Libx264, why is it making me miserable?

Question

I've recently recieved footage (.mov) from someone that looks great in quicktime but starts giving me troubles when I try to do...basically anything to it.  Importing, transcoding, converting.  When I try importing the footage into Final Cut Pro X, it crashes 100% of the time.  What clips remain when I re-open the software are clips that have horizontal green bars that flash in and out.  The clips also seem to meld together for a couple short seconds, looking pixelated and confused because multiple (seperate clips keep in mind) bleed together in wonky ways.  The audio also clicks (peaking?) which doesn't happen to the original mov's.  The one thing that helped get rid of the green bars and clip crossover was going to the Project Properties after import and changing a couple of the settings.  Still after that I'm getting incredibly distracting pixelation every second or two.
Check it:
http://vimeopro.com/llexman/the-elusive-libx264
>>>>>
Here are the specs on one of the files...
Source:
/Volumes/X G-RAID with Thunderbolt/Seattle Jan 4-6, 2013/WeTransfer-04tseJOW/00048.mov
Format:
libx264, 1,440 x 1,080 (1,920 x 1,080)
AAC, 44100 Hz, Stereo (L R)
FPS:
59.94
Data Size:
48.5 MB
Data Rate:
11.56 Mbit/s
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Here are the video properties that seemed to help a bit I set in FCPX:
Format:  1080i HD      Resolution:  1920x1080      Rate:  29.97i
I need this footage for work, we are going to be using it for web based promos but more importantly for television broadcast purposes so getting this to work is crucial, especially since we've paid for it already.  The videographer doesn't seem to know what I'm talking about and isn't much help at all.
Cheers!

Answer 1

Every app that uses x264 claims that it IS H.264, but it is *not*. It' can't be.
libx264 is the "generic" H.264. Every free application (MPEG Streamclip, VLC, etc. etc.)  that converts to or from "H.264" is using "x264" because:  H.264 is a proprietary codec that must be licensed for use (the decoder, at least, anyway [it's all provided for free for the end user though]). It's why YouTube, Mozilla and others had such a problem adopting it a few years back. Usually x264 is not a problem, the "work-alike" typically works very well. However, *libx264" is a Unix library of code and as such has an extensive collection of command line arguments (which can be custom coded in apps like VLC and FFMPeg/FFMpegX, etc)
http://mewiki.project357.com/wiki/X264_Settings  if you're interested.
There used to be a cool little application called Visual Hub [http://www.isquint.org/] that did a wonderful job of transcoding video. And every time you hit the Customize button, it would put up an alert: "Don't Do It! You'll only mess it up!" Which, I found to be very good advice. However, some people just cannot refrain from tweaking things. I'm not saying your source *did* overtweak, but there could also be "build issues" if he's on a PC, or other operating system.
My best advice would be that you may need to download and install the x264 codec (for quicktime) if (uncommon) custom settings were used. [It will not interfere with the real H.264 codec.]  This was the best *recent* source I could find:
http://www003.upp.so-net.ne.jp/mycometg3/
Since the original frame rate is 60i (59.94i), you can set your project for 1920x1080/30p (29.97p). Check to make sure that the Field Dominance is set to Upper First (or check with the original videographer and make sure HE set the field dominance correctly! Whatever he used - match it in FCPX). There really is no reason to ever use interlacing anymore. It's been proven there is no longer any benefit to interlacing with modern television systems and interlacing can even ADD overhead to the signal.