.
I’ve also had two other anomalies that appear related. Captured and imported media exhibited the same behaviour on some stations. A few days later, I re-imported on the same stations and the problem was gone. No changes made to the stations… Also, a nested sequence has given me the exact same pixel aspect ratio and frame size malfunction.
I was thinking it was QT related as well, but the nest problem and the properties experience noted above says fcp.
A friend who posts here thinks it is related to a pro-apps update.
Keith Koby
Head of Post-Production Engineering
iNDEMAND NETWORKS
Howard TV!/MOJO/Movies On Demand/iNDEMAND Pay-Per-View